The series Borderlands has always been among the richest in terms of extra content and experiments with characters and locations, but in 2013 a DLC was released that has remained in the hearts of many: Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep transported the punk shooter to a fantasy setting starring Tina, an agitated teenager with a fondness for bombs. Now Tina has become the protagonist of her own game, a sui generis fantasy that adds to the typical atmosphere of the mother saga the topoi of role-playing games with the girl who acts as “dungeon master” for about twenty hours of absolute chaos. Our hero, the one we will play in first person view, will be created by a rather rich editor who opens the game: in addition to his physical characteristics, we will also have to choose one of the six classes available, each with two active skills and a specialization with activities passive. Arrived at level 12, our character can acquire a second class and unlock all its features. At level 40, the maximum achievable, you can then unlock four other classes. An excellent level of variety from this point of view, which adds an interesting role-playing aspect to the shooter mechanics, in line with the theme of the game.
In Wonderlands the levels are big arenas, you can’t go where you want and there are no vehicles to drive, but otherwise the DNA of Borderlands is fully present, since spells often function as secondary weapons and are reminiscent of grenades. There are swords, axes, hammers and other melee weapons for close combat, and a connection map, the Overworld, has been introduced, in which we find an isometric view and a deformed style of the characters. Here we will be able to hunt for treasures, face side quests, clash with enemies and unlock levels. A sort of old-fashioned RPG that returns with a first-person view at every fight. Powerups, just like in Borderlands, they work thanks to a very extensive loot system: the random collection of bonuses remains one of the main mechanics of the game, and never bores since it is well balanced. Everything would have worked even better if the intelligence of the enemies had been a little more careful and if the situations had been a little more varied, just as the inventory management, at times a bit confusing at times, did not fully convince us. Four can play co-op, online and locally: two-player split screen is supported on PS4 and Xbox One, while four-player split screen is supported on PS5 and Xbox Series.
The gaudy cel-shaded world of Wonderlands it is certainly a pretty sight, even if it does not exploit the power of the new consoles in an impressive way: however, the performance graphics mode features 1080 resolution and 120 fps frame rate for compatible displays, even if we preferred the 4K one which still remains at constant 60 frames per second. The game has the constant worry of being irreverent and laughing, even if it is not an irony that everyone will like. Unfortunately there is no dubbing in Italian. Lovers of Borderlands obviously they will feel at home, and at the same time they will appreciate the change of setting and the “parody” of Gearbox fantasy. All the others may find the repetitiveness of the game and its peculiar style a bit difficult, or maybe fall in love with a title that certainly has personality to sell and effectively mixes the shooter genre with the fantasy one.
Format: PS4, PS5 (tested version), Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, PC publisher: 2K Games Developer: Gearbox Software Vote: 7/10
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