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Accessed via the Fast Travel map, the Badass Crater of Badasstitude is a giant hole in a giant stretch of desert. Mr Torgue has arranged a tournament in his crater, a fight-to-the-death extravaganza that forms the spine of Campaign of Carnage's story. Mr Torgue is a huddled-minded idiot, but he has his own particular moral backbone and, crucially, an acerbic wit to counterbalance his bro-tastic repulsiveness. He is a bad guy written by good guys, you see, a crucial difference to so many characters in games that reach for amusing repugnance but have no fundamental likeable qualities. He lives in a crater he calls 'the badass crater of badassitude'.Īnd yet he's also one of the most likeable and humorous creations in both Borderlands 2 and games in general. He sends you into the midst of grave danger for the sake of a pun, and spoilers major plot points in the story the moment you first meet new characters (“Is it just me or does it seem like this guy is going to betray the f*** out of you?”). He berates others for using too many syllables in sentences, and silences them on subjects other than “loot, pecs or explosions”. His loud voice a decibel rip through the air.
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If Mr Torgue is still human - and after what appears to be an epic poem's journey into steroid abuse, he may now be more pharmacy than man - then he is probably the worst human you could meet. Torgue Tokens make farming the top-tier challenges worthwhile for players already at the level cap. It's also there to fill out the character of Mr Torgue, the kind of man that would send a hitman to settle a review score - the personification of a particular type madness, one both remote and familiar.
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The satire works because of the exaggeration, the suggestion that a 6/10 review is motive enough for a killing spree. The first is to send up the hysteria that surrounds review scores and the tinderbox tensions that exist between snooty game critic and suspicious game fan - a satirical riff on a taboo theme familiar to both Gearbox and its audience. It's an optional, decorative mission bolted onto the side of Campaign of Carnage, but it serves two purposes. Enraged with the unique force and immediacy of the angered internet commenter, Mr Torgue sends you back in to kill every last writer, finishing with the final, spindly target known only as Game Critic. Until, that is, one makes a barbed remark about the stealth sections in another of Mr Torgue's favourite games while you're making your exit.
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When the deed is done, Mr Torgue hears the pleas of the other reviewers at ECHOnet (a wry dig at the seeming herd mentality of game review sites?) and bids you spare them. (“He said it sucked, but then gave it a mark that implies it's above average. At first your task is merely to take down the author of a mean-spirited 6/10 review for a game beloved of Mr Torgue, your quest-giver in the second add-on storyline for Gearbox's hick-chic shooter Borderlands 2. It escalates, of course, as all revenge fantasies do. It's priced at $10.It's the revenge fantasy of every developer wounded by a ruthless critic: a side-quest in which you send your player off to murder an unsympathetic game journalist.
BORDERLANDS 2 CAMPAIGN OF CARNAGE DOWNLOAD
Torgue's Campaign of Carnage" is available now for download now on PC, the Xbox Live Marketplace, and PlayStation Store. I'm sure there will be plenty of new badass missions, new badass enemies, new badass weapons, and hopefully a badass raid boss or two that requires badass cooperation. We'll have our co-op impressions for you after the holiday break. Torgue has in store for the Vault Hunters. Let's take a look at the launch trailer and see what Mr. Either way, I'm going to play that sucka and see if all the badassitude is wearing thin, or if it's just badass enough to keep me interested. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage" downloading as I write this. I like it, but I'm ashamed of myself for liking it. I guess that's the point. It's kind of fun while simultaneously being kind of dumb. Just look at this AMA Gearbox writer Anthony Burch did for Reddit yesterday (in character as Mr. I love me some Borderlands 2, but I think I'm over all the badass stuff. It's got badass guns, badass enemies, badass characters, and even a Badass Rank (which spontaneously resets itself from time to time).
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