Got two new awesome pieces of loot to share with you, and one of which has made an appearance in the past. Enjoy!
See you all next time. Until then, stay Otaku!
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Bragging Rites (9)
Hi guys!
Got two new awesome pieces of loot to share with you, and one of which has made an appearance in the past. Enjoy!
See you all next time. Until then, stay Otaku!
Got two new awesome pieces of loot to share with you, and one of which has made an appearance in the past. Enjoy!
See you all next time. Until then, stay Otaku!
Type-O Negative: October Rust Review
Hi everybody!
Well, today is Halloween, the holiday of ghost, ghouls, and candy! A holiday in which all sorts of demons, zombies, and other monsters wander the streets of our fair towns, knocking on the doors of the living, and ask for sugary sustenance. Once they consumed their sweet goods, they retreat back to the shadows, and wait until the year after to walk again.
Although I dedicated this month to reviewing Borderlands 2 DLC, I thought it might be nice to treat you all to a bonus review. It’s been quite some time since I posted up a music review, so I thought that it was about time to put one up, and since we have a spooky holiday on our hands, I came to the conclusion that Type-O Negative was the perfect band to return to the scene. With that said, let’s dive into the dark yet lovely October Rust. Trick or Treat!!
.jpg)
Background
After the success of 1993's Bloody Kisses, Peter Steele predicted that the follow-up to the album. would accentuate Type O Negative's melodic side, specifically for the purpose of making money. On August 20th of 1996, their new album would be a testament to that. Featuring more ballads than their earlier work, October Rust had less of the punk/metal sound of previous or subsequent albums, although it contains a heavier version of Neil Young’s classic song Cinnamon Girl.
It should be noted that the drum work on October Rust (And later on World Coming Down & Life is Killing Me) was programmed. Despite be credited as work done by the band’s drummer Johnny Kelly, an interview in 2007 with the band’s keyboarder & co-produced Josh Silver, stated that the drumming was all programed for October Rust, as well as the two albums mentioned above. Curiously, this album also employed the use of abrupt endings and segues to some of the songs, which is an odd thing to do in music.
Songs
Bad Ground: Put in as a joke, Bad Ground is nothing more than 38 seconds of low-level buzzing, which was meant to make it sounds like the speakers were plugged in wrong.
Untitled: The first of two little recordings, this is just the band members goofing around (Laughing because of the first track), and thanking the listener for buying the album. Nothing more, nothing less.
Love You To Death: We begin the music properly with this title, a hauntingly beautiful piece that oozes lounging & loss. The very beginning of the songs seems to bring in the fall wind, as the piano & sound effects feels as ethereal as air. When Pete begins singing, his voices adds a coldness to everything. Even when he raises his voice at certain points, the song feels like frost creeping all over your body. The guitar work does an excellent job of accentuating the emotion within the song, and the drum work is just subperb!
By My Druidess: From something cold, to something hot & sensual, Be My Druidess is an erotic tune that’s perfect for making love in Mother Nature’s wilderness. Everything in this song, from the instrumentation, to Pete Steele’s voice, heavily convey nature, mysticism, and love. If I had one gripe with it, and it’s a small gripe, it’s that Pete says the line “I’ll do anything, to make you cum” one to many times. Given the nature of this song however, I won’t complain any more than that.
Green Man: We go on through Be My Druidess, and come across another nature-based song. A little humor is added in at the beginning, as you hear the sounds of a garbage truck pulling up to a stop, someone putting garbage, and the truck heading off before the instruments & singing start. The sound effects were put in as a in-joke: when Pete Steele was growing up, one of his jobs was that of a garbage worker. He was nicknamed the “Green Man” by those who knew him, mainly due to the green jumpsuit he wore while on his routes.
As for the song itself, it’s great! The slow pace of it feels rather natural, and it makes everything feel warm & inviting. Not the erotic kind of warm that Be My Druidess gave off, but more like the kind of warmth you’d feel from friends & family.
Red Water (Christmas Mourning): The best word to describe this song is slow. Red Water never ever picks up the pace, and instead moves along sluggishly. The instrumentation is slow, and Pete Steele’s singing is slow. With that said, the sluggishness actually works in the song’s favor. Many Christmas songs are of a slow pace, and this song replicates that quite well. On top of that, the mournful nature of Red Water would not work well in a faster paced tune. Many of us feels sad around the holidays (Especially for those who’ve lost family members), and this song acts like a balm to ease our pain...so to speak.
My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend: If there was a song off October Rust, or in the band’s collection of songs in general, that fans of Type-O Negative would recognize immediately, it would be My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend. What’s curious about this song is that it moves away from the doom/gothic nature of the rest of the album, and feels more at home on a 1960s psychedelic rock album instead. Regardless, this is perhaps the most up beat yet dirtiest song on October Rust. The psychadelic rock elements create a rather happy vibe, but due to the erotic nature of the lyrics, and Pete Steele’s voice work, it creates sort of a conflict in the song, but in a good way.
Die With Me: Die With Me is an interesting song. For starters, it’s pacing has slowed down a bit, seemingly between Red Water & My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend. All throughout the tune, it goes between slow & brisk, and it knows when to do so. Secondly, this is another sad song, but nowhere near as depressing as Love you to Death or Red Water. Die With Me deals more with being separated from a significant other, and wondering if she still loves you in the end. Again, this song is sad, but it has a string of hope within somewhere.
Burnt Flowers Fallen: Burnt Flowers Fallen is one of two simplistic songs on this, the other being right after the Cinnamon Girl cover. The simplicity of this song comes down to 3 things: Pete Steele’s singing hardly changes in volume (He goes between a soft kind of loud, and something similar to whispering), the lyrics hardly change (There’s about 3 or 4 lines used), and the instrumentation hardly changes at all (Only about 3 or 4 beats are used). Although I find this to be a good song, Burnt Flowers Fallen is definitely one of the weaker tracks on October Rust.
In Praise of Bacchus: For a song title In Praise of Bacchus, it feels very pessimistic. Right out of the gate, you hear Pete Steele singing the line “Hey Bacchus/She Hates Me”, and immediately you feel a little uncomfortable. This whole song feels rather uncomfortable, but I can’t seem to step away from it for some reason. Perhaps is because Pete’s trying to make the song sound a little uplifting, or maybe it’s because the instrumentation tries to sound mystical & ethereal, like how Love You To Death did. Regardless, In Praise of Bacchus is a good song, but you might want to wash yourself afterwards.
Cinnamon Girl: Here’s the song that harkens back to Type-O Negative’s previously harder material. The lyrics themselves haven’t changed, as the band going along with Neil Young’s original lyrics. What has changed is the song’s tone: the instrumentation creates a more heavy atmosphere than the more lighthearted rock approach in the original, and Pete Steele’s voices adds a erotic vibe to the atmosphere if the song. Not quite as erotic as Be My Druidess was, but not necessarily subtle either.
The Glorious Liberation of the People's Technocratic Republic of Vinnland by the Combined Forces of the United Territories of Europa: For starters, this song’s name is long! Secondly, this is the only instrumental piece that Type-O Negative has done (As far as I know, at least). Third, this tune goes by rather quickly, playing at just over a minute (1 minute & 7 seconds). With that said, the instrumentation & sound effects combine to make a great, but very short, listening experience.
Wolf Moon (Including Zoanthropic Paranoia): We again come back to nature with the mystical-themed Wolf Moon, a tune that harkens back to primal love, to lust, and perhaps, to carnage. The instrumentation is slow, but not sluggish like in Red Water. There’s more of a faster pace in the song, as evidenced by the guitar work, and to a lesser extent the drumming. Pete Steele’s voice knocks this out of the park, as his voice is intertwined with passion and ferocity. Another great song to make out to with the one you love.
Haunted: Haunted marks the end of the songs on October Rust, as the last clip is just another sound file, but I’ll get to that in a second. The songs itself is a perfect closer to this album, and it’s one of Type-O Negative’s longest songs. Clocking in at a little over 10 minutes, the slowness of the instrumentation create a haunting atmosphere, as if the song itself was inhabited with the spirits from beyond. Pete’s singing once again sends it out of the park, as his voice feels like a cold wind caressing all over you, leaving you chilled to the bone. Keep a blanket around for this one!
Untitled (2): Like the second part of the CD, this is just another sound byte of the band. In this case, it’s Pete Steele talking for 9 seconds, saying that he’ll see you during the next tour, and saying that he hopes the album wasn’t too disappointing. A nice sendoff, actually.
Overall Impression & Rating
October Rust is about as perfect as a metal album gets! The gripes I had with it were small, and easily forgettable because of how good the music is. This album is what really propelled Type-O Negative into the spotlight a little more, but they never sold out because of it. If you are a metalhead, then this is a requirement to keep the “Metalhead” title!
October Rust gets a 9.5 out of 10.
See you in November, when we’ll look at the black sheep of the Call of Duty series. Until then, stay Otaku!
Well, today is Halloween, the holiday of ghost, ghouls, and candy! A holiday in which all sorts of demons, zombies, and other monsters wander the streets of our fair towns, knocking on the doors of the living, and ask for sugary sustenance. Once they consumed their sweet goods, they retreat back to the shadows, and wait until the year after to walk again.
Although I dedicated this month to reviewing Borderlands 2 DLC, I thought it might be nice to treat you all to a bonus review. It’s been quite some time since I posted up a music review, so I thought that it was about time to put one up, and since we have a spooky holiday on our hands, I came to the conclusion that Type-O Negative was the perfect band to return to the scene. With that said, let’s dive into the dark yet lovely October Rust. Trick or Treat!!
.jpg)
After the success of 1993's Bloody Kisses, Peter Steele predicted that the follow-up to the album. would accentuate Type O Negative's melodic side, specifically for the purpose of making money. On August 20th of 1996, their new album would be a testament to that. Featuring more ballads than their earlier work, October Rust had less of the punk/metal sound of previous or subsequent albums, although it contains a heavier version of Neil Young’s classic song Cinnamon Girl.
It should be noted that the drum work on October Rust (And later on World Coming Down & Life is Killing Me) was programmed. Despite be credited as work done by the band’s drummer Johnny Kelly, an interview in 2007 with the band’s keyboarder & co-produced Josh Silver, stated that the drumming was all programed for October Rust, as well as the two albums mentioned above. Curiously, this album also employed the use of abrupt endings and segues to some of the songs, which is an odd thing to do in music.
Songs
Bad Ground: Put in as a joke, Bad Ground is nothing more than 38 seconds of low-level buzzing, which was meant to make it sounds like the speakers were plugged in wrong.
Untitled: The first of two little recordings, this is just the band members goofing around (Laughing because of the first track), and thanking the listener for buying the album. Nothing more, nothing less.
Love You To Death: We begin the music properly with this title, a hauntingly beautiful piece that oozes lounging & loss. The very beginning of the songs seems to bring in the fall wind, as the piano & sound effects feels as ethereal as air. When Pete begins singing, his voices adds a coldness to everything. Even when he raises his voice at certain points, the song feels like frost creeping all over your body. The guitar work does an excellent job of accentuating the emotion within the song, and the drum work is just subperb!
By My Druidess: From something cold, to something hot & sensual, Be My Druidess is an erotic tune that’s perfect for making love in Mother Nature’s wilderness. Everything in this song, from the instrumentation, to Pete Steele’s voice, heavily convey nature, mysticism, and love. If I had one gripe with it, and it’s a small gripe, it’s that Pete says the line “I’ll do anything, to make you cum” one to many times. Given the nature of this song however, I won’t complain any more than that.
Green Man: We go on through Be My Druidess, and come across another nature-based song. A little humor is added in at the beginning, as you hear the sounds of a garbage truck pulling up to a stop, someone putting garbage, and the truck heading off before the instruments & singing start. The sound effects were put in as a in-joke: when Pete Steele was growing up, one of his jobs was that of a garbage worker. He was nicknamed the “Green Man” by those who knew him, mainly due to the green jumpsuit he wore while on his routes.
As for the song itself, it’s great! The slow pace of it feels rather natural, and it makes everything feel warm & inviting. Not the erotic kind of warm that Be My Druidess gave off, but more like the kind of warmth you’d feel from friends & family.
Red Water (Christmas Mourning): The best word to describe this song is slow. Red Water never ever picks up the pace, and instead moves along sluggishly. The instrumentation is slow, and Pete Steele’s singing is slow. With that said, the sluggishness actually works in the song’s favor. Many Christmas songs are of a slow pace, and this song replicates that quite well. On top of that, the mournful nature of Red Water would not work well in a faster paced tune. Many of us feels sad around the holidays (Especially for those who’ve lost family members), and this song acts like a balm to ease our pain...so to speak.
My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend: If there was a song off October Rust, or in the band’s collection of songs in general, that fans of Type-O Negative would recognize immediately, it would be My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend. What’s curious about this song is that it moves away from the doom/gothic nature of the rest of the album, and feels more at home on a 1960s psychedelic rock album instead. Regardless, this is perhaps the most up beat yet dirtiest song on October Rust. The psychadelic rock elements create a rather happy vibe, but due to the erotic nature of the lyrics, and Pete Steele’s voice work, it creates sort of a conflict in the song, but in a good way.
Die With Me: Die With Me is an interesting song. For starters, it’s pacing has slowed down a bit, seemingly between Red Water & My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend. All throughout the tune, it goes between slow & brisk, and it knows when to do so. Secondly, this is another sad song, but nowhere near as depressing as Love you to Death or Red Water. Die With Me deals more with being separated from a significant other, and wondering if she still loves you in the end. Again, this song is sad, but it has a string of hope within somewhere.
Burnt Flowers Fallen: Burnt Flowers Fallen is one of two simplistic songs on this, the other being right after the Cinnamon Girl cover. The simplicity of this song comes down to 3 things: Pete Steele’s singing hardly changes in volume (He goes between a soft kind of loud, and something similar to whispering), the lyrics hardly change (There’s about 3 or 4 lines used), and the instrumentation hardly changes at all (Only about 3 or 4 beats are used). Although I find this to be a good song, Burnt Flowers Fallen is definitely one of the weaker tracks on October Rust.
In Praise of Bacchus: For a song title In Praise of Bacchus, it feels very pessimistic. Right out of the gate, you hear Pete Steele singing the line “Hey Bacchus/She Hates Me”, and immediately you feel a little uncomfortable. This whole song feels rather uncomfortable, but I can’t seem to step away from it for some reason. Perhaps is because Pete’s trying to make the song sound a little uplifting, or maybe it’s because the instrumentation tries to sound mystical & ethereal, like how Love You To Death did. Regardless, In Praise of Bacchus is a good song, but you might want to wash yourself afterwards.
