Borderlands 3 Review - Bring Back the Borderlands Madness that You Missed!
Of the many FPS franchises on the market, the name
Borderlands is one of the most popular. The madness of the shooting action in a
unique cartoonist visual wrap does indeed make the Borderlands have its own
unique identity. Already have a massive fan base, of course, the latest
Borderlands series is highly anticipated, the frenzy began at 2K and the
Gearbox finally officially announced the existence of Borderlands 3.
After such a long wait, finally Borderlands 3 was in the
grip and ready to present even more massive madness. Despite the exclusivity
contract's controversy with Epic Game Store, it still doesn't silence the fact
that Borderlands 3 is still being anticipated.
Story
Continuing the story of the second series, Borderlands 3
takes place a few years after the death of Handsome Jack. At the end of
Borderlands 2 we finally find the fact that there are still many other Vaults
scattered throughout the galaxy and waiting to be secured before falling into
the wrong hands.
In the absence of Jack and Hyperion, 2 twin brothers -
Troy and Tyreen Calypso created Children of the Vault (COV), a cult made up of
superhuman bandits. With the power of the COV, Troy and Tyreen aim to gather
all the Vaults to become true rulers. The two brothers did not look as charismatic
and as crazy as Handsome Jack, but still had enough attractive charm to appear
as villains who were ready to be blown at any time.
Acting as the four new Vault Hunter - Amara, Moze, Zane,
& Fl4k, you will again meet Lilith and the Crimson Raiders. Of course you
will return to helping Lilith collect all the Vault keys before falling into
the hands of the two brothers.
But unfortunately, amid this goal, the power of Sirens
owned by Lilith was captured by Troy and Tyreen, which made them even stronger.
Minus the power of Lilith that is no longer reliable, you have to gather
reinforcements from other Crimson Raiders. Some of them are even playable
characters in the three previous Borderlands series.
So, what kind of conflict will Vault Hunter go through?
Can Lilith and Vault Hunter stop the madness caused by Troy and Tyreen? And how
will all this madness end? All of these questions will be answered through this
Borderlands 3!
Gameplay
Not only in terms of the story, the presentation of
violence beyond reason plus a myriad of madness also looks mature through its
gameplay. All the madness that is missed is now back in this series, the good
news, all of which are present on a much more massive scale. Borderlands 3 is
ready to demand your actions to blast every villain's face with a more
addictive style and charm.
Stay familiar, that's the impression that we feel related
to the gameplay mechanism that is carried by this Borderlands 3. For those of
you who played the three previous series, Borderlands 3 still has a gameplay
mechanism that you will master easily, even for those of you who have never
touched the Borderlands series before. He is still an FPS game that presents
rows of numbers above your head each time you shoot blindly towards the enemy.
But even though it still feels familiar, it does not mean
Borderlands 3 does not bring any changes and improvements. There are a myriad
of improvements and new things that make this series feel much fresher and
crazier than ever. But before that, we will first talk about some of the
mechanics and features in the previous series. Keep promoting the theme of
crazy action without limits, the combat system presented this time feels much
more fluid and fresh.
Each battle this time feels much faster and more intense,
and it is increasingly supported by character movements that feel much more
fluid. The movement of characters looks faster and more freely than before,
even now you can also do slides to cover and deal with other situations.
Besides, now the choice of weapons is arguably very, very varied, even allowing
you to always change weapons just to just "experiment". Of course,
making playstyle increasingly feels more diverse, more addictive, and certainly
does not feel repetitive at all.
Not only that, the ability of the available Vault Hunter
is no less cool and interesting than before, all four characters can give color
to your playing style. Starting from Zane who can create his hologram, Amara
who can use the power of his Siren, FL4K with his ferocious pet, to Moze who
can issue a giant robot in the style of Metal Gear. All of them look fresh and
can provide new colors related to the style of play that you can rely on.
Customization features are also now back, of course, with
a variety of cosmetic options that are far more diverse, ranging from skins,
heads, weapons, even though the vehicle. However, in our eyes, there is a new
and interesting option in this customization feature, namely the presence of
emote, where you can show your expressions in the form of a full body. Of
course it is very interesting to express or just greet foreign players who are
playing co-op together.
Yes, talking about Borderlands is certainly not complete
if you do not talk about one of its flagship features, namely co-op. Working
together to destroy the heads of the bandits with friends and other players has
become one of the most fun things in this franchise. And through Borderlands 3,
the Gearbox again presents it nicely, even more, interesting than the previous
three series.
This time there are 2 types of co-op available, namely
cooperation and coopetition, cooperation is certainly the coop mode that we
have known so far, while cooperation is a co-op mode plus elements of
competition therein. Just like before too, Borderlands 3 will bring back 2
co-op modes, namely local split-screen and online, but unfortunately in online
mode some deficiencies make it less optimal, which we will discuss further
later.
One of the things that we just give a thumbs up on is how
the Gearbox brings the existing challenge scheme. Present full of innovation
and variety, there will be a row of attractive bosses who demand more
"ability" to be subdued, especially for those of you who have not yet
in possession of stat. Insisting on facing the boss solo and without grinding
is guaranteed to be a challenge, which is certainly enough to make you scratch
your head. Certainly be a thirst reliever for those of you who like to
challenge yourself to reach the maximum limit.
