Game review 02 October 2019, 15:23

author: Daniel Stronski

Review of Borderlands 3 – Space Never Changes

The cult series of looter shooters has returned to give us crazy firearms and tons of cannon fodder to kill once again. What's new in the world of armed Sirens and Space Vaults? Not much – and that's exactly what we wanted!

The review is based on the PS4 version. It's also relevant to XONE version(s).

Back in 2009, the media went crazy for the "first-person shooter Diablo," in which the inventive, randomly generated guns, cel-shaded graphics, and absurd, black humor brought about a small revolution in the cooperative FPS genre. That was ten years ago. Why go back? While the players, the media, and the entire industry have moved on, the Borderlands series has stuck to the guns – both in terms of upholding a proven gameplay formula, and ignoring current (not necessarily player-friendly) trends – unfortunately, also in terms of graphics and optimization, which are visibly lagging behind the modern standard.

Because of reminiscence!

You can see what Borderlands is right at the first glance – a group of vault hunters enters a world full of bloodthirsty beasts, and psychos armed to the teeth, to dig up some legendary treasures. In terms of gameplay and story, the game provides exactly what's expected, but not much more. The developers repeatedly stated that what they were going for was more guns and new heroes, so no one really expected the third part to bring about a revolution. The classic principle of "bigger, better, more badass," is clearly the one underlying this production, and it works out great for this kind of game. If it only concerned the technical aspects of the production, too...

To be more specific – you get 30 fps on the weaker versions of current-gen consoles (1080p on PS4 and 900p on Xbox One), while the buffed-up PS4 Pro and XOne X let you choose between 1800p @30 fps (Resolution Mode), or 1080p running at anything between 40 and 60 fps. So much for the technicalities. I played on the Pro for a while, and contemplated putting the console into the fridge – it was definitely building up some heat. The regular PS4, on the other hand, seemed to cope better with the challenge, but the framerate was noticeably dropping, even in menus, and particularly in the inventory. Because of this, you can pretty much forget split-screen, and the lags can effectively take any fun out of playing in a team of 3 or 4. But you can play if you really want to. There's but one conclusion: on the basic versions of consoles, Borderlands 3 is best enjoyed solo, or online with a friend.

When it comes to graphics, I don't have a problem with the cartoonish style, I can even bear with occasional object pop-ups, but watching the textures being constantly loaded was no fun. Each new location needs a while to cover the (rather poor) solids with details, and as you watch that, it's hard not to wonder if Gearbox will finally figure out cell-shading properly within the next decade. Sure, it's prettier than before (even with remasters considered) and more colorful (which works well for this game), but it's direct opponents include games like The Division, Destiny, or Anthem, so it's not really our fault we expect more – a steady framerate at the least.

What do you know about killing?

Since we've already started comparing, I have to admit that none of the titles mentioned above gave me so much fun as any installment of Borderlands – the third one included. I started by moaning a bit about the technicalities because these are some genuinely glaring issues – however, the game is otherwise fun as hell. The developer has bet on a brand new shooting model, and this can be felt with every pull of the trigger. Weapons clearly have weight and recoil, and most guns have alternative fire modes. A pistol can become a grenade launcher, a sniper rifle can also work as a shotgun; some weapons can also deal elemental damage.

Naturally, the weapon is created randomly each time, and is characterized by special features depending on its brand. Tediore again provides guns that aren't reloaded, but rather thrown away. There's also the COV (Children of the Vault) gun – a weapon with guided bullets used by Atlas. Also, if you often use guns of the same manufacturer, you can count on a thank-you email and a unique gift!

The pure joy of regular shooting is somewhat spoiled by the more spongy enemies. I don't remember having to stuff so much led into some basic enemies at any stage of the earlier releases form the series.

This variety of weapons lets the player have more fun with gunplay, but also requires taking advantage of the scaled-up maps. I often had to look for new vantage points, which was not easy in a destructible environment. Fortunately, we're finally able to climb any platform and ledge. I didn't even realize how much I needed this feature!

Mayhem the way you like it

Since combat is the mainstay of the game, the developers went even further in diversifying the experience, giving the players absolute freedom in choosing their playstyle. The character class does not impose the type of weapon you can use, and the numerous skills are divided into three trees that really provide great freedom.

Let's take Zane as an example – he can set up a shield for additional cover, but it's also possible to obtain skills that increase damage when the character is stationary, or increase movement speed after killing an enemy. This isn't contradictory, but rather allows you to choose your own style according to preferences.

Add to that a few special skills (rather than just one), further boosted by perks, and dirt cheap respec (the ability to reset skills). These mechanics ultimately make for a fantastic, shooting playground, where you can freely adjust your style of play if you, for instance, find a new, cool gun. Sweet.

