The release of Borderlands 2 might have brought an end to the drought of loot and cooperative play in the shooter world, but apparently the retail version of the game was just the first salvo. Since being released to sterling reviews, the campaign has the inspired Mechromancer Class, and the full-blown expansion following Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty.

Obviously Gearbox Software has something special planned for fans of Borderlands 2 come the new year, and while the next dose of DLC has yet to be officially announced, the amount of new weapons and character skins from Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt is sure to keep players happy.

At this point we shouldn't be surprised that Gearbox still has some surprises in store, after slipping a BioShock reference into their expansion among other easter eggs, and the first evidence of Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt coming as just one of several reported plans for the future of the franchise. We had little more to go on than a name at that point, but the details have kept on coming in recent days.

Thanks to some Reddit sleuths who dug up all the information possible on the upcoming DLC contained in the latest update for the game, beginning with what seems to be a plot synopsis for the Big Game Hunt itself:

"Danger! Excitement! Mustaches! It's time for another episode of Vault Hunter Adventures, featuring Sir Hammerlock! In this week's tale, our hard-boiled heroes travel to the savage continent of Aegrus! Their goal? To uncover the most exotic creatures Pandora has to offer, and give 'em the old one-two!"

Along with the summary of the new content set on "the savage continent of Aegrus" comes a few rough details on what the DLC will bring with it. These are all still unofficial, but seem to offer a package in line with what's been released so far:

  • One new head and skin for each class
  • A new vehicle, called 'the Fanboat' summoned from a Catch-A-Boat station. Comes with 68 skins and corrosive, incendiary, and shock weapon mods
  • 5 story missions and 12 side quests
  • A new Stalker raid boss "the size of a small building"
  • More Seraph items
  • New enemies like the Borok and the Scaylion
  • Monster-tracking missions assigned by Sir Hammerlock
  • A self-important but not-so-well-known new enemy who is "super-pumped we're archenemies now", and who leads a tribe of jungle savages and has an evil plan that might actually work
  • A new treasure room, with a time limit

Accompanying the information on Sir Hammerlock's DLC, evidence of future updates is the promise of three customization packs (new heads and skins) for each of the five classes. These sets are named 'Domination,' 'Supremacy,' and 'Madness' Packs, and while they are included with the update, it's unknown if they'll be offered free of charge or per micro0transaction.

Even more Claptrap is also on its way (predictably) but it's the weapons and skins we're most interested in. True to expectations, Gearbox is continuing the trend of making gun-naming fun for themselves, as the following images scavenged by MP1st contain references to Jurassic Park, early explorers and more. Have a look:

[gallery exclude="175038" columns="2"]

Gearbox is making it clear that their focus is still on providing enough content to keep players playing Borderlands 2 now, and have the content to prove it. It seems to be working, as the 'shooter of the year' to some swept the title of most played game of 2012, and frankly, doesn't show signs of slowing. Of course, while the developers aren't thinking of Borderlands 3 at the moment, they do have some ideas.

It's hard to say exactly how the team could make things any bigger or better, and they're only making the game harder to follow by endlessly expanding on its base, but you won't catch us complaining.

Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt doesn't have a release date or price just yet, but when it does we'll let you know.

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Follow me on Twitter @andrew_dyce.

Source: MP1st, Reddit