Ten years ago the idea of gamers coming together, destroying enemies aplenty in a first-person shooter and getting loads of loot in the form of guns, supplementary accessories and/or money seemed like such a fresh idea. With a unique art style, incredible low-brow humor to offset fourth wall-breaking moments, and stellar gameplay, the first “Borderlands” created a series that arguably made the “looter-shooter” sub-genre of FPS so popular; influencing plenty of games including its own sequels across two generations. Unfortunately controversy has always been associated with the “Borderlands” franchise mostly due to its over-the-top nature, but the lead up to its third numbered entry had people talking about what was going on behind the scenes more than anything. The developers at Gearbox stayed steadfast and kept working on the most ambitious version of “Borderlands” yet with “Borderlands 3”. More guns, more flying guts, and more opportunities to tell sophomoric jokes seemed to be par the course with another “Borderlands” game; getting this old Vault Hunter excited to see if they could maintain the incredibly fun gameplay loop that made its predecessors so fun while adding to the growing lore this series has produced thus far.
Did I Complete “Borderlands 3”?
Just like its numbered predecessors, “Borderlands 3” has everything a fan of the franchise would want including multiple Vault Hunters with varying abilities to choose from, an extensive story featuring enemy variations aplenty, and so many unique guns. Taking control of “The Beastmaster” Fl4k, my goal was simple: Finish the main campaign, complete some side missions to level up, and experience some of the more extensive & intense post-story action in “Mayhem Mode” both by myself and in co-op. With a surprisingly beefy story mode that proved to be mostly interesting & encouraging to the player to see what happens next, my initial playthrough took nearly forty hours to complete with a variety of side missions left to finish, stronger enemies to conquer, and the intent of testing out the other Vault Hunters’ abilities.
Did “Borderlands 3” Live Up to the Hype?
The foundation of “Borderlands” gameplay has always been stellar, but in an arcade, almost whimsical kind of way until now. Gunplay in “Borderlands 3” feels tighter & more realistic even with weapons that definitely don’t exist in real life including shotguns that charge up their slugs or assault rifles that shoot rays of concentrated energy. Guns just don’t have modes they have specific manufactures that usually have specific styles; meaning gamers who may not want rapid-fire weaponry may avoid certain weapons made by particular manufacturers. Elemental factors return in “B3” with certain weapons being able to produce corrosive shots that will deteriorate more mechanical enemies, shock bullets perfect for depleting those pesky shields, and even the ability to freeze opponents if they are continuously hit with cryogenic bullets.
A great addition to certain guns (mostly any weapon beyond “Common” quality) is the ability to switch between firing modes. For example, some pistols or assault rifles can either go full-auto or semi-auto by hitting down on the d-pad at any given moment; the same thing applies to weapons sporting two different elemental effects. This decision to have two firing modes is great as it reduces the need to have a slew of the same weapons to have enough elemental effects in the player’s inventory; avoiding an annoyance from the older games where the player would be forced to enter the menu and change their entire load out depending on the battle. Of course a majority of the fun from playing a “Borderlands” game is the quality of guns given to the player be it “Rare” or “Legendary”. With so many incredible guns it actually becomes tough to get rid of some that do so well early on, but eventually become useless, as the enemies get stronger.
Enemies are a mixed bag. Like a majority of its predecessors, the game throws many enemies at a time to offset the rather bullet-sponge AI. These adversaries can take headshots with ease and constantly move in some unpredictable partners with the latter being pretty detrimental if the player is fighting for their life and needs that one kill to gain a “Second Wind” to prevent a respawn & losing out on a good chunk of money. A majority of the lower-end adversaries are just as they were in the previous entries and rarely leave a lasting impression other than the loot they drop. The bosses really add to that feeling of disappointment meeting rewarding. A majority of “3’s” bosses won’t go down as the best mostly thanks to a lack of ingenuity sporting large health bars, unblockable attacks and spawning minions that become like gnats when the player is trying to focus on the big baddie. There are some very interesting ideas for bosses like “Pain & Terror’s ‘Agonizer 9000’”, but those encounters are insanely rare right down to the final two major adversaries.
