Across the entire gamut of Borderlands games, over 48 million units have been soldstudded with characters who are
egomaniacs and may well bring to
mind certain real-life figures. There’s
a great false ending and some very
fine boss battles. Sometimes, those
initially seem so hard that they send
you off on a period of grinding – which
may include generating as much in-
game cash as possible to upgrade the
amount of ammo you can hold.
Killing joke
Not that grinding proves to be a chore
- which is invariably the sign of a good
game. When you start delving into the
innumerable side-missions you find
that, freed from the need to conform
to an overarching narrative, Gearbox
has used them to give full vent to its
famously twisted imagination. Many
of Borderlands 3’s most memorable
and funniest moments take place in
its side-missions. And they usually
introduce you to areas of the map
which barely feature in the main story.
In one, for example, you essentially
take part in a sort of battle royale
contest – and the diversity of the
side-missions offers pointers
as to how Gearbox can expand
Borderlands 3’s endgame in the years
to come. Currently, that is fairly barren
and loot-centric, but we have been
promised activities including raid-like
affairs, and completing the story and
all its side-missions, then tackling
Mayhem Mode, will keep you occupied
for a considerable amount of time.
Borderlands 3 may not offer any
startling new mechanics, but anyone
who played any of its predecessors
and fell in love with its Mad Max-style
world will be happy about that. Its
satisfying gameplay is more irresistible
than ever, packaged in a world where
the scope is vastly enlarged from what
has come before.
You’ll still find yourself whooping
when you recover from being downed
with a second wind, for example, tofinish off a tricky phalanx of enemies,
or work out which elements and
strategies are required to take specific
bosses down. Borderlands 3 may
not be clever, but it is very big – and
above all else, the source of a vast
well of over-the-top shooting fun and
mayhem. Be thankful that Gearbox
refused to reinvent the franchise just
for the sake of it. QTHE ENDGAME
Once you’ve tied up all
the loose ends in
Borderlands 3’s story,
you’ll still find a fair bit
to do, and Gearbox
has promised there’s
more content to come
in the future. For now,
you’ve got Circle Of
Slaughter, an arena/
horde type mode;
Guardian Ranks, a
whole new
progression system
that kicks in after
you’ve finished the
story; and New Game
Plus, which actually
offers two modes:
your typical NG+ and a
remixed version that
offers super rare loot.“Two people at
wildly different
stages of the
game can still
play together”
FAR LEFT The
guns are by far
the stars of the
show, and are
incredibly
diverse.
RIGHT Rhys from
Tales From The
Borderlands pops
up as CEO of
Atlas. With a
moustache!OXM VERDICT
It’s the same old
series, but bigger,
more loot-stuffed
and better looking
than ever.8
LEFT Yeah we’ll
see about that
when we
introduce you to
our Laser-
Sploder rifle.More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 073REVIEW