"The old rules, a generation of games, 4 full DLC, bring a 10-hour or so, independent of the game itself, but also very "borderlands" experience." 」
I believe that most of the veteran players of the Borderlands series have figured out the rules of GearBox's DLC, and Borderlands 3 is naturally no exception, after "Mosy's Handsome Masterpiece Robbery Battle" and "Gun, Love and Tentacle Wedding Battle", the name "Blood Dart: Redemption Battle" (hereinafter referred to as "Blood Dart") has finally met with all the players, of course, the next DLC is already on the way (they say it themselves).
I have to say that in terms of spoofing, GearBox has always been very good, and this title is afraid that players will not associate with the "straight ball blow" of "Red Dead Redemption".
▲ I knew that there would definitely be netizens who would be caught by GearBox
Similar to the first two DLC, as an independent DLC, the "Blood Dart" also has several new maps, a story of its own, about 10 hours or so to pass the level, but also get no less than 30 kinds of new weapons and equipment and hallows, but and DLC1's handsome Jack spiritual return and DLC2's elderly friends finally become positive results, the story of "Blood Dart" is more independent, there are almost no original characters in it, and the game itself is almost 2 different stories.
As long as you reach level 13 and turn on the function of the Vault spaceship, you can directly start playing "Blood Dart", but this does not mean that it will become "Borderlands" tasteless.
Before I start today's review, I'd like to throw out a key word: as I said in the title, the theme of this DLC Blood Dart is "sewing".
【Western cowboys and Japanese ronin can also sew?】 】
The Story of The Bloody Warrior takes place on a brand new planet called Hellfire, once the place where one of the rulers of the Borderlands universe (gun manufacturers) conducted biological experiments, but eventually, for some reason, the gun factory led its army and researchers to evacuate.
▲ On the Vault, the Hell Star is unremarkable
But if you pay a little attention to the signs on the "gun chests" that can be seen everywhere on hell, or the thick western cowboy style revealed by some iconic buildings, it is not difficult to guess that this gun factory is the "Jacobs" with a heavier role in the 3rd generation, on the surface, the Hellfire Star is also a "borderland" abandoned by the rulers, just like the Pandora Star that was once the 1st generation and 2nd generation.
When you meet the first important character "Rose" in the Vault Hunter (you), or when you enter the only legal place on Hellfire, the small town "Ruins", you will surely exclaim as much as I do: what a fairy stitching!
Cowboy hat, Martin boots and revolver, in addition to the three major pieces of cowboy's soul, you will find that Rose is more in line with another image that we common in the Oriental sword and halberd - Ronin, her right shoulder has a large tattoo of Yan Shengzhi's forearm, a simple cloth strip wraps the entire upper body, and also wears a very harmonious wide-legged cultivation pants, of course, it is indispensable as the main weapon of the Tai Dao, watching her carry the Tai Knife in the monster swarm, the sense of violation of the Eastern and Western cultural splicing actually disappeared wonderfully.
▲ It is a little tasteless to carry a knife
The fusion flavor of the ruins town is even more obvious, because the overall desolate art style of "Borderlands", the first sight of the ruins is the same as most of the western towns we remember, the yellowed land and buildings, the dust and tumbleweeds that will roll up when the wind blows, the bar that draws guns and duels without a word, and the sheriff who hears the news to maintain law and order, these classic elements are all there.
If you look closely, you should be able to find that there are many places in the ruins that are not so western, such as the various slope-top structure houses that are certainly not seen in the perennial drought of the west, although they are all wooden structures, but the style of the houses in the ruins is also more Japanese, and in the corner of the town, there is actually a small torii gate.
The reason why the stitching of the "Blood Dart" thing is not so strong, I think it is still in gearBox's skillful control of the "conceptual art style" of "Borderlands", Japanese sword and western cowboy seem to be a collection of 2 except for the very romantic there is no intersection, but the most well-known Western movie "Red Dead Redemption", which borrows a lot of the famous Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's sword film "Heart Stick" creativity, can directly let the two appear at the same time, Box Gear and "Borderlands" It was indeed the first.