Cinnamon Girl: Here’s the song that harkens back to Type-O Negative’s previously harder material. The lyrics themselves haven’t changed, as the band going along with Neil Young’s original lyrics. What has changed is the song’s tone: the instrumentation creates a more heavy atmosphere than the more lighthearted rock approach in the original, and Pete Steele’s voices adds a erotic vibe to the atmosphere if the song. Not quite as erotic as Be My Druidess was, but not necessarily subtle either.
The Glorious Liberation of the People's Technocratic Republic of Vinnland by the Combined Forces of the United Territories of Europa: For starters, this song’s name is long! Secondly, this is the only instrumental piece that Type-O Negative has done (As far as I know, at least). Third, this tune goes by rather quickly, playing at just over a minute (1 minute & 7 seconds). With that said, the instrumentation & sound effects combine to make a great, but very short, listening experience.
Wolf Moon (Including Zoanthropic Paranoia): We again come back to nature with the mystical-themed Wolf Moon, a tune that harkens back to primal love, to lust, and perhaps, to carnage. The instrumentation is slow, but not sluggish like in Red Water. There’s more of a faster pace in the song, as evidenced by the guitar work, and to a lesser extent the drumming. Pete Steele’s voice knocks this out of the park, as his voice is intertwined with passion and ferocity. Another great song to make out to with the one you love.
Haunted: Haunted marks the end of the songs on October Rust, as the last clip is just another sound file, but I’ll get to that in a second. The songs itself is a perfect closer to this album, and it’s one of Type-O Negative’s longest songs. Clocking in at a little over 10 minutes, the slowness of the instrumentation create a haunting atmosphere, as if the song itself was inhabited with the spirits from beyond. Pete’s singing once again sends it out of the park, as his voice feels like a cold wind caressing all over you, leaving you chilled to the bone. Keep a blanket around for this one!
Untitled (2): Like the second part of the CD, this is just another sound byte of the band. In this case, it’s Pete Steele talking for 9 seconds, saying that he’ll see you during the next tour, and saying that he hopes the album wasn’t too disappointing. A nice sendoff, actually.
Overall Impression & Rating
October Rust is about as perfect as a metal album gets! The gripes I had with it were small, and easily forgettable because of how good the music is. This album is what really propelled Type-O Negative into the spotlight a little more, but they never sold out because of it. If you are a metalhead, then this is a requirement to keep the “Metalhead” title!
October Rust gets a 9.5 out of 10.
See you in November, when we’ll look at the black sheep of the Call of Duty series. Until then, stay Otaku!
Monday, October 28, 2013
Tiny Tina's Assault On Dragon Keep Review
Well ladies & gentlemen, we’ve done a lot of things on Pandora. We’ve killed Handsome Jack, fought against swashbuckling pirates, entered a badass tournament & won, and even went on a rather poor hunting trip. After all that work & adventure, I think it’s time to sit down, relax, and enjoy some geeky fun with a few friends. Luckily, our pal Tiny Tina has provided us with the perfect opportunity to do so. With that said, grab the Cheetos & Mountain Dew, your favorite nerdy shirt, and sit down for Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep. Roll for initiative!!!
Story
Taken from the Borderlands wiki:
“Taking place after the event of Roland's death, Tina and the first group of Vault Hunters decide to play a game of Bunkers and Badasses, Pandora's equivalent to the table top game "Dungeons & Dragons". Tina serves as the "Bunker Master" and narrator of the DLC, and changes the world in dynamic ways as the story progresses, such as altering the appearance of locations and adding characters and bosses.
The plot involves the new Vault Hunters playing characters within the campaign, each responding to Tina's narration in their own way. Their quest is to rescue to the queen from an evil sorcerer and restore peace and tranquility to the land.
The journey to Dragon Keep ultimately has Tina coming to terms with Roland's death and ends with a possible hint to the setting of future DLC.”
So much better than Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt’s story!!!!
Setting
Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep has a setting that’s about as unique as Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty, maybe even more unique. For starters, there are hardly any textures from the main game used, apart from a couple character models & terrain/building parts. Everything that you see is completely brand new, and serve to convey the fantasy theme. You journey through typical, yet nice set-pieces. There’s Flamerock Refuge, the main hub of the expansion. There’s also a forest, a graveyard, a dwarven mine, and it all concludes onto of a wizard’s spire, surrounded by storms & dragons. Gearbox definitely hit it out of the park with this one!
Characters
Characters are interesting in this DLC. For starters, we have a fair majority of the cast from the main game return to this expansion (Ellie, Mad Moxxi, etc). They all have been given new skins to match the theme of the DLC, but their attitude & mannerisms have remained largely the same. The player characters themselves finally speak for the first time in this expansion. They each have their own set of lines, which are spoken when given a cue to do so. At one point, they break the fourth wall with Salvador, and he talks for a little bit.
Gameplay
Gameplay is a bit of a different creature in this DLC. While you still wander around & shoot things, the fantasy setting puts a spin on every quest you play. There’s a quest where you kill a golem to get Roland’s sword back, a quest where you decimate a village of orcs, and a quest where you charge up a magic wand. There’s also plenty of quests that lampoon pop culture, as well as praise the best elements. Some of these quests include reviving a player that gets killed by another player, storming into a Game of Thrones parody, and trying to pick up a gun from Moxxi (And failing almost every single time). Overall, doing every quest in the expansion was fun........except for one.
Called “Fake Geek Guy”, this side-quest is found early on in the expansion. After Mr. Torgue is found in the stocks, he asks if he can join the group and play. Lilith takes serious offense at this, citing that he’s a “Big muscle-bound guy that takes care of his body”, and calls out his geek cred. After Tiny Tiny tells you to find the “3 Questions Of True Geekiness”, you search for these questions, and Mr. Torgue attempts to answer them. This quest mirror’s the real life “Fake Geek Girl” controversy, and I get the tone they’re trying to create with this quest, but here’s my problem with it. Not every geeky guy thinks this way. More often than not, I’ve met many geeky guys that not only like girls that are geeks, but are glad that girls are becoming more geeky. As I always say: “If the passion is in your heart, they you’re already in”.
Vehicles don’t return in this DLC, but given the kinds of environments you travel through, I get why. Even then, it would have been cool to have a fantasy style mount, such as a horse or small dragon. Luckily, the fast-travel posts are still in this game, so you can quickly appear in each location. Speaking of new creatures.....
The enemies in Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep are completely brand new. All of them are fantasy themed, such as skeletons, wizards, and orcs. Every single enemy in this game bring a lot to the table, and also have their own new battle tactics (Wizards cast spells, Orcs tend to charge right in, and skeletons swing swords or shoot bows). You constantly have to change your weapon loadout for each encounter you come across, as no specific selection will work.
The Seraph Vendor & Seraph Guardian return for one last encounter. The Seraph Guardian this time around is actually a quarter of Dragons, each of which correspond with a different element & ability. This is by far the toughest of the guardians, and fighting them alone is an incredible challenge. However, the loot they drop is impressive, and the Seraph Crystals they drop can get you items such as this:
Loot in this DLC is heavily fantasy themed, much in the same way as loot from Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty was pirate themed. You’ve got a E-Tech shotgun from Torgue that shoots exploding swords (BTW, this is the only E-Tech gun that Torgue manufactures), a pistol that gets you drunk, and a smg that sometimes slips from your hands. I’ll say that, in this regard, Tiny Tina’s themed loot matches that of Captain Scarlett in terms of flavor.
Eridium’s usage has been expanded in Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep. In Moxxi’s place within Flamerock Refuge are slot machines that take 2 pieces of Eridium per pull, but otherwise act the same as the normal slot machines. There are also special chests that have 2 d20 dice on top, and if you pay 5 Eridium, you can have both dice roll instead of one, and the higher number will determine the quality of loot within.
I should quickly point out that Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep is the longest of the DLCs. If you’ve forgotten how long the other DLCs were, here’s a quick list:
Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty: 8 to 10 hours
Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage: 8 hours (Maybe less)
Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt: 3 ½ hours
With that out of the way, this DLC lasts for 10 to 15 hours. Given how much content is in this expansion, it’s not surprising that it takes that amount of time. Hardcore fans of Borderlands 2 might be able to zoom through this in close to a day, but I managed to spread this expansion out over the course of 2 to 3 days.
This last point is a little more minor, but it doesn’t hurt to talk about. The vending machines this time around have become imbued with the essence of fantasy: Zed’s medical machine has become Zed’s Apothacary, Marcus Guns has become Marcus Cannons, etc. Not only that, the New-U posts now have fantasy themed lines they say when you’re resurrected. It’s a nice refresher, actually.
Graphics & Sound
While it uses the same engine as the main game, there’s not that many textures from the source material (Apart from a tiny few). Instead, this expansion uses many new textures, for the background/setting, as well as the enemies, and stays very close to the fantasy theme. There’s also a completely new soundtrack (The other DLCs reused certain songs from the main game), complete with tracks such as follows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IHIPEceP8list=PLrwWaT3GWAEfZhT_nzxytofd7SB9NssBM&index=51
Overall & Rating
Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep was a fun romp. The love of D&D, fantasy, and pop culture is very evident in everyplace, and everything. Anybody who’s geeky will definitely find something they know about in this expansion, and even casual geeks will at least be able to identify something small. If you have a love of fantasy & geeky things, then I highly suggest getting this expansion.
Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep gets a 8.5 out of 10.
See you all next time. Until then, stay Otaku!
*
Sorry for posting this a little later than normal. I went to a party this past weekend, and I was still tired this morning. Also, my bad for not posting anything Breast Cancer Awareness related in my past couple posts. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find current videos for the subject. Luckily, I managed to find something. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsyE2rCW71o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5txBaPR-TM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF-UEUCJ60w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feCcW8__N94
Story
Taken from the Borderlands wiki:
“Taking place after the event of Roland's death, Tina and the first group of Vault Hunters decide to play a game of Bunkers and Badasses, Pandora's equivalent to the table top game "Dungeons & Dragons". Tina serves as the "Bunker Master" and narrator of the DLC, and changes the world in dynamic ways as the story progresses, such as altering the appearance of locations and adding characters and bosses.
The plot involves the new Vault Hunters playing characters within the campaign, each responding to Tina's narration in their own way. Their quest is to rescue to the queen from an evil sorcerer and restore peace and tranquility to the land.
The journey to Dragon Keep ultimately has Tina coming to terms with Roland's death and ends with a possible hint to the setting of future DLC.”
So much better than Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt’s story!!!!
Setting
Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep has a setting that’s about as unique as Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty, maybe even more unique. For starters, there are hardly any textures from the main game used, apart from a couple character models & terrain/building parts. Everything that you see is completely brand new, and serve to convey the fantasy theme. You journey through typical, yet nice set-pieces. There’s Flamerock Refuge, the main hub of the expansion. There’s also a forest, a graveyard, a dwarven mine, and it all concludes onto of a wizard’s spire, surrounded by storms & dragons. Gearbox definitely hit it out of the park with this one!
Characters
Characters are interesting in this DLC. For starters, we have a fair majority of the cast from the main game return to this expansion (Ellie, Mad Moxxi, etc). They all have been given new skins to match the theme of the DLC, but their attitude & mannerisms have remained largely the same. The player characters themselves finally speak for the first time in this expansion. They each have their own set of lines, which are spoken when given a cue to do so. At one point, they break the fourth wall with Salvador, and he talks for a little bit.
Gameplay
Gameplay is a bit of a different creature in this DLC. While you still wander around & shoot things, the fantasy setting puts a spin on every quest you play. There’s a quest where you kill a golem to get Roland’s sword back, a quest where you decimate a village of orcs, and a quest where you charge up a magic wand. There’s also plenty of quests that lampoon pop culture, as well as praise the best elements. Some of these quests include reviving a player that gets killed by another player, storming into a Game of Thrones parody, and trying to pick up a gun from Moxxi (And failing almost every single time). Overall, doing every quest in the expansion was fun........except for one.
Called “Fake Geek Guy”, this side-quest is found early on in the expansion. After Mr. Torgue is found in the stocks, he asks if he can join the group and play. Lilith takes serious offense at this, citing that he’s a “Big muscle-bound guy that takes care of his body”, and calls out his geek cred. After Tiny Tiny tells you to find the “3 Questions Of True Geekiness”, you search for these questions, and Mr. Torgue attempts to answer them. This quest mirror’s the real life “Fake Geek Girl” controversy, and I get the tone they’re trying to create with this quest, but here’s my problem with it. Not every geeky guy thinks this way. More often than not, I’ve met many geeky guys that not only like girls that are geeks, but are glad that girls are becoming more geeky. As I always say: “If the passion is in your heart, they you’re already in”.
Vehicles don’t return in this DLC, but given the kinds of environments you travel through, I get why. Even then, it would have been cool to have a fantasy style mount, such as a horse or small dragon. Luckily, the fast-travel posts are still in this game, so you can quickly appear in each location. Speaking of new creatures.....
The enemies in Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep are completely brand new. All of them are fantasy themed, such as skeletons, wizards, and orcs. Every single enemy in this game bring a lot to the table, and also have their own new battle tactics (Wizards cast spells, Orcs tend to charge right in, and skeletons swing swords or shoot bows). You constantly have to change your weapon loadout for each encounter you come across, as no specific selection will work.
The Seraph Vendor & Seraph Guardian return for one last encounter. The Seraph Guardian this time around is actually a quarter of Dragons, each of which correspond with a different element & ability. This is by far the toughest of the guardians, and fighting them alone is an incredible challenge. However, the loot they drop is impressive, and the Seraph Crystals they drop can get you items such as this:
Loot in this DLC is heavily fantasy themed, much in the same way as loot from Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty was pirate themed. You’ve got a E-Tech shotgun from Torgue that shoots exploding swords (BTW, this is the only E-Tech gun that Torgue manufactures), a pistol that gets you drunk, and a smg that sometimes slips from your hands. I’ll say that, in this regard, Tiny Tina’s themed loot matches that of Captain Scarlett in terms of flavor.
Eridium’s usage has been expanded in Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep. In Moxxi’s place within Flamerock Refuge are slot machines that take 2 pieces of Eridium per pull, but otherwise act the same as the normal slot machines. There are also special chests that have 2 d20 dice on top, and if you pay 5 Eridium, you can have both dice roll instead of one, and the higher number will determine the quality of loot within.
