Sights & Sounds
- Borderlands has such a distinct look with it's bright cel shades, thick outlines, and neon lighting effects. It's certainly very "extra", so you either wind up loving it or hating it. I think that everyone will like the (non-desert) environments, though, as the maps all look excellent
- The music, particularly for some planets, is excellent. I'd sometimes just play the Maliwan Takedown to hear the sick synthy beats
- The voice acting is mostly good, but some characters are incredibly annoying. It's probably due to the writing, which is awful (more on that in a minute). I know it's possible to make a good teenage character because I've seen them in other games; they don't all have to be one-note annoying
Story & Vibes
- It's a Borderlands game, so rest assured that the writing is terrible. I can only assume that when the writers weren't penning dialogue, they were all eating paint chips in the corner
- The story is bad too. After having an excellent, charismatic antagonist in Handsome Jack in BL2, the villains in BL3 are a notable step down. Maybe several steps
- The vibes are all "wacky" and over the top. I've been playing BL games since the first one, so that flows off me like water off a duck's back. But if you're new to the franchise (BL3 is actually a good entry point), you maybe not be able to finish the game due to all the groaning you'll be doing
- At least the Vault Hunters are all good. I mained Fl4k but did play a little with each character, and I actually liked their personalities and quips
Playability & Replayability
- As ghastly as the writing is, I'm happy to report that BL3 is a very fun looter-shooter if you're the type of person who enjoys them
- The gunplay and motion both feel good regardless of whether you're playing M/K or with a controller. Just note that the physics are very floaty
- The selling point in BL games has always been the randomly generated guns that pull from various pools of gun parts to give you a mostly unique gun every time one drops. You'll be up to your neck and comparing gear in no time
- The legendaries are some of the best in the whole series, and picking your favorites and building around them is a ton of fun
- If you like making builds, this is a great game for it. I loved min-maxing my Fl4k into a ammo regrating, rocket dispensing death merchant
- A lot (and I mean A LOT) of the good gear is unfortunately hidden behind DLC, so I'd recommend getting one of the deluxe editions on sale. The base game is a considerable step down in terms of play time and quality
- One of the best features of BL3 is crossplay. It was nice to play with my friends on PS4/5 and Xbox without any platform concerns
Overall Impressions & Performance
- As much as I can see the warts all over this title, it was the game that pulled me back into the gaming habit. I found a nice group of guys on Reddit, chatted with them on Discord, and really got into build crafting and sharing tips. I still think I've rated the game fairly, but I may still be biased
- I played about 600 hours of this game on PS4, and it was a laggy mess that made me think my console was going to catch on fire. When I switched to PC, however, there was a massive improvement
Final Verdict
- 7.5/10. Definitely a step down from BL2 in terms of writing and story, but a step up in terms of build-making and gunplay. Just ignore the story if you can and enjoy the all the shiny guns
- Borderlands has such a distinct look with it's bright cel shades, thick outlines, and neon lighting effects. It's certainly very "extra", so you either wind up loving it or hating it. I think that everyone will like the (non-desert) environments, though, as the maps all look excellent
- The music, particularly for some planets, is excellent. I'd sometimes just play the Maliwan Takedown to hear the sick synthy beats
- The voice acting is mostly good, but some characters are incredibly annoying. It's probably due to the writing, which is awful (more on that in a minute). I know it's possible to make a good teenage character because I've seen them in other games; they don't all have to be one-note annoying
Story & Vibes
- It's a Borderlands game, so rest assured that the writing is terrible. I can only assume that when the writers weren't penning dialogue, they were all eating paint chips in the corner
- The story is bad too. After having an excellent, charismatic antagonist in Handsome Jack in BL2, the villains in BL3 are a notable step down. Maybe several steps
- The vibes are all "wacky" and over the top. I've been playing BL games since the first one, so that flows off me like water off a duck's back. But if you're new to the franchise (BL3 is actually a good entry point), you maybe not be able to finish the game due to all the groaning you'll be doing
- At least the Vault Hunters are all good. I mained Fl4k but did play a little with each character, and I actually liked their personalities and quips
Playability & Replayability
- As ghastly as the writing is, I'm happy to report that BL3 is a very fun looter-shooter if you're the type of person who enjoys them
- The gunplay and motion both feel good regardless of whether you're playing M/K or with a controller. Just note that the physics are very floaty
- The selling point in BL games has always been the randomly generated guns that pull from various pools of gun parts to give you a mostly unique gun every time one drops. You'll be up to your neck and comparing gear in no time
- The legendaries are some of the best in the whole series, and picking your favorites and building around them is a ton of fun
- If you like making builds, this is a great game for it. I loved min-maxing my Fl4k into a ammo regrating, rocket dispensing death merchant
- A lot (and I mean A LOT) of the good gear is unfortunately hidden behind DLC, so I'd recommend getting one of the deluxe editions on sale. The base game is a considerable step down in terms of play time and quality
- One of the best features of BL3 is crossplay. It was nice to play with my friends on PS4/5 and Xbox without any platform concerns
Overall Impressions & Performance
- As much as I can see the warts all over this title, it was the game that pulled me back into the gaming habit. I found a nice group of guys on Reddit, chatted with them on Discord, and really got into build crafting and sharing tips. I still think I've rated the game fairly, but I may still be biased
- I played about 600 hours of this game on PS4, and it was a laggy mess that made me think my console was going to catch on fire. When I switched to PC, however, there was a massive improvement
Final Verdict
- 7.5/10. Definitely a step down from BL2 in terms of writing and story, but a step up in terms of build-making and gunplay. Just ignore the story if you can and enjoy the all the shiny guns