Guns, Love, and Tentacles: Borderlands 3 DLC Preview
For the new Borderlands 3 DLC, Guns, Love, and Tentacles: The Marriage of Wainwright & Hammerlock, we’re getting a big ol’ gay wedding. You may be thinking ‘wait what? A gay wedding? In a video game?’ but that’s right folks. We’re going to see a wedding between two men. In a video game.
The second of four planned expansions, this Borderlands 3 DLC takes place on the icy planet Xylourgos and has you fighting alongside wedding planner and fan-favourite returning character Gaige, along with her robot Deathtrap.
Of course, this being Borderlands, it’s all just an excuse to shoot weird-looking aliens with a plethora of bizarre weapons that’ll cause all manner of squelchy, gooey mayhem. We recently went hands-on with the DLC and while we didn’t get to see the wedding itself (presuming it goes ahead…), we’ve got a grasp on how this new story will play out over its 5-6 hour runtime.
So why the gay storyline? “We knew that there would be an opportunity to continue Wainwright and Hammerlock’s story so doing that felt like a no-brainer to us,” says Maxime Babin, Creative Director of the DLC. “We never saw that relationship as something we have to dance around or be careful about; it’s simply a beautiful relationship that we thought would make a great love story.”
She continues, “our goal is always to make the most entertaining thing we possibly can, but if – in the process – we can make more people feel seen, represented and loved, then it is something we can really be proud of.”
And that’s alright with us!
After selecting a vault hunter (we went with Moze – who doesn’t love a giant mech?), we touch down on the frozen tundra of Xylourgos and swiftly get to work dispatching alien scum. The guns feel as beefy as ever – particularly satisfying was an incendiary shotgun that explodes on reload and high explosive grenades more akin to fireworks. Nice!
We soon bump into returning fan-favourite Gaige and together travel to the lodge where our favourite couple is busy preparing their nuptials. On the way, there’s plenty of shooting and some light puzzle-solving involving restoring power to a gondola. Plus, as you’d expect, nooks hide all manner of chests with cash to grab. It’s Borderlands 101.
Arriving at the lodge introduces us to new character Mancubus, and it’s here that things start getting weird. Mancubus is your typical freaky butler type with a clipped British accent and creepy looking moustache. “Enjoy your stay,” he drawls with more than a hint of insincerity.
From here, the DLC takes a turn towards the gothic and Lovecraftian. We’re invited to meet Wainwright in the grim and not-at-all unnervingly named town of Cursehaven, whose inhabitants – perpetually dancing, hovering in mid-air and more – are all clearly out of their minds. Look up and the entire town is embraced by colossal tentacles.
We arrive at the wedding venue (Hearts Desire, a seemingly haunted mansion Luigi would be proud to own) where Wainwright awaits. He apparently hasn’t seen the venue yet. Seems a little shady to us. We tag along with him and he confesses his fear that maybe he’s not exciting enough for Hammerlock – aww! Even at this early point of the DLC, the narrative leans into its wedding and relationship themes.
We then follow the sound of strange chanting to find ourselves at a gaping maw-like pit overlooked by a mysterious couple engaged in some sort of ritual. “Something’s not right here Vault Hunter,” claims Wainwright. You think?! Cue an extended battle against Cthulhu-esque tentacled enemies that take quite some beating and…our demo ends.
It seems, then, that this wedding isn’t all it’s cracked up to be: behind their stiff upper lipped macho energy, Wainwright and Hammerlock are messy gays living for drama. And with its more gothic take on the Borderlands universe, it’s an interesting change of scene for the series – even if, gameplay-wise, it’s more of the same.
In this short playtime of the Borderlands 3 DLC, we didn’t get to see much of the relationship between the two grooms, so it’s difficult to say exactly how far this DLC will go with its LGBT+ representation. And when Borderlands is renowned for its crude humour, how sensitively will these characters be handled? We trust and believe that they will do well, based on their success of authentic portrayal throughout it’s previous instalments.
Still, it’s a step in the right direction for the industry that a AAA game is willing to put LGBT+ characters front and center in its latest story. What’s more, six months after its initial release, Borderlands 3 remains one of the most satisfying shooting experiences of the current generation. A gay wedding is just the excuse we need to hoover up more of that sweet, sweet loot.
First Look
Watch the first 12 minutes of the new DLC
About The Author
