Borderlands 4’s first major paid DLC, Story Pack 1: Mad Ellie and The Vault of the Damned, has finally landed, bringing with it more story, a new area, more bosses, loot and another Vault Hunter. We’re still on the planet Kairos, but with a stop into something else altogether, whether it be interdimensional or almost like stepping into a sci-fi nightmare, the DLC visits expanses I didn’t expect for a Borderlands title, but it doesn’t quite stick the landing.

Mad Ellie and The Vault of the Damned focuses on Borderlands mainstay Ellie and a mysterious series of events in the new region, The Whispering Glacier. Alongside Ellie, recurring companions and new acquaintances you’ll explore, loot and shoot your way through a campaign focusing on a mysterious pendant and series of anomalies, adding some interesting implications to Borderlands lore which are touched on but left at enough of a surface level that the story felt like it needed more fleshing out.

I enjoyed the few hours I had in The Whispering Glacier, amongst the icy fields, caverns and wreckages; the locations were varied enough, with the occasional side mission or activity. It’s another mostly wasteland-style region with enemy encounters, corrupted areas and collectables. It was when I got into the areas beyond these that I began getting immersed in Mad Ellie and The Vault of the Damned, with a fusion of sci-fi and Eldritch elements, but it didn’t delve as deeply as I would have liked it to.

Some moments deviated from the gameplay I’ve come to expect from Borderlands, almost akin to sci-fi horror, and I wish it played with that a bit more, especially since it nailed the ambience with eerie music and atmospheric sounds that surprisingly made me feel on edge. Some darker tonal shifts seemed like they were going to play more of a part in the larger story that ultimately dropped off, resulting in less of a payoff than anticipated.

The highlight of the first major DLC is the addition of the playable Vault Hunter, C4SH, a cowboy-esque gunslinger bot with gambling-based mechanics. C4SH’s abilities are immensely satisfying, focusing on risk and reward to deliver hefty hits. By far my favourite skill tree was “Card Shark”, which involves drawing cards before flinging them at enemies. Cards are drawn at random with elemental damage causing burn damage, corrosive and more, and when C4SH gains luck stacks, his crit chance increases, which can one-hit foes.

“House Odds” summons totems that can draw aggro and absorb damage, buff C4SH or debuff enemies or deal hefty damage. Lastly, “Double or Nothing” is the riskiest, with C4SH taking a chance to “roll the dice” for overpowered buffs or game-changing debuffs that might not work in the players’ favour. C4SH is the kind of chaos I want in my Vault Hunter, with the potential for some insane builds that I can’t wait to test out against more of the fleshy mutated monstrocities, bandits and wildlife of Kairos.

Mad Ellie and The Vault of the Damned can be selected from the main menu of Borderlands 4 and played immediately, with your character being instantly levelled enough to unlock some initial skills so you can get right into the action. The most recent base game update has changed progression, where it’s now shared between all your Vault Hunters for the entirety of Borderlands, meaning any collectables or activities completed on one character carry to them all.

C4SH is absolutely worth playing, with an entirely different set of skills to Vex, Amon, Rafa and Harlowe – it’s just a shame that C4SH can’t be bought as a standalone Vault Hunter as a separate, more affordable option for the character only rather than having to fork out $50ish dollars for Story Pack 1.

The enemy types added in the DLC are the perfect target practice and were surprisingly unpredictable at times, especially when I found myself getting chased down and kicked by an enemy who was nothing but the bottom half of a body or having a mutated bandit that was all torso and no legs crawling after me. Three Pearlescent ultra-rare guns, eleven legendary weapons and a collection of edgy new cosmetics round out the content of Mad Ellie and The Vault of the Damned. For those looking to farm for better gear or slick new fits for your Vault Hunters, there’s a pretty solid collection here.

The major DLC pack’s story is relatively short. Still, with a reasonable amount of side missions, explorable zones, 2 main bosses and a stack of mini-bosses, I managed to sink about 4-5 hours into it easily. For around $50 AUD/$30 USD, it feels like it should be more of a full-blown expansion akin to DLC’s of previous Borderlands titles, such as the top-tier Borderlands 2 Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon’s Keep pack or Borderlands 3’s Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot. While there are more DLC’s down the line, the first major DLC could have done with some more depth.

Mad Ellie and The Vault of the Damned is essentially “more Borderlands,” which may or may not be to everyone’s liking, with minimal change from the standard formula. For the “total package” of Borderlands 4, there’s something to look forward to in the possibilities it sets up for the series. It is a promising tease of more supernatural, cosmic themes for the future Borderlands 4 DLC.

If you have the Deluxe or Super Deluxe Editions of Borderlands 4, it’s worth playing the expansion. If you’re not in a rush, it might be worth waiting for more Story Packs to release if you were looking for a stronger hit of Borderlands in one go, at possibly a cheaper price tag down the line.

Written by: Yasmin Noble