Borderlands: Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot

 PC
User Score
3.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 74 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 74
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 74
  3. Negative: 48 out of 74

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  1. ThomasI
    Jan 11, 2010
    4
    This is impossible to do alone. It seems like Gearbox wasn't really even trying here. It's just a series of arena battles ala Unreal on the hardest difficulty setting. Each wave will punish you silly and the "wildcard" system will more than likely "randomly" assign a "gun wave" wild-cards like "dead aim" and "ironside" making you a sitting duck. I quit halfway through, tearing This is impossible to do alone. It seems like Gearbox wasn't really even trying here. It's just a series of arena battles ala Unreal on the hardest difficulty setting. Each wave will punish you silly and the "wildcard" system will more than likely "randomly" assign a "gun wave" wild-cards like "dead aim" and "ironside" making you a sitting duck. I quit halfway through, tearing my hair out.… Expand
  2. RubenM.
    Jan 29, 2010
    3
    Gearbox tried to create an exciting arena, but in my opinion they got a bad result, it is almost impossible to do it on your own, even playing with one friend is hard, furthermore you neither get loot nor experience. I just completed 2 of the 3 arenas at the beginning and i got quite dissapointed, it is always the same, the same guys, the same kind of waves, its boring, dull, and whatever Gearbox tried to create an exciting arena, but in my opinion they got a bad result, it is almost impossible to do it on your own, even playing with one friend is hard, furthermore you neither get loot nor experience. I just completed 2 of the 3 arenas at the beginning and i got quite dissapointed, it is always the same, the same guys, the same kind of waves, its boring, dull, and whatever you can imagine, except fun, not even a bit. I hope they do a better job with the third one.… Expand
  3. Headspinner
    Aug 11, 2010
    2
    For me, this game is a much worse idea than it is a DLC. I played it with friends, and it was fun, but it got boring rather quickly. The gameplay itself isn't awful, (although I've heard that the balancing is so poor that it requires 3-4). It's repetitive, but the core gameplay is still itself fun, even if it quickly loses its flavor.

    What is truly irritating about this DLC is that it is    For me, this game is a much worse idea than it is a DLC. I played it with friends, and it was fun, but it got boring rather quickly. The gameplay itself isn't awful, (although I've heard that the balancing is so poor that it requires 3-4). It's repetitive, but the core gameplay is still itself fun, even if it quickly loses its flavor.

    What is truly irritating about this DLC is that it is so painfully lazy. Everything is recylced. The entire DLC is a small, uninteresting lobby, attached to three arena portals. Each session is initially 5 rounds consisting of 5 waves per round. Each wave has a defining theme; a defining theme that never changes in order or consistency from the first wave to whichever one finally drives the player away for good. The enemies are the same from the main game, XP is discounted so as to preclude the developers from making any actual new content, and no new items or weaponry debut either.

    The DLC's narrative is a joke, and a bad one. Unlike the geniunely funny (if often uncompelling) story and atmosphere presented in the main game and the preceding DLC, The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, Moxxi's Underdome restricts it story to one or two cutscenes, leaving the gameplay to complete pointlessness. Moxxi's role is announcer, shouting the same lines to you and your team over and over during the fight. Despite being well-acted and sometimes funny, the lines quickly grow old as you hear them over and over.

    One little "feature" is that they plop randomized status effects on the team each wave. This was probably the most interesting part of the whole DLC to me. That being said, nothing new was really added. Stats were toyed with, weapons and enemies got buffed or nerfed, and sometimes maybe even the gravity would change. It's the gameplay equivalent of flickering the lights. The game was TOUTED as having new "modes" like low gravity. But even when they actually get something approaching new content, I just couldn't get over the fact that they simply screwed with numbers. Any shmuck who wanted to could go into the game files and lower the gravity if he or she so pleased. For free. It's not new.

    Each round ends with a "Boss Wave," wherin you fight a boss enemy surrounded by a handful of flunkies. My anticipation was crushed as quickly as it rose, as I soon realized that ALL of the bosses are directly copy and pasted from the main game into this "new" content. While the sidestepping of any form of continuity isn't bothersome, Borderlands doesn't take itself that seriously, the fact that EVERY chance at new content was caulked in by rehashed material just got to a point where I stopped feeling resigned and started feeling cheated.

