Some stats from my first playthough--I decided to start off with Amara (the bufftastic siren) as my vault hunter. My completionist ways forbid me from skipping sidequests or exploration based challenges, so my complete playthough clocked in at 58 hours. I didn't quite get all the exploration based challenges and actually forgot to complete a couple of the slaughterfest-type challenges (I fully intend to complete them...even though it's totally pointless).
For technical reference--I had one crash (a weird lockup) and one strange bug (during the last fight, a huge black pixelated blotch appeared in the center of my view. It eventually disappeared, but it was really weird). Performance, for the most part, seemed very stable.
Pros:
+ Beautiful new environments. I was ecstatic to be venturing off of Pandora and I found the new areas to be varied and fun to explore. The story takes place in a bunch of different settings--neon-lit cities, swampy jungles, ancient ruins, and many, many more zones. The game manages to keep its signature look (that sort of hand-drawn, semi-cartoony feel) and jump the graphics up a notch.
+ Photo mode. I'm one of those nerds who likes to take screenshots in video games, and the new, improved Borderlands is worthy of stopping and taking pictures.
+ Vastly improved gun play. The Borderlands series has always been a bit of an odd duck (or Goose for all you Untitled Goose Game fans)--it's trademark has been the blend of shooter and RPG. In my opinion, the shooter aspect of the game has always felt like a weakness. The guns in previous games just didn't feel good to shoot and had a bit of a mushy, unrealistic feel. I can tell that much time and effort went into improving the way that the weapons perform in Borderlands 3. They feel more realistic and believable--I don't know that there's a good way to describe it; to me, they just feel like they have a more solid impact.
They also gave many guns multiple firing modes which is one of my favorite new features. Maliwan weapons (traditionally the guns that do elemental damage) typically feature two firing modes that allow you to switch between elements. It's like getting two guns for the price of one! Other weapons feature a blend of more traditional firing modes--semi-automatic, burst, and automatic fire. Many legendary guns feature very unique bonuses. For helping to build CL4P-TRAP a new robot friend I was granted a pistol called the "baby-maker" that, when reloaded, is thrown like a Tediore weapon, but instead explodes and spawns multiple "baby" pistols that act like mini-turrets. There are also new gun brands--Children of the Vault weapons look like a blend of a gun and a machine and they feature the unique ability of not needing to be reloaded. The downside is that those guns overheat and require a "repair" period. Atlas guns feature a self-targeting fire mode which will send every bullet toward the target of your choice. They weren't kidding about the billions of guns.
+ Vehicles are more fun to drive. There's really only one new vehicle variety, but the fun part is that you can find parts (through exploration, through hijacking hostile vehicles, or by finding special unique vehicles) and then customize your rig to your liking. I enjoyed the cyclone, a very cool looking, fast and maneuverable single-wheeled vehicle. From there, I could choose customizations for my weapons, my armor, and for other features--like one that allowed my cyclone to hover just above the ground. It's a lot of fun to experiment with the new parts and find your favorite combinations.
+ A very detailed 3-D map. I absolutely love the new map--it shows the entire zone (and there are many, and they are quite large) and indicates exactly which parts you have explored. Since it is 3-D, you can tilt it to discover any areas that might be above or below your current position. I didn't have any trouble finding quest markers or waste any time searching for something only to realize it was located on a higher or lower part of an area.
+Fast travel from anywhere. One of my major gripes with the past games was the amount of pointless running around that you would find yourself doing. Borderlands 3 has added in the ability to fast travel from anywhere--this doesn't mean you can just skip huge chunks of areas, but it does mean that once you've found the fast travel beacon in the area that you can simply look at your map, select the node you want, and then immediately select that area. You can also fast travel directly to your vehicle--this feature also saves a ton of useless running around.
