It's become a cliche now - Borderlands 3 is the junk food of video games, or variations there of. For good reason, by and large.
The developers at Gearbox know exactly what they want from Borderlands. With the third iteration, everything is delivered to a high level of confidence and polish, while at the same time, living up to the "bigger and badder" mantra that these sequels tend to aim for.
Borderlands 3 is a significant enhancement over Borderlands 2 in every respect. The shooting is top notch, the RPG elements addictive, and everything is as user friendly as possible. None of the clunkiness of Borderlands 2 or similar looter-shooters from that era remains. There were some bugs at launch, sure, but it's overall a polished and fine-tuned shooter. I did say an enhancement, because there's no dramatic reinvention. At the same time, it's definitely not a Borderlands 2.5 - there's mountains of new content here to make this a worthy sequel.
Borderlands 3 goes the most obvious route to make it "bigger" than the previous entry. Now, you travel across the galaxy, through a variety of different locations. It does fall for the same flaw as most games offering this type of exploration - the so-called different biomes could very well have been on the same planet. The sense of deep space and exploration just isn't there. Not a big issue, however, as the different "planets" definitely freshen things up, offering a variety not seen before in the series. The cel-shaded style is not for everyone - but this is the best version of it I have seen. It seamlessly blends in cutting edge rendering tech with an ostensibly simplistic artistic style for some gorgeous results - of course, enhanced by wonderful level and environment design.
How about the looting then? The "One billion guns" marketing shtick isn't really true. Sure, once you account for all permutation and combination, I do not doubt that there truly are one billion variations of weapons available. But in reality, it's more like hundreds. Which is a healthy and diverse number - there's a vast variety of weapons and gear in the game, more than pretty much any looter-shooter. It does miss out on some of the more imaginative, wild weaponry I was expecting, as featured in games like Fallout 4/76.
The writing is as cheesy as ever, with some truly cringeworthy jokes. While this may sound like a pretty harsh criticism, for Borderlands it just isn't. Borderlands 3 knows what it does, and confidently goes ahead and does it, critics be damned! The villains don't hold a candle to Handsome Jack, but otherwise, it's a strong, vibrant cast of characters all around.
The game is pretty long - overly long for a shooter - but the narrative is actually pretty well paced. It's all pure formula, of course, but it keeps you going. There are some pretty cool side-quests along the way, though some of them fall back on the fetch quest formula. The real progression, as always, the very addictive blend of looting, shooting and levelling up. All this time later, Gearbox continues to nail the formula. I suppose this is why people call it "junk food". It doesn't even matter if it's any good for you, you can't stop consuming it!
Borderlands 3 is a difficult game to sum up. The developers set out to achieve something very specific, and they produced a game that hits every note. There's a quiet confidence and finesse throughout that makes it the best Borderlands game. At the same time, it's hard to argue with the fact that what they set out to achieve isn't all that ambitious or creative. I don't think that's a problem, but I would have liked to see Gearbox push the boundaries of the genre, while at the same time now settle for some of its more questionable tendencies. Still, it's kind of a debatable criticism - I shouldn't be criticising a game for what it isn't. For what it is, Borderlands 3 remains one of the best examples of the genre.
I'm on it. I love Borderlands but haven't gotten to this one yet
If you're a fan of Borderlands, 3 has you covered. Some minor step backs, especially with the villain, but overall a huge improvement over Borderlands 2 in every way.
I liked both Borderlands games but I still haven't tried B3. Last year or so I'm very far behind in mainstream titles, somehow I've lost the will to play them. I might try this one though.
What class do you think has the coolest build options?
I've only played with the Gunner class. I've been wanting to check out the siren class, though.
This is on the list, sooo many games to play -