    The final straw was when my friends and I beat each three arenas. All 15 rounds, all 75 waves of the same crap. We excitedly hurried to our long-awaited new content. SURELY, something new and exciting must follow! But all we saw were three more arena portals of the same areas with the same enemies that we had already beaten! The only difference is that they changed it from five to TWENTY rounds. And we we're long since sick of five.

    So basically this game is a disappointing casserole of old material, with a banking system and possible gravity tweak being the only truly new gameplay additions. And after you play the same thing over and over, they award you with the SAME IDENTICAL thing you just played, only FOUR TIMES LONGER. This goes beyond lazy and beyond disappointing. It feels like a scam. Although they have proven to be able to make great DLC, they actually made a DLC with almost no new content, repeated identical rehashings, and had the nerve to charge ten bucks for it. Again, if you're supremely bored and have 3 friends, Moxxi may be worth a whirl if you see it on sale. The gameplay itself isn't the issue if you can get past the mind-numbing repetition and lack of originality. The problem is how dissapointing and insulting the content or lacktherof actually is. To pass this DLC off as "new" content is false, and to push it on loyal consumers is dishonest. Buy the game, buy the other two DLCs, but for the love of God, do not waste your money on Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot. You've already played it.

    2/10    … Expand
  4. Angryanon
    Aug 12, 2010
    0
    This is the opposite of fun. In fact, this DLC is work, grindy, grindy work. If I had wanted to play grindy games, I would play MMOs. Even more importantly, you hardly get rewarded for the time you put into the arenas which comprise 100% of this abysmal abortion of a game. What Borderlands did right in the first DLC and the original play through was give a sense of progression to anThis is the opposite of fun. In fact, this DLC is work, grindy, grindy work. If I had wanted to play grindy games, I would play MMOs. Even more importantly, you hardly get rewarded for the time you put into the arenas which comprise 100% of this abysmal abortion of a game. What Borderlands did right in the first DLC and the original play through was give a sense of progression to an otherwise storyless, somewhat dreary game. There is not a single aspect of progression, at all. No exp. No weapon level ups. No worthy gun upgrades. Honestly, skip this trash. It's **** awful.… Expand
  5. JimCorbett
    Sep 1, 2012
    3
    Totaly crap. You dont earn exp at all, you only get a few loot items at the end of a round... the only real reason to get it is for the bank and upgrades that are available to purchase. Stay away.
  6. Breadbro
    Dec 24, 2021
    0
    This dlc is unfair drawn out and rushed if you’re play goty enhanced just skip it there are no good rewards the only good thing about it is the bank so put your items in the bank and leave
  7. StephenV.
    Jan 8, 2010
    9
    Very well made add-on/DLC for the PC it holds you interest and great to play with friends. However it lacks single player capability's. Its almost impossible to play solo.
  8. D.S.
    Feb 1, 2010
    0
    Everything an expansion should NOT be. A total, abysmal failure in all of its aspects; aspects which should not be metioned due to their non-existence. In short, a monotonous, rewardless and absolutely infuriating arena shooter with no reason to pick up even for free. Gearbox, when they made this abomination, should have at least taken into account that the multiplayer component on the PC Everything an expansion should NOT be. A total, abysmal failure in all of its aspects; aspects which should not be metioned due to their non-existence. In short, a monotonous, rewardless and absolutely infuriating arena shooter with no reason to pick up even for free. Gearbox, when they made this abomination, should have at least taken into account that the multiplayer component on the PC is broken, as this expansion REQUIRES 4 players to play, unless you're masochistic, of course.… Expand
  9. MarcusR.
    Mar 2, 2010
    1
    Possibly when the DLC is $3 or under it may be worth it, but until then it's a rage producer. Not necessarily because of the difficulty but because it's just so god awful!
  10. Brumbek
    Oct 6, 2012
    4
    This DLC is the exact opposite of what Borderlands is all about. Instead of unique environments, funny quests, leveling up, and lots of loot, Moxxi provides tedious arena combat for meager rewards. The matches are way too long. The random modifier system can result in stupidly hard situations. A score of 4 because it just isn't fun.
  11. mpr
    May 31, 2011
    2
    Fun for 5 minutes, then it's just boring and annoying. They didn't even bother to add new monsters or even try to properly balance the game for single players... Neither worth my time nor money.
  12. xZippy
    Dec 2, 2012
    5
    There's not much appeal here, and is my least favorite expansion of the 4. The character of Moxxi and the potential of this expansion with multiplayer are the only good points. Other than that, you're given a survival-wave arena style game that can be fun for an hour or two, but dries out immensely after that.
  13. LevelsAndGear
    May 10, 2012
    1
    A good idea gone bad, unfortunately the arena combat highlights Borderlands major flaws such as: terrible AI, repetitiveness. Then, remove everything fun from the original by removing story, plot, quests,and loot - then add cheap randomizers to the encounters. All of this leads to a unfun DLC that could have been a lot better. It all seems like a piece of a larger project that somehow gotA good idea gone bad, unfortunately the arena combat highlights Borderlands major flaws such as: terrible AI, repetitiveness. Then, remove everything fun from the original by removing story, plot, quests,and loot - then add cheap randomizers to the encounters. All of this leads to a unfun DLC that could have been a lot better. It all seems like a piece of a larger project that somehow got hacked off and patched up. I like the idea, I hated the execution.… Expand
  14. CriticNamedZack
    Sep 1, 2019
    3
    Story: Once again just like Zombie Island, Underdome Riot is a separate story from the conclusion of the main game. The story here is very basic and is a much smaller scale compared to everything before it. It really just comes down to the new character Mad Moxxi wanting combatants (The player/s) fighting in her Underdome to prove themselves to her so she can find her new husband (orStory: Once again just like Zombie Island, Underdome Riot is a separate story from the conclusion of the main game. The story here is very basic and is a much smaller scale compared to everything before it. It really just comes down to the new character Mad Moxxi wanting combatants (The player/s) fighting in her Underdome to prove themselves to her so she can find her new husband (or wife). It's clear this story is not meant to be taken seriously and not the main focus of the DLC. Moxxi is the only new NPC in the game and all she does is shouts out the same lines over and over again in the arena. Missed opportunity to develop her further in this DLC.