I should quickly point out that Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep is the longest of the DLCs. If you’ve forgotten how long the other DLCs were, here’s a quick list:
Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty: 8 to 10 hours
Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage: 8 hours (Maybe less)
Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt: 3 ½ hours
With that out of the way, this DLC lasts for 10 to 15 hours. Given how much content is in this expansion, it’s not surprising that it takes that amount of time. Hardcore fans of Borderlands 2 might be able to zoom through this in close to a day, but I managed to spread this expansion out over the course of 2 to 3 days.
This last point is a little more minor, but it doesn’t hurt to talk about. The vending machines this time around have become imbued with the essence of fantasy: Zed’s medical machine has become Zed’s Apothacary, Marcus Guns has become Marcus Cannons, etc. Not only that, the New-U posts now have fantasy themed lines they say when you’re resurrected. It’s a nice refresher, actually.
Graphics & Sound
While it uses the same engine as the main game, there’s not that many textures from the source material (Apart from a tiny few). Instead, this expansion uses many new textures, for the background/setting, as well as the enemies, and stays very close to the fantasy theme. There’s also a completely new soundtrack (The other DLCs reused certain songs from the main game), complete with tracks such as follows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IHIPEceP8list=PLrwWaT3GWAEfZhT_nzxytofd7SB9NssBM&index=51
Overall & Rating
Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep was a fun romp. The love of D&D, fantasy, and pop culture is very evident in everyplace, and everything. Anybody who’s geeky will definitely find something they know about in this expansion, and even casual geeks will at least be able to identify something small. If you have a love of fantasy & geeky things, then I highly suggest getting this expansion.
Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep gets a 8.5 out of 10.
See you all next time. Until then, stay Otaku!
*
Sorry for posting this a little later than normal. I went to a party this past weekend, and I was still tired this morning. Also, my bad for not posting anything Breast Cancer Awareness related in my past couple posts. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find current videos for the subject. Luckily, I managed to find something. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsyE2rCW71o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5txBaPR-TM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF-UEUCJ60w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feCcW8__N94
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
R.I.P. - Yoteslaya
Dear fans of Borderlands 2, tragedy has struck. At around 2 A.M. today (Midwest time, I think), fellow gamer & youtube uploader Yoteslaya was killed in a tragic accident, as a train collided with his truck. He was killed instantly, along with 2 other passengers. While he never sent me a reply, I could always tell that he loved & respected his fans, and that he had a great love of life as well. It is a tragic shame in the highest degree!
I normally don't ask this, but if you would all give his family, and the families of the other two passengers a prayer, I think that would be nice & make a lot of people feel much better.
If you would like to know more about this unfortunate event, please check out the links below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dC-YPI0WCo
http://www.wishtv.com/news/indiana/3-killed-in-truck-train-crash
If you would like to check out his youtube page, check out the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/user/yoteslaya
All I can say is Yoteslaya.....rest in peace. I'll see you on the other side someday!!!!!!!
I normally don't ask this, but if you would all give his family, and the families of the other two passengers a prayer, I think that would be nice & make a lot of people feel much better.
If you would like to know more about this unfortunate event, please check out the links below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dC-YPI0WCo
http://www.wishtv.com/news/indiana/3-killed-in-truck-train-crash
If you would like to check out his youtube page, check out the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/user/yoteslaya
All I can say is Yoteslaya.....rest in peace. I'll see you on the other side someday!!!!!!!
Monday, October 21, 2013
Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt Review
Well guys, it was bound to happen. It was inevitable that something bad would be made for Borderlands 2. With the original Borderlands, it was Claptrap’s Robot Revolution. This time around, it’s this story DLC. It’s weak, it’s rushed, and overall is of poor quality. However, is Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt as bad as I said it was, and as bad as a lot of B2 players say it is? Well, let’s find out!
Story
Taken from the intro/Borderlands wiki:
“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!
But danger looms on the horizon for our swell swashbucklers. For while Handsome Jack may be gone, his legacy lives on.”
Like Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage, this DLC has a simple story. Unfortunately, it’s very underwhelming at the same time, especially the Handsome Jack angle.
Setting
Aegrus is a hit & miss for me. I’ll first go over the hit part, and let me just say that there are some good places here. The area as a whole feels like a place that man rarely treads, despite some signs of civilization. It’s a land where the wild rules, and man has been reduced into groups of bloodthirsty savages. The first area, Hunter’s Grotto, is a massive marshland. There’s creatures of all sorts prowling around, and the savages that live in the grotto fight back against any trespassers. The only sanctuary in this place is a hunter’s lodge, which stands right in the middle of the grotto. Right after this is Scylla’s Grove, a swampy places that shouldn’t support human life, but it does. Skags & Scaylions (A new monster) prowl around in the water, while the savages have built a village around & on top of a tree. The area before the final boss, Candlerrak's Crag, is the bleakest out of them all. It’s a group of grey mountain ranges, with a sky constantly raining & thundering, and the bones of ancient creatures can be seen on the highest peaks. All through the mountain range, villages of savages can be encounters, along with creatures of all kinds. These areas are great, and they fell fun to wander through.
Here’s where the expansion misses. There are two locations where it feels lacking, and the first is Ardorton Station. Although creatures & savages run rampant throughout the place, this location feels like a rushed version of the Wildlife Exploitation Reserve from the main game. Even the structure of the locale feels similar, as it has rooms where signs of experimentation can be found, along with ruined machinery. The other area is where you encounter Nakayama & the final boss (More on this in a sec) is the H.S.S. Terminus, a ruined Hyperion ship. It definitely looks cool, but you explore such a small space, it really doesn’t matter.
Characters
Here’s another big problem with this expansion. Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt has only 3 characters: Sir Hammerlock is back (Hence the name of the expansion) as the knowledgeable hunter & scholar, and Claptrap returns to act as the annoying/goofy comic relief. The new character, Professor Nakayama, is perhaps the weakest of the three. I understand why from a designer’s standpoint, because he was made as a bumbling scientist & fanboy of Handsome Jack. However, they way they designed him is massively flawed, as Nakayama is such a insignificant threat, the moments where he actually can be threatening, is just a waste of time.
Gameplay
5 main missions. 12 side missions. This is all there is to do in this expansion. This lack of content goes by rather fast, as most players will be able to complete the DLC in about 3 and a half hours. Just about all of the quests (Primary & Side) involve killing something, and given the name of the story in question, this isn’t a bad thing. The problem is that most of the quests are relatively easy to accomplish, with only 2 or 3 of them having a hint of a challenge. Not only that, but the quest rewards are practically non-existent, save for XP & money (Although there is one quest where you get a special skin for your character).
In an interesting twist, the majority of the enemies in Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt are melee-based. With only a pinch of enemies that will attack you from ranged, the rest of the enemies will close in on you, causing you to change battle tactics (A melee-based Zer0 or Krieg will do quite well in this expansion). Curiously, an enemy from the original game the drifter, makes a return in this expansion (Coincidentally, the Drifter was from the 3rd DLC of the original Borderlands). Oddly, the only area where the Drifters spawn is in Hunter’s Grotto, the primary starting area, but they provide about as much of a challenge as the original versions. Three particular enemies deserve mention in their own sections.
For starters, there are the savages & witch doctors. The Savages are some of the main enemies in the DLC, and they’re evenly split between melee & ranged. The Witch Doctors are the leaders of the Savages, and they have the ability to launch various bolts of energy. On top of that, they have the ability to heal themselves and heal the Savages, which in turn levels up the Savages into more deadlier forms, one of which is a hidden boss (More on this in a bit).
Secondly, there are the Giant Spores. These are Borderlands 2's first neutral enemy. The spores are content to simply float through the air, but when they are struck, they’ll fly right at you and attack with balls of corresponding energy, along with smaller copies of themselves. What I really like about the spores is that if random monsters attack them first, and you attack them second, they’ll stay on the original attackers first, and they’ll come after you if there are still alive.
The last enemy is Jackenstein, the game’s final boss (Not Professor Nakayama. Go figure?). Jackenstein is by far, the worst.....video game.......boss......EVER! For starters, you can’t kill him through the normal method of just pointing your gun at him and pulling the trigger. Instead, you must aim for his critical hit locations to hurt him. 2 of them are on his back, and the other is on his chest after the first two are taken out. This wouldn’t be so bad, if A: he didn’t move around as much (The 3rd critical hit location is only exposed when he launches a ranged attack), and B: if the Loaders didn’t spawn when the first two critical hit locations are destroyed. To make things more irritating, if you’re taken out of the fight, you get back to a fully charged boss, and you have to start all over..........AARRGG!!!!!!
However, despite all of the bad gameplay elements, there are some tiny positives. For starters, there’s a new Seraph Guardian in the form of a massive Stalker, and he’s quite possibly the most challenging of the guardians. On top of that, there are two hidden bosses as well (They don’t drop Seraph Crystals & items like the main guardian, but they’re about as difficult, and drop special loot only available from them). The first hidden boss is a upgraded Drifter, and the other is a powerful Savage created by a Witch Doctor’s magic. It takes some work to find these guys, but it’s worth it.
Secondly, the Seraph Vendor comes back. This time, we have Seraph Items & Weapons available for purchase, such as the example below:
You also have a new vehicle to pilot through some (Hunter’s Grotto & Scylla’s Grove are the only places you can use it) of the areas in the game, and that’s the Fan Boat. Looking like a actual boat you’d drive through the marshlands, this beast has a longer lasting speed boost, and can be equipped with 1 of 3 weapons (Acid Launcher, Flamethrower, and Shock Launcher).
Finally, there are new special weapons & items added to the loot pool. There’s a machine gun that fires continuously, weapons & items inspired by Teddy Roosevelt, and a E-Tech smg that shocks & stings. This is one of the few areas of the DLC that makes it worth the purchase.
Graphics & Sound
Again, the graphics in this game are the same as that from Borderlands 2. We do have new textures for the monsters and some of the architecture, but there’s nothing else. Like the previous DLCs, there’s brand new music for the expansion, such as the sample below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlC5oLM8Ic4list=PLrwWaT3GWAEfZhT_nzxytofd7SB9NssBM&index=38
Overall & Rating
Yeah, Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt is bad. It’s rushed, weak, and is Borderlands 2's equivalent of Claptrap’s Robot Revolution. There’s definitely a good story DLC in here somewhere, but it’s buried underneath all of the flaws. If there were any reasons why I’d suggest buying this expansion, it would be because of Hammerlock, Claptrap, and the new loot added in. Nuff said.
Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt gets a 3 to 4 out of 10.
See you all next week, when we’ll sit down for some geeky fun. Until then, stay Otaku!
Story
Taken from the intro/Borderlands wiki:
“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!
But danger looms on the horizon for our swell swashbucklers. For while Handsome Jack may be gone, his legacy lives on.”
Like Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage, this DLC has a simple story. Unfortunately, it’s very underwhelming at the same time, especially the Handsome Jack angle.
Setting
Aegrus is a hit & miss for me. I’ll first go over the hit part, and let me just say that there are some good places here. The area as a whole feels like a place that man rarely treads, despite some signs of civilization. It’s a land where the wild rules, and man has been reduced into groups of bloodthirsty savages. The first area, Hunter’s Grotto, is a massive marshland. There’s creatures of all sorts prowling around, and the savages that live in the grotto fight back against any trespassers. The only sanctuary in this place is a hunter’s lodge, which stands right in the middle of the grotto. Right after this is Scylla’s Grove, a swampy places that shouldn’t support human life, but it does. Skags & Scaylions (A new monster) prowl around in the water, while the savages have built a village around & on top of a tree. The area before the final boss, Candlerrak's Crag, is the bleakest out of them all. It’s a group of grey mountain ranges, with a sky constantly raining & thundering, and the bones of ancient creatures can be seen on the highest peaks. All through the mountain range, villages of savages can be encounters, along with creatures of all kinds. These areas are great, and they fell fun to wander through.
Here’s where the expansion misses. There are two locations where it feels lacking, and the first is Ardorton Station. Although creatures & savages run rampant throughout the place, this location feels like a rushed version of the Wildlife Exploitation Reserve from the main game. Even the structure of the locale feels similar, as it has rooms where signs of experimentation can be found, along with ruined machinery. The other area is where you encounter Nakayama & the final boss (More on this in a sec) is the H.S.S. Terminus, a ruined Hyperion ship. It definitely looks cool, but you explore such a small space, it really doesn’t matter.
Characters
Here’s another big problem with this expansion. Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt has only 3 characters: Sir Hammerlock is back (Hence the name of the expansion) as the knowledgeable hunter & scholar, and Claptrap returns to act as the annoying/goofy comic relief. The new character, Professor Nakayama, is perhaps the weakest of the three. I understand why from a designer’s standpoint, because he was made as a bumbling scientist & fanboy of Handsome Jack. However, they way they designed him is massively flawed, as Nakayama is such a insignificant threat, the moments where he actually can be threatening, is just a waste of time.
Gameplay
5 main missions. 12 side missions. This is all there is to do in this expansion. This lack of content goes by rather fast, as most players will be able to complete the DLC in about 3 and a half hours. Just about all of the quests (Primary & Side) involve killing something, and given the name of the story in question, this isn’t a bad thing. The problem is that most of the quests are relatively easy to accomplish, with only 2 or 3 of them having a hint of a challenge. Not only that, but the quest rewards are practically non-existent, save for XP & money (Although there is one quest where you get a special skin for your character).
In an interesting twist, the majority of the enemies in Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt are melee-based. With only a pinch of enemies that will attack you from ranged, the rest of the enemies will close in on you, causing you to change battle tactics (A melee-based Zer0 or Krieg will do quite well in this expansion). Curiously, an enemy from the original game the drifter, makes a return in this expansion (Coincidentally, the Drifter was from the 3rd DLC of the original Borderlands). Oddly, the only area where the Drifters spawn is in Hunter’s Grotto, the primary starting area, but they provide about as much of a challenge as the original versions. Three particular enemies deserve mention in their own sections.
For starters, there are the savages & witch doctors. The Savages are some of the main enemies in the DLC, and they’re evenly split between melee & ranged. The Witch Doctors are the leaders of the Savages, and they have the ability to launch various bolts of energy. On top of that, they have the ability to heal themselves and heal the Savages, which in turn levels up the Savages into more deadlier forms, one of which is a hidden boss (More on this in a bit).
Secondly, there are the Giant Spores. These are Borderlands 2's first neutral enemy. The spores are content to simply float through the air, but when they are struck, they’ll fly right at you and attack with balls of corresponding energy, along with smaller copies of themselves. What I really like about the spores is that if random monsters attack them first, and you attack them second, they’ll stay on the original attackers first, and they’ll come after you if there are still alive.
