Developer: Gearbox Software
Publisher: 2K Games
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4
Tested on: Xbox One
Battleborn – Review
There has been a buzz surrounding Battleborn for quite some time, not only because of the flashy action it would offer, but the fact that 25 heroes would take the stage in this first person shooter, developed by the same studio that has brought us Borderlands in the past. Those who played Borderlands know that the series is known for its ludicrous amount of weapons and perhaps even more for approaching pretty much all ingame events with a healthy dose of humor. This time the stage will not be set on Pandora but on Solus, the last remaining bastion of pretty much all life forms the galaxy has to offer.
Story
The story in Battleborn is pretty short and simple, as it simply revolves around the entire universe being totally fucked. The last bastion of all races can be found on Solus, which causes plenty of conflict, but also many opportunities to bundle all that’s left to make sure any of the remaining lives get extinguished easily. While the forces of good have limited resources at their disposal, they do have 25 slightly overpowered heroes who can fight the traitor Rendain, who only cares about his own heiny.
Overall the story value is rather slim in Battleborn, seeing the game focuses mostly on multiplayer play, thus the story would actually get in the way of most of what’s happening online. Nonetheless the amusing dialogues and the otherwise interesting back-story do help make this game even more attractive.
Graphics
In many ways it’s quite obvious that the people behind Borderlands also designed the title. While the cel shaded graphical style of the Borderlands series may have been removed, the overall comical appearance of characters and enemies is simply amazing. Even though the game might not reach the full potential of the current generation of consoles, there is too much going on, on your screen at all times, which would cause the game to lag if the graphical prowess was amped up even more. A varying cast of characters and enemies will accompany you through both the story as well as the competitive modes.
Other Borderlands influences are rather apparent as well, namely the damage counters, the UI and all of the item designs etc. It’s all these little things combined that will make you feel right at home, if you’ve been following Gearbox Software for quite some time.
While the introduction was presented with an amusingly animated feature that felt like an eighties cartoon, it’s sad that this style wasn’t used a lot more. Of course, this is not what the game is about, but it’s sad to implement something and then decide not to ‘exploit’ it to its fullest.
Sound
Like in many other Gearbox’s games, the voice acting is superb and the music tends to set the right tone for the battles at hand. Seeing this game is one big battle, you’ll be treated to rather adventurous music, all while your chosen character and those who give you orders bombard you with funny one-liners.
Gameplay
Battleborn is a first person shooter with a heavy focus on cooperative and competitive play. While you’ll also be able to play the game single player, it won’t be a walk in the park and at certain times pretty much impossible to clear on your own. If you’re not a fan of online play, the split-screen will already make up for a bit of the difficulty curve you’ll have to conquer.
As Battleborn is all about conflict, you’ll be going from one battle to another, meaning there is hardly any time to relax. Even if you’ve cleared a zone of all its resistance, mere moments later the next zone will bombard you with enough enemies to dispose of. This creates a certain kind of tension that works perfectly for this game. Single player the hordes of enemies might be a bit much at times, but when you have one or more buddies backing you up, battles become a lot more manageable as you’ll be able to pick characters that complement each other, such as a tank to take the damage, a sniper to stay further behind and some skirmishers to finish the job. With a cast of 25 characters you’ll have enough heroes to try and master, even though some might take some time before they unlock and you can actually play with them.
With a list of characters this big, one would expect that many characters would feel pretty much the same, but nothing is more wrong. The developers did their best to give each character their own set of skills, two immediately available and one when you level up during the missions, namely your ultimate skill. Other than that, the basic and secondary attacks differ from character to character, as it all depends on the weapons they’re wielding. Those with a gun will often get a zoom function, while others receive a stronger attack. That being said, the diversity of the cast creates a hefty amount of replay value, simply because it’s an adventure to try out all the different characters and even try to master them. If you’re playing online, it’s rather important that you get the hang of different roles, making sure your party is balanced and well up for the task of defeating all the foes that cross your path.
After each mission you’ll gain experience which allows you to rank up both your main level, as well as the character mastery level. As your main level rises, you’ll unlock more of the Battleborn heroes, which grants you more content. While your character mastery rises as well, this does not mean your characters will actually be more ‘powerful’ when selecting them in the missions. The game is quite comparable with games in the MOBA genre, where every mission or match your character will start off from level one. This means that every new game you create or join, you’ll be able to set up your skill tree again for the mission at hand, all while you level up by crushing your foes.
You’ll be able to pimp your characters by equipping three pieces of gear, which sadly doesn’t alter the character’s appearance (skins do, which are unlocked by using the hero a lot). These pieces of gear can be found by looting items during missions, or buying loot packs by the credits you earn (after missions). When equipping your gear, it does not mean it will immediately prove its worth in the missions, as you’ll also have to pay money, which you earn on the battlefield itself, to activate each piece separately. This allows you to choose when you’ll need the specific bonus of an item, making sure you can adapt to the situation presented to you. During the missions or competitive modes you’ll also be able to pay cash to build turrets, robots and so on, on specially designated places. It’s actually quite wise to spend some money from time to time, as the buildable items tend to help you a lot.
While the game offers you the chance to play co-op offline, your guest will have to create his own account in order to actually log in. When (s)he’s finally ready to go, the character selection screen will limit itself to only the ‘random’ option, not even granting the second player to choose the character he desired most, of the ones that are unlocked on the main player’s account. While this is only a small obstacle for players who’d rather play offline than with more players online, it’s a weird choice from the developers to block off a portion of the game from your guest.
Those who wish to go all out in the competitive modes will surely find enough action to keep them occupied for days to come. The different, objective based modes are fun to try out with different characters to see which role suits you the best, but sadly at the moment there are only six maps available. That being said, it will take some time to learn the ropes and know what spots on the map will actually be useful.
Conclusion
Battleborn is in many ways Borderlands-gone-multiplayer, not only thanks to its graphical appearance but simply because of its very familiar mechanics. While gamers who are looking for a solo experience might be a bit disappointed, things become rather epic when playing with a buddy locally or multiple players online. Overall Battleborn is definitely a great game if you like to kill waves upon waves of enemies, all while there’s a giant cast of heroes at your disposal.
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