The proven and extensive core gameplay also includes numerous facilitations, such as markers of legendary weapons on the map, the ability to fast travel from anywhere, restocking the full supply of ammo with a single press of a button, or the already familiar auto loot. Our mothership even has a special bot that collects guns that we've missed in the chaos of battle, so that you never lose the loot you earned.

Wash my sins, dear co-op

No wonder the gameplay is so good – after all, it took the studio ten years to suss out what the players need, right? Unfortunately, not everything is well thought-through and polished. The maps often have the structure of long corridors, and if you want to join other players online (technical problems aside), and they're in the middle of a mission, you will be spawned at the very beginning of the map and run to wherever they currently are. Forget fast travel – you gotta start running, or wait until the player you've joined kills the boss and returns to the base. But there's more – sometimes, a checkpoint (even if I respawned on it a minute before) doesn't really click and the game tosses you back to the starting point. Needless to say, it's pretty annoying.

Such strange glitches also appear in singleplayer. The weapon vending machines are rather scarce (also before boss fights), so it's harder to sell loot and rearm in critical moments. The AI of the NPCs also falls short sometimes, and when they're leading you somewhere, they will oftentimes stop or alternate between running and walking, which looks funny, but is rather irksome in the end. The driving model is, as always, rather awkward, and navigating the new, more vertical map is a nightmare. Also, too many bosses were simply motionless bullet sponges (but also quite a few fights were really intense, so…) These may seem trifles, but the veterans of the genre should do better and sort out details like that.

What deserves praise, though, is are the online modes. There's full co-op on one hand, where monsters are scaled to your level, and each player gets loot that's dropped for their character only, and friendly competition on the other – here, you can nick the items of other players and the world isn't level-scaled. Such solutions I applaud!

Unworthy of Butt Stallion

I doubt anyone expected the new Borderlands to offer an exciting plot. Yes, the stakes are high, we meet familiar faces, and the game is brimming with original humor, but the story is certainly not (and never has been) the strong suit of the series. We just have to open the vaults scattered across the galaxy before a pair of new villains does it – the Calypso siblings.

The lore was expanded a bit, but no one in the world seems to have credible motivations. Furthermore, nearly all villains (and many good guys) have been created without much effort, and they usually seem mere wannabies compared to the iconic Handsome Jack. Only Tina and Claptrap stand out against the backdrop of tepid characters – the two are mostly entertaining, but the rest is just constantly embarrassing. I'm especially tired of the new villains posing for "streamer trends," which isn't very amusing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware of the type of humor of the creators of this series have been going for, and I was always mildly amused by it, but someone obviously didn't try very hard this time. Fortunately, numerous easter eggs come to the rescue, and you might find references to Rick and Morty, One Punch Man, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, Elon Musk, Tommy Wiseau, Power Rangers and even some hamburger aficionado from youtube. This one caught me by surprise.

Life begins after the end credits

However, the taste of a real looter shooter is in the endgame. Good story is always welcome, but it's the content waiting for you after the end credits that really counts. Without beating around the bush – this part of the new game is simply great. In addition to the classic True Vault Hunter Mode (new game +) we also have the Circle of Slaughter with waves of new enemies coming at you, and Proving Grounds, which tests how fast you're able to break through rooms filled with enemies. Add to that the mandatory search for ever more powerful loot and getting end-game ranks (the Guardian Ranks), which develop the statistics of all the characters from our account.

And then there's the biggest gem. When you complete the main thread, the Mayhem mode becomes available – it significantly increases the amount of XP you get, and raises the chances of finding legendary items, but also buffs the enemies, making some of them absurdly resilient. What's the excitement about? In Mayhem, not only enemies are scaled to the level of our hero, but the unrealized quests do as well. This means that the quest that you don't complete at the beginning do not become redundant later in the game.

Casino and "premium" currency

To conclude, let's have a word about the approach of the developer and publisher to the players. In Borderlands 3 there's a casino with one-armed bandits, a special "premium" currency (eridian) and a whole bunch of skins for characters and weapons. And guess what? None of these cost any real money. One of the one-armed bandit machines was even called the Lootboxer! I don't think is a super big advantage of the game – simply, a praiseworthy, fair attitude towards players, and a way for respite from the aggressive strategies of other games.

It's good to be back

At the end of the day, I consider Borderlands 3 a sensational shooter that focuses on what matters most – the gameplay. The gunplay provides huge fun, and the impressive arsenal of firearms always keeps the risk of repeatability at bay. The technical condition of the game is, however, worrying. Weaker versions of consoles can't keep up with the demands of the multiplayer modes, and the stronger ones overheat, while PC players cry for better optimization (and bemoan other controversies, which I shall not discuss in this fine, opinionated piece). I'm glad that after so many years, the industry can still enjoy the good old "Borders," and I'm sure I'll spend the rest of the year grinding each of the available characters on the third level of Mayhem, preferably in co-op.