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Developer: Gearbox Software
Publisher: 2K Games
Engine: Unreal Engine 4
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, PC
Release: September 13, 2019
Genre: First Person Shooter/Action RPG

Borderlands 3 was developed by both Gearbox Texas and its recently established Quebec studio. Gearbox, an American outfit, started out developing expansion packs for Valve's Half-Life: Opposing Force and Blue Shift. They were considered very successful working on another company's engine (in this case, Valve's GoldSrc) and that established a pattern that the company would follow for the next two decades. The first Borderlands, released in 2009, represented a return to the company's sci-fiesque, Half-Life inflected beginnings after half a decade pushing out Brothers in Arms titles for Ubisoft.

Gearbox had developed the first two Borderlands titles back-to-back, consecutively. Exhausted by the endeavor, studio leaadership changed gears and started production on a new IP, "Battleborn", which unfortunately did not perform as expected, overshadowed as it was by Blizzard's Overwatch. Needing a win after a disappointing release, Gearbox returned to the Borderlands franchise. This is the result.

Paul Sage is Borderlands 3's director. It is his first major game credit at Gearbox. Sage's background is in RPGs, particularly of the online kind. He worked with Richard Garriott at Origin on Ultima Online. Later, he served as creative director for The Elder Scrolls Online, Zenimax Online's flagship title.

Scott Kester is the lead designer for Borderlands 3 and a Gearbox veteran. Scott worked as one of the main concept artists for the first two games in the franchise, being instrumental in the decision to "hand ink" most of the textures in the game, giving it its pseudo-"cel shaded" look. His last major undertaking was as Art Director on Battleborn. He listed his major influences as: "Killer 7, Gungrave, Jet Set Radio, Okami, Viewtiful Joe, Wind Waker, Prince of Persia 2008, the Street Fighter series, and more recently games like Sunset Overdrive, Guilty Gear Xrd, and Splatoon. "

Borderlands 3 Review Thread

IGN: 9/10 Borderlands 3 sticks to its guns and outdoes itself with an amazing arsenal of weapons, humor, and missions. Game Informer: 8/10 An old formula executed well, Borderlands 3 rarely takes chances or strays from expectation GameSpot: 8/10 Borderlands 3 fumbles with its bosses, but the...

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A big thank you to Komatsu for the great help

 

[hybrid_birth]

Pre ordered and pre loaded. Been waiting since 2012 for this. One of my favorite game franchises.

Don't need reviews. I know I will enjoy it.

 

[Life]

Will there be any exploring? Open-world FPS games kind of lose my attention after a few hours because they typically have a dead open-world and very repetitive quests/missions. I thought Far Cry 5 was really good for the first few hours - but then I kept repeating the same thing, more or less. And not being able to carry a plethora of weapons limited my experience even more. I must have stopped playing after 5 hours or so and never looked back.

Edit: I even started the game on the harder difficulty level to keep myself from getting bored of its formula - but it didn't happen.

 

[TacosNSalsa]

Wait that guy is the director?? So WTF does that knucklehead Ptichford do? I always thought he was the director. Anyway already got my snacks and drinks ready and a new green screen on the way. Very ready!

 

[BrettWeir]

Can't wait. Pre-loading now.

 

[Lanrutcon]

Wait that guy is the director?? So WTF does that knucklehead Ptichford do? I always thought he was the director. Anyway already got my snacks and drinks ready and a new green screen on the way. Very ready!

Randy spends every day trying to find his phone so he can do stupid shit on social media.

There's an entire team at Gearbox devoted to making sure he never finds or replaces it.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Can't wait for the DF comparison

 

[dorkimoe]

I have 2 days to finish Gears 5...

 

[Ceadeus]

Nicely done OP!

I can't believe we all have the chance to play another complete iteration of Borderlands and it looks better than ever. With all the quality of life improvement the third game is getting it's going to be so fun to play through the game over and over.

I can't wait to see the world developers crafted for us, it's really exciting. I'm personally not excited easily about video game ahah

 

[BLAUcopter]

I'm ready!!!!!

 

[Liljagare]

Wait that guy is the director?? So WTF does that knucklehead Ptichford do? I always thought he was the director. Anyway already got my snacks and drinks ready and a new green screen on the way. Very ready!

He's just been a arse all along, loudmouth swine. Gearbox would do so much netter without him!!

Anyway, Ps4 supercollection has shipped, cant wait to do some decent split screening again!

 

[OmaeWaMouShindiggity]

Will there be any exploring? Open-world FPS games kind of lose my attention after a few hours because they typically have a dead open-world and very repetitive quests/missions. And not being able to carry a plethora of weapons limited my experience even more.

I'm confused, have you never ever ever played a Borderlands game before or seen any video?

 

[Life]

I'm confused, have you never ever ever played a Borderlands game before or seen any video?

Seen a bit of it - gameplay mostly and character intros. I'm basically asking if it follows the same repetitive formula - which I may have easily gotten addicted to in my younger days - but no longer do. Not saying the game isn't "fun" as such.

