Borderlands 3: A Game Review (Always Spoiler Free)

Welcome back to the Borderlands, and oh is the reunion sweet.

Borderlands 3 dropped on September 13^th. It is the fourth game in the series, following Borderlands the Pre-Sequel back in 2014 (Or 5 games and following Tales From the Borderlands a month later in 2014 if you count that). Gearbox goes all out in this return to form as they go back to the roots of what made Borderlands great.

Disclaimer: These are my opinions. Regardless of how much I like a game I try to be completely objective and recognize what makes it good as well as bad.

TLDR available at the end with favorites and gripes.

That being said, let’s get to it.

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• Visuals

I was not expecting there to be much difference in Borderlands 3 compared to previous titles. I was honestly expecting the visuals to be a slightly beefed up version of what we were used to, however I was pleasantly surprised.

The general graphics of the game are crisp and clean. Somehow, they have made their art style look even more beautiful on modern machines. Rather than doing a bit better, which many would have been fine with, if felt like they really tried to up their game.

While the visuals were great, they did had a few hiccups. We had one problem with the graphics come up several times, and unfortunately it was at the most inopportune moments. During a few of the more intense cutscenes we would see a rogue item that was left behind, in the middle of the cutscene. This would be fine if it was just something sitting off to the side, however it was a little more intrusive than that.

At one point we had a car sitting in the dead center of a very important cut scene. The villains walked through the phantom vehicle as though it were not there. Another equally tense scene was interrupted by a gun floating past the scene, through struggling characters arms and other’s faces. While these might be funny, it takes away from the rare serious scenes Borderlands goes for.

Back to good things though! The designs of the characters are awesome. Both new and returning characters have great designs, with several of the returning characters getting redesigns. I played as Fl4k, but our group encompassed every character. They are all great visually (and gameplay wise as well, but we are not there yet). Characters that return have updated looks that are equally sweet.

The new planets are great. They all look unique. They are all fun and very pleasing to look at (even when they are ugly). The enemies filling these places have a wide variety of individuality and all look the part of the rough bad guy or crazy alien creature. The weapons? Well, I tend to look at the things I am shooting at, but from what I have looked down and glimpsed they are just as good looking.

• Gameplay

In previous Borderlands games the areas started to meld together. You would fight through a small space, move forward, fight again. This was fun. It worked for the games, and I never felt it was lacking in any way. Then I played Borderlands 3.

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The combat is so incredibly smooth. Firefights last for almost the whole level. It rarely slows down, barely long enough to even get your bearings. The intensity of the combat is very fun for the Borderlands style. Often it forces you into cover. While you always feel stronger than the enemies, they challenge you. Well, most of them.

I have to say that the bosses sometimes fall flat. We would spend thirty minutes clearing an area, have the boss arrive, and it would be dead in five. This is a problem that story bosses in the series have had in the past, and I am disappointed to still see and experience the issue. While the bosses are very cool, they just do not seem to put up much of a fight. I am looking forward to the extra challenge from them in new game plus.

The game also has its fair amount of hiccups here and there. Characters getting stuck, vanishing items, quests breaking when enemies do not spawn, and general buggy gameplay. While this is to be expected, and I am not really knocking them for it too much, it is still worth mentioning that the game still has some polishing to do.

All of that to aside, those are really my only gameplay complaints. The progression feels natural. The weapons raise the bar in craziness from previous titles. Each company’s weapons do something different (Popular opinion is saying, for example, that they ruined Maliwan. Personally, the charge weapons grew on me), and really bring the feeling that they come from different manufacturers to life. You are even rewarded for loyalty to your favorite weapon provider in the form of the mail system, where companies send those most loyal to them special rewards (Jakobs, for example, really seemed to love our Operator. He receives presents constantly).

Each hunter has their own style that comes together well in a team setting.

• Fl4k, The Beastmaster: In my play through I played as Fl4k. His abilities all revolve around his pets. He has a Monkey like creature with a gun that throws barrels, a Skag, and a SpiderAnt. To go along with his abilities he also has an action ability. He can turn transparent, escaping the attention of enemies and gaining buffs. He can send out several Rakks to attack enemies. Lastly, he can teleport his pet with a large explosion of the new damage type, radioactive, and give them a big boost in power.

