Borderlands 3 - Review @ Venturebeat

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HiddenX

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Venturebeat has reviewed the upcoming Borderlands 3:

Borderlands 3 review -- Fun action, but some yucks are too yucky

Borderlands came out 10 years ago, and in some ways, it helped spur a new genre of shooters. Gearbox Software combined the fast action of a Doom or a Duke Nukem with the loot and role-playing game progression of Diablo, and we can trace the roots of Destiny, The Division 2, and Warframe to Borderlands.

And while I see the appeal of these MMO looter-shooters, I prefer playing by myself, in a world full of quests with a more cohesive narrative and a slower pace. Borderlands 3 delivers this, improving its RPG progression and gunplay along the way to its September 13 release on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. And considering that the Borderlands series sold 5 million copies between publisher Take Two Interactive's May and August earnings periods (and sold 41 million copies overall), a demand exists for this take on shooters.

[...]

Conclusion

Above: Blowing up this brainy badguy with a mech is a blast.
Image Credit: GamesBeat

When I started Borderlands 3, I expected to find some nice advancements on previous games. Gearbox has been making this series for years now, and it's nailed the formula while advancing it with each new release, creating deeper, more interconnected systems and progression.

But since Borderlands hit the scene in 2009, we've had a new genre of online shooters that ape the loot-collecting of Gearbox's franchise and older games like Diablo. And many of them do this well. Borderlands 3 reminds us that the market still exists for slower-paced single-player games with lots of loot and a variety of combat styles. Gearbox nails this.

I just wish the studio had advanced its humor and encounter design as much as class progression and weapon variety. If you enjoy lootin'-and-shootin', check out Borderlands 3. But go in knowing that you're going to cringe at some of the jokes and feel fatigue every now and then.

Claptrap's ass can only plug so many holes, after all.

Score: 77/100
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I've played all the Borderlands thus far, the most recent two in co-op. I think I've played almost all the DLC as well. I played the "pre-sequel" recently enough in co-op that we can wait a while until I can get two copies cheaply.
Essentially, it's a must-buy for me, but not until later.
 
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Gokyabgu said:
Me too because of the Oblivion style level scaling in the game.
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Was there? It's been a long since I played, but I definitely remember areas being dramatically easier or harder depending on your level. But there was probably some scaling that I forgot about.

I finished Borderlands 1 so I must have liked it more than most games. I mostly remember being impressed by how different all the types of guns would feel though. Even just 2 different pistols you randomly picked up might play dramatically differently. It was much more interesting then just one weapon having +20% damage and another +20% crit. I liked BL2 as well but not enough to finish it.
 
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Gokyabgu said:
Me too because of the Oblivion style level scaling in the game.
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Really? Then you played up to NG++? Because only there enemies are always one or two levels above the level of the highest player in the group. In normal mode enemies have a fixed level no matter what and in NG+ enemies are mixed, if players have different level they take above average level.
 
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fadedc said:
Was there? It's been a long since I played, but I definitely remember areas being dramatically easier or harder depending on your level. But there was probably some scaling that I forgot about.

I finished Borderlands 1 so I must have liked it more than most games. I mostly remember being impressed by how different all the types of guns would feel though. Even just 2 different pistols you randomly picked up might play dramatically differently. It was much more interesting then just one weapon having +20% damage and another +20% crit. I liked BL2 as well but not enough to finish it.
Click to expand...

In normal mode, first playthrough, enemies have a fixed level, next playthroughs they more or less try to adapt, to be sure game is always difficult and fun and to make sure loot is your level or above. NG++ enemies are always above your level
 
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Maybe I remembered wrong and that level scaling thing was only in DLCs, I don't know. I'm getting old. :)
 
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I don't remember level scaling in the dlc; i remember getting slaughter if i went there too soon and they being trivial if i went too late. Really liked most of the bl2 content - hope bl3 is as good.

Gokyabgu said:
Maybe I remembered wrong and that level scaling thing was only in DLCs, I don't know. I'm getting old. :)
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