The last enemy is Jackenstein, the game’s final boss (Not Professor Nakayama. Go figure?). Jackenstein is by far, the worst.....video game.......boss......EVER! For starters, you can’t kill him through the normal method of just pointing your gun at him and pulling the trigger. Instead, you must aim for his critical hit locations to hurt him. 2 of them are on his back, and the other is on his chest after the first two are taken out. This wouldn’t be so bad, if A: he didn’t move around as much (The 3rd critical hit location is only exposed when he launches a ranged attack), and B: if the Loaders didn’t spawn when the first two critical hit locations are destroyed. To make things more irritating, if you’re taken out of the fight, you get back to a fully charged boss, and you have to start all over..........AARRGG!!!!!!
However, despite all of the bad gameplay elements, there are some tiny positives. For starters, there’s a new Seraph Guardian in the form of a massive Stalker, and he’s quite possibly the most challenging of the guardians. On top of that, there are two hidden bosses as well (They don’t drop Seraph Crystals & items like the main guardian, but they’re about as difficult, and drop special loot only available from them). The first hidden boss is a upgraded Drifter, and the other is a powerful Savage created by a Witch Doctor’s magic. It takes some work to find these guys, but it’s worth it.
Secondly, the Seraph Vendor comes back. This time, we have Seraph Items & Weapons available for purchase, such as the example below:
You also have a new vehicle to pilot through some (Hunter’s Grotto & Scylla’s Grove are the only places you can use it) of the areas in the game, and that’s the Fan Boat. Looking like a actual boat you’d drive through the marshlands, this beast has a longer lasting speed boost, and can be equipped with 1 of 3 weapons (Acid Launcher, Flamethrower, and Shock Launcher).
Finally, there are new special weapons & items added to the loot pool. There’s a machine gun that fires continuously, weapons & items inspired by Teddy Roosevelt, and a E-Tech smg that shocks & stings. This is one of the few areas of the DLC that makes it worth the purchase.
Graphics & Sound
Again, the graphics in this game are the same as that from Borderlands 2. We do have new textures for the monsters and some of the architecture, but there’s nothing else. Like the previous DLCs, there’s brand new music for the expansion, such as the sample below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlC5oLM8Ic4list=PLrwWaT3GWAEfZhT_nzxytofd7SB9NssBM&index=38
Overall & Rating
Yeah, Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt is bad. It’s rushed, weak, and is Borderlands 2's equivalent of Claptrap’s Robot Revolution. There’s definitely a good story DLC in here somewhere, but it’s buried underneath all of the flaws. If there were any reasons why I’d suggest buying this expansion, it would be because of Hammerlock, Claptrap, and the new loot added in. Nuff said.
Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt gets a 3 to 4 out of 10.
See you all next week, when we’ll sit down for some geeky fun. Until then, stay Otaku!
Friday, October 18, 2013
Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage Review
Hi guys! Well, earlier this week we sailed the sandy seas of Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty. It was a jolly good adventure, filled with scallywags, rum, and treasure. We now depart the swashbuckling forts of the pirates, to something more rough-and-tumble. Something that’s reminiscent of wresting from the 80s & 90s, and something full of EXPLOSIONS! With that said, let’s look at Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage, and see if it’s as macho & manly as it describes itself to be.
Story
This time around, we have a simpler story to work with, but don’t take my word for it. Just watch the video below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DANmrG3cQHM
While the last DLC might have had a fleshed-out/epic story (so to speak), Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage goes for something more simplistic, and that’s okay in my book.
Setting
Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty had a wonderful setting, so loading up this DLC, I was expecting something just as cool. Instead, we have a setting that is rather lackluster in appearance. In fact, most of the environments in this DLC look like a throwback to the lifeless, desert-like locales of the original game. There are only three locations in the entire expansion that are separate from everything else, so I’ll be talking about them.
For starters, there’s Torgue’s Arena. This massive structure sits within the starting area, the Badass Crater of Badassitude, and is an intimidating site. It looks very rough on the outside, but on the inside, it’s a different story. On the arena floor, you participate in battle against three sides of enemies amongst ramshackle structures, and you engage in fights against Torgue’s robots when you’re up in the civilian section of the building, with food & merchandise stands dotted along the sides. A little tacky at times, but a fun place to romp through.
Next up is The Beatdown. This area is a Torgue-sponsored city for the various gladiators/bandits to live in & fight each other. It’s a small, but rather sprawled area, filled with open areas & streets, and alleyways for some tense fighting. The whole place looks rather worn down, with signs of the gladiator’s/bandit’s habits all over the place, not to mention the Torgue signs & announcements coming over the speaker system.
Finally we have The Forge, and this is my favorite environment in the game. The primary source of materials for Torgue’s various products (Guns, vehicles, etc), this placed is filled to the brim with metal, in scrap, fresh, and molten varieties. Torgue engineers & robots maintain the forge, while Skags made homes in the more dingy portions of the place, and bandits having taken over the main area of the forge. This place is exactly the kind of locale I was looking for when I first entered the expansion!
Characters
Like the previous DLC, this one introduces new characters. Unlike the previous DLC, the cast in this one is much smaller. We have Scooter & Sir Hammerlock come back once again, this time interacting with each other as you’re harvesting Rakk organs. Mad Moxxi makes a return to the game, and she basically retains her standard personality, but is much more aggressive because she’s your sponsor in the tournament. Tiny Tina also returns to the fold, and she’s just as wacky & bizarre. The main villain, Piston, sounds & acts like a wrestling heel from the 80s to early 90s. He’s definitely a funny character, but I didn’t think they put him in enough. However, there’s one character that rises above all the others. One character, that really brings this DLC’s flavor to the forefront, and that Mr. Torgue himself.
Mr. Torgue is by far the most to most out-there, the most zanny, and the funniest character ever made for the game. Many of the quests he sends you on (More on that in a sec) make absolutely no sense, but in his mind they make absolutely perfect sense. Despite how bizarre Mr. Torgue is, is a progressive & kind person (To quote Mr. Torgue: NOTHING IS MORE BADASS THAN TREATING A WOMAN WITH RESPECT!!!!!), and is surprisingly bisexual, although that’s more within his backstory.
To sum up a quote about Mr. Torgue, here’s a quote from youtube:
“He’s like Macho Man Randy Savage with Downs Symdrome”
Yeah, that’s about right.
Gameplay
For starters, most of the missions in this game involve fighting of some kind (Primary & Secondary). Destroying a monster truck, killing bandits so they won’t get killed by poisoned beer (Don’t ask), and killing Rakk for their organs are just a couple of example where you have to fight. There’s very few missions where you have to fire a gun, and even then you’ll have to fight enemies a little. While I understand why they went in this direction when you consider the theme of the DLC, if they had more of an even mix of side missions, I wouldn’t harp on it so much.
Secondly, there’s really no new enemies to speak of. Everybody you fight in this campaign is nothing more that redressed enemies, and they take up a massive majority of the foes you fight. You have 3 to 4 groups of bandits (With different skins each), robots that are just Hyperion Loaders with a Torgue makeover, Torgue Engineers that are just Hyperion Engineers with different colors, and even one of the bosses in the game is Ellie from the main game, just with a different skin. The only enemy that is new is a motorbike driven by bandits, and even when you destroy the bike, chances are a bandit or two might survive the blast.
Finally, Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage seems to go by much more quickly that the previous story DLC, Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty. That DLC, at least for me, lasted about 8 to 10 hours, whereas this one seemed to go on for about 8 hours, perhaps less than that. This one goes by much more quickly than the previous story DLC, although it will get trumped by the 3rd story DLC......but that’s for another time.
However, Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage does have some surprising positives to it. For starters, you have Torgue Vending Machines that are exclusive to this campaign. The machines sell various Torgue weapons & items, including the pocket rocket, special heads & skins, and all of the legendary Torgue weapons & special items. However, these items can only be purchased with Torgue tokens. Luckily, these tokens are much more common to receive than Seraph Crystals, as you can get the tokens through some missions, and defeating certain enemies. Speaking about Seraph stuff...
More Seraph items can be bought in this campaign, and we have a new Seraph Guardian to fight in this DLC (Pyro Pete the Invincible, who was a normal boss before hand). Curiously, there are no Seraph weapons to purchase this time around. There are only Seraph grenade mods, shields, and relics to buy at the Seraph Vendor in this campaign, but look below to see one of the items available for purchase.
Ironically, there are no new vehicles introduced in this DLC. Given that some of the bandits/gladiators have motorcycles, you’d expect to get one. Instead, you have the original Runner vehicle to use, along with the Bandit Technical truck. To make this more odd, the only places you get to drive around is the main starting area, and the Southern Raceway (One of the areas in the DLC). Weird.
Finally, there are a couple new weapons that are added in as quest rewards/treasure finds. There’s an assault rifle that acts like a shotgun & heals you, a sniper rifle that causes explosions, and a E-tech shotgun who’s projectiles defy the law of gravity are some of the pieces of loot you can grab for yourself.
Graphics & Sound
Other than some of the Torgue textures used, as well as the textures for the enemies, the graphics are the same as in the main game. There are new musical sequences, such as the one below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgMwd-7NrBslist=PLrwWaT3GWAEfZhT_nzxytofd7SB9NssBM&index=47
Overall & Rating
Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage is fun. Damn fun, it fact!
Sadly, I didn’t find this one to be as good of quality as Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty was. This one seems a little more rushed, a little more lazy, and doesn’t quite have as much staying power as the previous story DLC has (Although to be fair, Mr. Torgue is really what makes the DLC worth it, and it never hurts to have Tiny Tina come back). Still, this DLC isn’t something to pass up, and there is enough content within that it’s worth a purchase.
Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage gets a 7 to 8 out of 10.
See you all next week, when we’ll go on a hunting trip. Until then, stay Otaku!
Story
This time around, we have a simpler story to work with, but don’t take my word for it. Just watch the video below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DANmrG3cQHM
While the last DLC might have had a fleshed-out/epic story (so to speak), Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage goes for something more simplistic, and that’s okay in my book.
Setting
Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty had a wonderful setting, so loading up this DLC, I was expecting something just as cool. Instead, we have a setting that is rather lackluster in appearance. In fact, most of the environments in this DLC look like a throwback to the lifeless, desert-like locales of the original game. There are only three locations in the entire expansion that are separate from everything else, so I’ll be talking about them.
For starters, there’s Torgue’s Arena. This massive structure sits within the starting area, the Badass Crater of Badassitude, and is an intimidating site. It looks very rough on the outside, but on the inside, it’s a different story. On the arena floor, you participate in battle against three sides of enemies amongst ramshackle structures, and you engage in fights against Torgue’s robots when you’re up in the civilian section of the building, with food & merchandise stands dotted along the sides. A little tacky at times, but a fun place to romp through.
Next up is The Beatdown. This area is a Torgue-sponsored city for the various gladiators/bandits to live in & fight each other. It’s a small, but rather sprawled area, filled with open areas & streets, and alleyways for some tense fighting. The whole place looks rather worn down, with signs of the gladiator’s/bandit’s habits all over the place, not to mention the Torgue signs & announcements coming over the speaker system.
Finally we have The Forge, and this is my favorite environment in the game. The primary source of materials for Torgue’s various products (Guns, vehicles, etc), this placed is filled to the brim with metal, in scrap, fresh, and molten varieties. Torgue engineers & robots maintain the forge, while Skags made homes in the more dingy portions of the place, and bandits having taken over the main area of the forge. This place is exactly the kind of locale I was looking for when I first entered the expansion!
Characters
Like the previous DLC, this one introduces new characters. Unlike the previous DLC, the cast in this one is much smaller. We have Scooter & Sir Hammerlock come back once again, this time interacting with each other as you’re harvesting Rakk organs. Mad Moxxi makes a return to the game, and she basically retains her standard personality, but is much more aggressive because she’s your sponsor in the tournament. Tiny Tina also returns to the fold, and she’s just as wacky & bizarre. The main villain, Piston, sounds & acts like a wrestling heel from the 80s to early 90s. He’s definitely a funny character, but I didn’t think they put him in enough. However, there’s one character that rises above all the others. One character, that really brings this DLC’s flavor to the forefront, and that Mr. Torgue himself.
Mr. Torgue is by far the most to most out-there, the most zanny, and the funniest character ever made for the game. Many of the quests he sends you on (More on that in a sec) make absolutely no sense, but in his mind they make absolutely perfect sense. Despite how bizarre Mr. Torgue is, is a progressive & kind person (To quote Mr. Torgue: NOTHING IS MORE BADASS THAN TREATING A WOMAN WITH RESPECT!!!!!), and is surprisingly bisexual, although that’s more within his backstory.
To sum up a quote about Mr. Torgue, here’s a quote from youtube:
“He’s like Macho Man Randy Savage with Downs Symdrome”
Yeah, that’s about right.
Gameplay
For starters, most of the missions in this game involve fighting of some kind (Primary & Secondary). Destroying a monster truck, killing bandits so they won’t get killed by poisoned beer (Don’t ask), and killing Rakk for their organs are just a couple of example where you have to fight. There’s very few missions where you have to fire a gun, and even then you’ll have to fight enemies a little. While I understand why they went in this direction when you consider the theme of the DLC, if they had more of an even mix of side missions, I wouldn’t harp on it so much.
Secondly, there’s really no new enemies to speak of. Everybody you fight in this campaign is nothing more that redressed enemies, and they take up a massive majority of the foes you fight. You have 3 to 4 groups of bandits (With different skins each), robots that are just Hyperion Loaders with a Torgue makeover, Torgue Engineers that are just Hyperion Engineers with different colors, and even one of the bosses in the game is Ellie from the main game, just with a different skin. The only enemy that is new is a motorbike driven by bandits, and even when you destroy the bike, chances are a bandit or two might survive the blast.
Finally, Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage seems to go by much more quickly that the previous story DLC, Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty. That DLC, at least for me, lasted about 8 to 10 hours, whereas this one seemed to go on for about 8 hours, perhaps less than that. This one goes by much more quickly than the previous story DLC, although it will get trumped by the 3rd story DLC......but that’s for another time.
However, Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage does have some surprising positives to it. For starters, you have Torgue Vending Machines that are exclusive to this campaign. The machines sell various Torgue weapons & items, including the pocket rocket, special heads & skins, and all of the legendary Torgue weapons & special items. However, these items can only be purchased with Torgue tokens. Luckily, these tokens are much more common to receive than Seraph Crystals, as you can get the tokens through some missions, and defeating certain enemies. Speaking about Seraph stuff...
