Remove Ad, Sign Up
Register to Remove Ad
Register to Remove Ad
Remove Ad, Sign Up
Register to Remove Ad
Register to Remove Ad
Signup for Free!
-More Features-
-Far Less Ads-
About   Users   Help
Users & Guests Online
On Page: 1
Directory: 2 & 194
Entire Site: 13 & 950
Page Staff: pokemon x, pennylessz, Barathemos, tgags123, alexanyways, supercool22, RavusRat,
03-28-24 11:43 PM

Thread Information

Views
584
Replies
1
Rating
0
Status
OPEN
Thread
Creator
legacyme3
01-22-20 08:25 PM
Last
Post
blaze800000
03-18-20 12:06 PM
System
Rating
8.3
Additional Thread Details
Views: 548
Today: 0
Users: 9 unique
Last User View
02-26-22
Kevric

Thread Actions

Order
 

Third Time Is the Charm - Borderlands 3

 
Game's Ratings
Overall
Graphics
Sound
Addictiveness
Depth
Story
Difficulty
Average User Score
8.3
7.5
8
10
7
8
3
legacyme3's Score
8
7
8
10
5
8
3

01-22-20 08:25 PM
legacyme3 is Offline
| ID: 1375688 | 1629 Words

legacyme3
Lord Leggy - King of IT
Level: 268


POSTS: 26521/27250
POST EXP: 2003421
LVL EXP: 316305880
CP: 42531.1
VIZ: 2982476

Likes: 0  Dislikes: 0
Full disclosure, I probably should not be the person who writes a Borderlands 3 review.

For one, I never liked Borderlands, Borderlands 2, or Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. It's not that I dislike fun, but typically, first-person shooters are not my jam. And games that rely on multiplayer components in order to have maximal fun are also not my jam.

One of the big exceptions to this rule was Overwatch, as you can see in my review of it, here.

So what made me decide to give Borderlands 3 a shot, if I already went in, expecting not to like the game? Well, it's really quite simple, it had a steelbook, and I am a steelbook whore, who will buy any game with a steelbook. My best friend also really wanted me to pick it up and we needed a new multiplayer game to play, since he was getting tired of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Borderlands 3 is the fourth game in the illustrious Borderlands series (we're not counting Tales from the Borderlands, and it won't even be referenced in this review), and in my opinion, it's the best, by far. The game starts like traditional Borderlands games do, but it's once you get into the meat of the game that it really separates itself.

-----

Graphics - 7

I'm giving the game a 7, because while the game is technically great to look at, there's some nagging problems that keep me from giving it the 9 I really want to give it.

I wasn't sure where to put this, but the game suffers from frame rate drops like nothing else I've ever played. While the game does a fantastic job of rendering millions of things happening on screen most of the time, it's these odd moments where there's less action, but more set pieces being loaded in the background that keep it from being a nearly ideal experience on the eyes.

The animations in the game are pretty subpar, but you never buy a Borderlands game for the excellent animations. You are just happy if things don't clip into other things, and don't mess with all your hard work.

The character designs in the game are nice, and each character is varied enough from each other that it's pretty easy to tell who is who when you are in a party with other players. Some of the skins (by design) look very similar, which can be chaotic, but for the most part, you will know which character is Zane, and which one is Flak.

The game felt like it handled explosions, fire, and other special effects way better than previous games, and this is no small feat, since that's what I try to relate to the Borderlands IP.

-----

Sound - 8

While there are times where the game is deathly silent, for the most part you are treated to a good experience in this department. Character voices are varied, clever, and sound right for the parts they play, and the music choice can be absolutely fire, especially when it drops in that dubstep-like vibe.

The highlight of the game, and what gives it an 8 is Zane's voice acting/character. While you can probably fit it under story, I'm choosing to put it under sound, because I think it's the voice actor that really makes Zane who he is, rather than the writing (although the writing is also clever and will get points for it later).

Unfortunately, it's not perfect, because it wouldn't be a Gearbox game without stupid bugs. Too many times game audio looped or froze, or skipped. This was especially prevalent with dialogue. There was even an awful bug that caused 9 different characters to all say their line at the same time in a story sequence, even though some of the characters were no longer on screen.

