Borderlands 3 Shows Destiny How It’s Done

Posted by Esports Wales September 6, 2019 in Esports

Back With A Bang

There are three words that describe Borderlands best; guns, guns, guns. Now the keen-eyed among you may pick up on the fact that all three of those words are exactly the same (kudos) but, there really is no other way to better sell the game to someone. Do you like guns? You’ll love Borderlands 3.

We had the pleasure of playing Borderlands 3 at Insomnia 65 (or as the kids call it, i65) and it was an absolute blast. Whilst it isn’t exactly an Esports game, we here at Esports Wales don’t shy away from any game. Besides, speedrunning is technically an Esport right? Anyway, Let’s dig into what you can expect.

So, what did we play? The Borderlands team at Insomnia allowed us to play a 20 minute or so section of the game on PC (with an Xbox controller). This was Involving a mission where the vault hunter tackles a fairground ride style shoot-em-up arena filled with psychos, ending with a weirdly aesthetically pleasing boss fight filled with techno music and damagingly loud speaker grills topped with neon lights. It was very over the top and silly. Sometimes however, isn’t that just what you’re looking for?

One aspect we’re certainly looking forward to is all the pretty new environments

Weapons of mass destruction

Borderlands 3 promises *ahem*: “over one billion guns” and y’know what? I’m not even gonna question that. Borderlands 2 had a ludicrous amount of guns and whilst all this really means is you’re getting different variants of the same gun over and over, they all behave so radically different and have some insane characteristics that it does feel like there are that many. Every single weapon you pick up is either a pleasant surprise or an unexpected nightmare and as I often say, variety is the spice of life.

The meat and potatoes

You’re probably itching to read this next section as it’s what’s going to be the main selling point. So how does it play? Well, you’ll be happy to hear that it plays like the best damn Borderlands game there’s ever been. Borderlands has always had a problem with the parts that don’t revolve around guns. The gameplay, whilst still an absolute blast, has always suffered from being clunky and a little tiresome after the 20th hour (although the rest keeps us going). What’s changed with Borderlands 3 is the gameplay has been modernised and is now a sleek menagerie of beautiful chaos. Mantling onto ledges leads to tactical advantages. Sliding and knifing is irresistibly incredibly satisfying.

On top of this, the gunplay and controls have been tightened to the envy of games like Destiny. Every gun feels even more powerful and meaningful, but everything else your character does no longer feels like a last resort and more like a display of raw power.

It also ran well. We weren’t able to take a look at the settings or tweak them (we were occupied with killing psycho midgets) but it felt buttery smooth and looked gorgeous at the same time. The cell-shaded art style is back and looking better than ever! I can also imagine the same goes for Xbox & Playstation, Gearbox is known for getting the best out of their games no matter what platform they’re on and on both Xbox One and PS4, you’re sure to have a hell of a time.

4 New characters with epic abilities – Who will you be playing as? Let us know!

Is Borderlands truly back?

Well…Yes! There’s no nuance to it. Borderlands 3 celebrates what makes the series great and then turns it up to 11. There’s something in there for anyone who is a fan of bombastic co-op shooters (can’t wait to try it with 3 friends) and if you’re a fan of games such as Destiny, The Division or anything looty-shooty-blow-uppy, you’re sure to have a romp with Gearbox Software’s latest incarnation of the shooter that made us hate Claptrap.

Remember – Esports Wales is a community of like-minded gamers who, as well as playing CSGO or Overwatch, are bound to play the odd bit of Borderlands. Join our Discord and get a group together to play Borderlands 3 when it releases on the 13th September for Xbox One, PS4, Microsoft Windows and Google Stadia (forgot about that last one didn’t ya?).