We really need to work out these kinks first.
Anyone who is reading this is probably thinking “wait, didn’t Borderlands 3 come out like three weeks ago?” Yeah, it did, and while I know I have been known for getting in late reviews, this one was actually on purpose. You see, my experience with the newest game from Gearbox Software hasn’t been the greatest one. In fact, I was trying to give them a little time to actually patch the game given the state of modern video games, but the patch still hasn’t come three weeks later. So, now I review the game based on how I have experienced it up to this point. Here we go.
Borderlands 3 is the highly anticipated sequel to the 2012 loot driven shooter. Taking place years after the events of Borderlands 2 and around a year after Tales from the Borderlands, players take on the role of one of four new vault hunters. After joining up with what’s left of the Crimson Raiders, they embark on a journey full of bandits, guns, and mayhem. This time around, they are trying their best to avoid getting killed by the live streaming twins Tyreen and Troy Calypso, who are trying to open vaults as well as get as many likes, comments, and subscribers as they can entertain.
Platforms: XB1, PS4, PC
MSRP: $59.99
Price I’d pay: $50
If anyone has played a Borderlands game before, they know exactly what they are getting into here. The real changes are the playable characters along with the quality of life improvements like fast travel can be done anywhere to anywhere that has been unlocked INCLUDING the current vehicle on the map, scrolling active side missions with the press of the D-pad without having to go through a menu, NPC can revive the player, and the biggest one for me – mantling from the edge of a platform when trying to get to a higher spot. There are a lot to name, but this really feels like the best version of Borderlands.
The classes are what really feel like an evolution to the franchise. Sure, the characters are pretty much like any standard D&D party – Moze is the tank, FL4K is the ranger, Zane’s the rogue, and Amara is the wizard, but getting into the skill trees and seeing the modifications and uniqueness to each character is really what makes it feel special. Moze has her mech that can be outfitted with two different kinds of heavy weapons, Zane can have two active skills equipped while sacrificing his use of grenades, FL4K can call upon three different kinds of pets to fight alongside him, and Amara can change the element of her action skill at pretty much any time. It is diverse, and finding a build that fits your play style is fun in and of itself.
Now, I have been talking up the game so far in this review and for good reason. The setup and the overall content of the game are vast and diverse. There are tons of quests to take on, plenty of loot to find, and way more interesting skills and trees to upgrade than the previous games had to offer, but what I have been holding back on is what I have found to be very detrimental to the entire experience. Let’s talk about the actual loot drops first.
Guns, class mods, shields, and grenade mods can be found practically everywhere. They can drop from a dead enemy, found in lockers and chests, and be quest rewards. The only problem is, during my time with the game, I always seemed to find loot that had a level requirement at least two levels above my current level. That means all the loot I had acquired, I couldn’t even use for at least another hour in the game because I was too low of a level. This happened nearly every time I fought a major boss that drops unique weapons. So the cool new weapons I had found I would have to hold on to with limited inventory space until I hit the right level for it, and by then, I had already found something better. On top of that, having to fight enemies with low level weapons made the game much more difficult and tedious. It became a chore to play, especially in solo play.
The story, along with a lot of the characters, is really bland and annoying, which I know is what they’re going for by poking fun at live streamer culture. There really wasn’t much to cheer for here, and while I’m glad to see a lot of characters from previous games, they are hardly utilized well and really don’t have much interaction with the player other than maybe a single quest line.
But the biggest and worst issue I had with the game was the performance issues. I played on the Xbox One X on the performance mode. During my time with the game, I experienced three soft locks and two hard locks that completely froze my Xbox. Along with that, the game ran almost like it was lagging in and out of combat. I can understand losing a few frames here and there when a major firefight is going down with explosions and bullets flying, but when going through the menus? Why am I stuttering so badly going through my inventory? This isn’t hyperbole either. It was to a point that I put down the game for two days during my review because I was so frustrated with the performance of the game. It was nearly unplayable in a certain section when I first arrived to a new planet. This is why this review is late. I was hoping to get at least get a performance patch for the game, but one still hasn’t come. To add insult to injury, I have heard reports of people’s stash being deleted completely during a hotfix and there is nothing Gearbox can do to replace the inventory that was erased. This hasn’t happen to me, but it leaves me with a lot of trepidation when booting the game up and trying to make progress.
I really want to like Borderlands 3. I know I will eventually, at least I hope so. As it stands right now, the game is a hard pill to swallow. It has the makings of a great loot driven game, but it’s missing a few key ingredients to make it a great first play through to level up. If they can fix the loot drops, have the performance not fall over dead in areas, and maybe clean up a few bugs, it will be a great entry in an already well done franchise. Until then, for anyone that hasn’t picked it up yet, I say wait until we get a couple of patches.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