This gives me the impression of a poorly coded game. I'm putting the knock down in the sound department, but this is really something that should have been sniffed out by QA. If there was a QA score, the review would be a lot lower.

Overall, a good experience in terms of sound. Just nothing groundbreaking.

Addictiveness - 10

The best part of the game is also the part of the game that matters most! The fun factor! It is a ton of fun to shoot things with a gun that shoots other guns! It is fun to use One-Punch Chump to kill anything it touches in one shot. It is fun to slide, and fire homing missiles, use Zane's special abilities, and get out of danger while a digi clone and sentry fight in my place.

The best part is, this isn't limited to just multiplayer! In past games, if you didn't play multi-player, it felt like you were missing out and at a severe disadvantage. In this game, I actually played half the story with my best friend (who played as Moze) and the other half by myself.

It was a wicked fun experience that I milked for all it was worth. I actually ended up even getting the platinum trophy, which is generally the highest respect I can offer for a fun game at this stage in my life. If I liked a game enough to do everything in it, something was done right!

The only knock I have here is one particularly nasty bug in the Circle of Slaughter (the toughest one). I ended up tackling all of the challenges post-game solo. While I was able to beat all of them solo, the final one never triggered. I was stuck in the final wave, with every enemy killed, and the game refused to spawn the end trigger, presumably because I missed a character and it was a flying enemy who flew outside of the area I could shoot. I ended up needing to enlist my best friend to focus on getting every flying enemy while I did the rest of the challenge, because 1 on 5000 is just not a fun thing to do, while hoping the game doesn't bug out.

I won't knock the game for it, however, as this is extra content that wasn't even needed.

Depth - 5

For as much as I love the game, and for as much as it offered to me, while I chased the platinum, the brass tacks are that the game just isn't very deep, there's not a ton of weapon variety, and there isn't much to do once you finish the game. The new DLC just came out, which is doing a good job of rectifying it, but I didn't want to judge the game based on content that came out after the game.

Once you finish the game, there's small things here and there, mostly in the way of 100%, but most of it has to do with Eridian culture, and understanding the gobble-de-gook speak that Borderlands loves to pile on, while calling it story.

It does a decent job of teasing a Borderlands 4 type of game, but I'm left wanting.

Story - 8

Story is tricky to talk about in context of Borderlands, because until Borderlands 2, it wasn't even a focal point. It was just a loot shooter, meant to be played for several hours grinding for better loot.

But Borderlands 3 does the best at telling an actual story, even if that story is pretty bare bones, and it does it in a way that is somewhat compelling. While Troy and Tyreen Calypso aren't great villains on their own, everything that happens build both up appropriately and leave a feeling of satisfaction as you play through to the end game.

The characters, especially Zane, are well-written. I don't know how much of it was choosing the best character, however, so I won't give the story too much credit.

It's a good story, but the story isn't why you are here.

Difficulty - 3.

It's not tremendously difficult, even solo, but you can run into problems if you play in a bad combination or don't pay attention to your perks. I played as a pre-patch Zane (which was widely panned as the weakest of the four characters until well after I finished the platinum trophy) and didn't find myself struggling too badly, but it could have been easier, too.

The controls made sense, but there were small nagging things that could have been improved.

Ultimately, I'm fine with the game's learning curve, as it doesn't punish you too hard for failing.

-----

GRADING FOR BORDERLANDS 3
Graphics - 10% (10% of 7 is .7)
Sound - 10% (10% of 8 is .8)
Addictiveness - 35% (35% of 10 is 3.5)
Depth - 20% (20% of 5 is 1)
Story - 25% (25% of 8 is 2)
Difficulty - 0% (0% of 3 is 0)
Total - 8.0

Overall - 8/10

The game does one thing very well. Be fun. Often times, this is the only thing that matters with a game, as we can handwave a lot of the supplemental things that usually help make a fun game a great game. It doesn't need the graphical fidelity of your favorite game on Ultra settings. It doesn't need to have been composed by a famous musician. It doesn't even need to have a great story.

If a game is really good at being accessible and fun, people are going to like it, regardless of everything else.

Gearbox realized what was best for their gamers this time around, and as a result, they are probably making serious bank.