And the two styles in "Blood Dart" have deviated from the original image to make the two styles closer, such as Rose's simple cloth wrapping, using a bold and high-contrast basic tone, and a very cowboy shawl as a finishing touch, and the architecture of the ruins does not have our traditional impression of Japanese refinement and cleanliness, but like other towns in Borderlands, with a little dirty rebelliousness.
So the scene of a cowboy with a revolver and a samurai sword standing outside the bar for a duel, I believe no man can refuse this romantic double superposition. Therefore, in terms of the overall atmosphere of the game and storytelling, the "Blood Dart" thing is integrated very naturally and has an inner flavor.
【What is the taste of TRPG and Japanese box court superposition?】 】
In terms of gameplay, the stitching behavior of the "Blood Dart" is even more obvious.
Can be integrated into the shooter game into a complete "attributes, skills, equipment, mission" RPG gameplay, "Borderlands" in the gameplay fusion can also be called the old seniority, in all DLC, "Little Tina Invasion dragon castle" is also the one that impressed me the most, because it on the basis of "Borderlands", but also integrated a little running group and battle flag elements, so that the player's game experience becomes more colorful.
So in "Blood Darts", GearBox also sewed some other things into it.
For example, throughout the game, there will often be a narration similar to KP (the host of the running group game), explaining your actions, describing the story and the environment you are in, giving people a feeling of reading a novel, and making better judgments;
Outside the main line, there will also be many side quests on hell, and these tasks in addition to running errands and fighting monsters, there are also many parts that need to be routed, according to your different choices, the mission will enter different branch routes, although many choices are "beans are crushed into bean paste delicious or roasted delicious, the party you did not choose will be angry enough to draw a gun and duel with you" such a more spoof content, but in terms of freedom and sense of substitution, "Blood Dart" does have a significant improvement.
Yes, "Blood Dart" incorporates a lot of TRPG to have an ancient taste, which is not enough, in the design of the map and gameplay interaction, "Blood Dart" also has a subtle sense that can only be seen in the "Japanese Box Court".
A brief look at the three-dimensional map of the Black Forest on hell star, you should also be like me, issued a "so many twists and turns how to go ah" sigh, in the process of playing, and the body is almost a road, just look at the mini map can be smooth game experience is completely different, I did experience several times lost, open the three-dimensional map do not know how to go the kind.
And this is also the subtlety of the "Blood Dart" in the map design, because this map has a lot of small elements that can be interacted with, such as when you are facing a high wall that looks difficult to go up, you should be able to find a green "wind grass" in the nearby more hidden corners, which can help you fly to some places that are usually unreachable;
In the game flow, the Vault Hunter will master a move "Iron Sand Palm", use it against the conspicuous spores on the map, can hit the explosives inside, can be used to attack the enemy, and can also use these explosives to explode the solid walls to find some hidden routes or props;
In the mid-to-late period, Vault Hunters can also use some teleportation devices on the map through hacking techniques.
Up and down three-dimensional, layered obvious map design, even if it is the same map, through learning various abilities, using a variety of interactive elements on the map, you can also allow you to explore the area is getting bigger and bigger, "Blood Dart" in the exploration of the box court, completely achieved the height and fun that the body can not do.
[If it wasn't for DLC, it would have been better]
If I had to rank the entire Borderlands DLC series, "Blood Dart" should be able to rank in the top few, whether it is the overall art style or gameplay, the advantages of the East and west are quite naturally blended together, under the spoof and stitching, its experience is not bad, it is definitely worth you click on the icon that has not been touched for a long time, and start an adventure again on the new Hell Star.
Especially as a DLC can achieve "small and fine", but also integrated into the design of new gameplay, it can make people feel that GearBox is indeed not lazy during the epidemic.
The disadvantages, of course, are too short, have not had enough fun, it is over, I hope these good designs can continue to the design after "Borderlands", because of the epidemic, Chinese voice can not be updated synchronously, can not be the first time to hear a variety of "Xinda Yaso" localization voice is also quite regrettable.