The Borderlands 3 DLC has followed a clear trend in terms of content themes, and Director’s Cut’s next expansion is no different.
Borderlands 3 presented more than a year of post-launch content, from a wedding set on a Cthulhu-inspired planet, to a trip through the mind of the franchise’s best-known pyscho. Each DLC features weapons, characters, crew challenges and unique locations, with some even more profound changes through new types of vehicles. The result of this diverse approach is a set of expansions that see each sporting a unique tone and telling a story that looks totally different from the DLC package that came before it.
even though Borderlands 3 having a line of expansions that strive to be different, there is a wire connecting each of them. While this connection is not as obvious as a character crossing each DLC or the use of similar mission structure and game mechanics, it is noticeable if fans pay enough attention – and film and television fans may have noticed the trend soon. at first. At the Borderlands 3, each expansion was based on a recognizable movie or TV genre and it looks like Gearbox continued this setup with some of the Director’s Cut content.
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The trend of DLC so far
When comparing Borderlands 3expansions from to Borderlands 2 can highlight interesting connections between games, Borderlands 3The inspirations of the DLC are even clearer. Each expansion released for the game so far has a connection to some narrative genre, and some show that connection more clearly than others. So far, here are all the film and TV genres that have been covered by the last few Borderlands game expansions:
- The assault of the beautiful Moxxi prize – Assault films: This is a little obvious, considering that “heist” appears in the expansion block, but Borderlands 3The first DLC boasts all the tropes of the genre. Not only does Moxxi need to complete the impossible task of stealing the casino from Handsome Jack’s outer space, but she recruits a team of renegades to do just that. From Handsome Jack’s doppelganger, Timothy, to the fire lover Ember, the misfits team’s plan comes together in a way one would expect from a Heist story.
- Weapons, love and tentacles – Romance and cosmic terror: Borderlands 3The second post-launch expansion covers the marriage of Sir Hammerlock and Wainwright Jakobs. Along with several Jakobs exclusive weapons to acquire, the expansion has some heavy connections to The Thing – with the planet called Xylourgos being one of them. With the entirety of The Lodge serving as a reference to classic stories of cosmic horror, one of its inspirations from two genres is obvious. Several tropes of romance stories also appear, with Wainwright and Hammerlock questioning whether their relationship is going to work.
- Bounty of Blood – Western: Much like its predecessors, Borderlands 3The third expansion of doesn’t try to hide its gender inspirations. Although the bandits may be riding dinosaur-like “demons” instead of horses, everything else lines up perfectly with what would be seen in a western. The downtown area is an old-style town run by a sheriff, while villain Rose wears a cowboy hat and a stylish revolver. While the Japanese architecture of the planet Gehenna helps to make the places stand out from the usual western, the history and themes are not outside the Western genre.
- Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck – Science Fiction: While Krieg’s expansion is the most difficult to restrict in terms of inspiration, the premise of his story can be connected to science fiction stories. In addition to highlighting the experimentation done on Krieg to make him who he is, the whole DLC takes place inside the character’s mind, with Krieg changing the surroundings and the characters within the invented world. The genius scientist Tannis helping the Vault Hunters get into Krieg’s brain at the start of the DLC screams Sci-Fi too, as there are few other genres that can match these outstanding concepts.
- The Designer’s Cut – Game Shows: Whereas Borderlands 3‘s Designer’s Cut is made of different content and does not function as a normal expansion, this could have been the place where developer Gearbox put an end to the pattern of film and TV themed releases. Instead, he continued with the Arms Race roguelike game mode. With return Borderlands 2 Vault Hunters Axton and Salvador calling the action, the whole event is treated as a game show, with the comments being fun and the “awards” being huge weapon launches.
Clearly, Gearbox has an affinity for covering popular genres, with Borderlands 2 playing Fantasy through the beloved DLC Assault on Dragon Keep. Seeing this trend continue in Borderlands 3 is intriguing and may imply that future Borderlands games will keep that configuration intact. Regardless of whether there are more film and TV-themed DLCs in future games, Borderlands 3The director’s version has been confirmed to continue this tradition – bringing another popular genre of films and television to the Borderlands universe.
The inspiration for Ava’s DLC Questline
Borderlands 3Director’s Cut has received a lot of praise for his Multiverse skins, battle pass system and chief of attack, but his new Ava story is just as interesting. Story missions could be Gearbox’s chance to make one of the Borderlands 3Ava’s most despised characters are likable, as many have questioned Ava’s attitude during the game’s main story. Regardless of the success of the missions in this area, they continue the pattern of inspiration of the genre.
In these missions, players will assist the young mermaid in a series of murder mysteries. If the inspirations of the detective story were not clear enough, the structure of the mission should alert players to the genre that the Gearbox is honoring. With the extra missions where players look for environmental clues at crime scenes, Ava’s missions seem to lean as heavily towards mystery fiction as previous wave expansions from Westerns and Heists.
Like Guns, Love and Tentacles, Ava’s quest chain has a second inspiration, drawing from ghost-hunting programs in style. While players explore several different planets to resolve the archived cases, Ava will document all of the discoveries through a podcast entitled “Mysteriouslier”. With the mysteries described by Gearbox as “potentially supernatural killings”, Borderlands 3Vault Hunters can handle ghosts in the next DLC. With important casting decisions for the Borderlands film being developed, and great progress being made in the adaptation, it seems appropriate that Borderlands 3 saw its DLC content so heavily influenced by the film.
Borderlands 3 is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.
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