After 7 long years from the release of the last numbered chapter, the saga that mixed the controls and the feeling of an FPS with the mechanics and the loot of a Diablo-like RPG returns to the limelight with its highly anticipated third chapter, Borderlands 3.
Needless to say, the enormous importance that this title has both for fans, who have been waiting for a continuation of the saga for a long time, and for Gearbox, which after the latest missteps really needs a new bomb to regain the credibility lost in this generation.
Will they have succeeded? Is Borderlands 3 actually the worthy sequel to that Borderlands 2 masterpiece? We just have to venture to the planets of the Fifth Galaxy and find out!
Long live the Siren(s)
Borderlands 3 has a narrative that in some ways fully mirrors that of the second chapter, that is a story that is formed and shaped around its villains: Twins Tyreen e Troy Calypso, endowed with strange powers linked to the myth of the Sirens and who managed in a short time to gather every bandit present on Pandora to chase a common dream with an incessant religious zeal: the legend of Great Crypt.
Obviously this does not suit the ex-protagonists and Crypt Hunters of the previous chapters, led this time by the Sirena Lilith, which also become a parallel target of the newly formed army called Sons of the Crypt. Our protagonist, a new Hunter, will be called by Lilith to serve in the fight against the Calypso Twins and at the same time to try to unravel the enigma of the Crypts once and for all.
Despite countless efforts, unfortunately the narrative of this third installment does not hold the weight of the legacy of the beautiful writing of Borderlands 2 and his villain, thatHandsome Jack which is still today one of the best made, charismatic and most satisfying villains to be killed in the videogame medium. Calypso are often very annoying, carried away by a childish rather than surreal humor, as well as by curtains a little cringe that perhaps, ten years ago, would have brought a few more laughs than today. It must be said that they are still boys in their early twenties, and their very intriguing backstory partly justifies their very immature and hostile behavior.
Also, the story of this third installment does not introduce many new faces, but appeals to the return of numerous supporting actors from the past, which still manage to shine with their own light but without illuminating us with some new aspect or twist. This is not to say that Borderlands 3 is lacking in narrative beauty: the caricatural and over the top style remains always and in any case, both in the primary quests and, especially, in the secondary ones, very many and well-kept. The few innovations introduced also enlarge the lore and the universe of Borderlands, enriching us with information about, for example, the various multinational arms manufacturers or the history of the planets and exploration of the Fifth Galaxy.
A note of merit must certainly be given to ability of our heroes Hunters to answer (finally, I dare to say) to the questions and requests of the various quest givers with jokes of their own, and with the possibility of even hearing the dialogue lines of the characters of other players in our game, thus also increasing the atmosphere and identification. All in all, those who in the past have appreciated the narrative style of the previous chapters will immediately find themselves at home from the very beginning. And the same thing can be said about the gameplay as well.
“A GOZILIARDO OF ARMS” part III
The biggest improvement to the Borderlands formula this time around is in the gunplay and movement system: the new Hunters seem to come from a completely different game system, much more agile and mobile than in the past, thanks also to a new slide useful for entering and exiting the shootings, the ability to climb over and cling in flight to almost any type of ledge and a falling attack that can be modified and enriched through the various skills and equipment that we will find during the adventure.
Firearms have also received a substantial upgrade: the concept that returns from the previous chapter each weapon manufacturer gives a special feature to their creations, such as the Jackobs weapons that fire bouncing bullets with each Critical Hit, or the Sons of the Crypt weapons that offer tremendous firepower and then shatter once the ammo runs out. Many weapons, in addition to having always new and varied random designs and attachments, even more than in the past, aThere will also be secondary fire modes such as tasers, rocket launchers, homing bullets and much more.
The real highlight of the gameplay are undoubtedly the new characters and the related skill trees: Amara, FL4K, Moze and Zane are completely different from any other Hunter we've learned to use in previous titles. Each of them will have three different skills at their disposal, which will be enhanced later by the classic passive skills distributed in the three branches of the skill tree and which will allow very different builds and game modes. The most substantial novelty is the ability to customize the special skill even more with additional skills that we will unlock for free once you have invested enough points in a skill tree, often generating devastating effects and in synergy with our style of play.
As if that weren't enough, the game world (or worlds) is much richer and more interactive than usual: in addition to the normal aforementioned quests you will find a bunch of collectibles that will help you fill the gaps between a shootout and a dialogue that cannot be skipped with the various supporting actors. ECHO are back, short conversations recorded just to broaden the characterization of the characters a bit, but this time there are also the recordings of Typhoon of Leon, which will reveal secret loot hidden in the various maps, as well as pieces of vehicles that we can steal to customize our means of transport, and the various Challenges of the Crew, missions that are automatically activated in certain areas that we can complete at any time to satisfy the other members of the Sanctuary.
A paradise not easily reachable
From the point of view of the setting, the environments and the technical sector, Borderlands 3 has not made gigantic leaps and bounds: the explorable worlds are beautiful, with a level design and a mapping that is really suggestive at times and that we will immediately learn to memorize, but there is not that gigantic change of mood and graphic improvement of textures and particle effects that we could see from the transition between Borderlands 1 and Borderlands 2, with its extraordinary biomes and first-rate graphics technology, in 2012.
The Sanctuary is instead one of the most fascinating and at the same time frustrating hub world ever: we will use the shuttle to move far and wide in the galaxy, and over time we will acquire numerous new companions with whom we can interact, but the labyrinthine conformation of the vehicle can blow some nerves to less patient players. This frustration is unfortunately also transmitted to a mapping of the game menus that is not exactly intuitive, and to a fast travel system that especially via joypad could often lead to some incorrect input that will bring you back to the selection of the place to teleport.
Obviously all this is nothing but minutiae, especially when compared to the real problems of Borderlands 3: at least on PC, with a mid-range PC equipped with GTX 1060, Intel Core i5 and 8GB of dedicated RAM, the game runs with 60 FPS quite smoothly and without sacrificing too much graphics quality, but unfortunately it is harassed by continuous game freezes, crashes and graphics bugs that could make the game experience quite irritating. Even theonline and, still peer-to-peer with the host inside the game, generated numerous problems and crashes. We are not talking about game-breaking bugs as we have seen, for example, on RAGE 2, but not even superficial problems. We hope that the situation will be resolved soon with some patches and fixes.
Nothing to report instead regarding the longevity and the Endgame: with 40 hours of gameplay behind us we have just completed the main quest and we have approached the End-Game, which thanks to the Mayhem mode promises a higher level of difficulty, more experience, rarer loot and also a rescaling for all the secondary quests not addressed. In addition to this we must count the two additional modes to the Campaign, the Circle of Massacre and the Proving Grounds, that is a boss rush and a horde mode that will increase the amount of enemies that can be killed even more with our new legendary post-campaign weapons.
In summary
Borderlands 3 is in effect the son of its franchise: it maintains the same characteristics and the same strengths of its predecessors, partly rejuvenating a very dated gameplay with a new movement system and new features and types of quests. Some technical uncertainty and a narrative quality unfortunately not like the second chapter prevent the title from reaching perfection, but the latest Gearbox effort remains a healthy video game with incredible duration and fun, especially for fans of the franchise who will find themselves at home. If, on the other hand, you have not appreciated the mixture of genres and the vulgar humor of Borderlands in the past, you will hardly change your mind with the third chapter.
Need help exploring every corner of Borderlands 3? Check out our guides!
- Guide to Legendary Hunts
- Guide to Trophies and Achievements
- How to find Legendary Weapons
- How to open the Chests of Eridium