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• Moze, The Gunner: Moze is a different kind of play style from the other three characters. While they each can steer in a different direction with their ability, making it something very different, Moze’s base ability stays the same. She has a giant awesome robot. Her customization options come in the weapons it carries (and the other fun things it can do). Options for big guns on the “Iron Bear” are the railgun, V-35 grenade launcher, and the minigun. Gunner players can choose two of these weapons to have on their Bear. Our Gunner even had a shield around their mech and a turret on its back we could hop into.

• Zane, The Operative: Zane is the assassin of the group. The hardest thing about playing as Zane is deciding which of his three rad abilities to use. His first ability is the Digi Clone. A hologram copy of Zane, which will eventually have copies of Zane’s gear, can hold its own as well as any other hunter on the battlefield. SNTNL is Zane’s drone. This little thing is a menace. It can raise Zane’s damage per second to obscene levels. Finally, Zane’s barrier. Protection is everything, so a one way shield is just as valuable as it sounds. The hardest thing about playing as Zane is deciding which of his three abilities to use, but fortunately you can give up his grenade spot and use two of them. Profit.

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• Amara, The Siren: Amara is the fist fighting siren we never knew we wanted. Her abilities, like previous sirens, revolve around elemental damage. However, what sets her apart from the rest is her focus on melee combat as well. Her first ability option is Phasegrasp, very similar to Maya’s from Borderlands 2 but with a giant fist and a few more fun surprises. Second, she can use Phasecast to send out a copy of Amara that just whoops ass. Then, Phaseslam, The siren we played with scaled mostly into this tree. It allowed for some pretty flashy attacks that filled the screen with corrosive power.

All of these characters bring a new level of customization I have not seen before in a Borderlands game as far as how you can make them play. Builds look and feel very different. These four characters are slick. I think they each bring a new level of power we have not seen much in the past to the table.

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It is a rare thing to play an action packed shooter like Borderlands where things do not feel like a slaughter. The balancing team really seems to have put things together well, at least as far as the general combat goes. But me being a storyteller, gameplay is not all that matters

• Story and World Building

I love a good story. Borderlands has always had a story that kept me at least somewhat interested. Borderlands 3 does a great job building on this for a story that demands attention. The plot is easy enough to follow, and fun enough that you actually can care about it (as opposed to some other games I have played in this genre where the story just falls to the side of gameplay).

When making another Borderlands game there was a challenge for Gearbox. Making a villain that raised the stakes after Handsome Jack. Jack was a great villain. He was funny, lethal, entertaining, and relatable. He was a villain we could not help but like. So in making the third installment I was a little worried Gearbox’s new baddies might not live up to him, and I was happily surprised by the newcomers.

The Calypso twins are not as hilariously fun as Jack. They are fun in a very different kind of way. They are fun in the sense that hating them is more fun than the hating part of Jack was. They are modeled after the worst kind of online streamer, and are very villainous on top of that (if that was not bad enough). The threat they bring to the table is much more immediate than Jack’s plot, and can be felt from the get go. Overall they are a wonderful successor to Jack, and they show that Gearbox can make a new set of villains as good as Jack without us missing him too much.

Fans of the series should be happy as well that many of the characters from previous games have returned and to make appearances throughout the story. I have always enjoyed seeing vault hunters from the previous game reappear as important parts of the new story. However, there are a few that do not return. Coming to this realization as we progressed through the game was sad, but does not rob from the overall story. In fact, it might be better that they did not shoe horn every character in there. After all, it just saves them for DLC (of which Borderlands 3 will have a total of four new campaigns with the season pass, priced at $50).

• Concept and Overall Execution

Borderlands is not supposed to be a courageous franchise. From Borderlands 1 to Borderlands 2 there were significant changes to gameplay and improvements to visuals, but the feel and style of the game were left unchanged. Borderlands 3 continues this tradition in the best possible way. Borderlands 3 feels like a next gen sequel to the previous titles. It is Borderlands done bigger. This is all it tries for and it hits its mark.

The things that we love in a Borderlands game are all there. The humor is fun. The Easter eggs are outrageous (still waiting to find one as good as the Minecraft Easter egg in Borderlands 2). The gunplay is insane. This game works hard to make you feel like a badass.

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This loot shooter is a joy to play. While early on the looting can be slow, and sometimes the game can be a bit buggy, it does not take away from all the fun moments. Borderlands 3 is fun, and that is all it needed to be.

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