The Borderlands franchise has tackled more than its share of geek culture and popular Internet memes. But until now, only two parts of the Triangle of Awesomeness have been represented. We've run into ninjas and and ungodly amount of robots. But where are the pirates? Gearbox has your answer in the form of Borderlands 2: Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty. I'm sure many of you saw this one coming a mile away, and it is really about time that we get the chance to put down some scurvy dogs. Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty is full of atmosphere, humor, and just enough variety to make it worthy of a recommendation.

As is the case with the rest of the Borderlands DLC expansions, Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty is a sidestory that has absolutely nothing to do with the main game. There's really no worrying about Handsome Jack and Hyperion here -- just pirate stuff, y'know?

Downloading Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty opens up a new Fast Travel location -- Oasis. From here, you are launched into a pretty standard pirate story. You know the classic tropes: finding lost treasure, surviving the high seas, getting devoured by a giant worm, violently c*ckblocking a dirty old man, and assisting a bottle rocket-chewing necrophiliac in his quest for love. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention: no betrayal whatsoever (::wink wink X100::).

The pleasures of Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty are mainly derived from the application of Borderlands 2's particular brand of demented humor to a genre that is already campy and silly. Most new enemy types are pirate-themed versions of classic Borderlands baddies, and it's truly amazing how far a handful of visual distinctions and a different name will go.

Pandoran travelers are probably well aware of the fact that there isn't much water on the old garbage ball -- mostly, there's just garbage, garbage, dirt, more garbage, animal puke, and garbage. In Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty, it's mostly sand and rocks, with a little greenage thrown in for good measure. But a classic staple of the pirate theme is ships on the sea! Well, Gearbox one-ups that by giving players access to the hoverboat-like sand skiff. The skiffs aren't as fast as the runners, but they can be loaded with incredibly powerful harpoons.

If you jump right into Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty right after finishing off Handsome Jack, you might be surprised at the lack of challenge and the lack of decent loot. I get the feeling that this expansion is meant to be played in True Vault Hunter mode -- or at least at a lower level on Playthrough 1. Just keep that in mind before starting it up.

Borderlands 2: Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty is a solid start for what is destined to be one of the most successful cycles of downloadable content in this generation. It may not be Borderlands 2 at its very best, but it's still worth a look if you've still got that vault hunting bug. So drink up, me hearties, or something or other.