If you’ve been keeping up with any video game news today, you probably read (or watched) about the new Borderlands 3 developer’s trailer. Now — I know what you’re thinking.
Yes, technically this is the fourth Borderlands game. The Pre-sequel messed the numbering up, but that’s just how it is. So, four games in (plus tons of DLC, golden key codes, and heads), where does that put the storyline of our vault hunters on Pandora?
Well — it seems to put them… in the same place?
There are a few things revealed in the Borderlands 3 trailer:
1. New characters: because, of course, there are. Without new characters, the developers would be hard pressed to find a new story to tell. The trailer seems to hint that not only are original Borderlands characters, like Lilith and Brick, back to be playable (hopefully), but there are four new heroes to play as. Hard to know just yet if they fall into the same hero classes, like Siren and Claptrap, as past characters.
2. New worlds: the trailer seems to hint at multiple environments showing up in Borderlands 3. From high-tech cityscapes to the typical, dusty wasteland, I’m looking forward to a change of pace in the textures and settings.
3. Brick plays sax.
4. Weapons: there are “one billion guns,” according to the new trailer. While the series does seem to be built around the concept of constantly finding new, weird, badass guns to equip, I often found myself keeping the same guns, even when they were levels well below my own. I found very few scenarios when I picked up some new loot, and it was better than what I already had. I worry that this “billion” guns will still be faulty in that way. That has always been one of my few complaints with the Borderlands games — if I’m finding new weapons, shouldn’t they be unique and (sometimes) better than what I have in my inventory?
5. It… looks like a Borderlands game. Now, to me, that’s great news. I was genuinely scared that this was going to be one of the hot new battle royale style games, and I am soooo happy it’s not. I know many people might be disappointed by this. But, as they say, “tough titties, yo.”
So far, I’m pretty excited about what I’m seeing.
Does Borderlands 3 seem drastically different from previous installments?
No. Is the gameplay different? Possibly also no, but it’s hard to say — the trailer gave no great indications on if any mechanics behind the scenes have been upgraded for player ease.
One major upgrade from Borderlands (One) to Borderlands 2 was the ability to share ammo and money when playing co-op. This was literally game-changing. It would be nice to think there will be some sort of quality-of-life upgrades to the next Borderlands game, but I’m hard-pressed to think of what it would be.
Overall, my only issue with the trailer is how there was no date attached to the end. Meaning, it could still be a year plus before we see the game for sale. I can wait, but damn, it’s already been five years since the Pre-sequel came out! Let’s do this already!
