Borderlands 3 Review Roundup

Looters prepare to loot! The third game in the popular loot-based first-person shooter, Borderlands 3 is coming hot this September. The game shares the same core loop with previous games around taking on missions, defeating enemies, and obtaining loot from fallen foes or special chests, most often in the form of procedurally generated weapons to vary in damage, range, ammo capacity, and other special perks, giving the game "over one billion guns". But, does Borderlands 3 differ enough from its prequels? Or is it more of the same? Here's the review roundup: 

DESTRUCTOID 9/10
"Borderlands has a very old school "just keep repeating the game" feel to it that's fun solo, much less with other people involved. Getting new loot, more skills, and enhancing my Guardian Rank progress for my alts is fun: and that counts for a hell of a lot. Borderlands 3 takes most of the good bits of Borderlands 2 and either rolls with them or improves upon them. It didn't need to reinvent the wheel either, as Gearbox pretty much had the formula figured out the second time around."

You can click here for the full review.

GAMEINFORMER 8/10
"Borderlands 3 is a love letter to its fans and a celebration of the style of play it first popularized. Filled with characters from previous installments, and unapologetic in its silly humor and bombastic action, it’s an amusing ride that seems hesitant to innovate. If more of what you loved before is your chief desire, Gearbox has granted that wish through a game of impressive scope that charts some very safe territory."

You can click here for the full review.

GAMESPOT 8/10
"Borderlands 3 has a few stumbling blocks when it comes to bosses, but these fights are overshadowed by the game's rewarding gunplay and over-the-top humor. The game's character-driven narrative acts as a satisfying finale for the loot-shooter franchise, and the new mechanics and features--especially the reworked skill trees and weapon manufacturer effects--give you plenty of agency in how you want to play through it. If you've never been a fan of the franchise, it's unlikely Borderlands 3 does enough things differently to change your mind, as the game best excels at continuing what the series has always done: deliver a humorous tall tale of misfits looting and shooting their way to heroism."

You can click here for the full review.

IGN 9/10
"If Borderlands 3 is what happens when a modern looter shooter doesn’t concern itself with the longevity of its item economy and daily quests then you can sign me up for Borderlands 4 right now. Being untethered from persistent servers and able to trade loot at will is a refreshing change of pace, but that’s hardly the only reason why this such an amazing co-op FPS. The sheer magnitude and diversity of its arsenal of fun and surprising weaponry is unmatched, and the striking amount of loving detail and variety packed into its energetic and replayable 30-hour campaign is what makes Borderlands 3 a high-point for the series – and the genre as a whole."

​You can click here for the full review.

POLYGON
"Borderlands 3, if it works well at launch, is a competent game that feels like a passable continuation of the franchise instead of an evolution. It’s the same general idea with new vault hunters, but with little of the joy and danger that I fell in love with in earlier entries. The franchise used to feel adventurous. Now, without any fresh ideas or concepts, it’s little more than a holdover from a different time. Borderlands 3 feels safe, oddly careful (especially for a game about anarchy), and, worst of all, corporate."

You can click here for the full review.

BORDERLANDS 3 currently has a meta score of 85 based on 18 critic scores over at Metacritic, an overall positive reaction from critics despite a few worries about the game not evolving enough from the previous versions. The game will be released Sept. 13 on PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One. For more on gaming check out the review roundup for Gears 5 or the other top games that are releasing in September.