While Campaign of Carnage isn't a bad DLC it is pretty disappointing on every level. Only positive is Mr Torgue himself!
It's available to play from the very start of the game and has a recommended level of 15 however certain parts of the DLC match the level of your character. So if you're level 25 then you will come across enemies in certain areas that match you.
You are introduced by a communication from Tannis, the socially awkward archaeologist in Sanctuary, informing you that a second vault has been found on Pandora. However her transmission is cut short by Mr Torgue himself who is a loud, muscle bond CEO of Torgue industries (the company that make the Torgue guns). He tells you that the vault has been found in the Badass creator of Badassitude and the only person who can open it is the biggest badess badass on Pandora! To find out whom that is, Mr Torgue is holding a competition, pitching fighters against each other to find out whom in the most badass. And you have been invited!
The main story of the DLC revolves around is finding a sponsor (you can't fight in the area without one) and then fighting your way up the leader board by killing off other competitors until you're ranked high enough to challenge number 1 and be crowned the number one badass on Pandora, granting you access to the vault.
These two main objectives are stretched out over a short DLC and it does suffer from a dearth of plot. It slightly lacks the scope and variety of the Pirate Booty DLC, both in looks, locations and interesting mission to keep you engaged.
The scenery is bland and samey. You're never shown any breath-taking vistas or any interesting areas that you just feel compelled to explore. It's either dusty wasteland or concrete jungle. I found myself almost rushing through them to, hopefully, come across a more interesting or gripping or just plain different/outlandish area to explore but sadly this never happened.
The optional missions also fall flat. They are pretty boring and one of the missions, which involve you racing around a track under a set time, is spoiled by invisible walls on flat open terrain. It is "normal" to have the vehicle you're driving suddenly act as if it's hit a wall even though you're driving on what appears to be flat land or even tarmac. This can be very frustrating as the best time can only be achieved by a near perfect driving display.
The enemies don't fair any better as they suffer from the same issues as the ones in Pirate Booty. They are pretty much just remodelled skins and/or characters from the main Borderlands game. The Bosses are the exception but as there is little to no back-story, build up or character development to them they are easily forgettable.
However unlike Captain Scarlett in the previous DLC, Mr Torgue has a strong presence throughout the whole companion. Normally in Comms with you or one of your associates you find along the way he is a big, bold, brash character with a very strong (and somewhat loud) personality. He reminds me a lot of a hyperactive wrestler who demands constant displays of badassness normally via blowing things up or blowing people up!
Torgue is fantastic! His brilliance is best displayed in the quirky and off the wall humour that is a hall mark of Borderlands. His comms are worth pausing and listening to. On more than one occasion as soon as Mr Torgues' picture appeared and he started talking I would purposely try to find a quite area so I could hear clearly what gems he would spout. He makes a funny reference as to why all his swearing is beeped out (or asterisked out in subtitles)
While Mr Torgue is a strong character is really is the only new one worth paying attention to. The main antagonist is pretty forgettable and ultimately leads to a very disappointing boss fight (explained in more detail alter on) and the other characters consist of pre-existing Borderlands ones, mainly Tiny Tina and Mooxi.
As with the Pirate Botty DLC there can be a big shift in enemy levels from one area to the next. The main are is set at level 15 regardless of your level and the other areas match yours. The issue is with the areas that are pre-set at 15 as fighting these enemies are not challenging at all but thankfully this area is relatively sparse on enemies so this doesn't affect this DLC as much as the previous one.
The major issue comes from the final boss who doesn't scale to match your character. It's pretty underwhelming to fight multiple bosses that match your level to then fight the final boss who can be finished off in seconds with (literally) a couple of shots. Upon winning the vault you are fighting on top off then spews numerous weapons and items which do roughly match your level.
It's an odd end to a DLC and while you get a big reward it doesn't feel like you haven't really earned it. It's a very cheap victory and a even poorer way to bring this DLC to a conclusion.
As with Pirate Booty a new currency has been introduced in the form of Torgue Tokens. These tokens are dropped by certain enemies and can be used in Torgue vending machines to buy Torgue weapons. But as with everything else in this DLC the system itself is slightly flawed. To get a normal Torque pistol you need about 300 tokens. Enemies, at most, drop 5 tokens at a time. You can probably already see the issue. To get any decent Torgue weapons (some can cost 1,000's) you will need to do a lot of grinding and farming in a DLC which isn't that interesting first time around, that's a very big ask. There are gambling machines where you bet Torgue Tokens but at most I've only ever been able to get the 5 tokens you have to pay back.
If the DLC was interesting, the token drop rate was higher or more abundant or the items cost less then it would of be a nice little add-on. But with the current system in place unless you're prepared to do a whole lot of grinding then you will miss out. This isn't a bad thing as I went the entire DLC without buying anything and it didn't really affect my play though.
As with the Pirate Booty DLC another issue is balancing. While the Eridium drop rate is a lot lower than it was in the previous DLC you can still level up pretty quickly. As both DLCs are aimed at level 15 you can be forgiven for doing one after the other (as I did) and then upon returning to the main borderlands story be monstrously overpowered. This creates two big problems which really affect gameplay and basic enjoyment of the main game.
One is that you are so strong your weapons kill most enemies in one or two shots. The second is weapon and loot finds are useless.
The game does eventually level out as killing far weaker enemies yields little to none XP but it does sap the fun and challenge out of the game. Fighting unique monsters via side missions become obsolete as they aren't challenging and the loot is worthless. Finding rare loot chests also suffer from containing under-powered, under-levelled equipment.
There is no obvious stage for you to leave the main story of Borderlands 2 to undertake Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage DLC apart from the recommended level of 15. Coupled with the Pirate Booty DLC after you have completed both DLCs you will find an even longer part of the Borderlands 2 main campaign a cake-walk.
You could leave it until the end of the game but the automatic levelling of 15 will again leave you with the underpowered monsters and equipment issue. As with Pirate Booty DLC this really would have been better if this was more integrated into the main story of Borderlands 2 rather than just being simply added on. It does spoil the main game
Overall Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage is a big let down. It is far weaker in a number of areas when compared to Captain Scarlett and her pirate Booty or it repeats the same issues. The plot is more none-existent and a lot of content is recycled or just given a new lick of paint. The only real saving grace of this DLC is Mr Torgue himself but it's just not enough. Bring in the balancing issues this DLC carries with it and a previous DLC which did things better (if only slightly) and Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage just feels a little worn out and worst of all, boring.
Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage is repetitive, not that interesting (bar Mr Torgue), dull and doesn't really bring anything new or exciting to the world of Borderlands.