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!!
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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!
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