SPOILERS

I usually don't write reviews, but I am so disappointed with this DLC that I feel the need to.

Borderlands has always been my favorite series to play and I have come back to the games many times over the years. It always knew what it was - a looter shooter in an interesting setting, combined with RPG elements and straightforward stories.

However, since a good story became more and more relevant to me over the years, I can't but feel embarrassed by what gearbox produced not only with parts of Borderlands 3's main campaign, but especially this DLC.

The setting and style is really unique and interesting despite recycled NPC and mob models. When you first get introduced to the rotten planet that Gehenna is, there seem to be countless opportunities for interesting characters and plot devices, probably even enough to create a standalone title like the pre-sequel was. The relationship between Juno and the Sheriff, Rose's background, the experiments the so called "Company" made here, everything seems to contain secrets and mysteries. And only few minutes into the DLC, after meeting Rose as some sort of lone but friendly wolf, she becomes even more interesting when she turns out to be the villain.

But then everything goes down the drain. She's the villain now, but nobody asks why. I had the feeling that in the end the vault hunters would find out who the villain really is and that they would team up with Rose to fight them. Instead, Rose is just portrayed as being evil. The whole personality that was drawn by the contrast of her both being helpful to the vault hunter and being the gang leader they're supposed to hunt down gets ruined here. And she's not the only interesting character that suffers from this fate. Why for example did the Sheriff want Juno to be his successor? What's the deal with the old lady in the forest? What exactly did the Company do on the planet? And what's the deal with the narrator who claims he's being called liar? Later in the story, Juno and the former Sheriff's deputy join forces after distrusting each other for years, and just because Juno tells him that she needs him. That's the most superficial storytelling possible.

All in all, Bounty of Blood doesn't lack opportunity, neither does it lack inspiration. But it lacks vision and the love for detail that the developers have shown before in Borderlands 2 and the whole story around Handsome Jack. Therefore it truly suffers from lazy storytelling. And this unfortunately just resembles the story of Borderlands 3's main campaign.