PlayStation Magazine UK - 12.2019

076

INFO

FORMATPS4

ETAOUT NOW

PUB2K GAMES

DEVGEARBOX

SOFTWARE

BORDERLANDS 3

It is big, but it’s not clever

Y

ou’ve heard the expression ‘less

is more’, right? On the basis of

Borderlands 3, we’re not sure Gearbox

has. The game is stuffed as full as

one of its loot chests, with so many enemies

and side-missions and upgrades that they

practically spill out of the screen onto your

floor. And that’s before we get to the billion

guns Borderlands 3 is capable of generating.

The number of meaningfully different firearms

is, we suspect, much lower – but it still makes

for an unprecedentedly huge arsenal. As well as

Diablo-style damage stats, each gun comes from

a specific manufacturer with its own proprietary

features: COV guns let you hold the trigger

down without worrying about reloading, but will

eventually overheat and break down. However,

with a Tediore-brand weapon reloading’s the best

bit – you throw the entire gun away, and as it

explodes a fresh copy materialises in your hands.

Add a sprinkling of random perks like alt-fire

modes or corrosive ammunition and it’s easy to

end up with a gun that feels entirely unique.

Honestly, it can all be a little overwhelming,

especially when you first fire up the game and

are asked to pick one of four Vault Hunter

characters. There’s Flynt, the gadget-brandishing

Operative; Moze, the Gunner (plus her mech

BFF Iron Bear); FL4K, a robotic Beastmaster with

their accompanying menagerie

of monsters; and Amara, this

game’s representative (there’s

always one) of the Sirens, the

Borderlands universe’s answer

to the Jedi Order.

PET CHARACTER

Whoever you choose, it’s hard

not to feel you’re missing out

on three-quarters of what

the game has to offer, and

Borderlands 3 doesn’t make it

easy for you to sample its many

flavours. You’ll have to restart

the entire game and endure a

lengthy, unskippable cutscene

before you can try out a new

character. We started with

FL4K, whose AI-controlled

pets aim to keep you company

during solo sessions, but found

them as much hindrance as

Maliwan

weapons let you

switch between

two elemental

firing modes.

help and ended up settling on

Amara instead, with her two-

fisted approach to combat – or

eight-fisted, if you push her

powers in that direction.

Every character can be

customised, from their looks

to abilities, via a skill tree

so sprawling you could take

refuge under it in a storm.

Each character’s upgrades are

split into three, each with an

associated power, marking

different paths you could take

them down. So Amara can

become a brawler with boosted

melee damage and weapons

that are most effective at close

quarters, or focus on dealing

Elemental damage to shock,

freeze, or incinerate enemies.

In theory you can mix

and match, but the synergies

FAT OF THE ’LANDS @alexjayspencer

“THE GAME IS STUFFED

AS FULL AS ONE OF ITS

COUNTLESS LOOT CHESTS.”