Despite what I heard before diving in, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with Tiny Tina's wonderlands. Despite some obvious flaws it manages to improve on certain aspects of The Borderlands series and lays out a solid campaign that keeps you entertained throughout. That is until you hit the DLC's.
Loading up the game for the first time I went in with pretty low expectations after hearing some bad reviews, for example I heard the overall game was totally woke (I mean what isn't these days) and it wasn't funny whatsoever, but I honestly found less agenda pushing than I thought and I have to admit I did laugh more than I expected.
Now while the humour isn't up there with the likes of Borderlands 2 it definitely holds its own and although some of the jokes didn't land whatsoever, others were genuinely laugh out loud, atleast for me. Tina is exceptionally funny as always and it's very refreshing to jump into a more well rounded version of the Dragon keep DLC from Borderlands 2.
The voice acting is superb and having people like Andy Samberg who knows how to deliver his lines perfectly really improves the overall feel and atmosphere of the game.
When it comes to music... there isn't any. I watched a few reviews on YouTube with one saying the very faint theme music that plays sounded like a cat being strangled by a violin. While I wouldn't go that far it does sound a little peculiar and apart from that there isn't any music to set the tone of certain maps or characters which is a shame. However the positive is you can play music in the background while thoroughly enjoying the gameplay.
The gameplay and core mechanics are exceptionally good. Having just finished yet another playthrough of borderlands 2 about three months ago with a friend, I noticed so many improvements, some little, some big, but all helping the game feel more well rounded and thought out. For example the fast travel really feels like an actual fast travel now. At any point you can open a portal and return to the "overworld" or to your base at brighthoof and then once you've done whatever you need to, you can jump straight back where you left off, right down to the exact inch of where you were standing. It's fantastic and simple but it's a massive improvement over having to run all the way back through an entire map to get to a fast travel station, travelling out and then having to run all the way through the map again once you return. Time saving is always appreciated for someone who plays games for a living.
The overworld is the new addition also where you navigate from a top down perspective a small version of your character on a board just like a tabletop game. It's a nice little feature that adds something new and keeps it fresh throughout your playthrough as you collect dice, shrine pieces and take on encampments of enemies to get better loot.
The levelling system and progression is as always superb. This is the main reason I play games like borderlands, the division, and almost any other looter shooters I can get my hands on. Good progression in a game is such a rarity these days with games like Forza giving you Lamborghinis at the start of the game, here here in Tiny Tinas it's a slow but constant building towards an over powered badass who is (almost) impossible to kill. You start by getting more loot than ever before but you have to pick and chose because some of it is just simply scrap for extra coins and some weapons, spells and wards can last you 5+ levels. The grind isn't really much of a grind at all when you always feel like you're improving your character and making them stronger with each passing hour. That's why I love looter shooters so much.
While the main story is very good and side missions feel better than ever, the end game just isn't as good in my opinion. It's a repetitive slog of running through chaos chambers time after time trying to improve your chaos level and hoping to find some better gear along the way. While this is fun at first it does wain after around 5 hours and you tend to simply play the game less at this point.
DLC's: Well I have to say I completely understand the outrage on this. People paid full price for a season pass or bought a very expensive edition of the game only to be hit with 4 pitiful excuses for added content.
Some are 1 hour tops, some are 10 minutes of gameplay with extra legendary weapons or items added. Now while I do understand this game was developed at a time where people were having to work from home and that does bring certain struggles and issues, it's simply unacceptable to call these things DLC's. Having played some of the best DLC's ever in the Borderlands series it's a real shame to be let down by gearbox on this. The only positive for myself is that during Black Friday I managed to get the chaotic great edition of the game with included season pass for £35 ($40) less than half the price of the game when it was released. If I had paid full price for the season pass then I would be much more upset so I can completely understand the backlash on this topic.
Overall a game that will definitely keep borderlands fans happy and although there is lots of improvements and adjustments that make the experience feel more well rounded than ever, it's slightly let down by very poor DLC's and a somewhat repetitive end game, however it's still absolutely worth playing and even if you don't laugh at the story or don't like the characters the gameplay itself will keep you thoroughly entertained.
