herself – one of the last all-powerful
Sirens – exploring my new home is
made more distinct in its appearance
thanks to Hector’s ongoing vegetable
antics. Overgrowth and tentacle-like
vines are a common sight throughout
all of Fight For Sanctuary’s new
areas; surely, it’s a slight hint at the
much bigger visual variety players
can expect from Borderlands 3.
The pretty plants laced
throughout aren’t just
there for show, however,
instead capable of
plopping out souped-
up versions of familiar
enemy types as well
as just throwing spores
from afar.
Pandora’s pox
This slight change of scenery is
indicative of Fight For Sanctuary’s
tendency to portray familiar sights
in a fresh light, being an inherently
cool way to demonstrate the passage
of time since Handsome Jack’s
fall, as well as the current status
of fan-favourite characters like
Mordecai, Tiny Tina and yes, Lilith
too. Tales From The Borderlands’
Vaughn is without doubt the best
example of this ethos – he makes a
welcome appearance here as “your
new bandit bro”. His presence in The
Backburner demonstrates the main
franchise’s affection for Telltale’s
often overlooked episodic spin-off
and this DLC’s general insistence on
tying up loose ends. Mwah! As
such, it doesn’t take long for
me to help this corporate
money man-turned-war
chief rescue back the
remaining survivors of
his infected clan.
Back onto Fight For
Sanctuary’s main mission
path, and the journey to
take down Colonel Hector’s
infected army of New Pandora
feels like a wildly nostalgic one – and
not only because this is extra content
released a staggering seven years
later. The search for a cure to Hector’s
plant plague, for example, leads me
back to the Helios station, now left
in ruins. I also learn of Butt Stallion’s
fate post-Handsome Jack, until finally,
with a concocted antidote in hand,
I venture back into a transformed
version of Sanctuary – now dubbed
the ‘Paradise Sanctum’ by Hector and
the rest of his New Pandora army.
This time my Zer0 Assassin and
the rest of the Crimson Raiders are
fully prepared, ready to fight Hector’sinfested hordes and poisonous
plant pods head-on instead of being
chased away. My level 35 incendiary
sniper comes in handy, as predicted,
giving me a frantic but fair challenge
while burning away the competition as
I rush to Fight For Sanctuary’s finish
line. Now the only thing standing in my
way is a mutated Colonel Hector, who I
now know is a lapsed leader of a Dahl
battalion, since left abandoned by
his superiors following the company’s
collapse. That’s no excuse for
genocide, however, so I quickly gun
down the now-gargantuan menace- avoiding his sprawling tentacles at
whatever cost. Job done!
Call it a wild experiment or an
ingenious bit of marketing in the lead
up to Borderlands 3, but Commander
Lilith & The Fight For Sanctuary is
the reminder I needed as to why the
series remains the king of all looter-
shooters. No paid-for loot boxes, no
confusing release structure, just
good old-fashioned hectic gunplay
set within a stylish world that is never
afraid to poke fun at itself. And there’s
even still a new raid boss left with my
name on it. Q
“I luck out and find an incendiary
sniper, perfect for setting fire
to any green-fingered menace”
PLAYED ANYTHING GOOD RECENTLY? COME SHARE IT AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/OXMUK
ABOVE Fight For
Sanctuary
maintains
Borderlands 2’s
crude and
over-the-top
humour.
FAR LEFT
Compared to
Handsome Jack,
Colonel Hector’s
motivations and
personality are
largely
throwaway.WHAT IS IT?
The final piece of DLC for
Gearbox’s badass looter-
shooter, picking up soon
after Handsome Jack’s
downfall and setting
up events in time for
Borderlands 3’s arrival.More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 097