In addition to playing missions, of course Borderlands 3
comes back with a myriad of cool main missions that are no less interesting. It
must even be admitted that the story presented in the side mission feels very
fresh and witty, enough to release the fatigue of playing the existing mission.
Like Moxxi, for example, which requires you to kill
Killavolt, the figure of a monstrous monster capable of firing electric
projectiles. Or the Trashmouth rescue mission, where he was trapped in a toilet
and demanded that you take revenge for the perpetrators who put him in that
situation. Of course there are a variety of special rewards from completing
various side missions, ranging from just XP, money, weapons, to other
interesting items.
With everything getting denser, Borderlands now certainly
offers a much broader world scheme. Besides Pandora, there are now 4 other
planets that you can explore, from Promethea, Athenas, to Eden-6.
Interestingly, all the planets look amazing with their charms and uniqueness.
Like Promethea, which appears as a futuristic that is thick with cyberpunk
nuances, Athenas which looks like a country of Nepal, to Eden-6 that looks like
a panet with the tropics.
To explore each of these planets, you will be supported
by Sanctuary, a super-wide spaceship that can move planets as fast as light.
Besides, Sanctuary is also the headquarters of the Crimson Raiders, where you
can get side quests and do customizations.
Offering a world that is far more massive than the
previous three series, the vehicle is certainly one of the most crucial things
in the traversal system. Now there are variations of new vehicles that you can
use, complete with a more varied display and weapon customization system. But
unfortunately, the feature still has a minus value in terms of the control
scheme, which does not appear as what was expected. Still like the previous
series, Borderlands 3 still has a control scheme that feels stiff and requires
a lot of adjustments to master.
For those of you who are unfamiliar, it does not require
you to press right or left to turn, but only to use the camera direction. Of
course it feels very uncomfortable, and in Borderlands 3, the Gearbox returns.
A system that is very crucial, but unfortunately does not provide an overhaul
that makes it better than expected.
But in addition to the problem of the vehicle control
system, unfortunately Borderlands 3 still has some technical problems that
cannot be ruled out. Especially for PC platforms, where it has problems that
make it not run with the most optimal performance. Even for the DirectX 12
feature is still in beta and not yet mature, of course we hope that this one
problem will be handled by the Gearbox soon.
Then the second problem, as a game that puts forward the
co-op feature, Borderlands 3 still has server constraints. Honestly, we enjoy
the improvised co-op mode, but unfortunately we often experience connection
lost, even though we have been playing on an Asian server with a fairly stable
network. Surely this is a frightening specter for solo players who do not have
a partner to play with the party.
Unique Cartoonist Visualization
What is the main attraction of Borderlands that will be
seen first in the eyes? certainly is the unique cartoonist visual. The
combination of crazy shootings plus unique visuals is what assembles the
Borderlands identity to date, and even becomes one of the main attractions why
the franchise is so loved. And through Borderlands 3, it is presented very
nicely and is ready to pamper the eyes.
Through Unreal Engine, Gearbox can push the visual
quality of Borderlands 3 at a much higher level. The capacity of the famous
Unreal Engine has high flexibility as a visual engine, this time capable of
presenting visuals that are not only neat, but also artsy. Borderlands 3
appears like a painting that can keep going with a presentation of a myriad of
madness and beauty in it.
Interestingly, it also comes with a photo mode option
that allows you to capture every charm and cool moment that is more freely
available. Every detail that comes, ranging from texture, lighting, reflection,
particle, fog, to the variety of small details that are present can be
presented with stunning. As proof of that? you can see every screenshot that we
have captured throughout our review this time.
Soundtrack
As a game that is full of madness in it, of course it
takes the right music to support it. Enthusiastic until pumping adrenaline to
the maximum level, that is the identity of the soundtrack of the previous
Borderlands series. And on Borderlands 3 this time, Gearbox can present it very
mature, there are rows of soundtracks that are ready to strengthen the
impression of existing madness.
Everything full of madness in action can be strengthened
by the soundtrack in line with the theme. Dive into an intense action scene with
a line of enemies facing you, you will be accompanied by an energetic rock
soundtrack that is ready to pump adrenaline to the highest level. This
certainly will motivate your actions to stay able to survive while eliminating
every enemy that appears on the screen, all of which strengthen the rhythm of
the game so that it feels much more immersive.
Conclusion
"Bring Back the Borderlands Madness that You
Missed", it seems that only the word can describe Borderlands 3. After
waiting 5 years since the Pre-Sequel, now finally Borderlands 3 has been in the
grasp and can meet the various expectations. More than that he even presents a
variety of interesting things that make this franchise feels fresh. Starting
from an increase in more fluid gameplay, a more massive map complete with a
variety of new planets full of unique charms, to a co-op system that feels more
fun, all of which managed to appear so solid.
Even so, Borderlands 3 is still not completely perfect
and has some shortcomings that cannot be ruled out. Such as immature server
constraints, technical issues, to gameplay aspects of the driving system that
still feels annoying. But despite these shortcomings, Borderlands 3 remains an
addictive FPS game that is a shame for you to miss. He is still familiar but
feels much fresher, for those of you who fall in love with this franchise, of
course, Borderlands 3 is the answer to the long wait you are expecting.