Screenshot: Gearbox
long time Borderlands Players will notice something…different Little Tina’s Wonderland: It is relatively milder than its predecessors. This is intentional, as it’s the first game in the series to feature a “T” rating, which its creative director called the “pillar” of the design in a recent interview, which, in their words, aims to Bringing the franchise to “a wider audience.”
Released last month for consoles and PC, Little Tina’s Wonderland is a derivative of Gearbox Borderlands Series loot shooter.Set between the events of the second and third games, it takes place primarily in a Bunkers and Badass Hosted by divisive character Tiny Tina. (In fact, the only sign wonderland exists in the “real” Borderlands The world is an occasional brief glimpse of Tina’s cave between key story beats. )
Borderlands Games may be known for having billions of procedurally generated guns, but they also have a (fairly, totally earned) reputation for being relentless lewd. The limbs were knocked flying, and blood spurted out. Characters swear frequently enough to make an entire fleet of sailors blush. There’s enough suggestive material to make those sailors blush even more. There’s a reason these games are rated “M”/Mature by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) — basically on par with the movie industry’s “R” rating. The move to a “T”/teen rating is a notable developmental shift.
“At first, there might be a bit of concern,” said creative director Matt Cox Little Tina’s Wonderland (previously directed great Gift of Blood expands to Borderlands 3) Tell small house in a recent video chat. “But really, other than a few words and then a humanoid blood clot, we really didn’t find it that much limiting.”
I have played a lot Little Tina’s Wonderland For the past month, didn’t realize it was rated a T until halfway through the event.Part of the reason is simply because I hadn’t even thought to check its ratings (see: the entire past Borderlands Canon). Part of the reason is that the game escapes. At the end of the early missions, the villain suddenly decapitates the protagonist. While this was clearly a brutal, shocking act, in hindsight, not a single drop of blood was seen.
“We’re somewhat limiting the boundaries of teen ratings,” Cox said.
Torgue, blow up the f****** ocean. Screenshot: Gearbox/Kotaku
show. A side quest has you helping a sentient bean find a new place to “germinate,” a phrase that has a vulgar connotation about the bean. The ultimate goal of the mission, quite literally, is to “flick the beans.” Lustful undertones are hard to miss. But it’s all (technically) above board!or take the famous profanity Borderlands Character Togg.exist wonderland, his swear words sounded with the choppy crunch of the guitar. Usually speaking aloud can seem obtrusive or lose you a moment, but in this case it actually ends up giving something like “let’s blow up the f****** ocean!!!”
At some point, however, Gearbox’s intent to avoid an M rating is unnatural and even rubs in the wrong way. In an early mission, Frette (Wanda Sykes’ cyborg companion) refers to a nonsense plot moment as a “dragon dookie.” Arguably one of the funniest stand-up comedies of modern times, Sykes isn’t exactly known for avoiding profanity, so for anyone familiar with her work, line readings may be forced off. But the ESRB rules are very clear, allowing only “mild to moderate use of profanity” in T-rated games.
“We have a good understanding [of] What we can and can’t do,” Cox said, though he noted there were some surprises. For example: “We didn’t know we’d get a ‘partially exposed’ mushroom head. “
