It’s like Borderlands but in Space.
Welcome the the third game in the Borderlands series, although Chronologically it is the second, or first.5. The game was made by 2K Australia and published by Gearbox. It is, as you’d expect, your usually Borderlands game, the humour, the graphics, the gameplay but with a lot added to it. The game is now on the moon in zero gravity. There is now lazers. There is now a new element, Cyro. And most importantly, there is a new mechanic, Oxygen (unless you play Claptrap). Evidently, this is because the game takes place on Pandora’s moon between the stories of game one and two, bridging the gap. The moon has recently undergone an issue with “The Krakening” which basically made a lot of hostile things come out and attack because the moon has split open, rumoured due to Tahl’s mining for resources for the lazers. You, the Vault Hunter, end up arriving here as Jack (known as handsome Jack later) requires help on Helios as it is under attack. At the time, Jack is a lowly software engineer and the game shows his rise and his corruption.
Playing the game, it feels like a Borderlands game, the mechanics are pretty much the same other than the zero gravity. This feature means that unless you’re playing as Claptrap, since he’s a robot, you will constantly be in demand of oxygen to keep you alive, which can be annoying as you use it for boost jumping and slam attacking. And breathing. The four characters are also a lot different, and all seem pretty good except Claptrap who, although he needs no oxygen, has abysmal skill trees, and his skill is randomly generated so can work out has a hindrance in some cases rather than a benefit. This is the purpose of him though, he is Claptrap, so was never going to be useful but is fun and makes the game that little bit more difficult. One thing to note, there is a hell of a lot more interaction between the characters and the things happening in game, whether that be the missions or just running around. Which unfortunately for me, meant I had to listen to Claptrap’s voice a hell of a lot more.
The graphics, as with all Borderlands games, are beautiful. With the edition of pretty much eternal night, more elements and more environments, the game really is a work of art to play and to look at. If you don’t want to take my word for it, just look at some of the screenshots in the game. Most parts of the game look good, except when you find some buggy textures etc. but that is mainly bad rendering on the PC’s side. And of course, you get a nice view of Pandora with the iridium tare through it, which looks very cool.
So what is bad about it? Well there is the problem I get with every Borderlands game, there is too many side missions at one particular point in the game. Before hand, it’s fine, after it is also fine, but if you don’t do this large amount of side quests which I hate doing because some of them are very boring (some very good but a lot boring), and then if you don’t do them, you are too underleveled to do the main missions. It’s a vicious cycle of RPG questing. But it gives the game enough content so I guess that it is meant to be.
The game is definitely worth your money, completable in about 30 hours (so about £1 per hour of gaming) and can last a lot longer with all side quests, the Easter eggs, etc. so is value for money, and a good game all round. Aside from the side quests, I don’t really have any problems with the game. So get yourself out there, and enjoy a good few hours of laughs, shooting the sh*t out of everything and having fun.