    Gameplay: Underdome serves as the combat arena part of Borderlands and it has a lot of problems, but before I get to get let's start with the pluses. You now have a bank with upgrades to the storage to purchase which serves to store the loot you've collected which is an excellent and needed edition. I really like the reference to Mad Max 3 and The Running Man scattered about through the DLC. I like the random challenges within each wave of the arena and the two skill points you unlock by beating all three arenas once is really neat. Now to rip into the gameplay. The main issue with The Underdome is it's very repetitive and gets boring very quickly. This is a problem with some arena/horde modes in games and this is one of the cases, especially if you choose to do the 20 round challenges which can take you a few hours and no real reward in the end besides an achievement. They recycle all the enemies and bosses from the main game, which may sound cool, but there is no new enemies and you will get sick of seeing the enemies quickly. No new loot and the loot that drops in the middle of the arena after each round is very rarely a decent weapon and it's so slow and not worth grinding for good loot. Although the arenas are fairly good mini areas based from both areas in the main game and even Zombie Island, they are way too big. So most waves you end up having to run around to find hiding enemies and for arena combat that's something that should never happen. It just feels like this was only really meant for the co-op players. You can play it solo, however it's a lot more miserable then it already is.

    Sound and Music: The sound effects are more or less the same as before and that means they work well and no issues.the only new voice to even mention to Mad Moxxi herself and since she just shouts out sexual innuendos and pop culture references most of the time on repeat, she gets irritating very fast. We do have some new music and I have to say I do like it. There's not much of it at all, but it works really well in the arena and the boss music is quite intense.

    Performance and Graphics: Didn't have a single issue with the performance and the graphics are just as attractive to the eye as usual.

    Verdict: Gearbox seemed like they wanted to add some new endgame content to Borderlands and just to try something different. Although I give credit to ambition and effort, but did they really try? It's a mess once you get into the arena and it's the bump in the road in terms of the content of the game. I mean I enjoyed the side quest "Circle of Slaughter" which was a mini arena more then this. Dispite some nice new additions, this is a really terrible DLC mainly just how boring and mindless the whole thing feels. Only recommend playing this more the bank and skill points... that's it.

