“Borderlands” is a first-person shooter role-playing game series first released for the Xbox 360 and PS3 on Oct. 20, 2009, with a sequel being released on Sept. 18, 2012, and a “pre-sequel” taking place between the first and second games being released on Oct. 14, 2014. In addition, an episodic adventure game developed by Telltale games titled “Tales from the Borderlands” was released on Nov. 25, 2014, and takes place after the events of “Borderlands 2.” Earlier this year, “Borderlands 3” was finally announced with it being released on Sept. 13, 2019, for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
“Borderlands 3” takes place on the planet “Pandora,” which is the main setting of the series and takes place several years after the events of “Tales from the Borderlands.” The plot of the game involves a cult called “The Children of the Vault” whose goal is to find all vaults they can on Pandora. The cult is lead by Troy and Tyreen Calypso, twins who have started the cult for the purpose of finding the treasures that are hidden in the vaults. With the cult being a threat to the planet, a faction called “The Crimson Raiders” led by the siren Lilith, a playable character from the first game is tasked to stop the cult before it is too late.
Like the previous games aside from “Tales,” “Borderlands 3” is a first-person shooter game with an emphasis on having a large variety of different weapons with different stats and unique abilities depending on the rarity of the weapon. “Borderlands 3” is no exception as there is even more of a variety of weapons in this recent installment. In addition, continuing the trend of easter eggs and references to other video games and pop culture media that was in “Borderlands 2” and The Pre-Sequel, “Borderlands 3” also has side missions and weapons that have strong references to pop cultures such as anime and animated series. For example, there is a side mission that references webcomic, anime and manga series “One Punch Man” where the player obtains an extremely powerful shotgun called the “One Pump Chump” which deals with extreme damage that can either take out enemies instantly or damage them greatly. In addition, there is also a side quest that is a reference to the adult animated comedy series “Rick and Morty,” where the player will obtain a weapon after defeating bosses named “Wick and Warty.”
Watch the trailer for “Borderlands 3” below.
“Borderlands 3” introduces four new characters in the series that are playable in this game. Each character has skills that are different from each other in addition to their own unique abilities, so that way players can have a unique experience with each playthrough.
First, there is “Amara the Siren,” a character that specializes in different mystical abilities which depending on how the character sets up her skill tree, can have different elemental attacks. She can also use abilities called “phases” which can be used to project a form of herself to deal more damage, hold enemies in place and use a phrase that can be great for taking out multiple enemies at once.
Next, there is “Moze the Gunner,” whose special ability is summoning a mech that can come in handy when needing to do extra damage with her skill trees involving what sort of build the mech is to have. These builds involve the mech having either a semi-automatic grenade launcher, a rail gun, or a large minigun. Moze is the best for players who want to deal the most damage. Then there is “FL4K the Beastmaster,” whose abilities involve using one of three different beasts at the player’s disposal depending on the skill tree. Each beast has its own unique skills and upgrades which will offer many different benefits to the player.
And last but not least is “Zane the Operative,” whose abilities are technology-focused. Zane’s abilities involve summoning a decoy hologram that distracts enemies, deploy a drone that can deal extra damage and deploy a large shield to protect from enemy fire. Zane is also the only character in the game that can use two abilities at once in exchange for his use of grenades.
“Borderlands 3” still stays unique to the series years after the previous games. It still has the large replay value and the comedic charm that makes it special. It is a must-have for fans of first-person adventure games and for anyone looking to play with friends.
