Gearbox has just announced their next installment of the “Borderlands” series, but will “Borderlands 3” live up to the expectations of its predecessors?
“Borderlands” has built its fame and fanbase through a series of games exploring the world of Pandora, a world filled to the brim with monsters, riches, and more guns than you could think of. The comic-like design is what attracted players to try “Borderlands”, and its hilarious, action packed story is what kept players thirsting for more. With the announcement of “Borderlands 3” comes the most important question: will “Borderlands 3” be able to live up to the previous games?
The only gameplay we have of “Borderlands 3” is the developer’s trailer, which features characters from all the other games that us Vault Hunters have grown to love, or to hate. As every “Borderlands” game has done, the player will have the choice of four different class types. Soldier, Hunter, Siren, and Assassin. The previous installments of “Borderlands” has always given us a new, fresh batch of Vault Hunters who all have their own characteristics and quirks that make you fall in love with them in the first 30 minutes of the game. But will “Borderlands 3” have the same love for their new characters? We aren’t so sure. From what we have seen so far, the characters seem to be the blandest to date.
Their character design is lackluster and all possess special skills and abilities to appear to be cheap rehashes of previously designed characters. Pets? Gaige from “Borderlands 2” has her pet Deathclaw, who was a great addition to the game and the favourite playable character for many “Borderlands 2” fans. Another melee based character is also being released, and looks to have very similar skill sets to that of Brick from “Borderlands”. Another robot character has been released, this time seemingly coping the game “Titanfall” with a summonable Titan that the player can mount and use to mow down enemies. Lastly, the assassin class features another stealth-based character, an exact copy from “Borderlands 2” Zer0 that fascinated players at first, but seeing it again isn’t so exciting.
One of the main features of “Borderlands” that creates a unique experience for each player are the guns. “Borderlands 3” has been said to have “Over one billion guns” in their next installment, and players couldn’t be happier about that. “Borderlands” has always been known for creating the craziest, funkiest, and most beautifully designed weapons of shooter games to date. With so many options to choose from, every player will have their very own arsenal that they can mix and match to fit their needs at the time. The biggest replay value in “Borderlands” is grinding already defeated bosses in hopes of claiming their rare, legendary weapon drop that has unique characteristics and are the strongest of the game. Players will be excited to explore all of the new guns being implemented, and seeing all the new ways we can ravish the battlefield with them.
Sadly, the antagonists of “Borderlands 3” appear to be the blandest to date. They look like any other Raider you have fought in the previous games, and the most distinctive characteristic is their hair, which they have basically inverted hairstyles from one another, with the contrast of black and white. Original, right? Wrong. Handsome Jack was a beautifully articulated character, with a sense of humour and complete insanity and savagery that the when the player finally got to finish him off in “Borderlands 2”, you couldn’t be happier with it. The antagonist sets the tone for the games, as they are the opposing threat that the player is trying their hardest to stay alive from, and hunt at the same time as attempting to find the Vault. The antagonists of “Borderlands 3” seem to be just another brother and sister bent on revenge, and seeking the vault for all the riches in the world.
“Borderlands” had set up the entire game convincing the player that once the Vault had been opened, they would be flourished with all the riches they can wrap their head around. To their surprise, the vault unleashed a deadly monster that the player was responsible for having to defeat, and as much as they dropped an insane amount of loot, the player never actually got the riches promised to them. “Borderlands 3” will most certainly be about a new set of Vault Hunters searching for the vault, while also trying to take down their opposing threat. The game will, as all “Borderlands” games has began, with the Vault Hunters learning of a vault that contains as many riches as they desire. But we all know, that is not going to happen. They are going to find the vault, and some new, deadly monster is going to jump out of it and the players will be facing another final boss. Yes, “Borderlands” is a video game and is expected to have a final boss, and yes, all of the final boss fights have been very fun and interesting, but the sense of repetitiveness will start to bore players. We want something different, we want a “Borderlands” that doesn’t follow the tempo of the other games and takes things into their own hands.
“Borderlands 3” has the ability to be the best game of the year, and it also has the chance of being just another sequel that everyone agrees that “They should’ve ended it on the last game”. Of course, no one hopes that “Borderlands 3” will not live up to its expectations, but I encourage you to be weary, and hope that Gearbox understands what they need to do to release a “Borderlands” that has the feel of every “Borderlands” game, but proves itself to be worthy of not being considered as a rehash of other games in order for Gearbox to make more money off of us. Please “Borderlands”, your community is loyal and will stand up for you no matter what. Just don’t make what we are standing up for a mediocre game that not even we can get behind.
Written by Cameron McLean
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