I am a huge borderlands fan. Borderlands 1 is like crack to me and Borderlands 2 is hands down one of the best games I’ve played. The pre-sequel was average, tale from the borderlands is hands down the best Tell Tale game I’ve ever played. And then we get to Borderlands 3.
Borderlands 3 from a gameplay standpoint is one of the best looter shooters I’ve played. It’s moment is fluid, every action feels great. The gun play is so punchy and fun with the multitude of guns with different features. Guns that cause elemental damage, guns with legs, Jacob’s Guns which are the best guns and I will die on that hill. Each action skill feels unique and fresh and they bring a new element to replays. The whole gameplay experience is so good. But that’s just the gameplay.
The story of Borderlands 3 is just down right sad. The main villains the Calypso Twins are laughable and just bad villains. The whole streamer villain angle could have worked, if they hadn’t decided to create Jake and Logan Paul from a universe where they did streaming instead of the nonsense they do here. The Crimson raiders are about as useful as ever with Lilith somehow being more useless than ever. There’s a reason a YouTuber made a song called ‘Time to Talk to Lilith,’ it’s because that’s her whole personality in this game. She is as useless as she has ever been and it’s kind of sad to see. Ava gets introduced as a new Tiny Tina and it’s just bad, she goes through no meaningful character arc and spends the whole game blaming everyone but herself for her mistakes. They push this character so hard that they kill off Maya. They killed Maya. Even after serval play through, I still cannot believe they thought it would be a good idea.
Tannis is one of very few characters in Borderlands 3 who actually has a very interesting character arc. Becoming a siren due to Angel’s death is an interesting route to take her. Having her trying to understand these powers and come to terms with it is an interesting angle. Tannis has always been interested in the world if the Eridians and Sirens, to have her become one is actually a good move and an interesting pay off. Granted they don’t capitalise on this as much as they could have, but they give it a good go.
Borderlands 3 is over all a juxtaposition of a game. Its gameplay is brilliant and its quality of life changes are a needed addition, however its story is just downright depressing. It ruins a lot of its characters, underuses fan favourites and provides uninspiring and boring villains. This is what worries me for Borderlands 4. From what has been released, the gameplay seems to be on the same level and its additions such as grappling with a laser beam grappling hook looking device is a neat idea. However, the fate of the game wholly depends on the story. We need a good Borderlands story. We need something akin to Borderlands 2. A villain who is interesting enough to keep our attention. With a cause that makes you motivated enough to take action. Our characters need to feel involved in the story and the cast of insane Pandora characters need to be used to their full potential. The Time Keeper needs to be a downright bastard and a couple of less than funny Borderlands jokes wouldn’t go a miss.
If Borderlands can pull this off, it will save the franchise and ensure we still get to loot and shoot years down the line. However if it fails and the game flops, we might be seeing the end of the franchise in real time. It’s tough to predict how it will go as it might well go either way. With Randy Pitchford telling people if the game costs $80 they’d ’find a way to buy it.’ Sentiment for the devs isn’t at an all time high. Time will only tell if they manage to pull it off. I will be playing it myself and keeping a keen eye on the game, hoping, praying, that it will be the best borderlands game of the series.
Manic Writer 