More Seraph items can be bought in this campaign, and we have a new Seraph Guardian to fight in this DLC (Pyro Pete the Invincible, who was a normal boss before hand). Curiously, there are no Seraph weapons to purchase this time around. There are only Seraph grenade mods, shields, and relics to buy at the Seraph Vendor in this campaign, but look below to see one of the items available for purchase.
Ironically, there are no new vehicles introduced in this DLC. Given that some of the bandits/gladiators have motorcycles, you’d expect to get one. Instead, you have the original Runner vehicle to use, along with the Bandit Technical truck. To make this more odd, the only places you get to drive around is the main starting area, and the Southern Raceway (One of the areas in the DLC). Weird.
Finally, there are a couple new weapons that are added in as quest rewards/treasure finds. There’s an assault rifle that acts like a shotgun & heals you, a sniper rifle that causes explosions, and a E-tech shotgun who’s projectiles defy the law of gravity are some of the pieces of loot you can grab for yourself.
Graphics & Sound
Other than some of the Torgue textures used, as well as the textures for the enemies, the graphics are the same as in the main game. There are new musical sequences, such as the one below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgMwd-7NrBslist=PLrwWaT3GWAEfZhT_nzxytofd7SB9NssBM&index=47
Overall & Rating
Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage is fun. Damn fun, it fact!
Sadly, I didn’t find this one to be as good of quality as Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty was. This one seems a little more rushed, a little more lazy, and doesn’t quite have as much staying power as the previous story DLC has (Although to be fair, Mr. Torgue is really what makes the DLC worth it, and it never hurts to have Tiny Tina come back). Still, this DLC isn’t something to pass up, and there is enough content within that it’s worth a purchase.
Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage gets a 7 to 8 out of 10.
See you all next week, when we’ll go on a hunting trip. Until then, stay Otaku!
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Bragging Rites (8)
Hi guys!
With my review of Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage coming up tomorrow, I thought it would be appropriate for me to show of a piece of Torgue loot I acquired not too long ago. Feast your eyes on this beauty!
See you all tomorrow. Until then, enjoy!
With my review of Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage coming up tomorrow, I thought it would be appropriate for me to show of a piece of Torgue loot I acquired not too long ago. Feast your eyes on this beauty!
See you all tomorrow. Until then, enjoy!
Monday, October 14, 2013
Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty Review
Hi guys!
Last week we’ve looked at the two downloadable characters, Gaige & Krieg. This week we’ll be looking at the first two story-based DLCs. For starters, let’s take a look at the first story DLC, Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty. Shiver me timbers, mates!
Story
Taken from the DLC intro/Borderlands wiki:
“Legends speak of Captain Blade's Lost Treasure of the Sands, of a prize so great that men would turn the sands red in pursuit of it, of a pirate queen, courageous and deadly, who would stop at nothing to find it, of a monstrous Leviathan, of the Vault Hunters who journeyed to the desert town of Oasis, not knowing the horrors that would befall them.”
Goofy, odd, and silly. That’s the way a story in Borderlands 2 should be!
Setting
Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty takes place in a particularly arid section of Pandora. In ages past, the town of Oasis and the surrounding area once had water. Due to some unfortunate circumstance, however, the area has dried up, and a lot of the surrounding wildlife & civilization died off. All that now exists are burrowing Sand Worms, particularly vicious Stalker, and of course, Pirates. Everybody, and everything, are in a desperate fight for survival & loot.
Right away, you first arrive in Oasis. Thanks to the efforts of the lone demented occupant, Shade, a warped semi-balance of life still exists within the town, as he setup numerous bodies in an attempt to make things seem normal. From there, the player heads to Wurmwater, where signs of the sea are still present, mainly in the form of the numerous pirate settlements & ruins. After that, you travel to Hayter’s Folly, which is my favorite location in the DLC. Think of the calm waters & beaches of the Caribbean with a serene grotto, and you have Hayter’s Folly. After mowing down the various scallywags, you make it to the Rustyards, a dump filled to the brim with scrap metal & brigands. Once you hook up with the hermit Herbert, he orders you to journey to Washburne Refinery, an abandoned Hyperion facility filled with robots. Once they’re cleared out, and you recover the items needed to create the compass needed to find the treasure, your next to last spot to travel to is the Magnys Lighthouse. A small group of pirate villages surround a massive outcropping, on top of which rests the aforementioned lighthouse. Once the light is turned on, it’s a quick trip to The Leviathan's Lair, where you fight a monstrous beast, and discover the lost treasure of Captain Blade.
Each section of the DLC have their own individual look & feel, and you can tell that the developers put time and energy to creating a colorful setting, full of character & charm. It’s a place full of swashbucking adventure, and some of the weirdest character’s you’ll ever come across.
Characters
This DLC introduces a new, but small, cast of characters. The first one you meet is Shade, and he’s a bit of a oddball. He’s dressed up like Hunter S. Thompson from Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, and due to suffering from extreme dehydration & madness, he’s posed the corpses of the former townsfolk & tied loudspeaker to them in an effort to retain something of a lifestyle. There’s also Aubrey Callahan III, a very apathetic young women trying to hide her past. Mercer acts as the cook of Captain Scarlett’s crew, and is a bit of a cynical grump. You also get to meet (Unfortunately) Herbert, a massively creepy pervert that’s obsessed with everything about Captain Scarlett. Speaking of the captain.......
Captain Scarlett is definitely the star of the show, with Shade & Herbert trailing right behind. She’s downright hilarious, and right away she says she’ll stab you in the back when you find the treasure chamber of Captain Blade. Scarlett is also very quirky, goofy, and is full of odd one-liners (Example: Part of me feels bad about not being able to kill Sandman, but the other part of me is glad that I got to stay back here and read the latest issue of Crimefighter Frog. It’s about a frog...that fights crime).
Scooter & Sir Hammerlock from the main game make small guest appearances, with Scooter having you pick up scrap parts to keep Sanctuary flying in the air, and Sir Hammerlock tasking you to slay a monster. The time these two characters have is short, sweet, and to the point.
Gameplay
Gameplay is basically the same thing, but the quests in this DLC are very quirky. Some of them include gathering fruit to prevent scurvy, killing pirates for their wooden legs & gold teeth, and finding a bottle of whiskey for one of Shade’s bodies/people in Oasis. It’s these kinds of quests that really bring out the personality of the DLC.
However, those quests aren’t my favorite. The ones that enjoyed the most are the “Message In A Bottle” side-quests: you locate them by finding a bottle hidden in one of five areas, and they tell you go find a “X Marks the Spot” somewhere in the map. Once you locate them, you’ve given a reward in the form of a special cursed Pirate item (2 Weapons, 1 Class Mod, 1 Shield, 1 Grenade Mod. The items give you a benefit, but they also apply a negative effect as long as they’re in use), as well as a Echo journal with a small story about Captain Blade, and how he came to hide the treasure. The reason why he did is actually kind of tragic, but I won’t spoil the story for you.
The combat is as intense as the original game was, with an even mix between melee & ranged opponents. You have returning enemies like Stalkers (a special kind known as Tri-Tail Stalkers, which can only be found in this DLC), Spiderants, and Loaders (A new kind of Loader, known as the ARR Loader, can be found in this DLC only), but it’s the Pirates that take the center stage. Using partially re-skinned bandits for some of the pirates, these blue and/or red dressed foe have accents that sound like goofy British pirates, and sometimes can be seen wearing traditional (?) high seas hats. There are also completely new pirates for you to fight, from anchor wielding Anchormen, to dual sabered Buccaneer, and to spear throwing Deep Sea Wailers. Their individual tactics really do challenge you, and you’ll often find yourself adapting on the fly.
This DLC also introduces a brand new vehicle for use in the game (The DLC only), and that’s the Sandskiff. Looking like a cross between a wooden boat & skiff vehicle from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, the Sandskiff can be armed with 1 of 3 weapons: a rocket, a sawblade, and a harpoon (Sticks onto a target, and explodes a short time later). The Sandskiff seems to be a little tighter in terms of control, and isn’t quite as prone to accidents or getting stuck as the other vehicles before it did.
A new addition in Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty (Also introduced in the rest of the story DLCs) is the introduction of the Seraph Guardians. You have two available to fight, Hyperius the Invincible, and Master Gee the Invincible. These raid bosses are incredibly tough, and are best fought with a full group of people (Although there have been plenty of people that defeated them on their own). These bosses drop a variety of loot, including Seraph crystals & weapons. Speaking of Seraph...
Seraph is a new item type introduced in this DLC (As well as the rest of the story DLCs). Using a pink color to separate themselves from the other rarities, Seraph Weapons & items can only be bought from the Seraph Vendor in town (In case of this DLC, Seraph items are bought from the vendor in Oasis), and Seraph Crystals are the only currency that you can use (Each guardian drops 10 crystals on average. Seraph Weapons cost 120 crystals on average, while other Seraph items tend to cost just 50 crystals) to obtain these items. Seraph Weapons & Items definitely have qualities that place them above the rest, but at the same time have some kind of drawback to balance things out. To see what one of the Seraph Weapon from this DLC, take a look at the picture below.
Finally, there are also many new weapons introduced in Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty, all of which have a pirate theme to them. From a shotgun who’s pellets fly out in a skull & bones pattern, to a rocket launcher that fires cannonballs, nothing is safe from being imbued with the essence of piracy.
Graphics & Sound
The graphic have remained the same here like in the main game, albeit with new textures for the areas, enemies, and weapons. The sound has also remained the same, but there are the goofy voices for some of the pirates. Once thing that is different is the music, as there are new pieces created for many of the levels. The new pieces all contribute to the pirate theme of the DLC, with some being goofy & silly, and others having a more serious tone. Here’s a sample song below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QotsF7BMM50list=PLrwWaT3GWAEfZhT_nzxytofd7SB9NssBM
Overall & Rating
Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty is a load of fun! From the characters to the treasure, there’s never a dull moment to be had. The loot is nice to find, and it’s great to mow down fresh scores of new enemies. All I can say is grab a friend or two, put on an eye patch, and take a trip to the sandy seas of Oasis.
Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty gets a 9 out of 10.
See you all later this week, when we’ll EXPLODE!!! Until then, stay Otaku!
Last week we’ve looked at the two downloadable characters, Gaige & Krieg. This week we’ll be looking at the first two story-based DLCs. For starters, let’s take a look at the first story DLC, Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty. Shiver me timbers, mates!
Story
Taken from the DLC intro/Borderlands wiki:
“Legends speak of Captain Blade's Lost Treasure of the Sands, of a prize so great that men would turn the sands red in pursuit of it, of a pirate queen, courageous and deadly, who would stop at nothing to find it, of a monstrous Leviathan, of the Vault Hunters who journeyed to the desert town of Oasis, not knowing the horrors that would befall them.”
Goofy, odd, and silly. That’s the way a story in Borderlands 2 should be!
Setting
Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty takes place in a particularly arid section of Pandora. In ages past, the town of Oasis and the surrounding area once had water. Due to some unfortunate circumstance, however, the area has dried up, and a lot of the surrounding wildlife & civilization died off. All that now exists are burrowing Sand Worms, particularly vicious Stalker, and of course, Pirates. Everybody, and everything, are in a desperate fight for survival & loot.
Right away, you first arrive in Oasis. Thanks to the efforts of the lone demented occupant, Shade, a warped semi-balance of life still exists within the town, as he setup numerous bodies in an attempt to make things seem normal. From there, the player heads to Wurmwater, where signs of the sea are still present, mainly in the form of the numerous pirate settlements & ruins. After that, you travel to Hayter’s Folly, which is my favorite location in the DLC. Think of the calm waters & beaches of the Caribbean with a serene grotto, and you have Hayter’s Folly. After mowing down the various scallywags, you make it to the Rustyards, a dump filled to the brim with scrap metal & brigands. Once you hook up with the hermit Herbert, he orders you to journey to Washburne Refinery, an abandoned Hyperion facility filled with robots. Once they’re cleared out, and you recover the items needed to create the compass needed to find the treasure, your next to last spot to travel to is the Magnys Lighthouse. A small group of pirate villages surround a massive outcropping, on top of which rests the aforementioned lighthouse. Once the light is turned on, it’s a quick trip to The Leviathan's Lair, where you fight a monstrous beast, and discover the lost treasure of Captain Blade.
Each section of the DLC have their own individual look & feel, and you can tell that the developers put time and energy to creating a colorful setting, full of character & charm. It’s a place full of swashbucking adventure, and some of the weirdest character’s you’ll ever come across.
Characters
This DLC introduces a new, but small, cast of characters. The first one you meet is Shade, and he’s a bit of a oddball. He’s dressed up like Hunter S. Thompson from Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, and due to suffering from extreme dehydration & madness, he’s posed the corpses of the former townsfolk & tied loudspeaker to them in an effort to retain something of a lifestyle. There’s also Aubrey Callahan III, a very apathetic young women trying to hide her past. Mercer acts as the cook of Captain Scarlett’s crew, and is a bit of a cynical grump. You also get to meet (Unfortunately) Herbert, a massively creepy pervert that’s obsessed with everything about Captain Scarlett. Speaking of the captain.......
Captain Scarlett is definitely the star of the show, with Shade & Herbert trailing right behind. She’s downright hilarious, and right away she says she’ll stab you in the back when you find the treasure chamber of Captain Blade. Scarlett is also very quirky, goofy, and is full of odd one-liners (Example: Part of me feels bad about not being able to kill Sandman, but the other part of me is glad that I got to stay back here and read the latest issue of Crimefighter Frog. It’s about a frog...that fights crime).
Scooter & Sir Hammerlock from the main game make small guest appearances, with Scooter having you pick up scrap parts to keep Sanctuary flying in the air, and Sir Hammerlock tasking you to slay a monster. The time these two characters have is short, sweet, and to the point.
Gameplay
Gameplay is basically the same thing, but the quests in this DLC are very quirky. Some of them include gathering fruit to prevent scurvy, killing pirates for their wooden legs & gold teeth, and finding a bottle of whiskey for one of Shade’s bodies/people in Oasis. It’s these kinds of quests that really bring out the personality of the DLC.