I would add that if you have a group of 3 really close friends to play with, that you could bump this game from an 8 to a 9. That's the power of friendship.
Full disclosure, I probably should not be the person who writes a Borderlands 3 review.

For one, I never liked Borderlands, Borderlands 2, or Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. It's not that I dislike fun, but typically, first-person shooters are not my jam. And games that rely on multiplayer components in order to have maximal fun are also not my jam.

One of the big exceptions to this rule was Overwatch, as you can see in my review of it, here.

So what made me decide to give Borderlands 3 a shot, if I already went in, expecting not to like the game? Well, it's really quite simple, it had a steelbook, and I am a steelbook whore, who will buy any game with a steelbook. My best friend also really wanted me to pick it up and we needed a new multiplayer game to play, since he was getting tired of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Borderlands 3 is the fourth game in the illustrious Borderlands series (we're not counting Tales from the Borderlands, and it won't even be referenced in this review), and in my opinion, it's the best, by far. The game starts like traditional Borderlands games do, but it's once you get into the meat of the game that it really separates itself.

-----

Graphics - 7

I'm giving the game a 7, because while the game is technically great to look at, there's some nagging problems that keep me from giving it the 9 I really want to give it.

I wasn't sure where to put this, but the game suffers from frame rate drops like nothing else I've ever played. While the game does a fantastic job of rendering millions of things happening on screen most of the time, it's these odd moments where there's less action, but more set pieces being loaded in the background that keep it from being a nearly ideal experience on the eyes.

The animations in the game are pretty subpar, but you never buy a Borderlands game for the excellent animations. You are just happy if things don't clip into other things, and don't mess with all your hard work.

The character designs in the game are nice, and each character is varied enough from each other that it's pretty easy to tell who is who when you are in a party with other players. Some of the skins (by design) look very similar, which can be chaotic, but for the most part, you will know which character is Zane, and which one is Flak.

The game felt like it handled explosions, fire, and other special effects way better than previous games, and this is no small feat, since that's what I try to relate to the Borderlands IP.

-----

Sound - 8

While there are times where the game is deathly silent, for the most part you are treated to a good experience in this department. Character voices are varied, clever, and sound right for the parts they play, and the music choice can be absolutely fire, especially when it drops in that dubstep-like vibe.

The highlight of the game, and what gives it an 8 is Zane's voice acting/character. While you can probably fit it under story, I'm choosing to put it under sound, because I think it's the voice actor that really makes Zane who he is, rather than the writing (although the writing is also clever and will get points for it later).

Unfortunately, it's not perfect, because it wouldn't be a Gearbox game without stupid bugs. Too many times game audio looped or froze, or skipped. This was especially prevalent with dialogue. There was even an awful bug that caused 9 different characters to all say their line at the same time in a story sequence, even though some of the characters were no longer on screen.

This gives me the impression of a poorly coded game. I'm putting the knock down in the sound department, but this is really something that should have been sniffed out by QA. If there was a QA score, the review would be a lot lower.

Overall, a good experience in terms of sound. Just nothing groundbreaking.

Addictiveness - 10

The best part of the game is also the part of the game that matters most! The fun factor! It is a ton of fun to shoot things with a gun that shoots other guns! It is fun to use One-Punch Chump to kill anything it touches in one shot. It is fun to slide, and fire homing missiles, use Zane's special abilities, and get out of danger while a digi clone and sentry fight in my place.

The best part is, this isn't limited to just multiplayer! In past games, if you didn't play multi-player, it felt like you were missing out and at a severe disadvantage. In this game, I actually played half the story with my best friend (who played as Moze) and the other half by myself.

It was a wicked fun experience that I milked for all it was worth. I actually ended up even getting the platinum trophy, which is generally the highest respect I can offer for a fun game at this stage in my life. If I liked a game enough to do everything in it, something was done right!

The only knock I have here is one particularly nasty bug in the Circle of Slaughter (the toughest one). I ended up tackling all of the challenges post-game solo. While I was able to beat all of them solo, the final one never triggered. I was stuck in the final wave, with every enemy killed, and the game refused to spawn the end trigger, presumably because I missed a character and it was a flying enemy who flew outside of the area I could shoot. I ended up needing to enlist my best friend to focus on getting every flying enemy while I did the rest of the challenge, because 1 on 5000 is just not a fun thing to do, while hoping the game doesn't bug out.

