Mad Moxxi and the Wedding Day Massacre , the latest Headhunter Pack DLC for Borderlands 2, is a stark reminder that a solid gameplay foundation only counts for so much. At this point I'm looking for creative variations on the type of content Gearbox has already served up, and Wedding Day Massacre's drab setting and connect-the-dots mission progression simply doesn't cut it.

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Wedding Day Massacre begins to underwhelm right from its dreary, rain-soaked beginning. Rotgut Distillery is a completely forgettable place that, unlike the areas in previous Headhunter Packs, fails to riff on the holiday it's based around. In fact, everything from the writing to the mission designs feels more or less unrelated to Valentine's Day. Where the other Headhunter Packs either skewered or captured the essence of their respective holidays with biting humor and well-realized motifs, this one practically ignores the opportunities, making it feel bland and lifeless throughout its 40-minute span.Setting isn't everything though, and as prior packs have proven, throwing in an interesting gameplay twist or some novel mission objectives can make a big difference. Sadly, Wedding Day Massacre doesn't come through on either front. The collection of threshers, goliaths, and bandits here are barely a jot different from any of the thousands I've slaughtered in the nearly year and a half since Borderlands 2's debut. There’s nothing in the way of interesting new loot, and the boss battle is little more than a larger-than-average firefight. Yes, the shooting is still fun – it's always been fun – but there's nothing new here combat-wise to justify spending money on it when you can just replay the base game, or any of the other DLCs, for a better time.The flow from mission to mission is below the series' standards, too. From start to finish, you're just walking in a straight line to the next waypoint, where someone will quickly tell you to grab an item before spitting out the where and why of your next destination. None if it has any real context or sense of purpose, and none of the characters’ interactions add to the flavor either. In fact, the story about goliaths from rival clans being “in love” is maybe the only story in all of Borderlands that actually felt tasteless and mean-spirited to me. I get the feeling I was supposed to find it funny when the two of them stood around hurling nasty insults at each other while their baby was off missing, but I wasn't laughing. Call me old-fashioned, but I really hate the, “marriage is hell” and “married people hate each other” tropes. It's not smart satire, it's just contrived cynicism, and that's not the Borderlands I know and love.