This review is by someone (me) who has played all Borderlands games, and enjoyed them.
It will not (bar this) mention the anti-consumer exclusive practices used before launch, nore will it be affected by other ‘events’, this is a review of the game (weirdly). Now that's dealt with.


Borderlands 3 had some pretty big shoes to fill with the success of Borderlands 2, but did it?

🔸 Main Story
It’s pretty shocking, especially compared with BL2.
The antagonists are annoying, shallow and offer nothing more than an eventual target.
It answers some of the questions from as early as BL1 but it seems too forced and leaves you with more questions (as if this is a BL2.5)
In all it's a device to get you to other planets to shoot things, a far cry from the mystery and double faced Handsome Jack.
BL3 also echoes (almost direct copy’s) major plot points in BL2.
Although they are far weaker in presentation and execution.
By the end of my first playthrough I wanted it to just end, where as I love playing BL2 even now (2500h+ later) as if it's the first time, listening to NPC’s, exploring maps and playing side missions, BL3 doesn't do that for me, I can’t pinpoint it but it's boring, this ‘Mayhem’ never surfaces, and I never thought i'd say this for a Borderlands game, the shooting gets Old

🔹 Side Quests
This helped make BL2 as big and in depth as it was and BL3 has a similar approach, but as with the main story they eventually become nothing more than waypoint following exercises (yes basically they all are), but they too have lost the magic and appeal from BL2.

🔸 Environments
This is on a similar level with BL2, some fimillier places and plenty of new ones with their own unique styles & enemies.
They have focused more on larger areas (more tech advancements) although it does feel like there is considerably less here than BL2, great areas of nothing and noone.

🔹 Vault Hunters
They are not bad, but neither are they the best.
A lot of the perks are do A & B to get reward, opposed to a permanent increase in a stat, so by the time you're a high/max level you are juggling several of these every engagement, it feels more like a management sim than a shooter here.
Although I love the ability to have multiple action skills that can be affected/augmented in different ways, this would give great repeatability (if the rest was overall worth it)

🔸 Guns
Weapon manufacturers still (I believe for the better) have specific characteristics, although they have been tweaked and added too (A big plus).
This make all manufacturers viable throughout the game (something that needed to be addressed following BL2)
However some of the firing styles (looking at Maliwan and Atlas) can be off putting, this then effectively removes them from some players' viable weapon list.

E-Tech has been reworked and butchered IMO (they now have an Alien melted barrel)
They no longer fire type specific ammo.
This is a big let down for a lot of fans as we were hoping that the progression of E-tech would lead to all guns being able to fire all types (eg: shotgun firing pistol needles or assault rifle firing sniper beams) but no.

Slag is gone, Cryo from BL1.5 has been added and a new Radiation type has been created.
Lasers (BL1.5) have not made an appearance as a weapon type but some weapons do fire similar effects (Malliwan)

It’s not that I think BL2 guns were bad but BL3 guns are gorgeous and they sound hefty, as if you're firing huge rounds instead of the tinny ting from BL2 Maliwan’s for example.

🔹 Other Gear
Class mods are pretty much as BL2 with more variation,
Grenades are similar but can now have more variation of BL2,
Relics have been revamped (mostly to fit new skills/ playstyle option)
Shields have had a similar rework,

🔸 Vehicles
Vehicles were never a massive thing in Borderlands, they had their moments, a few quests that you needed them for, a race here n there.
BL3 now allows for part customisation, Great, at least on the surface.
Other than getting you around these upgraded/personalised death machines are not used ANYWHERE (bar mission specific vehicles you are given for the duration!)
A race league where specific parts where needed would have been great, but NO, this additional and heavily advertised element adds nothing substantial to the game and one of many things that feel like it has been cut short.

🔹 Loot Mechanics
This has been tweaked and is a double edged sword.
When you start a game you can can pick between the original loot system and divy it up between you and your partners or the new individual loot pools that prevent loot ninjas and hoarders hovering up everything and complaining that you and your white starter pistol can’t take on a lvl 20 Badass!

In reality the amount of Legendaries the game throws at you nigates the above & diminishes their value.
⚠️ Worse, this breaks the loot tier system making almost everything below useless and destroys the loot mechanics the franchise is identified by/relies on. ⚠️

🔸 Game Play
This is upped from BL2, mostly thanks to more modern mechanics and addition of little features like sliding. (Although the fact you can slide up Stairs is just, wrong)
No surprise here as BL2 was/is not lacking in this department.

🔹 Dialog
It’s bad, most of it feels like filler and with little to none of the feeling of BL2.
And the jokes, what jokes, BL1, 2, Tales & even 1.5 had better humour in general, but that’s OK, that’s not like it's always been a big part of the franchise...