I won't knock the game for it, however, as this is extra content that wasn't even needed.

Depth - 5

For as much as I love the game, and for as much as it offered to me, while I chased the platinum, the brass tacks are that the game just isn't very deep, there's not a ton of weapon variety, and there isn't much to do once you finish the game. The new DLC just came out, which is doing a good job of rectifying it, but I didn't want to judge the game based on content that came out after the game.

Once you finish the game, there's small things here and there, mostly in the way of 100%, but most of it has to do with Eridian culture, and understanding the gobble-de-gook speak that Borderlands loves to pile on, while calling it story.

It does a decent job of teasing a Borderlands 4 type of game, but I'm left wanting.

Story - 8

Story is tricky to talk about in context of Borderlands, because until Borderlands 2, it wasn't even a focal point. It was just a loot shooter, meant to be played for several hours grinding for better loot.

But Borderlands 3 does the best at telling an actual story, even if that story is pretty bare bones, and it does it in a way that is somewhat compelling. While Troy and Tyreen Calypso aren't great villains on their own, everything that happens build both up appropriately and leave a feeling of satisfaction as you play through to the end game.

The characters, especially Zane, are well-written. I don't know how much of it was choosing the best character, however, so I won't give the story too much credit.

It's a good story, but the story isn't why you are here.

Difficulty - 3.

It's not tremendously difficult, even solo, but you can run into problems if you play in a bad combination or don't pay attention to your perks. I played as a pre-patch Zane (which was widely panned as the weakest of the four characters until well after I finished the platinum trophy) and didn't find myself struggling too badly, but it could have been easier, too.

The controls made sense, but there were small nagging things that could have been improved.

Ultimately, I'm fine with the game's learning curve, as it doesn't punish you too hard for failing.

-----

GRADING FOR BORDERLANDS 3
Graphics - 10% (10% of 7 is .7)
Sound - 10% (10% of 8 is .8)
Addictiveness - 35% (35% of 10 is 3.5)
Depth - 20% (20% of 5 is 1)
Story - 25% (25% of 8 is 2)
Difficulty - 0% (0% of 3 is 0)
Total - 8.0

Overall - 8/10

The game does one thing very well. Be fun. Often times, this is the only thing that matters with a game, as we can handwave a lot of the supplemental things that usually help make a fun game a great game. It doesn't need the graphical fidelity of your favorite game on Ultra settings. It doesn't need to have been composed by a famous musician. It doesn't even need to have a great story.

If a game is really good at being accessible and fun, people are going to like it, regardless of everything else.

Gearbox realized what was best for their gamers this time around, and as a result, they are probably making serious bank.

I would add that if you have a group of 3 really close friends to play with, that you could bump this game from an 8 to a 9. That's the power of friendship.
Vizzed Elite
6-Time VCS Winner

One Leggy.
One Love.
One Dream.


Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'

Registered: 09-14-10
Location: https://discord.gg/YCuUJz9
Last Post: 1291 days
Last Active: 1291 days

03-18-20 12:06 PM
blaze800000 is Offline
| ID: 1380567 | 17 Words

blaze800000
Level: 7

POSTS: 10/11
POST EXP: 114
LVL EXP: 1435
CP: 1507.7
VIZ: 93876

Likes: 0  Dislikes: 0
legacyme3 : yeah is the great game go play it with your friends you well have a blast
legacyme3 : yeah is the great game go play it with your friends you well have a blast
Member

Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'

Registered: 01-01-20
Last Post: 1344 days
Last Active: 21 hours

Links

Adblocker detected!

Vizzed.com is very expensive to keep alive! The Ads pay for the servers.

Vizzed has 3 TB worth of games and 1 TB worth of music.  This site is free to use but the ads barely pay for the monthly server fees.  If too many more people use ad block, the site cannot survive.

We prioritize the community over the site profits.  This is why we avoid using annoying (but high paying) ads like most other sites which include popups, obnoxious sounds and animations, malware, and other forms of intrusiveness.  We'll do our part to never resort to these types of ads, please do your part by helping support this site by adding Vizzed.com to your ad blocking whitelist.

×