The Vault Hunters themselves are definitely unique compared to their predecessors including a robot who can control certain animals to fight by his side like a acid-spitting skag, a girl who can summon & ride in a customizable mecha bear, and even a siren with the ability to spawn multiple arms that will both crush & choke opponents. Thanks to a pretty extensive skill tree spread across three sub-categories featuring multiple branches players will have differing builds no matter if they play alone or together. Jumping in & out of co-op returns and, as expected, mostly works fantastically. Though there may be a moment or two where connections drop or players get stuck, a majority of the time playing with someone both locally or online is easily accessible & rewarding because enemies come out more en masse depending on how many players are working together; producing rarer loot to offset the difficulty boost. Players can also choose between sharing levels & loot or disabling shared levels with loot becoming first come, first serve.
From a narrative standpoint, “Borderlands 3” is easily the most extensive with the lore from its previous entries taking precedent over simply trying to open a grand vault for all that wonderful loot. Instead of focusing on the sociopathic actions of a charismatic man corrupted by power like Handsome Jack, Lilith from the original “Borderlands” takes the “Crimson Raiders” across various planets in an effort to stop the homicidal Calypso twins Tyreen & Troy from opening the legendary “Great Vault”. The twins’ personalities & technical capabilities in regards to streaming gives way to the crazies around the universe to praise, kill & die for them while giving birth to “The Children of the Vault” cult. While the irony of gamers trying to kill a pair of streamers while, potentially, streaming the game themselves isn’t lost on anyone, the Calypsos lack that certain je ne sais quoi that made Handsome Jack so intriguing; instead opting to be living memes. Thankfully a majority of the side characters return from the previous entries including the Telltale Games’ spin-off. There’s too an emphasis on the relationships between characters that were only alluded to or barely touched on in the previous iterations. Of course “Borderlands 3” has a ton of humorous moments right down to the boss descriptions, but it won’t feel as revolutionary as it did in 2009.
The worlds themselves are varied with Pandora being more reminiscent to its “Borderlands” version while unique locales such as Athenas and Promethea feature more corridors and spacey urbanized areas respectively. The implementation of fast travel in this version must be commended as the player can fast travel at almost any time as long as they’re not in a vehicle. Catch-A-Ride also returns with the driving being just like it was in the previous entries with the player having to move the camera to turn any vehicle while pressing up or down on the movement controller to go forward or reverse – it still doesn’t feel natural no matter how much someone plays. Beyond the new game-plus that makes enemies harder, the “Proving Grounds” horde mode for co-op play, and a plethora of side missions is “Mayhem Mode” – a post-campaign addition to make enemies tougher with rarer loot becoming more plentiful with its own skill tree to complement the action & extra experience points. All the while the game has a wonderful soundtrack be it during a crazy boss battle or simply moving through the main hub.
Unfortunately it’s the little things that hurts the overall enjoyment of playing “Borderlands 3” including a very limited backpack, bank & lost loot container where storage space additions are priced exorbitantly especially early in the game; meaning a bunch of dropped or lost loot due to no nearby vending machines for sales. Framerate drops can happen during anything from traversing the world, being in the middle of a hectic boss battle, or most obviously when pulling up & scrolling through the in-game menu. Technical issues like disappearing or stuck enemies can happen a lot, as do graphical problems such as weapon descriptions getting stuck on the screen. And there’s even a particular boss that is overpowered unless the player quits to the main menu and reloads their save. One of the game’s biggest early problems were cloud saves getting randomly deleted; so be very careful.
Even with its narrative flaws, performance issues and lacking enemies, the incredible gameplay, rewarding loot, genuinely hilarious moments, and an amazing soundtrack definitely makes this one of, if not the best “Borderlands” experiences.
Should You Play “Borderlands 3”?
More than likely if you’ve enjoyed the previous “Borderlands” games you’ve probably already started playing or plan to play “3” in the near future. But what about those who are new to the franchise or are simply burned out on the genre (or “Borderlands” in general)? This entry really won’t change anyone’s perception especially with a lacking story and not too much innovation to its name, but the gameplay is so much fun with or without a friend. No matter what side of the fence you fall on, know that your butt may be the difference between life & death in space.