🔸 History
In previous Borderlands we have either through conversations, missions or Echos learned about current or past Vault hunters and others around the story and events that have/are/will happen.
There is so little of that here.
Yes we see a few of the original vault hunters & a handful of others from BL2. THAT'S IT
No mentions of Salvador, Axton, Gaige (until DLC), Krieg or Athena who was at the very end of the BL2 timeline, she just vanishes.
Then you have Scooter, He gets so little mention,I know Tales went over it, but a mural on Sanctuary 3 is all.
It’s these kinds of things that BL2 would have had a little something on that would help build the world. BL3 lacks this and as such makes it just a shooter.

🔹 Other
Quality of life improvements have been added throughout and give it a nice up from its predecessor.
They have introduced an ‘Easy mode’ although I can't’ comment on as I can’t see me ever using it, and to be honest the ‘Normal’ (hardest) difficulty is easy, BL2 gave me a run for my money BL3 no challenge, which brings me on to…,
⚠️ Bosses, with Forced Invincibility periods that ruin the flow of the fight.
⚠️ The amount of long, bad, unskippable dialog stopping you from doing anything else.
⚠️ Inventory still glitches, despite several patch notes stating otherwise (now 1 year on)
⚠️ Co-Op is STILL (for a lot), a lag fest and unplayable if you can connect at all.


🔸 Summery
Borderlands 3 is a good game, it plays well, looks good (not too sure on Lilith’s remodel), the rebalanced manufactures work (ish), more gun options and quality of life improvements are always a plus.

Yet as a Borderlands game, despite all the community comments/feedback/ideas following BL1, 1.5, 2, & the hype from the publishers, BL3 is more like a generic shooter.

They can/have done far better and that hurts this title a lot.

You can't follow a masterpiece like Borderlands 2 with some knockoff cover that's missing half the cast, gets nowhere with the story slowly, explains little to why we're doing things & kills a major player and does THAT for them.

