progress. Our two targets are perched
up on a rock firing spells and arrows
at another invader, so I take a seat
and watch. In between firing flaming
bolts of madness out his eyes, one of
the targets takes note, and we give
each other the universal sign of
friendship in games – wiggling our
characters and spamming crouch.
Once our less hospitable invader
was dealt with, the real fun began.
See, one of them had used an item
called Taunter’s Tongue, which
allows an extra invader to enter the
game. And so, the game would keep
pulling in new invaders – invaders
who, more often than not, weren’t
here to faff around playing prop hunt.
However, as an invader, you can
also target and attack other invaders.
So when a fresh invader arrived,
ready for a 2 v2 (or, at best, 2 v1v1), I’d
turn around and tilt the odds in the
defender’s favour. But here’s the best
bit – after every felled invader, we’d
cheer and they’d drop me runes, so
many that by the night’s end I was up
300,000. By my metrics, that’s a win.
Invasions are fundamentally
hostile acts. But if Souls games are
about overcoming hardship, who’s to
say there’s anything wrong with
putting down the swords and turning
an enemy into an ally?
Oh deer.107
THE GAMES WE LOVE RIGHT NOW
NOW PLAYING
Wonderlandsalso ditches
vehicles – I didn’t even notice
they were goneat first.H
eading into Tiny
Tina’s Wonderlands, I
expected a pretty
throwaway spin-off of
a series past its prime.
In the wake of Borderlands 3 , the
formula seemed worn out, both the
jokes and the looter-shooting
feeling tired and old-fashioned. The
surprising thing is not just that
Wonderlands is a blast, but how
refreshing certain key changes are.The biggest switch is the setting.
Wonderlands moves the action to the
faux-fantasy world of Tina’s D&D
campaign – and, despite the inclusion
of guns, the game does mostly leave
Pandora behind. You meet new
characters, fight new enemies, and
explore new locations. I had visions
of encountering magic Skags and Ye
Olde Psychos, but it feels like a pretty
clean break.
It’s surprising how much of a
relief it is to have the series’ style and
gameplay divorced from all the
baggage of Pandora itself. I didn’t
realise how sick I was of Vault Keys
and Hyperion until it was all taken
away. And the more consciously
paper-thin world on Tina’s tabletop
really feels like a better fit for theseries’ sense of humour, the writers
able to have fun without worrying
about sci-fi world-building.CHARISMA CHECK
Not every joke lands perfectly, but it
feels like less of a barrage – funny
lines are given the space to work,
instead of being buried under 20
references to old memes. And the
tighter focus, riffing on tabletop
gaming and Tina’s on idiosyncrasies,
is a strength, giving the humour a
clearer throughline, sharper than the
usual scattershot approach.
In combat, magic ratchets up the
chaos to what feels like a new sweet
spot. Grenades are replaced by a
whole swathe of randomised spells,
class abilities are stranger than ever,
and the selection of gun abilities feels
endlessly wild. They still haven’t
tightened up the shooting, but by
leaning hard into the zaniness, they
make Borderlands’ core identity feel
newly relevant.
For the first time in a long time I
feel excited about the future of the
series again. But what I want now is a
Borderlands bold enough to shed all
the fluff, running gags, and charmless
characters, and commit to a fresh,
Pandora-less path.TINY TINA’S WONDERLANDS is a pleasing surprise“A fresh, Pandora-less path”ROBIN VALENTINE
THIS MONTH
Fired a lot of magical, electric
birds out of my hands.ALSO PLAYED
Elden Ring,
XCOM 2 : War of the Chosen