However, those quests aren’t my favorite. The ones that enjoyed the most are the “Message In A Bottle” side-quests: you locate them by finding a bottle hidden in one of five areas, and they tell you go find a “X Marks the Spot” somewhere in the map. Once you locate them, you’ve given a reward in the form of a special cursed Pirate item (2 Weapons, 1 Class Mod, 1 Shield, 1 Grenade Mod. The items give you a benefit, but they also apply a negative effect as long as they’re in use), as well as a Echo journal with a small story about Captain Blade, and how he came to hide the treasure. The reason why he did is actually kind of tragic, but I won’t spoil the story for you.
The combat is as intense as the original game was, with an even mix between melee & ranged opponents. You have returning enemies like Stalkers (a special kind known as Tri-Tail Stalkers, which can only be found in this DLC), Spiderants, and Loaders (A new kind of Loader, known as the ARR Loader, can be found in this DLC only), but it’s the Pirates that take the center stage. Using partially re-skinned bandits for some of the pirates, these blue and/or red dressed foe have accents that sound like goofy British pirates, and sometimes can be seen wearing traditional (?) high seas hats. There are also completely new pirates for you to fight, from anchor wielding Anchormen, to dual sabered Buccaneer, and to spear throwing Deep Sea Wailers. Their individual tactics really do challenge you, and you’ll often find yourself adapting on the fly.
This DLC also introduces a brand new vehicle for use in the game (The DLC only), and that’s the Sandskiff. Looking like a cross between a wooden boat & skiff vehicle from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, the Sandskiff can be armed with 1 of 3 weapons: a rocket, a sawblade, and a harpoon (Sticks onto a target, and explodes a short time later). The Sandskiff seems to be a little tighter in terms of control, and isn’t quite as prone to accidents or getting stuck as the other vehicles before it did.
A new addition in Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty (Also introduced in the rest of the story DLCs) is the introduction of the Seraph Guardians. You have two available to fight, Hyperius the Invincible, and Master Gee the Invincible. These raid bosses are incredibly tough, and are best fought with a full group of people (Although there have been plenty of people that defeated them on their own). These bosses drop a variety of loot, including Seraph crystals & weapons. Speaking of Seraph...
Seraph is a new item type introduced in this DLC (As well as the rest of the story DLCs). Using a pink color to separate themselves from the other rarities, Seraph Weapons & items can only be bought from the Seraph Vendor in town (In case of this DLC, Seraph items are bought from the vendor in Oasis), and Seraph Crystals are the only currency that you can use (Each guardian drops 10 crystals on average. Seraph Weapons cost 120 crystals on average, while other Seraph items tend to cost just 50 crystals) to obtain these items. Seraph Weapons & Items definitely have qualities that place them above the rest, but at the same time have some kind of drawback to balance things out. To see what one of the Seraph Weapon from this DLC, take a look at the picture below.
Finally, there are also many new weapons introduced in Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty, all of which have a pirate theme to them. From a shotgun who’s pellets fly out in a skull & bones pattern, to a rocket launcher that fires cannonballs, nothing is safe from being imbued with the essence of piracy.
Graphics & Sound
The graphic have remained the same here like in the main game, albeit with new textures for the areas, enemies, and weapons. The sound has also remained the same, but there are the goofy voices for some of the pirates. Once thing that is different is the music, as there are new pieces created for many of the levels. The new pieces all contribute to the pirate theme of the DLC, with some being goofy & silly, and others having a more serious tone. Here’s a sample song below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QotsF7BMM50list=PLrwWaT3GWAEfZhT_nzxytofd7SB9NssBM
Overall & Rating
Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty is a load of fun! From the characters to the treasure, there’s never a dull moment to be had. The loot is nice to find, and it’s great to mow down fresh scores of new enemies. All I can say is grab a friend or two, put on an eye patch, and take a trip to the sandy seas of Oasis.
Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty gets a 9 out of 10.
See you all later this week, when we’ll EXPLODE!!! Until then, stay Otaku!
Friday, October 11, 2013
Psycho Review
Hello there! With Gaige having been reviewed at the start of this week, it’s time now to turn our attention to the second dlc character. Unlike Gaige, this character is a bit of an oddball. He’s not what you’d expect, highly insane, and goes against every conventional aspect of first-person-shooters (Considering the things that can happen in Borderlands 2, this is saying something). Let’s not waste anymore time, and take a look at Borderlands 2's second downloadable character, Krieg the Psycho!
Background (Taken from the Borderlands Wiki)
Whatever Krieg went through to make him the blood-drinking, meat-loving killer that he is, he wasn't always like this. Krieg's psyche has a remnant of who he used to be--a literal inner voice which forces Krieg to only kill the deserving, and help others. The voice remarks that he remembers helping people, getting paid with loot, and other Vault-hunter-esque pursuits. It's also informed Krieg that should Krieg ever kill an innocent person, the inner voice will take over and commit suicide to kill them both.
In his graphic backstory, Krieg is shown wandering the wastelands wielding only his buzz axe, killing bandits and other hostiles along the way. The inner voice seemed to have far less influence on his actions, barely able to keep his blood lusting vessel targeting hostiles over non-combatants. After narrowly avoiding getting splattered, Krieg sees Maya at a train station. Krieg's inner voice knew she was a Siren and a Vault Hunter, and told Krieg to ally with her. Krieg, however, screamed at the top of his lungs, "I'm the conductor of the POOP train!". Maya interprets this as being hostile and opens fire, only to attract a pack of rats.
Too focused on Krieg, Maya does not see the cannibals approach from behind. Somehow Krieg's inner voice, with some difficulty, managed to influence his darker side to warn Maya by shouting, "Turn around, pretty lady!" and he defends Maya, butchering the rats and terrifying one of them unconscious. After helping Krieg finish off the rest of them, Maya softens up to the madman, and Krieg's inner self gains hope that perhaps he can regain himself, though his outer self was too preoccupied screaming about ribcages and cockatiles to express it. Afterwards he is seen clinging to the side of the train, which explains how he ended up in Windshear Waste.
Compared to Gaige, Krieg’s story (As much as we get, anyways) is filled with a little more tragedy. Once you learn more of his backstory, you actually become a little sympathetic towards his cause. He’s incredibly bloodthirsty, yet somehow he has a heart & consciousness.
Character
On the surface, Krieg is just like one of the numerous psychos you see all over Pandora. He’s bloodthirsty, wears a mask (This time around, you actually see one of his eyes, which is brown colored), and carries around a buzz axe. He’s also like the psychos in that he shouts & rants the goofiest shit. What separates Krieg from the rest of the psychos is two-fold. For starters, he’s far more dark & violent than the standard psycho. He takes a rather unholy glee in killing people, and the things he says can actually be quite disturbing (Example: “There is no me, there is no you! There is only the never ending spit and bile of combat! The twenty-four hour murder spree of shining metal! I drink the blood and eat the loot and breathe the numbers, because I! AM! A MONSTER! NOW AND FOREVER!”).
The second aspect of Krieg that makes him different from all the other psychos is that he houses a second personality within his mind. A majority of the time you see & experience Krieg’s manic/violent, but on occasion you hear a more calm voice. This second personality was from before Krieg went insane, and now acts like something akin to a moral compass, steering his psychotic side away from innocent people (At one point, the 2nd personality says that if even a single innocent person is slain, then he’ll take control & kill them both).
Strengths
Fire & Explosive Master
- Like Gaige, Krieg is a elemental master. Both of these characters know how to use explosive weaponry, but Krieg has an edge up on Gaige because of his “Light The Fuse” skill, along with certain skills in his Hellborn tree & Bloodlust tree (The Bloodlust tree my least favorite, but I’ll get to that in a bit). What separates these two is their other chosen element. Whereas Gaige enjoys the power of electricity, Krieg loves fire. Krieg’s Hellborn tree enables him to master fire, along with the other elements about halfway down the tree. Not only does he want to be on fire, but Krieg also wants to set everything else on fire.
Buzz Axe Rampage
- Like Gaige, Krieg’s skill is part of his character. In this case, his ability is that he draws out a two-handed buzz axe, and becomes a slicing psychopath! In addition to attacking enemies up close, he can also throw his axe at distant enemies, and while it doesn’t hurt as much as an up close attack, but it does stun the target for a second or two. On top of that, you gain full (Yes, full) health everytime you kill a target, and when you’re on cooldown, enemies attacks reduce the cooldown time. Nice!
Melee Master
- Although Zer0 can fight up close, it’s much more of a strength when it comes to Krieg. Krieg, despite the Bloodlust tree, has more strength when he closes the distance, and puts an axe in their head. Things become a little interesting when you get towards the bottom of the Hellborn tree, when “Hellfire Halitosis” becomes available. Just step right up to an enemy, press the V key (Console players press whatever,) and you’ll breath fire. Once they’re burning, just hack them apart!
High Reward
- If you’re the kind of gamer that enjoy a high amount of rewards, then Krieg is the character for you! Although he has to go against everything that the other character avoid, Krieg gains some fun bonuses. Get knocked out when you have “Light the Fuse”? Then pull out some dynamite & blow somebody up! Have “Numbed Nerves” and you’re on fire? Gain some damage reduction! It’s these kinds of thing that make Krieg an interesting character to play.
Weaknesses
Unconventional
- As I stated a bunch of times, Krieg is an unconventional character. He basically goes against what the other characters avoid, such as running toward gunfire, increasing the time it takes before your shields regenerate, etc. If you’re someone that prefers more traditional rules & tactics, then Krieg is somebody that you won’t like.
Bloodlust Skill Tree
- Mania tree I love. Hellborn tree I love. Bloodlust tree, not quite so much. For those who don’t know about this tree, here’s a quick summary of it from the Borderlands Wiki page:
“Focuses on ranged combat using a Bloodlust stack mechanic. Dealing damage to an enemy adds a stack of Bloodlust to a maximum of 100. Stacks decay after 3 seconds if you haven’t dealt damage at a rate of 1 stack per second.”
Honestly, this feels like a weaker version of Gaige’s Anarchy skill/ability. There’s a couple skills that relate to Buzz Axe Rampage, but everything else is related to ranged combat. I’ve looked at the skills in Bloodlust and while they seem to be fun, with the way I play Krieg this tree doesn’t help me.
Awaken the Beast can be Overpowered
- I love this skill! The “Awaken the Beast” skill works as follows:
“Activating the Buzz Axe Rampage when at or below 33% of your max health remaining (i.e., when the ! is showing) instantly refills your health and transforms you into a Badass Psycho Mutant with +100% Melee Damage and +50% Damage Reduction. Buzz Axe Rampage is instantly recharged afterwards.”
The first couple parts of the description I don’t have a problem with. Hell, I find the activating at or below 33% health controls it somewhat. It’s the last part that’s a little troublesome. I’ve unleashed chains of “Awaken the Beast” augmented Buzz Axe Rampages dozens upon dozens of times since I selected the skill. It’s definitely helped me out of a jam many times, yet I feel as if I’m abusing the game in someway.
High Risk
- Like I said earlier, Krieg is a character that requires a high amount of risk in order to gain rewards. If you need your Buzz Axe Rampage (and you don’t have “Awaken the Beast”) recharged, you need to get shot. If you need a bonus to your melee or ranged damage, you need to be on fire. If you’re not watching Krieg’s condition during a firefight, then there’s a very good chance you might stumble and get killed.
Overall Opinion
As much as I enjoyed Gaige, Krieg was somebody I enjoyed more. He mannerisms, his bipolar personality, and the fact that some of his skills go over the wall just coalesce into a weird whole. Krieg is the perfect kind of character for those who prefer the strange to the stable, the sick to the sane, and the terrible to the typical.
Krieg gets a 8 to 8.5 out of 10
See you all next week, when we’ll be sailing the sandy seas in the first story DLC. Until then, stay Otaku!
***
Here's a more serious, but still charming, video for Breast Cancer Awareness. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnogLQLQAQM
Background (Taken from the Borderlands Wiki)
Whatever Krieg went through to make him the blood-drinking, meat-loving killer that he is, he wasn't always like this. Krieg's psyche has a remnant of who he used to be--a literal inner voice which forces Krieg to only kill the deserving, and help others. The voice remarks that he remembers helping people, getting paid with loot, and other Vault-hunter-esque pursuits. It's also informed Krieg that should Krieg ever kill an innocent person, the inner voice will take over and commit suicide to kill them both.
In his graphic backstory, Krieg is shown wandering the wastelands wielding only his buzz axe, killing bandits and other hostiles along the way. The inner voice seemed to have far less influence on his actions, barely able to keep his blood lusting vessel targeting hostiles over non-combatants. After narrowly avoiding getting splattered, Krieg sees Maya at a train station. Krieg's inner voice knew she was a Siren and a Vault Hunter, and told Krieg to ally with her. Krieg, however, screamed at the top of his lungs, "I'm the conductor of the POOP train!". Maya interprets this as being hostile and opens fire, only to attract a pack of rats.
Too focused on Krieg, Maya does not see the cannibals approach from behind. Somehow Krieg's inner voice, with some difficulty, managed to influence his darker side to warn Maya by shouting, "Turn around, pretty lady!" and he defends Maya, butchering the rats and terrifying one of them unconscious. After helping Krieg finish off the rest of them, Maya softens up to the madman, and Krieg's inner self gains hope that perhaps he can regain himself, though his outer self was too preoccupied screaming about ribcages and cockatiles to express it. Afterwards he is seen clinging to the side of the train, which explains how he ended up in Windshear Waste.
Compared to Gaige, Krieg’s story (As much as we get, anyways) is filled with a little more tragedy. Once you learn more of his backstory, you actually become a little sympathetic towards his cause. He’s incredibly bloodthirsty, yet somehow he has a heart & consciousness.
Character
On the surface, Krieg is just like one of the numerous psychos you see all over Pandora. He’s bloodthirsty, wears a mask (This time around, you actually see one of his eyes, which is brown colored), and carries around a buzz axe. He’s also like the psychos in that he shouts & rants the goofiest shit. What separates Krieg from the rest of the psychos is two-fold. For starters, he’s far more dark & violent than the standard psycho. He takes a rather unholy glee in killing people, and the things he says can actually be quite disturbing (Example: “There is no me, there is no you! There is only the never ending spit and bile of combat! The twenty-four hour murder spree of shining metal! I drink the blood and eat the loot and breathe the numbers, because I! AM! A MONSTER! NOW AND FOREVER!”).
The second aspect of Krieg that makes him different from all the other psychos is that he houses a second personality within his mind. A majority of the time you see & experience Krieg’s manic/violent, but on occasion you hear a more calm voice. This second personality was from before Krieg went insane, and now acts like something akin to a moral compass, steering his psychotic side away from innocent people (At one point, the 2nd personality says that if even a single innocent person is slain, then he’ll take control & kill them both).