 

[Ulysses 31]

 

[Spukc]

mid development versions?
that is pushing it

 

[joe_zazen]

Seen a bit of it - gameplay mostly and character intros. I'm basically asking if it follows the same repetitive formula - which I may have easily gotten addicted to in my younger days - but no longer do. Not saying the game isn't "fun" as such.

if it is like the other three borderlands, almost every mission will be ‘go there, kill stuff, get thing, come back, level up.’ End game will be repeating the game with unlocked harder difficulties for better loot + more levels and/or replaying with other characters.

So yeah, borderlands is verrrrrry repetitive.

 

[bellome]

if it is like the other three borderlands, almost every mission will be ‘go there, kill stuff, get thing, come back’.

You forgot EXPLOSIONS!!!!

 

[LegendOfKage]

I posted this in another thread, but if you're still undecided about who to pick, or you'd like to hear more about each to feel better about your selection, here's a huge character guide from someone who has played over 75 hours of the game.





And here's a less-detailed guide for anyone who wants something shorter, with more presentation and less detail. It's broken into several sections, which include lore, voice acting, abilities, disadvantages, and co-op benefits.

Will there be any exploring? Open-world FPS games kind of lose my attention after a few hours because they typically have a dead open-world and very repetitive quests/missions. I thought Far Cry 5 was really good for the first few hours - but then I kept repeating the same thing, more or less. And not being able to carry a plethora of weapons limited my experience even more. I must have stopped playing after 5 hours or so and never looked back.

Edit: I even started the game on the harder difficulty level to keep myself from getting bored of its formula - but it didn't happen.

Borderlands is less of an open-world game, and more of an open environment game. It has fairly large "areas" that are linked together through a fast travel system or transitional "doors." Destiny is probably the best comparison, if those areas were a bit more broken up. The areas in Borderlands are a little smaller than Destiny, but there are far more of them, which generally leads to an excellent variety. Borderlands 2 contained a number of very large areas that weren't even required to visit to finish the campaign, and I'm sure the same will probably be true in this game.

Exploration in borderlands generally leads to finding hidden loot chests, or out of the way side quests, both of which result in getting new loot. There's not really anything to "miss" by not exploring, but there's a lot to gain if you do explore.

You can also carry a ton of weapons with you, and store even more in your vault. I think Borderlands 2 allowed you to carry 10 or so weapons at the start, and more than 30 after a series of backpack upgrades.

 

[Kagey K]

I did this and got Amara 3 times in a row. Guess my decision to play Siren first was just confirmed.

 

[Celcius]

Nice job on the OP!
I'll be waiting until next year to play but I'm excited to see the Digital Foundry analysis video and hear everyone's impressions.

 

[Xaero Gravity]

I did this and got Amara 3 times in a row. Guess my decision to play Siren first was just confirmed.

God damn even with this I don't know who to pick, I think they all look like shit and I'm not a fan of any of their skill trees D:

 

[Dthomp]

I finished FF8:R two days too early. I don't want to start anything else until I get to play this. Preload done on PS4, and am impatiently waiting to dig in

 

[Mista]

I’m going with FL4K this time. Can’t wait for tomorrow! Co-op with the lads is the most fun thing I ever experienced in video games

 

[16bitwarzvet]

Good job with the OP!! I'm still on the fence with this one. I love me some Borderlands but haven't finished Gears yet and in a few months it will be down to $30 or $40 for Black Friday....but the pressure is real to just click that "buy" button!!

 

[Hemg]

I already bought my SUPER DELUXE EDITION, PRE-ORDER VERSION.

 

[Mista]

I already bought my SUPER DELUXE EDITION, PRE-ORDER VERSION.

The one with the season pass?

 

[Kagey K]

For anyone that bought this digitally the New Zeland trick is currently working on Xbox One, which is weird because it usually doesn't work for pre-orders.

 

[Mista]

For anyone that bought this digitally the New Zeland trick is currently working on Xbox One, which is weird because it usually doesn't work for pre-orders.

Yeah I see couple on my list playing already

 

[Kagey K]

Yeah I see couple on my list playing already

I set my Xbox to New Zeland, watched all the ready to starts pop, and then took off to get all the work I need to get done today as quickly as possible so I can get home and start.

 

[Mista]

Meet the voice actors:

Ashley Burch - Tiny Tina

Jim Foronda - Claptrap

Max Mittelman - Troy Calypso

Ice-T - Balex

Jason Liebrecht - Mordecai

Zehra Fazal - Amara

SungWon Cho - FL4K

Colleen Clickenbeard - Lilith/Tannis

Brina Palencia - Mad Moxxi

Cian Barry - Zane Flynt

Elisa Melendez - Tyreen Calypso

Jamie Marchi - Ellie

Marissa Lenti - Moze

Ray Chase - Rhys

All Borderlands 3 Voice Actors, Listed

I'm on a freaking roll!

twinfinite.net

 

[Xaero Gravity]

God damn dude, Ellie is the most disgusting video game character I've ever seen.