+ Each zone features exploration based challenges. The nice part about the new map is that when you are close to one of the challenge items, a symbol for it appears on your map, so that you can quickly return to the item if you want to go back later. Having these challenges available made me want to explore every nook and cranny of the map. I found the number of challenges to be just right--it's not an Ubisoft-esque nightmare of map symbols. These challenges include scavenging parts from dead CL4P-TRAP's, finding unique creatures to kill for Sir Hammerlock, killing outlaws for Zer0, listening to historical logs left by a past vault hunter, or finding unique vehicles for Ellie.
+ Fun cosmetic items. There aren't the ridiculous amount of skins which were constantly dropping in the older games, but instead, there is a smaller (but still fun!) collection. There several categories of cosmetic items including character skins, character heads, weapon trinkets, weapon skins, emotes, room decorations, and info module skins (your character actually pulls out a little doodad when you look at your map). The nice part about these cosmetic items is that they are purchasable with their own currency--Eridium crystals. Storage deck upgrades are no longer tied to crystals and are purchasable with the regular in-game cash. These cosmetic items range from downright goofy to stylistically awesome. Weapon trinkets have a special tie-in with past games.
+ Many of our old, favorite characters make a reappearance (which doesn't work out well for all of them...but, no spoilers here). It's nice to see what the characters from the previous games are up to. Some of them have rather minor roles, but others are a central part of the main story. There are also some new faces who will most likely play a role in future games.
+ This time around, I didn't find myself getting bored. I've always felt a bit torn about the Borderlands series--the shooting was always so-so, but I could find something to enjoy in the quirkiness of the story and characters. I always disliked how you would clear a zone, return to a bounty board in another area, and then immediately get a mission that would require you to re-clear an entire area. It drove me bonkers. Borderlands 3 is less guilty of this and the maps are so large that quests are more easily cordoned off into one area. I also believe that the fast travel system was a vast improvement.
+ Main story is fun, adventure-packed, and has plenty of twists and turns.
+ Sanctuary III serves as a fun base filled with everything you need. There are some great new features too--namely the fact that there's no longer a tiny amount of shared loot storage, but instead you can use your bank (and buy bank SDU's) to share loot between your characters. There's also a new type of machine that will magically save any blue+ loot that you might've missed. Marcus sells guns, Tannis peddles shields, and Crazy Earl sells cosmetic items.
Cons:
-The Calypso twins are pretty blah as villains. They're obnoxious, do lots of horrible things that make you want to kill them, but they are nowhere near the evil greatness that was Handsome Jack.
(This one might be a pro for some people, but a con for others)
-Signature Borderlands quirkiness is lacking. I've always enjoyed the utter strangeness of the citizens of Pandora and the randomness of the tasks they ask you to perform. There's definitely some degree of that, but it's just not as prevalent as in other games. The story and events have a much more serious tack--it's a bit like Borderlands grew up. Some people might love this fact, but I enjoyed the weirdness (I read a negative review by PC Gamer where the juvenile sense of humor in the game was definitely something the reviewer didn't appreciate--I was confused, because apparently this person hasn't played Borderlands before)
- The entire voice-actor dispute that resulted in the voices Rhys and CL4P-TRAP being completely different. You will get used to it, but it's very noticeable and slightly disappointing.
- Soundtrack isn't as great and I barely noticed the music in the game.
- Boss fights are so-so. There are a few bosses with unique mechanics, but mostly the strategy for victory is to just keep moving and shooting as much as you can.
- New vault hunters feel a lot like variations on the previous ones. There doesn't seem to be much that's new or unique.
- Gameplay wise, there's not a lot that's new. I would agree with the assessment that I've read several times--it's more Borderlands. If you're expecting something fresh and completely different from the series...you're probably going to be disappointed.
Even though I didn't feel like there were many fresh, new elements added to Borderlands 3, I did enjoy many aspects of the game and feel like the base gameplay has been improved. The main story is fun, there is a much larger exploration based element to the game, and plenty of new locations to visit. I don't think it deserves the more critical reviews that I've seen and that most fans of the series will be happy with Borderlands 3. Currently, it's only available on PC at the Epic Games store, but will eventually be released on Steam.
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