[h1] [b] BORDERLINE A BORDERLANDS [/b] [/h1] [i] This review is by someone (me) who has played all Borderlands games, and enjoyed them. It will not (bar this) mention the anti-consumer exclusive practices used before launch, nore will it be affected by other ‘events’, this is a review of the game (weirdly). Now that's dealt with. [/i] [b]Borderlands 3 had some pretty big shoes to fill with the success of [url=https://steamproxy.net/id/Fifth_Quarter/recommended/49520]Borderlands 2[/url], but did it?[/b] 🔸 [b] Main Story [/b] It’s pretty shocking, especially compared with BL2. The antagonists are annoying, shallow and offer nothing more than an eventual target. It answers some of the questions from as early as BL1 but it seems too forced and leaves you with more questions (as if this is a BL2.5) In all it's a device to get you to other planets to shoot things, a far cry from the mystery and double faced Handsome Jack. BL3 also echoes (almost direct copy’s) major plot points in BL2. Although they are far weaker in presentation and execution. By the end of my first playthrough I wanted it to just end, where as I love playing BL2 even now (2500h+ later) as if it's the first time, listening to NPC’s, exploring maps and playing side missions, BL3 doesn't do that for me, I can’t pinpoint it but it's boring, this ‘Mayhem’ never surfaces, and I never thought i'd say this for a Borderlands game, [b] the shooting gets Old [/b] 🔹 [b] Side Quests [/b] This helped make BL2 as big and in depth as it was and BL3 has a similar approach, but as with the main story they eventually become nothing more than waypoint following exercises (yes basically they all are), but they too have lost the magic and appeal from BL2. 🔸 [b] Environments [/b] This is on a similar level with BL2, some fimillier places and plenty of new ones with their own unique styles & enemies. They have focused more on larger areas (more tech advancements) although it does feel like there is considerably less here than BL2, great areas of nothing and noone. 🔹 [b] Vault Hunters [/b] They are not bad, but neither are they the best. A lot of the perks are do A & B to get reward, opposed to a permanent increase in a stat, so by the time you're a high/max level you are juggling several of these every engagement, it feels more like a management sim than a shooter here. Although I love the ability to have multiple action skills that can be affected/augmented in different ways, this would give great repeatability (if the rest was overall worth it) 🔸 [b] Guns [/b] Weapon manufacturers still (I believe for the better) have specific characteristics, although they have been tweaked and added too (A big plus). This make all manufacturers viable throughout the game (something that needed to be addressed following BL2) However some of the firing styles (looking at Maliwan and Atlas) can be off putting, this then effectively removes them from some players' viable weapon list. E-Tech has been reworked and butchered IMO (they now have an Alien melted barrel) They no longer fire type specific ammo. This is a big let down for a lot of fans as we were hoping that the progression of E-tech would lead to all guns being able to fire all types (eg: shotgun firing pistol needles or assault rifle firing sniper beams) but no. Slag is gone, Cryo from BL1.5 has been added and a new Radiation type has been created. Lasers (BL1.5) have not made an appearance as a weapon type but some weapons do fire similar effects (Malliwan) It’s not that I think BL2 guns were bad but BL3 guns are gorgeous and they sound hefty, as if you're firing huge rounds instead of the tinny ting from BL2 Maliwan’s for example. 🔹 [b] Other Gear [/b] Class mods are pretty much as BL2 with more variation, Grenades are similar but can now have more variation of BL2, Relics have been revamped (mostly to fit new skills/ playstyle option) Shields have had a similar rework, 🔸 [b] Vehicles [/b] Vehicles were never a massive thing in Borderlands, they had their moments, a few quests that you needed them for, a race here n there. BL3 now allows for part customisation, Great, at least on the surface. Other than getting you around these upgraded/personalised death machines are not used ANYWHERE (bar mission specific vehicles you are given for the duration!) A race league where specific parts where needed would have been great, but NO, this additional and heavily advertised element adds nothing substantial to the game and one of many things that feel like it has been cut short. 🔹 [b] Loot Mechanics [/b] This has been tweaked and is a double edged sword. When you start a game you can can pick between the original loot system and divy it up between you and your partners or the new individual loot pools that prevent loot ninjas and hoarders hovering up everything and complaining that you and your white starter pistol can’t take on a lvl 20 Badass! In reality the amount of Legendaries the game throws at you nigates the above & diminishes their value. ⚠️ Worse, this breaks the loot tier system making almost everything below useless and destroys the loot mechanics the franchise is identified by/relies on. ⚠️ 🔸 [b] Game Play [/b] This is upped from BL2, mostly thanks to more modern mechanics and addition of little features like sliding. (Although the fact you can slide up Stairs is just, wrong) No surprise here as BL2 was/is not lacking in this department. 🔹 [b] Dialog [/b] It’s bad, most of it feels like filler and with little to none of the feeling of BL2. And the jokes, what jokes, BL1, 2, Tales & even 1.5 had better humour in general, but that’s OK, that’s not like it's always been a big part of the franchise... 🔸 [b] History [/b] In previous Borderlands we have either through conversations, missions or Echos learned about current or past Vault hunters and others around the story and events that have/are/will happen. There is so little of that here. Yes we see a few of the original vault hunters & a handful of others from BL2. [b] THAT'S IT [/b] No mentions of Salvador, Axton, Gaige (until DLC), Krieg or Athena who was at the very end of the BL2 timeline, she just vanishes. Then you have Scooter, He gets so little mention,I know Tales went over it, but a mural on Sanctuary 3 is all. It’s these kinds of things that BL2 would have had a little something on that would help build the world. BL3 lacks this and as such makes it just a shooter. 🔹 [b] Other [/b] Quality of life improvements have been added throughout and give it a nice up from its predecessor. They have introduced an ‘Easy mode’ although I can't’ comment on as I can’t see me ever using it, and to be honest the ‘Normal’ (hardest) difficulty is easy, BL2 gave me a run for my money BL3 no challenge, which brings me on to…, ⚠️ Bosses, with [b]Forced Invincibility[/b] periods that ruin the flow of the fight. ⚠️ The amount of long, bad, unskippable dialog stopping you from doing anything else. ⚠️ Inventory still glitches, despite several patch notes stating otherwise (now 1 year on) ⚠️ Co-Op is [b] STILL [/b] (for a lot), a lag fest and unplayable if you can connect at all. 🔸 [b] Summery [/b] Borderlands 3 is a good game, it plays well, looks good (not too sure on Lilith’s remodel), the rebalanced manufactures work (ish), more gun options and quality of life improvements are always a plus. Yet as a Borderlands game, despite all the community comments/feedback/ideas following BL1, 1.5, 2, & the hype from the publishers, BL3 is more like a generic shooter. They can/have done far better and that hurts this title a lot. You can't follow a masterpiece like Borderlands 2 with some knockoff cover that's missing half the cast, gets nowhere with the story slowly, explains little to why we're doing things & kills a major player and does [b]THAT[/b] for them. [h1] [b] BORDERLANDS 3,[/b] [/h1] [h1]a good shooter, but a poor Borderlands game. 5/10 [/h1]