 

[Hemg]

The one with the season pass?

YESSSS
with everything

 

[Spukc]

God damn dude, Ellie is the most disgusting video game character I've ever seen.

FAT SHAMING

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

[Mista]

YESSSS
with everything

Might upgrade later

 

[RyuCookingSomeRice]

God damn dude, Ellie is the most disgusting video game character I've ever seen.

She's a strong power woman. Gearbox loves that shit.

 

[SonicVolcano]

Tiny Tina is the GOAT. She reminds me of Red (2 Stupid Dogs). The random screaming and such.

 

[FMXVII]

God damn dude, Ellie is the most disgusting video game character I've ever seen.

They killed Scooter to put her forward as the face of Borderlands mechanics.

Never forget.

Never forgive.

 

[RyuCookingSomeRice]

They killed Scooter to put her forward as the face of Borderlands mechanics.

Never forget.

Never forgive.

Forced diversity

https://www.gearboxsoftware.com/2013/08/inside-the-box-inclusivity/

 

[Kagey K]

They killed Scooter to put her forward as the face of Borderlands mechanics.

Never forget.

Never forgive.

They had to he got sick and was physically unable to do it anymore.

Mikey Neumann - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

When development of Borderlands 3 was confirmed in 2016, it was announced that Neumann, then in the position of 'chief creative champion', would be leading the game's writing.[12] In June 2017, however, Neumann left Gearbox Software as a result of his ongoing health issues, stating that "Everything is 1,000,000% amicable with Gearbox. I physically just can't do the work anymore", and opened a Patreon to crowdfund his YouTube videos.[13] In 2019 Neumann assisted with the creation of the trailer for Borderlands 3.[14]

Edit: I will say that they handled Scooters death and passing the reigns to Ellie in the Fight for Sanctuary DLC pretty well. They also included a catch a ride to heaven homage in BL3 for him.

 

[RyuCookingSomeRice]

God damn dude, Ellie is the most disgusting video game character I've ever seen.

Ellie specifically bucks against the stereotypes that all female video game characters must conform to mass-market definitions of beauty (not to mention, if I can digress for a moment, the fact that even our more conventionally attractive characters like Lilith and Maya still have infinitely more realistic proportions than most games).


Her look, concepted by Matias Tapia, is considerably more realistic than most female video game NPCs. She exists not as eye candy for some assumed type of (heterosexual, male, 18-27 year old) player, but as a character in and of herself – a character who finds herself beautiful, and refuses to be the butt of anyone’s joke. Ever.

This is why when you first meet her, Ellie is squashing a guy in a car crusher and mockingly ignoring his insults as she pulls the lever. She definitely has to deal with insults about her body on a daily basis, but she refuses to give them any credence: she likes the way she looks, and that’s pretty much all that matters (this is basically the theme of the sidequest “Positive Self Image”

 

[RyuCookingSomeRice]

They had to he got sick and was physically unable to do it anymore.

Mikey Neumann - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Damn that sucks. Scooter was THE guy imo

 

[FMXVII]

They had to he got sick and was physically unable to do it anymore.

Mikey Neumann - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Edit: I will say that they handled Scooters death and passing the reigns to Ellie in the Fight for Sanctuary DLC pretty well. They also included a catch a ride to heaven homage in BL3 for him.

If they can switch Claptrap's VA simply out of being cheap bastards,then they could have given Scooter a cold/a throat injury/a new VA.

 

[Xaero Gravity]

*Snip*

I find it hilarious that she's used as that kind of character. Someone looking like that in real life is incredibly unhealthy, and that's not the kind of look or lifestyle anyone should be promoting.

 

[Kagey K]

If they can switch Claptrap's VA simply out of being cheap bastards,then they could have given Scooter a cold/a throat injury/a new VA.

I suppose they could have, maybe since Mikey was one of the lead writers it was his choice how Scooter went out or Gearbox killed him out of respect to Mikey.

I don’t know, someone at Gearbox would be in a better position to explain the choices they made.

 

[LegendOfKage]

This might be the first gameplay I've seen of the console version. I didn't watch much of the video, but I assume it came from a PS4 Pro.

 

[FMXVII]

I suppose they could have, maybe since Mikey was one of the lead writers it was his choice how Scooter went out or Gearbox killed him out of respect to Mikey.

I don’t know, someone at Gearbox would be in a better position to explain the choices they made.

I think explaining Ellie full stop would be beyond their capacity.

Maybe inclusivity?

Some days you eat the Skag, some days she eats your whole damned den?

 

[Spukc]

No amount of SJW shit can ruin the game for me

 

[RyuCookingSomeRice]

No amount of SJW shit can ruin the game for me

What SJW shit? If you read the Gearbox blog about inclusivity, they want to cater to SJW's.

 

[Spukc]

What SJW shit? If you read the Gearbox blog about inclusivity, they want to cater to SJW's.

Don't care at all
Still gonna play that game

 

[RyuCookingSomeRice]

Don't care at all
Still gonna play that game

Well noone is telling you not to play the game so