Expansion packs for first-person shooters exist for various reasons. They may be there to help extend a game’s shelf life, offer more compelling content, deliver quirky and unexpected twists to the gameplay, and more. Many of them are hailed as classics by their fans, while others have left players perplexed as to their existence.
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A strange or unexpected expansion pack does not necessarily mean it’s bad. In actuality, sometimes the content on offer ends up being well-received by critics and fans alike, perhaps containing humorous parodies and quirky jokes amidst the exciting gunfights and over-the-top action. These add-ons are most certainly just some of the strangest ever released for FPS titles of all kinds.
7 Duke Caribbean: Life’s a Beach
Aliens Are Here To Crash Duke's Party
“After a few days of R’n’R, I’ll be ready for more action!” These were Duke Nukem’s famous last words during the ending of the critically acclaimedDuke Nukem 3D. Due to its popularity, third-party companies like Sunstorm Interactive were allowed to produce official expansion packs for the game, like Duke Caribbean: Life’s a Beach.
A whole new selection of levels is on offer, set in beaches, marketplaces, a cruise ship, and even a water ride park. Weapons are replaced with water guns, bamboo weapons, and exploding fruit, while the reworked alien designs now feature them wearing Hawaiian shirts, rubber dinghies, snorkels, sunglasses, and bathrobes. Duke even has a new selection of summer-themed one-liners by Dave Manuel, who sounds just like the hero’s original voice actor, Jon St. John. Fans of the franchise have praised the expansion for delivering excellent levels and juxtaposing the tone to the gloominess of the base game while retaining the cheeky humor as well.
6 Redneck Rampage: Cuss Pack
A Bonus Expansion With Ruder Dialogue For Protagonist And Enemies
- Released: April 23, 1997
- Developer: Xatrix Entertainment
- Platforms: PC
While Redneck Rampage was developed on the same game engine as Duke Nukem 3D, that being Ken Silverman’s Build engine, it didn’t prove to be quite as much of a polished experience. Nonetheless, some retro FPS fans still admire its lowbrow humor and detailed visuals, along with some clever additions like a food/drink meter that must be kept in balance to avoid the potential side effects of being too hungry or drunk. While it did get two official expansions, there was a third, small-scale one as well.
The Cuss Pack was a bonus add-on offered to players who bought the game for an extra dollar, and all it does is unlock rude, profanity-filled dialogue ready to be spouted by Leonard and the evil clones of his neighbors. Old Coots, for instance, will not say “I’m gonna get ya,” and will instead scream “I’m gonna f*** ya!” It’s certainly a peculiar inclusion and not exactly one that players enjoy enabling due to the novelty wearing off quickly.
5 POSTAL 2: Paradise Lost
Revisit A Post-Apocalyptic Town Of Paradise, And Discover It's Still Anything But
Postal 2
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Released
- April 13, 2003
- Developer
- Running with Scissors
- Genre(s)
- FPS , Open-World
After the critically panned reception of POSTAL 3 (the Russian economy collapsing resulted in an unfinished build being released by a third-party developer, Akella), Running With Scissors teamed up with members of the POSTAL 2 modding community to release an expansion pack over a decade after the second game’s release. Cheekily, it disregarded the events of the third game as a comatose-induced dream.
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In POSTAL 2: Paradise Lost, the Postal Dude returns to the town of Paradise (which he previously nuked for a marketing campaign) to look for his missing dog, Champ. Along the way, players will stumble across violent animal activists, zombies, hippie terrorists, and a mutant cow-demon version of one of the developers. The results are both hilarious and genuinely engaging, especially for those who enjoy the mechanics of the base game. With surreal cameos, barmy quests, and crazy combat encounters, players can approach the add-on in any way they want, either like a speed-running pacifist or a gun-toting maniac.
4 Duke Nukem Forever: Hail to the Icons Parody Pack
Duke It Out In Four Lampooned Levels
While Duke Nukem Forever received harsh criticism from some fans and many critics, there was still enough of a following and a player base to keep its multiplayer going. In any case, two DLCs were released for the title, the first being the Hail to the Icons Parody Pack. It includes four maps, four additional weapons, and three additional game modes.
These new levels parody Team Fortress 2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, DOOM, and Halo. Each of these new levels lampoons aspects of each, like how the Halo parody is a reinterpretation of ‘Blood Gulch’, albeit taking place in a child’s sandbox with shrunken versions of Duke. The weapons are deliberately overpowered, likely to poke fun at the lack of balance in these games, like how the Call of Duty parody’s N00b T00b fires up to ten exploding potatoes with a massive explosion radius. The whole pack is tongue-in-cheek, and a lot of fun to play, providing one can find a match running.
3 Fallout: New Vegas - Old World Blues
Crazy Cyborg Scientists Need The Courier's Help
Out of all the expansion packs for the critically acclaimed FPS RPG Fallout: New Vegas, Old World Blues is by far the weirdest. The Courier is abducted and taken to the Pre-War research site Big MT, where their spine, heart, and brain are replaced by synthetic versions. Meanwhile, the residents of the Think Tank - the central hub of the massive landscape - are a selection of brains in strange contraptions, and these quirky types are desperate for a player’s help to stop the evil Dr. Mobius and get those organs back.
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There are cyber-dogs, crazed Lobotomites, malfunctioning robots, mutated plants, Robo-Scorpions, and skeletons that are being kept alive by their harness suits here. Weapons like a chaingun powered by a dog’s brain can be acquired while the player explores the testing grounds for loot and their respective body parts, not to mention upgrades for their new home and all of its talking appliances, like an evil toaster who wants to burn down the world. Many consider it to be the best expansion of the bunch, and it’s by no means a mystery to see why they think so.
2 Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
Eighties Parodies Galore Awaits
Raiding bases and sneaking through the wilderness in Far Cry 3 was beloved by many, and so was its standalone expansion, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. For the most part, the gameplay was the same, but everything wrapped around it was completely different.
Its synth-wave soundtrack, neon lighting, blatant parodies of eighties movies and fiction, and overall tone made the whole thing feel like something completely different from anything in the series. That being said, it was most certainly a gripping and engaging experience for many, thereby prompting fans to beg Ubisoft for a follow-up entry in this universe. People can’t get enough of hunting down cyborg foes, while protagonist Rex Colt makes ridiculous quips akin to an old Schwarzenegger film.
1 Borderlands 2: Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep
Plunder Dungeons And Defeat Monsters With Guns, Not Swords
With the power of imagination, the Vault Hunters of Borderlands 2 are able to take a break from their looting and shooting to play a fantasy board game, where they participate in even more looting and shooting. Borderlands 2: Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep takes place in a fictional fantasy world, where the dungeon master, Tiny Tina, calls the shots.
Not only is the concept of blasting knights, dragons, and mimics with futuristic weaponry odd enough, but Tina often interferes and alters the game on the fly, suddenly changing the weather, crushing certain characters with a giant die, and so on. Many of the Borderlands cast are reintroduced here, all while taking on medieval-themed roles. Gearbox thought it was so goofy and entertaining that it deserved not only a standalone release but also a sequel as well.
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