Strengths
Fire & Explosive Master
- Like Gaige, Krieg is a elemental master. Both of these characters know how to use explosive weaponry, but Krieg has an edge up on Gaige because of his “Light The Fuse” skill, along with certain skills in his Hellborn tree & Bloodlust tree (The Bloodlust tree my least favorite, but I’ll get to that in a bit). What separates these two is their other chosen element. Whereas Gaige enjoys the power of electricity, Krieg loves fire. Krieg’s Hellborn tree enables him to master fire, along with the other elements about halfway down the tree. Not only does he want to be on fire, but Krieg also wants to set everything else on fire.
Buzz Axe Rampage
- Like Gaige, Krieg’s skill is part of his character. In this case, his ability is that he draws out a two-handed buzz axe, and becomes a slicing psychopath! In addition to attacking enemies up close, he can also throw his axe at distant enemies, and while it doesn’t hurt as much as an up close attack, but it does stun the target for a second or two. On top of that, you gain full (Yes, full) health everytime you kill a target, and when you’re on cooldown, enemies attacks reduce the cooldown time. Nice!
Melee Master
- Although Zer0 can fight up close, it’s much more of a strength when it comes to Krieg. Krieg, despite the Bloodlust tree, has more strength when he closes the distance, and puts an axe in their head. Things become a little interesting when you get towards the bottom of the Hellborn tree, when “Hellfire Halitosis” becomes available. Just step right up to an enemy, press the V key (Console players press whatever,) and you’ll breath fire. Once they’re burning, just hack them apart!
High Reward
- If you’re the kind of gamer that enjoy a high amount of rewards, then Krieg is the character for you! Although he has to go against everything that the other character avoid, Krieg gains some fun bonuses. Get knocked out when you have “Light the Fuse”? Then pull out some dynamite & blow somebody up! Have “Numbed Nerves” and you’re on fire? Gain some damage reduction! It’s these kinds of thing that make Krieg an interesting character to play.
Weaknesses
Unconventional
- As I stated a bunch of times, Krieg is an unconventional character. He basically goes against what the other characters avoid, such as running toward gunfire, increasing the time it takes before your shields regenerate, etc. If you’re someone that prefers more traditional rules & tactics, then Krieg is somebody that you won’t like.
Bloodlust Skill Tree
- Mania tree I love. Hellborn tree I love. Bloodlust tree, not quite so much. For those who don’t know about this tree, here’s a quick summary of it from the Borderlands Wiki page:
“Focuses on ranged combat using a Bloodlust stack mechanic. Dealing damage to an enemy adds a stack of Bloodlust to a maximum of 100. Stacks decay after 3 seconds if you haven’t dealt damage at a rate of 1 stack per second.”
Honestly, this feels like a weaker version of Gaige’s Anarchy skill/ability. There’s a couple skills that relate to Buzz Axe Rampage, but everything else is related to ranged combat. I’ve looked at the skills in Bloodlust and while they seem to be fun, with the way I play Krieg this tree doesn’t help me.
Awaken the Beast can be Overpowered
- I love this skill! The “Awaken the Beast” skill works as follows:
“Activating the Buzz Axe Rampage when at or below 33% of your max health remaining (i.e., when the ! is showing) instantly refills your health and transforms you into a Badass Psycho Mutant with +100% Melee Damage and +50% Damage Reduction. Buzz Axe Rampage is instantly recharged afterwards.”
The first couple parts of the description I don’t have a problem with. Hell, I find the activating at or below 33% health controls it somewhat. It’s the last part that’s a little troublesome. I’ve unleashed chains of “Awaken the Beast” augmented Buzz Axe Rampages dozens upon dozens of times since I selected the skill. It’s definitely helped me out of a jam many times, yet I feel as if I’m abusing the game in someway.
High Risk
- Like I said earlier, Krieg is a character that requires a high amount of risk in order to gain rewards. If you need your Buzz Axe Rampage (and you don’t have “Awaken the Beast”) recharged, you need to get shot. If you need a bonus to your melee or ranged damage, you need to be on fire. If you’re not watching Krieg’s condition during a firefight, then there’s a very good chance you might stumble and get killed.
Overall Opinion
As much as I enjoyed Gaige, Krieg was somebody I enjoyed more. He mannerisms, his bipolar personality, and the fact that some of his skills go over the wall just coalesce into a weird whole. Krieg is the perfect kind of character for those who prefer the strange to the stable, the sick to the sane, and the terrible to the typical.
Krieg gets a 8 to 8.5 out of 10
See you all next week, when we’ll be sailing the sandy seas in the first story DLC. Until then, stay Otaku!
***
Here's a more serious, but still charming, video for Breast Cancer Awareness. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnogLQLQAQM
Monday, October 7, 2013
Mechromancer Review
Hi everybody! Last month was the 1st anniversary of Borderlands 2's release. The game is still popular as hell, and is only getting popular, thanks to the DLC being released since them. To start off my belated 1-year anniversary of Borderlands 2's release, I’ll start off by reviewing the DLC characters. The format for them will be a bit different when compared to my current anime review, but it’ll follow something similar. With that out of the way, let’s look at the first DLC character that was released, Gaige the Mechromancer!
Background (Taken from the Borderlands Wiki)
Gaige was a high school student from the planet Eden-5. She originally conceived Deathtrap, then called DT, as a science fair project to combat bullying. Her rival, Marcy Holloway, was a contestant in the science fair as well, and used her father's money to buy her way through the competition. Marcy apparently stole Gaige's DT designs and sold it to Eden-5's police force.
On the day of the science fair, Marcy's father bribed the judges, helping win her first place with a defective robot based on Deathtrap's blueprints. Gaige placed third. Marcy then shoved Gaige, causing Deathtrap to identify her as a hostile. Deathtrap attacked with its claws, causing her to explode due to a miscalibration by Gaige. Gaige was escorted to the principal's office, and faced expulsion and arrest for accidentally murdering her rival. She called her father to create a distraction to help her evade arrest, and bought a ticket to Pandora, where she stowed away on a train leading to Windshear Waste.
This is a rather goofy & original way to introduce a character and his/her background. It’s basic, but clever, and it actually build part of her character in the game (The rest of it was all up to her, so to speak). I should quickly mention that Gaige is currently the youngest of the Vault Hunters in the game, as she’s only 18 years old (The older Vault Hunter is Salvador, who’s 36 years old).
Character
Gaige is a very punky character. During her ECHOcast previews, she came across as a someone who had little to no respect for the system, and had a particular dislike for bullies. Gaige is also a very smart girl: she’s a expert in science & mechanics, with a particular love for robotics. She seems to be more attached to Deathtrap than to other people, but she isn’t really mean to anybody. Despite her outer appearance, Gaige can be quite the girly-girl: She’s apparently a My Little Pony fan (As evidenced by the names of some of her skills), and enjoys cupcakes & hot chocolate. Yeah, anyone can enjoy cupcakes & hot chocolate (I quite like them both!), but for some weird reason it’s girly with her.
Strengths
Shock & Explosive Master
- Although Maya (The Siren) manipulates electricity, and everybody else knows a thing or two about explosives (With perhaps the 2nd dlc character having about as much mastery as Gaige), Gaige has more powers over these two elements than anybody else. With many of her skills across all her skill trees taking advantage of shock & explosive weapons, Gaige can quickly deplete an enemy’s shields, and blow them away with a well-aimed rocket launcher.
Anarchy
- One of the more interesting skills in Gaige’s plethora of skills, Anarchy can turn the Mechromancer from a mild-mannered shot, to an overpowered killing machine. As she’s in a fight, when she kill a target (or does a full reload) she gains a stack of Anarchy. For each stack of Anarchy she gains, she receives a small boost to damage. This comes at the cost of a small penalty to her accuracy (More on this in a bit), and thus makes hitting something a little harder to hit. Despite the flaw, the amount of damage you can you with a horde of Anarchy stacks is impressive!
Deathtrap
- We can’t forget this metallic fellow, now can we? Although he can’t do much at first (He can only claw at enemies when he’s first selected), when Gaige begins to go down each of her skill trees, Deathtrap gains all sorts of abilities. A whirlwind attack, a heat ray, and gaining the ability to be infused with a element are just a few of the enhancements your robotic friend can gain. By later levels, Deathtrap becomes a powerhouse of an ally.
Easy Class to Start With
- If you’re new to Borderlands 2 (Or First-Person-Shooters in general), then Gaige is the character for you. All throughout her skill trees (Mainly the “Best Friends Forever” tree), she gains access to skills that can help out first-time shooter fans. From the “Close Enough” skill that’ll deflect bullets towards enemies if you miss them, to the “The Better Half” skill that increases the fire rate when your magazine is down to half, there’s something that’ll help you out in some way.
Weaknesses
Something Good In Every Tree
- This was actually something of a problem in the original Borderlands. Everybody in the first game had good skills across all their skill trees, and Gaige is no exception in Borderlands 2. There’s something great in all her skill trees, which makes the prospect of a specialized Mechromancer difficult, but not necessarily impossible.
Anarchy Accuracy & Reloading
- As I said above, Anarchy gives you the ability to trade in accuracy for increased damage. The decrease in accuracy isn’t so bad when you only have a small stack of Anarchy, and is actually reasonably controllable. It’s when you have a large stack, however, that accuracy becomes an issue. Even if you don’t increase the amount of Anarchy you can gain, your maximum capacity will be 100, and you’ll have a hard time hitting targets (Even sniper rifles, known for having good accuracy, will become difficult when aiming at targets). This decrease is coupled with the fact that if you reload out of a fight, or reload prematurely, your stacks of Anarchy will disappear rapidly (This is incredibly irritating if you have a larger stack). If you select the Discord skill, reloading isn’t quite so painful. If you don’t take Discord, then a accidental reload may cause trouble for you in a firefight.
Deathtrap Clipping
- This is really more baffling than a weakness. For whatever reason, the development team decided that Deathtrap could clip through walls. Not through massively thick walls, but your robotic friend has the amazing (Note my bad attempt at sarcasm) ability to move right through less thick walls/covering. This is really more baffling than anything else, as you’d expect the developers to find this problem out early on in the programming of the class.
Can Be A Hard Class To Play
- Although Gaige is a class that great for first-timers to get into, she can actually be quite tough to use. Her first two trees aren’t too terrible to manage, as the skills within are relatively easy to manage. It’s really the “Ordered Chaos” skill tree that can cause trouble for new players. The tree that manages Anarchy, the early skills in “Ordered Chaos” aren’t that hard to keep track of. It’s when you get further down the set that things prove troublesome, as you’re keeping track of so many things, the chance for an accidental reload can be high.
Overall Opinion
Gaige the Mechromancer is a class that’s perfectly suited for beginners to the first-person-shooter genre. With many friendly skills in her first two skill trees, it eases new players into a comfortable position to take off into the world of FPS games. Gaige is also a good class for players who enjoy a challenge, as the “Ordered Chaos” skill tree provides plenty of challenge. Her weaknesses might cause you to think twice about playing her, but she has more than enough positives to relatively bury them, and ultimately create a fun experience.
Gaige gets a out 7 to 8 of 10
See you all later this week, when we’ll take a gander at the 2nd dlc character. Until then, stay Otaku!
***
Gotta keep up with Breast Cancer Awareness, so here's a fun little video for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5oWjeL1FHo
Background (Taken from the Borderlands Wiki)
Gaige was a high school student from the planet Eden-5. She originally conceived Deathtrap, then called DT, as a science fair project to combat bullying. Her rival, Marcy Holloway, was a contestant in the science fair as well, and used her father's money to buy her way through the competition. Marcy apparently stole Gaige's DT designs and sold it to Eden-5's police force.
On the day of the science fair, Marcy's father bribed the judges, helping win her first place with a defective robot based on Deathtrap's blueprints. Gaige placed third. Marcy then shoved Gaige, causing Deathtrap to identify her as a hostile. Deathtrap attacked with its claws, causing her to explode due to a miscalibration by Gaige. Gaige was escorted to the principal's office, and faced expulsion and arrest for accidentally murdering her rival. She called her father to create a distraction to help her evade arrest, and bought a ticket to Pandora, where she stowed away on a train leading to Windshear Waste.
This is a rather goofy & original way to introduce a character and his/her background. It’s basic, but clever, and it actually build part of her character in the game (The rest of it was all up to her, so to speak). I should quickly mention that Gaige is currently the youngest of the Vault Hunters in the game, as she’s only 18 years old (The older Vault Hunter is Salvador, who’s 36 years old).
Character
Gaige is a very punky character. During her ECHOcast previews, she came across as a someone who had little to no respect for the system, and had a particular dislike for bullies. Gaige is also a very smart girl: she’s a expert in science & mechanics, with a particular love for robotics. She seems to be more attached to Deathtrap than to other people, but she isn’t really mean to anybody. Despite her outer appearance, Gaige can be quite the girly-girl: She’s apparently a My Little Pony fan (As evidenced by the names of some of her skills), and enjoys cupcakes & hot chocolate. Yeah, anyone can enjoy cupcakes & hot chocolate (I quite like them both!), but for some weird reason it’s girly with her.
Strengths
Shock & Explosive Master
- Although Maya (The Siren) manipulates electricity, and everybody else knows a thing or two about explosives (With perhaps the 2nd dlc character having about as much mastery as Gaige), Gaige has more powers over these two elements than anybody else. With many of her skills across all her skill trees taking advantage of shock & explosive weapons, Gaige can quickly deplete an enemy’s shields, and blow them away with a well-aimed rocket launcher.
Anarchy
- One of the more interesting skills in Gaige’s plethora of skills, Anarchy can turn the Mechromancer from a mild-mannered shot, to an overpowered killing machine. As she’s in a fight, when she kill a target (or does a full reload) she gains a stack of Anarchy. For each stack of Anarchy she gains, she receives a small boost to damage. This comes at the cost of a small penalty to her accuracy (More on this in a bit), and thus makes hitting something a little harder to hit. Despite the flaw, the amount of damage you can you with a horde of Anarchy stacks is impressive!
Deathtrap
- We can’t forget this metallic fellow, now can we? Although he can’t do much at first (He can only claw at enemies when he’s first selected), when Gaige begins to go down each of her skill trees, Deathtrap gains all sorts of abilities. A whirlwind attack, a heat ray, and gaining the ability to be infused with a element are just a few of the enhancements your robotic friend can gain. By later levels, Deathtrap becomes a powerhouse of an ally.
