Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ addition of proper melee weapons is a great starting point, but Borderlands 4 could take the feature a lot further.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands players have been enamored with most of the game’s unique features and big additions. The Overworld map is adorable, making travel between locations charming and entertaining. Spells are a game changer, with players able to wield powerful abilities that could never be seen in the main Borderlands games. The Chaos Chamber has also proven to be a big hit, as it serves as a rewarding endgame experience.
Unfortunately, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ melee weapons are a bit of a letdown in comparison to the other additions that Gearbox has made. While they are an improvement over the basic melee attacks seen in the other Borderlands games, they are still lacking in some key ways. As such, Borderlands 4 should double down on the melee weapons in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands instead of leaving them behind, expanding on the system to make it far better.
The first thing that Borderlands 4 should aim to do with its melee weapons – assuming it brings back Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ system for close quarters attacks – is make sure that they are properly balanced. While some Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands builds can make melee effective, most gamers will find that it is far too weak to be used reliably. With melee attacks doing little damage, especially early on in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, players could forget that the weapons are a thing and may not even bother picking new ones up.
If melee weapons were as effective as Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ spells, this would not be an issue. If Gearbox is planning to make unique melee weapons the norm going forward, and is putting the effort into designing special melee tools with unique effects, meleee should be far more powerful than it currently is. With Legendary melee weapons still taking several hits to kill most enemies, the system clearly needs some adjusting in the balancing department. While future Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands updates could address this, Borderlands 4 should strive to have a balanced melee system on day one.
Another useful change would see some depth added to melee combat. While Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands players can now lunge from a distance or hold down the melee button to keep swinging, this is the extent of the options they have available to them. Borderlands 4 could change this by allowing players to pull out melee weapons, equipping them in place of a gun. Wielding a melee weapon this way could open up more options, like a light and heavy attack. For Legendary weapons, a special attack could be present as well.
By making it an option to hold melee weapons, those that do not make use of melee will not be pressured to use it. The melee weapon can be slotted just like Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, letting players who prefer gunplay keep things simple with a lunge and regular swings. However, giving gamers the choice to run a melee weapon in place of a gun in exchange for more abilities would be exciting. At least one Borderlands 4 Vault Hunter will likely be a good fit for a melee build, so having the ability to completely cut out guns and instead switch between four melee weapons with unique attacks would be a game changer.
Just like with Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ Character Creator, Chaos Chamber, spells, and Overworld, Gearbox deserves credit for trying something new with the melee system and shaking up the Borderlands formula. While it may be the weakest of the new additions due to some poor balancing, there is potential to make melee combat a defining feature of Borderlands 4. With weapons like a Psycho’s Buzzaxe sure to provide a lot of fun gameplay opportunities, it would be a shame to go back to the old style of melee. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ melee system is a good starting point for something better, and hopefully Borderlands 4 expands upon it in a meaningful way.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
A lifelong gamer and comics fan who loves writing about everything in nerd culture… and has a small addiction to trophy and achievement hunting.
