Key players from the previous main entries and Tales from the Borderlands are all integrated into the story in one way or another. One thing I appreciated about Borderlands 3 was its devotion to memorializing the entire cast that has come before it. Yet none of it has ever eclipsed the series’ diverse cast of characters that range from mostly evil to downright lovable. There are jabs at the power of corporations and greed, along with mild social commentary. Outside of its generally nuanced but interesting lore, Borderlands has never held the most captivating overarching story. As we’ve learned from previous games, an ancient alien civilization created the Vaults and packed them with untold power and riches, only to seal them up because they probably led to their inevitable destruction. What unfolds is a planet-hopping trek in search of Vault Keys and Maps to figure out why the Twins want inside the Vaults so bad. She directs us to recover a Vault Map that has fallen into the hands of the Children of the Vault led by Troy and Tyreen, the Calypso Twins. The Vault Hunter is then introduced to series mainstay, the Siren Lilith. Familiarity immediately sets in for veterans of the series and it’s great to watch Claptrap be an idiot and hear enemies scream in pain and make jokes instead of death rattles. Claptrap orders the player around as a new recruit while a spectral FMV of a female plays that constantly zooms in and out on her face. A new group of four Vault Hunters are introduced with flair over an opening cutscene with licensed music. The stylistic choices that have worked in the series’ favor are used from the onset. And part of that problems stems from the game’s wavering narrative tones. What worked in prior Borderlands does not always work best in Borderlands 3. The writers at Gearbox haven’t seemed to age much over the decade. But damn, if it wasn’t fun sucking up every gun with anticipation, hoping it would be the new favorite death-dealer in my arsenal. The Mad Max desert aesthetic ran a little long in the tooth. Not enough developers had embraced cel-shaded graphics and the ridiculous cast of not-too-serious characters and zany guns was a perfect brew for a few weeks of doing nothing. I was in my early twenties when I first got Borderlands as a Christmas present. Ultimately, Borderlands 3 is a game about expectations and how much your enjoyment relies on the familiar. In a sense, Borderlands 3‘s attempt at not doing anything unexpected often makes it a victim of stubbornness. There are no loot boxes, no persistent online worlds, no raids. Nothing exists in this product that is completely unexpected. Since the last numbered entry, players have been gifted with countless looter-shooters that have worked to evolve the genre past what Gearbox Software nearly perfected with Borderlands 2.ĭespite the passage of time, Borderlands 3 is comfortable being what it is: another sequel to Borderlands. In short, it is quintessential Borderlands, a franchise that has carved out its own path and fan base.īut in the world of gaming, Borderlands has been uncharacteristically silent over the past few years, its loud bravado delegated to remasters on this generation of consoles. Weapons and skills are doled out like candy and any player can taste from its sweet buffet of opportunity. Characters bounce around its cel-shaded world as punchlines or bags of disposable meat. Borderlands 3 is also the game where a glowing purple pistol is strapped to the door of that same outhouse a pistol whose bullets will magically bounce off a critical hit and fly into the nearest secondary target.īorderlands 3 is a madcap game of endless guns and absurdist humor. Borderlands 3 is the game where players open the door of a dilapidated wooden outhouse and a wad of cash ejects from the bowl with a brown squelch.
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