Easy Class to Start With
- If you’re new to Borderlands 2 (Or First-Person-Shooters in general), then Gaige is the character for you. All throughout her skill trees (Mainly the “Best Friends Forever” tree), she gains access to skills that can help out first-time shooter fans. From the “Close Enough” skill that’ll deflect bullets towards enemies if you miss them, to the “The Better Half” skill that increases the fire rate when your magazine is down to half, there’s something that’ll help you out in some way.
Weaknesses
Something Good In Every Tree
- This was actually something of a problem in the original Borderlands. Everybody in the first game had good skills across all their skill trees, and Gaige is no exception in Borderlands 2. There’s something great in all her skill trees, which makes the prospect of a specialized Mechromancer difficult, but not necessarily impossible.
Anarchy Accuracy & Reloading
- As I said above, Anarchy gives you the ability to trade in accuracy for increased damage. The decrease in accuracy isn’t so bad when you only have a small stack of Anarchy, and is actually reasonably controllable. It’s when you have a large stack, however, that accuracy becomes an issue. Even if you don’t increase the amount of Anarchy you can gain, your maximum capacity will be 100, and you’ll have a hard time hitting targets (Even sniper rifles, known for having good accuracy, will become difficult when aiming at targets). This decrease is coupled with the fact that if you reload out of a fight, or reload prematurely, your stacks of Anarchy will disappear rapidly (This is incredibly irritating if you have a larger stack). If you select the Discord skill, reloading isn’t quite so painful. If you don’t take Discord, then a accidental reload may cause trouble for you in a firefight.
Deathtrap Clipping
- This is really more baffling than a weakness. For whatever reason, the development team decided that Deathtrap could clip through walls. Not through massively thick walls, but your robotic friend has the amazing (Note my bad attempt at sarcasm) ability to move right through less thick walls/covering. This is really more baffling than anything else, as you’d expect the developers to find this problem out early on in the programming of the class.
Can Be A Hard Class To Play
- Although Gaige is a class that great for first-timers to get into, she can actually be quite tough to use. Her first two trees aren’t too terrible to manage, as the skills within are relatively easy to manage. It’s really the “Ordered Chaos” skill tree that can cause trouble for new players. The tree that manages Anarchy, the early skills in “Ordered Chaos” aren’t that hard to keep track of. It’s when you get further down the set that things prove troublesome, as you’re keeping track of so many things, the chance for an accidental reload can be high.
Overall Opinion
Gaige the Mechromancer is a class that’s perfectly suited for beginners to the first-person-shooter genre. With many friendly skills in her first two skill trees, it eases new players into a comfortable position to take off into the world of FPS games. Gaige is also a good class for players who enjoy a challenge, as the “Ordered Chaos” skill tree provides plenty of challenge. Her weaknesses might cause you to think twice about playing her, but she has more than enough positives to relatively bury them, and ultimately create a fun experience.
Gaige gets a out 7 to 8 of 10
See you all later this week, when we’ll take a gander at the 2nd dlc character. Until then, stay Otaku!
***
Gotta keep up with Breast Cancer Awareness, so here's a fun little video for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5oWjeL1FHo
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Plans for the Rest of the Year
Hi everyone!
Well, as you’ve probably noticed, I posted up the last review of my 40-post marathon of anime reviews yesterday. I had a lot of fun doing the marathon, but posting 2 reviews a week eventually took a toll on me (This past month was especially tiring). So, for the rest of the year I’m going back to my original 1 review-a-week schedule (with certain exceptions). I have a schedule for the rest of the year, and it’s jam-packed with a bunch of fun stuff to look at. Not wanting to keep you in suspense, I figured why not show you what I’ve got in store. Enjoy!
October
(Borderlands 2 1st-Belated Birthday Celebration)
Week 1: Gaige Review & Krieg Review
Week 2: First 2 Story DLC Reviews
Week 3: 3rd Story DLC Review
Week 4: 4th Story DLC Review
November
(General Stuff)
Week 1: Call of Duty: World at War Review
Week 2: Nirvana: Nevermind Review
Week 3: Tenchi In Tokyo Review
Week 4: Ah My Goddess: Season 2 Review
December
(Holiday Stuff)
Week 1: Top 5 Games of 2013 & Twisted Sister: A Twisted Christmas Review
Week 2: Duke Caribbean: Life’s a Beach Review & Love Hina: Spring Special Review
Week 3: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation Review & End of Year Post
Well, that’s what I’ve got planned for the rest of the year. Hope you like what’s coming up, and until next time, stay Otaku!
***
To keep up with Breast Cancer Awareness, here's an e-card from an anime site I used to go to. Enjoy!
Well, as you’ve probably noticed, I posted up the last review of my 40-post marathon of anime reviews yesterday. I had a lot of fun doing the marathon, but posting 2 reviews a week eventually took a toll on me (This past month was especially tiring). So, for the rest of the year I’m going back to my original 1 review-a-week schedule (with certain exceptions). I have a schedule for the rest of the year, and it’s jam-packed with a bunch of fun stuff to look at. Not wanting to keep you in suspense, I figured why not show you what I’ve got in store. Enjoy!
October
(Borderlands 2 1st-Belated Birthday Celebration)
Week 1: Gaige Review & Krieg Review
Week 2: First 2 Story DLC Reviews
Week 3: 3rd Story DLC Review
Week 4: 4th Story DLC Review
November
(General Stuff)
Week 1: Call of Duty: World at War Review
Week 2: Nirvana: Nevermind Review
Week 3: Tenchi In Tokyo Review
Week 4: Ah My Goddess: Season 2 Review
December
(Holiday Stuff)
Week 1: Top 5 Games of 2013 & Twisted Sister: A Twisted Christmas Review
Week 2: Duke Caribbean: Life’s a Beach Review & Love Hina: Spring Special Review
Week 3: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation Review & End of Year Post
Well, that’s what I’ve got planned for the rest of the year. Hope you like what’s coming up, and until next time, stay Otaku!
***
To keep up with Breast Cancer Awareness, here's an e-card from an anime site I used to go to. Enjoy!
Friday, October 4, 2013
Bragging Rites (7)
Ladies & gentlemen, I've finally got it! Thanks to the kind generosity of my father, I've finally received one of the rarest guns in Borderlands 2.....BEHOLD!!!!!!
Beautiful, isn't it?
Wounded Man Review
Ladies & Gentlemen, we’ve finally arrived at the station. The train has stopped, and all of the passengers that we’ve met over the past couple months have gotten off, and are heading elsewhere. However, there’s one passenger sitting right in the back, in a corner of the compartment where few people can see him, and he seems to be a brooding sort of fellow. Before he’s gets off, let’s talk to the one known as Wounded Man, and see what he has to offer this marathon of reviews.
Story/Setup
Taken from the anidb page:
“Yuko Kusaka is a Japanese journalist sent to Brazil to do a report on the gold rush phenomenon that seems to be making many people rich from night to day. Rumors say that among the many "garimpeiros" (gold diggers) currently on the Amazon forest, there is a Japanese known as Rio Baraki. Reaching their destination, her crew member is promptly attacked and she is raped as a warning to stop their work and return immediately to their home country. Determined to do her job, she stays and finds out from the attacker that he is none other than Baraki, a white haired muscular man with a large scar on his back. Later she discovers that his real name is Keisuke Ibaraki. Once a promising quarterback, he ended up falsely incriminated by a powerful organization known as GPX.”
Despite looking like a goofy premise, Wounded Man is much more serious than it looks. A very intense noir vibe surrounds the whole thing, as betrayal, tragedy, death, and love come up rather frequently. It feels rather cliched, but I think the series knows that it’s cliched.
Setting
Wounded Man is split up into two areas, Brazil & Japan. The Brazilian portions take up most of episodes 1 & 2, and they look as you’d expect. There’s jungles, villages, gold mines, and rivers to navigate. The rest of the show (And two a certain extent, Episode 2) plays out in Japan. The portions in Japan are also how’d you expect them to be: Skyscrapers, bars, mansion estates, cop stations, etc. I much preferred the portions in Brazil, as that’s a country you don’t often see in anime (Except perhaps, Hetalia).
Characters
Tragically, this series shares the same problem as Windaria did this past Monday, and that’s the characters aren’t the strongest point. This time around, though, they aren’t as weak as the ones in Windaria were: there is an attempt at giving the character’s some depth & emotion, there is an attempt at giving the characters some kind of background, and there is an attempt at getting the viewer to sympathize with them. I definitely liked the characters in Wounded Man more than in Windaria, despite some of the characters in that movie having more charm than some of the characters in this.
Animation
Curiously, this show reminded me very much of Golgo 13: The Professional in terms of animation. Everything looks very similar to that movie: from the characters, to the backgrounds, to the locales, it all looks like Golgo 13. About the only difference between the two series is that Wounded Man seems a little rougher looking. It’s not ugly, but it looks more jagged than the previously mention show, and the colors seems faded, albeit just a little. Other than that, it looks fine.
Voice Acting
Since this was never released in the United States, this has no dub.
Episodes & Episode Length
Wounded Man is perhaps the longest of the shows I’ve reviewed during this marathon. Composed of 5 episodes (Each of which run a little over a half-hour), this series feels quite substantial for it’s size. Makes sure you watch this one at night, as there’s a lot of content that’s not suitable for kids (Lots of blood, and lots of sex (Both consensual & non-consensual)).
Availability & Pricing
Wounded Man is the most curious in terms of it’s availability. The show itself was never released in the United States, so I don’t know how available it is over in Japan, nor do I not know how much it costs at the moment. However, the manga of Wounded Man was released here, although it was years ago. Luckily, the price for it (The 1st volume, at least) starts at about 10 dollars for a new copy, which is fair if you ask me.
If you want to download this show, the click on the link below:
http://www.garoo9.com/elevator_kart/?p=3267
Extras/Other
Since I downloaded this, I don’t know what the extras are.
General Impression & Rating
Wounded Man was an interesting watch. It has is fair share of problems (mainly not coming out in the states), but there’s a good show underneath it all. If you like a shows that’s gritty, but doesn’t take itself too seriously, then give this one a go.
Wounded Man gets a 7 to 7.5 out of 10.
See you all sometime tomorrow, when I’ll give you a heads up as to what I have planned for the rest of the year. Until then, stay Otaku!
***
Sorry about posting this later than usual. The weather around my place wasn’t the best, and I was helping out my Mother with a project. Also, not only is October the home of Halloween, but it’s also Breast Cancer Awareness month. Since I am a big fan of the booby, I thought I might spread the info around. With that said, here are two links to check out (One entertaining, one informative):
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11749876/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_cancer_awareness
Story/Setup
Taken from the anidb page:
“Yuko Kusaka is a Japanese journalist sent to Brazil to do a report on the gold rush phenomenon that seems to be making many people rich from night to day. Rumors say that among the many "garimpeiros" (gold diggers) currently on the Amazon forest, there is a Japanese known as Rio Baraki. Reaching their destination, her crew member is promptly attacked and she is raped as a warning to stop their work and return immediately to their home country. Determined to do her job, she stays and finds out from the attacker that he is none other than Baraki, a white haired muscular man with a large scar on his back. Later she discovers that his real name is Keisuke Ibaraki. Once a promising quarterback, he ended up falsely incriminated by a powerful organization known as GPX.”
Despite looking like a goofy premise, Wounded Man is much more serious than it looks. A very intense noir vibe surrounds the whole thing, as betrayal, tragedy, death, and love come up rather frequently. It feels rather cliched, but I think the series knows that it’s cliched.
Setting
Wounded Man is split up into two areas, Brazil & Japan. The Brazilian portions take up most of episodes 1 & 2, and they look as you’d expect. There’s jungles, villages, gold mines, and rivers to navigate. The rest of the show (And two a certain extent, Episode 2) plays out in Japan. The portions in Japan are also how’d you expect them to be: Skyscrapers, bars, mansion estates, cop stations, etc. I much preferred the portions in Brazil, as that’s a country you don’t often see in anime (Except perhaps, Hetalia).
Characters
Tragically, this series shares the same problem as Windaria did this past Monday, and that’s the characters aren’t the strongest point. This time around, though, they aren’t as weak as the ones in Windaria were: there is an attempt at giving the character’s some depth & emotion, there is an attempt at giving the characters some kind of background, and there is an attempt at getting the viewer to sympathize with them. I definitely liked the characters in Wounded Man more than in Windaria, despite some of the characters in that movie having more charm than some of the characters in this.
Animation
Curiously, this show reminded me very much of Golgo 13: The Professional in terms of animation. Everything looks very similar to that movie: from the characters, to the backgrounds, to the locales, it all looks like Golgo 13. About the only difference between the two series is that Wounded Man seems a little rougher looking. It’s not ugly, but it looks more jagged than the previously mention show, and the colors seems faded, albeit just a little. Other than that, it looks fine.
Voice Acting
Since this was never released in the United States, this has no dub.
Episodes & Episode Length
Wounded Man is perhaps the longest of the shows I’ve reviewed during this marathon. Composed of 5 episodes (Each of which run a little over a half-hour), this series feels quite substantial for it’s size. Makes sure you watch this one at night, as there’s a lot of content that’s not suitable for kids (Lots of blood, and lots of sex (Both consensual & non-consensual)).
Availability & Pricing
Wounded Man is the most curious in terms of it’s availability. The show itself was never released in the United States, so I don’t know how available it is over in Japan, nor do I not know how much it costs at the moment. However, the manga of Wounded Man was released here, although it was years ago. Luckily, the price for it (The 1st volume, at least) starts at about 10 dollars for a new copy, which is fair if you ask me.
If you want to download this show, the click on the link below:
http://www.garoo9.com/elevator_kart/?p=3267
Extras/Other
Since I downloaded this, I don’t know what the extras are.
General Impression & Rating
Wounded Man was an interesting watch. It has is fair share of problems (mainly not coming out in the states), but there’s a good show underneath it all. If you like a shows that’s gritty, but doesn’t take itself too seriously, then give this one a go.
Wounded Man gets a 7 to 7.5 out of 10.
See you all sometime tomorrow, when I’ll give you a heads up as to what I have planned for the rest of the year. Until then, stay Otaku!
***
Sorry about posting this later than usual. The weather around my place wasn’t the best, and I was helping out my Mother with a project. Also, not only is October the home of Halloween, but it’s also Breast Cancer Awareness month. Since I am a big fan of the booby, I thought I might spread the info around. With that said, here are two links to check out (One entertaining, one informative):
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11749876/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_cancer_awareness
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)