The creators of the Borderlands series have prepared a spin-off with one of the most popular characters from the Borderlands universe for players who are eagerly awaiting the regular fourth installment. How is Tina Tina’s Wonderlands set in a fantasy world?
I visited the world of Borderlands for the first time in 2009, then on the PlayStation 3 console, and enjoyed a lot of fun in the form of frantic gunplay, loot hunting, and a series of signature humor. How does the latest spin-off, starring Tiny Tina, play the narrator?
Unlike the previous Borderlands series, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is peppered with the option to create a character exactly how you want it. It also begins an adventure, which, however, as you’ll soon learn, takes place “only” in the board game la Dungeons & Dragons. It should be added that you have the option to “customize” your character down to the last detail, so you can create clones of you or your favorite heroes yourself, or let the characters be randomly generated by the game itself. When creating your character, you also choose a class, of which there are several to choose from and each has its own merits, whether it’s stealth or brute strength.
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After that, you can start the story that Tiny Tina tells with her crazy nature and cheerful voice. Just dubbing this character is definitely hard enough, but it’s done perfectly and the dubbing is great for other characters too, whether it’s the main villain Dragon Lord or some other foe. Also, the dialogues are interwoven with lots of allusions to various real-life topics (for example, with social subtext), but first of all, they’re fun… that is, assuming that you like the humor in the story. previous Borderlands games.
Beautiful graphics, great haptics
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is also successful in terms of audiovisual processing, which relies on hand-drawn textures colored in graphics programs (it’s often mistakenly stated that it uses cel-shaded graphics). On the PlayStation 5, where I tested the game, it looked absolutely stunning. You can see detailed textures on enemy bodies and surroundings, as well as brilliant lighting and animations. Plus, you have a choice of 4K at 60 FPS or 120 FPS, but at a much lower resolution. So I played most of the time in the first mentioned mode, which was pretty smooth.
The haptic response and overall feel of shooting, which you’ll enjoy especially with heavier caliber guns, also works. There are tons of firearms to choose from, as well as other types of weapons (axes, etc.) that fall from enemies or crates. The only thing that freezes is that the reward system is still not fully tuned, as tough foes often give out the same rewards as from much weaker ones. The sheer number of weapons can also be confusing, but if you enjoyed the previous Borderlands installments, you probably won’t be surprised.
Still good, but…
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a great game in many ways, but it doesn’t bring anything innovative, which might be a bit of a problem for some players of previous Borderlands games (myself included). However, others may appreciate the fact that not much has changed and enjoy other games from the popular series as they please. Anyway, in the future I hope that the entire Borderlands series will continue, it’s a shame to rest on my laurels.
Photo: Gearbox Software
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