In a Twitter poll taken October 14th, president and CEO of Gearbox Software Randy Pitchford asked the Twitterverse who their favorite new villain was in Borderlands 3. Though second and third place were almost a tie between Calypso Twins and Captain Traunt, the clear winner was one of Borderlands 3's many fun Easter eggs.
The Borderlands franchise has become increasingly self-aware with each new game. In Borderlands 3 pretense is out the window. Among the jokes and references is a rocket-launcher referencing the original Iron Man movie and a surprise if a Borderlands 3 player does 69 damage. The new villains in Borderlands 3 are no exception, and the top among them and winner of Pitchford’s poll was Pain and Terror.
The villains Pain and Terror are putting on a show in an arena when the player arrives. One is large and loud, the other short and silent, the character modeling being clear references to the magicians and television personalities of Penn and Teller. Pain is even voiced by Penn Jillette, removing any remaining doubt. Though the loot they drop isn’t anywhere near the 10 most insane legendary weapons in the game, their addition is still a fun surprise for gamers and their larger-than-life personalities really add a lot of flavor to the game.
Pain and Terror aren’t the only villains for players to take on that are references. Those looking to farm the rare spawn hunt enemies will eventually run into the Mother of Grogans, a clear nod to Game of Thrones.
For those interested in secrets that aren’t related to the game’s villains, one of the more fun discoveries in Borderlands 3 is a hidden roller coaster. There’s no side-quest that takes players in that direction, so to find it, gamers will have to do a bit of exploring in the desert to come across the defunct amusement park. There’s fun and a bit of loot to be had for those willing to stray from the main path.
For those that enjoy watching Twitch streamers, there's another reference in the form of a sniper rifle called The Two Time which is one of Dr Disrespect's earlier nicknames due to his back-to-back wins at the Blockbuster Games. With social media, movies, and TV references, it would seem Borderlands 3 has gone out of its way to include everyone in its reference mini-game.
Borderlands 3 is available now for PC, PS4, Xbox One, with a Stadia version in development.
SOURCE: Twitter
