Many people play Borderlands for the gunplay and loot, and that's fine.

I played to experience more of the incredible humor and charming characters of the last game, and Borderlands 3 falls short in both respects. Throughout the whole game, whenever I saw or heard from Troy and Tyreen, I just thought to myself "you two are nothing compared to Handsome Jack". I don't think I laughed once in my forty hours of play, while I was smiling the whole way through Borderlands 2.

Perhaps that's unfair to say. After all, I played B2 when I was much younger. I've grown a lot since then. So here is what Borderlands 3 does better:

- The variety of loot and the gunplay is truly excellent. Shooting in B2 was already fun, but the controls here are so smooth and the sounds are so visceral. You feel like a complete badass. In addition, B2 had a several gun brands with one gimmick or another (bandit have many bullet, vladorf go brrrr, torgue explode), but now there is a huge amount of variety to be found in just one gun company. Now a Vladorf assault rifle has an underslung shotgun, some Maliwan guns can switch between two different elements, Jakobs has lever-action assault rifles, and so on. It's amazing.
- There have been multiple quality of life improvements to the game's mechanics. Just as one example, legendary drops will show up on the mini-map.
- Vehicle play has been significantly expanded. You now have access to different, armor, weapons, tires, paint jobs, etc.

If you haven't played Borderlands 2, then you will probably enjoy your time here. However, for me, I spent the whole time comparing the game to its older (and in my mind, better) brother. Even if you haven't played a Borderlands game yet, it might be good to start with B2, since it and its expansions are often on sale for dirt cheap.

Many people play Borderlands for the gunplay and loot, and that's fine. I played to experience more of the incredible humor and charming characters of the last game, and Borderlands 3 falls short in both respects. Throughout the whole game, whenever I saw or heard from Troy and Tyreen, I just thought to myself "you two are nothing compared to Handsome Jack". I don't think I laughed once in my forty hours of play, while I was smiling the whole way through Borderlands 2. Perhaps that's unfair to say. After all, I played B2 when I was much younger. I've grown a lot since then. So here is what Borderlands 3 does better: - The variety of loot and the gunplay is truly excellent. Shooting in B2 was already fun, but the controls here are so smooth and the sounds are so visceral. You feel like a complete badass. In addition, B2 had a several gun brands with one gimmick or another (bandit have many bullet, vladorf go brrrr, torgue explode), but now there is a huge amount of variety to be found in just one gun company. Now a Vladorf assault rifle has an underslung shotgun, some Maliwan guns can switch between two different elements, Jakobs has lever-action assault rifles, and so on. It's amazing. - There have been multiple quality of life improvements to the game's mechanics. Just as one example, legendary drops will show up on the mini-map. - Vehicle play has been significantly expanded. You now have access to different, armor, weapons, tires, paint jobs, etc. If you haven't played Borderlands 2, then you will probably enjoy your time here. However, for me, I spent the whole time comparing the game to its older (and in my mind, better) brother. Even if you haven't played a Borderlands game yet, it might be good to start with B2, since it and its expansions are often on sale for dirt cheap.