2019-07-01_Official_Xbox_Magazine

giving Zane increased movement
speed after killing an enemy; and
Violent Momentum, which increases
his gun damage while moving. Skills
are purchased with skill points and
can be improved and augmented as
you progress; the broad variety of
skills makes for a pretty customisable
build, optimised to your personal play-
style. On this run, we find the going
much easier, as the game’s systems
and controls become second-nature,
making for more fluid gunplay, and
with our build optimised, we start to
put together some pretty outrageous
weapons too. It’s these flourishes and
the depth of RPG elements that should
make Borderlands 3 really stand out in
a pretty crowded shooter market, not
to mention its sense of humour, great
voice acting and beautiful art style.
It’s also an unashamedly old-
fashioned kind of a game. There’s
no PvP on display here; instead
it’s geared towards a strong and
entertaining campaign, that is
perhaps best played as couch
co-op at home. This is also where
the customisation and breadth of
potential different builds will come
in; playing co-operatively, you can
ensure a good mix of skills and
abilities for maximum team efficiency.
It’s worth noting that you can opt for
the Classic mode, in which it’s first
to the loot, or a more friendship-
safeguarding Instance Loot mode,
which provides discrete loot streams
to each player. Loot and gameplay is
also balanced so that you can join a
friend who’s much higher level without
any handicap to your own progress.
With Zane, and fighting alongside
Zer0, we have no trouble reaching our

objective, a weapons depot where

we find a valuable upgrade for Zer0’s

sword. Then it’s on to one of the

game’s many imaginative minibosses,

Gigamind. Gigamind looks like a pinky

and squidgy brain in a jar, sat atop

a short-arsed body. He’s Maliwan’s

AI, so Rhys wants his brain for the

corporate secrets it holds. Destroying

Gigamind and taking his grey matter,

or pink matter, back to Rhys is our last

mission in the playthrough, but there’s

still time on the clock, so we do a

few incidental missions, like finding

upgrades for Claptrap, and destroying

a communications tower to shut down

Tyreen’s propaganda broadcasts. It’s

a game that’s packed with things to

do, even if an awful lot of those things

involve an awful lot of shooting. Yes,

it’s Borderlands; only more so. Those

RPG elements of levelling up, modding

gear and augmenting your powers

feel oddly refreshing in 2019, and we

barely had time to get to grips with

the billion procedurally generated gun

variations Gearbox is promising. For

those who want a deeper experience

from their shooters, Borderlands 3

is going to rock your world when it

comes to Xbox in September. Q

ABOVE Vehicles

return of

course,

including the

iconic

Outrunner.

BORDERLANDS 3

More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 053