Borderlands 3 review

Fans have long been requesting Borderlands 3. After all, Gearbox had designed previous games for the latest console generation. This means that there have been no new entries in the franchise made specifically for modern hardware.

Despite the series’ popularity, this is also the first installment since 2014. Hence, Borderlands 3 has a lot on its back. One misstep here could mean the franchise takes an extended hiatus. Unfortunately, Borderlands 3 doesn’t do enough to justify a new installment soon.

History

Despite the fact that the series never had a nuanced narrative, the story played an important role. That doesn’t change in Borderlands 3. Indeed, history may play a bigger role than ever. With characters brought together from across the franchise, including spin-off games, there’s the potential for something special. However, the writers don’t really use any of them in any meaningful way.

Even worse is the fact that many of the fan favorite characters are limited to small roles. The question arises as to why Gearbox, the developer, made the effort to bring everyone together in the first place.

History also suffers from the new villains. They lack the charisma of Handsome Jack and are far less interesting to explore. Things wrap up satisfactorily, but storytelling is nothing to write home about.

There is also plenty of endgame content to keep players busy after completing the main mission. None of this is story-based, but rather extra missions and difficulty modifiers. The lack of a real raid boss is also disappointing, as it means there’s nothing else to aim for other than getting better loot.