Zombie Island of Dr Ned

[RedRaven]

So far only available for PS3 & Xbox360, not been able to find anything on a possible PC version (but fingers crossed). The vid for it looks good. If you have it tell us here at OWG what you think. :-X

[Art Blade]

Is that vid available on youtube?  :)

[RedRaven]

The vid I watched is here - (also option to download hi-res version which is 216mb).

http://www.borderlandsthegame.com/zombieisland/uk/#trailer

Though a quick search shows up a bunch of them on Youtube.

[Art Blade]

thanks for the link, now I can watch exactly the same vid as you.  :)

[RedRaven]

Good news.

Gearbox have announced on their site today that Dr Ned's will be getting a PC release, but no date as of yet. 
Will post it asap. :-X

[Fiach]

I got it today for 360, the general consensus is that its fun, lasts about 6-8 hours depending on your skill, but most people will play it through with multiple characters I'm thinking.

800 MS points, which was pretty cheap compared to other shorter DLC's.

I'm going to wait for the patch before I play it, sometimes add-on's dont synergise with the main games without patches.

On saying that, I also got GTA4 The Ballad of Gay Tony, which is DLC, but I got it in disc form c/w Lost and the Damned, they will play without the original game, they are totally self contained, even though there are some common plot strands with the original GTA4.

[RedRaven]

 Cool, after you have played it a bit let us know what you think. cheers.

[RedRaven]

Just been looking around a few sites and found out that the PC version of Zombie Island DLC is available from Steam. Here is what is says at the wikipedia page for Borderlands.         "The PC version was released on December 9, 2009 via Steam, curiously with SecuROM."        A quick look at steam shows it at £6:30. For those of you not in the UK you will have to check it out from your end as have been unable to find a cost for any where else.

[Fiach]

Yeah it was about that on LIVE too.

Its weird they used Securom in this day and age on steam of all delivery systems.

[RedRaven]

never purchased anything through steam before, only reason its on my system is because it was needed to get the RUSE beta. Expected it to be similar to the FC2 DLC which is available from the Ubi shop. Guess I was wrong :) 

[Fiach]

A few here HATE Steam, I have only used it to authenticate HL2.

[mmosu]

I downloaded Ned's Island from the Playstation Store the other night, but I haven't been able to play it yet.  See, I have always had a problem downloading software updates for games (I always get a timeout error before the download finishes) and there is one out for Borderlands (v. 1.02 I think...) - I think this might have something to do with why Ned's Island won't play - it's like the DLC isn't integrated with the rest of the game and I can't access it.  Anyway, I've got an email in to tech support, but from what I understand there is a backlog because of the holidays, so it may be awhile before they get to me.  So my question is this - does anyone else have Ned's Island and if so, where do you access it from within the game menus when it's working properly (so I know what to look for) and did you have any problems with it? 

[Fiach]

I have game unpatched and DLC, access JACOBS COVE from any Fast Travel point  :)

[mmosu]

Yeah I thought maybe that would be it, but it doesn't show up on the fast travel list, not really sure what's going on...is it at the end of the list on yours Fiach?

[Fiach]

yes near the bottom, maybe you have to install it after downloading ?

[mmosu]

I finally got a response back - apparently I needed to disable my media network connection before starting to download the software patch, once I did this everything went fine.  Immediately when the game launched I got a message saying that Jakob's Cove was now accessible through fast travel stations.  So, it looks like if you're on PS3 you need the latest software patch installed before DLC's will run with Borderlands - I had read online this was the case with the PC version, apparently it's not an issue for Xbox.  Anyway, thanks for the input guys  :-X

Ned's Island is great so far!  I'm liking the change in atmosphere, and the new characters (especially the "possessed" claptrap in Jakob's Cove who offered to murder the person of my choosing if I would untie him  :-\) are very comical.  The zombies are great too, all are undead versions of character types you've seen before but with unique movements and attacks.  I'm picking up some good loot along the way too as well as lots of severed zombie brains, although I don't know yet what they're used for (if anything).  So two thumbs up so far  :-X :-X, will write more when I get deeper into it.   

[RedRaven]

Glad you got it sorted, still not got round to getting it for my PC yet.

[Fiach]

Glad you got sorted mate, keep us posted on the quality  :-X

[RedRaven]

This expansion is FUN. First encounter with the zombies got me thinking it would be a walk over - and the first few were. Then they start coming at you by the dozen, and from all directions. One actually spooked me as i turned round and it was right in my face trying to take a bite!
Got my first rocket launcher too ;D

[Fiach]

Are the monsters scaled to your level red?

[mmosu]

Just finished Ned's Island yesterday right before downloading Underdome, so time for some final thoughts . . .
In the end I loved this DLC - right from the beginning the humor was there, with the voice of Marcus giving the background in the form of a bedtime story being told to a little kid who keeps interrupting to ask questions and calling Marcus out when he curses  ;D  It was a new slant that kept everything familiar yet still fresh from the start.  The humor and pop culture references continued right on through to the end, with tons of references to everything from Night of the Living Dead to Scooby Doo!  The zombie combat was great, with plenty of exploding heads, flying body parts, spurting blood, brains to collect (I finally figured out what these were for - suffice to say an old friend from early in the main game makes an appearance  ;)) and plenty of surprises along the way including wereskags and Crimson Lance zombies galore in a send-up of Old Haven (called Dead Haven this time around).  Elemental effect weapons abound (ironically, it seems, as this is Jakob's Cove) so there is big potential to pick up some real beauties  :-X  The boss characters are fun and creative (although exactly what you would expect given the theme at w@&k here) and the missions you are sent on to find them are equally entertaining.  Now for the downside - there is only one New-You station in Jakob's Cove, which means that this is where you start from every time you load the game.  This doesn't seem like that big of a deal until you consider that there is some ground to cover here.  Jakob's Cove is big and so are it's outlying areas, so no matter how far you stray, if you quit and reload you have to start from the central area, which can get frusterating, especially given that you have to fight through hordes of undead in order to get anywhere.  This is a rather small thing, and some might see it as an advantage since it increases the need for zombie killing, but I found it annoying after about the 6th time of hiking all the way from town to Jakob's Mill (I eventually took to sprinting past crowds of zombies rather than taking the time to slow down and deal with them properly). 
So, all in all, this was a great addition to what is, in my opinion, an already great, addicting game.  Definately worth the $9.99 (or whatever the price is on your respective networks).   
Enjoy Mates  ;D :-X   

[Fiach]

Sounds awesome, i'm really looking forward to it now! :-X 8)

[RedRaven]

Good write up mmosu, cheers :) .
Am loving Zombie island, have even started with all 4 characters just so can see how each performs against the hordes of zombies ( really like the suicide zombies ).
So far zombie npc levels are close to characters, but got Roland at 21-22 and zombies still around 15-16, but its all good slaying.

[mmosu]

I always had the zombies a comfortable 4-5 levels below where I was at as well.  Now the Underdome is a different story - right out of the gate I'm facing waves of opponents that are either at the same level as me or 1, at the absolute most 2 levels below me.  So far it's been very challenging and I often get overwhelmed and have to start running and gunning rather than sit back at a comfortable distance and cherry-pick headshots like I tended to do in other parts of the game.  The two DLC's are totally different experiences.

[Art Blade]

just by the way, I keep reading what you guys have to say about this game, and it is entertaining and informative :)