Borderlands 3 Review

Fans have long been requesting Borderlands 3. After all, Gearbox had designed the previous games for the last generation of consoles. This means there have been no new entries in the franchise made specifically for modern hardware.

Despite the popularity of the series, this is also the first installment since 2014. So, Borderlands 3 has a lot resting on its shoulders. A misstep here could mean that the franchise takes an extended hiatus. Unfortunately, Borderlands 3 doesn’t do enough to justify a new installment any time soon.

Story

Despite the fact that the series has never had a nuanced narrative, the story has played a big role. That doesn’t change in Borderlands 3. In fact, the story may have a more prominent role than ever before. With characters brought together from across the franchise, including spin-off games, there’s potential for something special. Yet, the writers don’t really use any of them in a meaningful way.

Even worse is the fact that a lot of fan-favorite characters are limited to small roles. It begs the question of why Gearbox, the developer, went to the effort to bring everyone together in the first place.

The story also suffers because of the new villains. They don’t have the charisma of Handsome Jack and are far less interesting to explore. Things wrap up in a satisfying manner but the narrative is nothing to write home about.

There’s also plenty of endgame content to keep players occupied after completing the main quest. None of it is story-based, but rather extra quests and difficulty modifiers. The lack of a proper raid boss is also disappointing, as it means there is nothing to aim toward other than getting better loot.