BORDERLANDS 3 (Gearbox Software/2K Games – PS4/X1/PC – September 13, 2019) – Another title I got to play extensively thanks to prE3 festivities and the showroom floor, Borderlands 3 is the true-to-style Borderlands “shlooter” experience you love– with plenty of new tricks…
Those who (smartly) skipped out on Fallout 76 will be pleased to see the addition of the Iron Bear — new vault hunter Moze the Gunner’s powered armor suit. The mech hones the following skill trees: Demolition Woman (a great fucking title for a great fucking semi-auto grenade launcher), Shield of Retribution (think standard railgun that also pours on shock treatment), and Bottomless Mags (a limited minigun that will send enemies to their doom in a matter of seconds — for the matter of seconds you can use it). Two skills are required to use the Bear, since skills pertain to each individual arm-cannon. Players are free to mix, match and upgrade these weapons and equip others, such as an iron fist, flamethrower, and pod rockets.
If you thought Borderlands‘ cell-shaded, high-color contrasted worlds were zany enough, Moze-ing through the psycho-masked Children of the Cult — to which some are literal zombie-alien-children — with thousands of spraying bullets definitely did the trick. Shlooting from the hip is so affective in Borderlands 3 I almost forgot I had left trigger sights and scopes.
Hardcore gamers who love challenging bosses will love Mouthpiece, too. After failing embarassingly with the Siren in my previous Xbox Showcase playthrough, Moze def had the guns to get it done.. as I was seconds away from dropping the Guitar Hero before we were told our demo was over (Yeah! Thanks for talking so much before our demo, Mr. Art Director Guy! Insert lunatic smile!).
Mouthpiece launches missiles behind a giant shield, while hordes of Atom Kids cause distraction from the surround sound speakers that zap the floor around you. It’s intense, but should only require the player to swarm around the Mouthpiece madness with well-timed shots to the back of his dome piece. Due to lack of gas in the fuel meter, I wasn’t able to hop in the Iron Bear during the final battle. Uh, FML.
Other news from the 2K booth presentation: players can now launch to the planets of Promethea and Eden-6 via hub spaceship Sanctuary III. Yup, there’s more than Pandora in Borderlands 3. Along with online and split-screen co-op is intense character customization. Create vault hunters however you want with a near endless list of three-color tiered face, mask, helmet, suit and gun skins. Booth attendees especially popped for the addition of character emotes and motion-color suits.
By the exhaustive list of cosmetic and gameplay style options, it’s obvious Gearbox wants us to play Borderlands 3 for at least another 7-years ’til the next one is announced. Or something like that. 4/5 Bibles.
-Travis Moody