I've never played any Borderlands game. What should I expect here?

[ExcelElmira]

Got this for free. Is this a good game? Reviews are mixed, though most (all) of the negative reviews just criticize the release.

[sokolov]

Short game, without doing sidequests you'll probably be done within an hour or two.
You are off better to actually play Borderlands 2 as you will understand MUCH MUCH more.

[Natsuki]

yes its worth playing but super easy because you earn double the xp i believe and you should know that this game is a standalone DLC from borderlands2. Go for it and give it a try and if you like the game then consider buying Borderlands: Handsome edition as it includes Borderlands 2 with all DLCs AND Borderlands pre-sequal with all DLCS for a huge discount of 94%!!! which i HIGHLY recommend as BL2 is one of the best games EVER.

[b0rg]

If you go into it as a new player I think this game is fine if you realize what it is and adjust expectations accordingly. It's a beefed up game demo that lets you play way more than demos usually would. Basically everything of substance here was in Borderlands 2 as a dlc. To make it stand alone they had to pack some boss loot tables with tons of base game items. That makes farming for what you want a little painful, and Borderlands 2 already had issues there. You also miss the story context that made this story line actually have an impact in Borderlands 2. You do eventually understand it, but if you have played the campaign of Borderlands 2 before seeing this you understand from the start and it just means more. They released this just prior to Wonderlands and at 100% off like it is now to drum up more hype for that game and give them an easy 100% discount during sales as this was basically a quick port of existing code they never intended to make money from.

[d.]

I personally found it extremely annoying to start with. When I was doing it as a DLC I was leveled up and had all the gear and it was just fine.. here? nope, you're immediately paired with guys with all kinds of resistances and crap gear.
I don't think you'll have a "true" Borderlands experience with this standalone item.

[Nero]

This is just a DLC cut from Borderlands 2 as a standalone game, pretty much spoils bl2 with it as well.

[Looka]

As a super-huge fan of the Borderlands franchise, but not necessarily a fan of Gearbox, I suggest you just put this thing aside, wait for a sale on Borderlands 2 GOTY (which I recall it includes the Assault on Dragon's Keep DLC) AND PLAY THE ENTIRE BL2 game FIRST, before anything else (duh!).

Also, I just can't stress enough on the following:
a. Do not treat the game as "just a goofy FPS. It truly is much more than this !

b. Play it SOLO on your first run, NO MATTER WHAT ! "Co-Op on first run" will simply RUIN your experience; you will most likely miss A LOT of memes, jokes and stuff.

c. DO NOT SKIP-SKIP-SKIP ! DO NOT IGNORE THE SIDE-QUESTS ! Quite the contrary, do the side-quests as soon as they become available, then continue on the main story.
The SLOWER you'll play it and the MORE attention you'll pay to whatever you see/hear in the game, the MORE YOU'LL LOVE IT !

d. Pay attention to details ! Story, dialogues, loot descriptions, posters on the walls, you name it. The beauty of Borderlands is in these details ! I really mean it !

e. When you finally finished your first solo run of the entire story, feel free to either play Tiny Tina' s Assault on Dragon's Keep DLC (or, well, <this "standalone"> you got for free). AGAIN, RUN IT SOLO on your first run.


Weird "spoiler" alert: If you never played any fantasy RPG and you have no clue about the "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" concept then you might just fail to understand the purpose of the entire DLC and most of its jokes.

[ExcelElmira]

Originally posted by Looka:

As ...

Thanks for the detailed high effort answer!

[Pocahawtness]

Borderlands I, II, and III are brilliant games. This is a just a taste but it's free. How can it not be a good thing?