pets to their side, including a Skag,
a Spiderant, and a mysterious new
ape-like creature; and Zane the
Operative, a gadget-wielding master
of stealth with an attack drone and a
holographic decoy.
Aiding them are returning
characters from across the series,
including Lilith, Claptrap, Maya,
Hammerlock, a grown-up Tiny Tina and
more. Even Rhys, from Telltale’s Tales
From The Borderlands, will be making
an appearance in his new role as CEO
of Atlas (and therefore boss of the
Crimson Lance). They’re teaming up
against new villains the Calypso Twins,
an evil Siren (Tyreen) and her scary
cyborg brother (Troy), who together
rule a strange new cult known as
the Children Of The Vault. This eerie
religious uprising has attracted plenty
of psychos, bandits, and mutants just
begging to be shot at until numbers
and loot fly out of them.
High-tech gun manufacturer
Maliwan seems to be out to get you,
too, filling the evil corporation role
Atlas and then Hyperion took on in
previous games, with an army of
robots and tooled-up soldiers. You’ll
remember this corporation as the
one which makes all the elemental
weapons, and indeed it seems like
its troops benefit from that speciality- footage revealed so far shows an
armoured thug toting a huge gun that
fires out globs of ice.
While it certainly all looks bigger
and better, none of it seems
especially different from what’s come
before. After five years, we may have
expected a little more innovation. This
is a world where MMO loot-shooters
such as Destiny and The Division now
dominate, and we do have to wonder
how a mostly unchanged Borderlands
formula will stack up to those time-
gobbling behemoths – and whether
another dose of the same old will still
capture our attention like it used to.
But hey, we can’t complain too
much about more of a good thing.
Series fans hankering for another
dose of colourful, co-op fun should
be spoiled come September, with
Gearbox’s most stuffed adventure yet.
Guess how many guns it’s got this
time? No, higher. Higher than that. It’s
over one billion. That’s enough rares,
epics and legendaries to keep you
going ’til doomsday. Q
It’s been a long wait for series fans- seven years since the last mainline
entry, and five since spin-off The
Pre-Sequel. While Gearbox invested
its time in forgettable hero shooter
Battleborn, we pined for the colourful
deserts of Pandora and its endless
supply of guns. But now the time
for pining is over – Borderlands 3
is officially on its way, and looking
more... well, Borderlands-y than ever.
Everything’s been turned up to 11.
Where past games were confined to
Pandora and its moon, now we’ll be
travelling between different planets.
Guns are wilder, including a rifle with
legs that chases after your enemies
and one that spawns volcanoes where
you shoot. Even the new playable
characters are more powerful than
their predecessors, each boasting a
whole array of abilities.
Loot force
That includes new Siren Amara, a
muscley brawler who can use her
supernatural powers to trap enemies
in place, summon huge ethereal arms
and perform an explosive ground
pound; Moze the Gunner, a scrappy
soldier who can summon a pilotable
‘Iron Bear’ mech into battle (another
player can even ride on top and blast
away using its turret); Beastmaster
FL4K, a scruffy robot who can callGearbox CEO Randy Pitchford performed a 15-minute card trick live during the official reveal
Borderlands 3
The wicked continue to get
very little rest
Robin Valentine
PUBLISHER 2K GAMES DEVELOPER GEARBOX SOFTWARE
ETA SEPTEMBER 2019BRAND NEW
Borderlands’ guns
have always received
bonuses based on
their manufacturer,
but for this sequel the
brands are more
distinct than ever.
Maliwan guns, for
example, can now
switch between two
different elemental
types, while Jakobs
weapons fire
ricocheting bullets
that bounce between
enemies, and Vladofs
can be augmented
with under-barrel
accessories, such as
tasers, rocket tubes,
or just more barrels.
With all nine brands
returning, these
unique perks should
ensure more weapon
variety and choice
than ever.
“Guns are wilder, including
one that spawns volcanoes
where you shoot”
036 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE
PREVIEW