    Story: 3/10
    Gameplay: 3/10
    Sound and Music: 7.5/10
    Performance and Graphics: 9/10
    Borderlands: Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot: 3.8/10    … Expand
  15. Captain_Chaos
    Jun 22, 2016
    5
    The first of many "arena" addons for the Borderlands series, Underdome Riot brought challenging, close-quarters battles with gameplay mutators to mix things up, as well as a bank to stash your guns in, but could not be used to farm for XP. You better bring along at least one friend for backup.
  16. pawq
    Sep 8, 2022
    3
    This DLC is quite simply an insult to players. All you get is 3 arenas with 2 challenges in each. In the first challenge you have to survive 5 rounds, 5 waves each, of very repeatable enemies, in one sitting. This takes about 40-60min for each arena, and gets really boring halfway through. And the second challenge? Exactly the same, but 20 rounds instead of 5, meaning you have to goThis DLC is quite simply an insult to players. All you get is 3 arenas with 2 challenges in each. In the first challenge you have to survive 5 rounds, 5 waves each, of very repeatable enemies, in one sitting. This takes about 40-60min for each arena, and gets really boring halfway through. And the second challenge? Exactly the same, but 20 rounds instead of 5, meaning you have to go through 100 repeatable waves IN ONE SITTING. According to some posts this takes about 5-8 hours (IN ONE SITTING), according to others it's too painfully boring even with god-mode on.

    Oh, and to make matters worse, occasionally it glitches and doesn't spawn a new wave thinking the previous one is unfinished. I lost about an hour because of it (happened twice in the 5-round challenges), but I saw someone say it happened after 10+ rounds. GG.    … Expand
  17. Ciocolici
    Jul 31, 2023
    3
    "Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot" DLC for Borderlands offers a mixed bag of experiences. On one hand, it includes one quest, a free skill, and three initial arenas, along with a bank to store your items. However, the three additional arenas that open up later are essentially the same as the initial ones but significantly longer and more challenging.

    While the idea of arenas may seem    "Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot" DLC for Borderlands offers a mixed bag of experiences. On one hand, it includes one quest, a free skill, and three initial arenas, along with a bank to store your items. However, the three additional arenas that open up later are essentially the same as the initial ones but significantly longer and more challenging.

    While the idea of arenas may seem exciting, they unfortunately fall short in execution. The repetitive nature of the arenas and lackluster A.I. make the experience less enjoyable. Players may find themselves frustrated while searching for the last elusive bandit in these lengthy battles.

    The DLC starts with a single quest that requires completing the first three arenas. Though doable solo, these initial arenas aren't particularly engaging. However, the true test begins when the next three arenas unlock after defeating the first batch. These extended arenas demand a significant time investment of around three hours each and become extremely difficult. To overcome them, cooperative play with others is essential.

    Despite the challenges, the rewards are meager. Apart from a free skill and access to the bank, there's little else to gain from completing the arenas. This lack of meaningful rewards leaves players questioning the designers' decisions and the overall purpose of the DLC.

    In summary, "Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot" may only be worthwhile for those seeking a free skill and the bank, as well as dedicated achievement hunters aiming for 100% completion. However, the repetitive and unfulfilling nature of the arenas makes this DLC rather underwhelming. If possible, it might be best to skip this particular DLC and focus on other content that better enriches the Borderlands experience.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 6
  3. Negative: 1 out of 6
  1. IGN
    60
    Unless you have a core group of three other friends and all of you have maxed out level 50 characters, I wouldn't recommend Borderlands: Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot to you. It isn't balanced properly and, since there is no normal XP awards or loot drops, you won't find your character improving as your struggle through the endless waves.
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  2. GameShark
    50
    Being able to store weapons in the new Bank is also nice and with the ability to purchase extra storage slots you'll run out of good weapons before you run out of places to stick them. Still though, the sheer time sink involved to best every bit of the Underdome isn't balanced out by the rewards for doing so.
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  3. Gamervision
    58
    Mad Moxxi isn't worth the money. It's little more than an additional mode, and it really isn't as fun as the ones found in other games.
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