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Battleborn: I would like to start off by saying how excited I was to play this game. I got in to the Borderlands games when they first came out and achieved a platinum trophy on both Borderlands 1 and 2. As well as that, I then rebought the games for the PS4. So it is important to understand that I am a fan of Gearbox, and first-person-shooters are my type of game.
The game starts in all the right ways – you have these Pixar-style graphics which reminded me of some of my favourite anime shows. Then, out of nowhere I hear a blast from the past: Del The Funky Homosapien (I can only assume as Deltron 3030) rapping whilst I watch a really cool prologue. It is worth adding that, even though the prologue looked and sounded immense, I didn’t really have a clue what was going on… sadly this will be an ongoing theme in this review.
This game offers you a number of different modes, but when you play it first, you must finish the prologue. Rookie error number 1: don’t pause the prologue to make a cup of tea, then end up having a nap on the sofa, because if this happens, you’ll have to play all of the prologue again, even if you were right at the end. Yes, this game will time out as it has been made through connection to servers and they will only host you for a period of time. This did annoy me and I definitely didn’t make the same mistake twice… I did.
Through some extensive research I managed to find out what the story is actually about. So here goes: A catastrophe happened, which led to a great range of species fled to a star called Solus. All these different species decided to unite and fight against the evil doers: Varelsi. Sadly, the story is one of the biggest let downs in this game. Even though it has an interesting start, it just never really gets going. I would say it didn’t help that when I first played the game, I went for an online story (there are two options – online story mode and private story mode), this was a big mistake. Without any knowledge, I found myself and four other randoms playing the third level and not having a clue what was going on. A few deaths later, and I decided that I would play through the game in private mode first. The story still didn’t really make much sense or have much backbone; however, at least it presented me with a fairer challenge, as I improved and understood more of the basic gameplay.
As I have alluded to, there are 2 main modes to this game: campaign and multiplayer. However, the campaign has two modes which are private and public. I had a terrible first experience with the public mode. I was playing with four other gamers who all seemed to be level 4/5 already (God knows how). One was running around like a headless chicken, two were playing normally and one seemed to only want to get killed. You see, because you area all a team, you share an amount of respawns – I found this out the hard way. 30 minutes into a mission, in which I had no idea what was going on, I saw the dreaded “game over” sign. I cursed. I screamed. And I didn’t have a darn clue what had happened. Then I clocked – that guy who kept on dying wasn’t only losing his lives, he was losing our lives. I gave the public story one more attempt, but our team died right on the final boss, leading me to deicide that I was now going to play this game in private mode. This was relatively harmless apart from my previous grievance that it runs on a timed server.
After completing the game I decided that the online multiplayer was worth a twirl. You see sometimes I try and stay away from these modes. I get ever so addicted and end up giving a ridiculous amount of hours to a mode I don’t even really see any progress in. But, like any modern day hero, and for the sake of the review, I risked my marriage and went for it. I absolutely loved what I got, but felt like I didn’t get enough. It reminded me of when I was first bought an N64, but they were so expensive that no one could afford to buy me a game. There are three main modes: incursion (where you need to defend you base and destroy the opponent’s base), Capture (where you need to hold down areas and gain points) and Meltdown (where you must guide minions towards an incinerator – nothing like a bit of burning). This is where I felt hard done by. Only three different game modes… where’s the team deathmatch? Where’s the Free for all? I know some will argue that those game modes are better left to the CODs of this world but I just feel it would have really benefited this game. What you get is good, but what you could have got may well have been amazing.
Go to page 2 for more thoughts on the game plus conclusions.
Characters are a real bonus area for this game. I love how you have 25 characters to choose from and all of them have their own unique personalities, weapons and powers. A key part to this game is how you level up your characters. You can level up with each character – however, when you have ended your game, you go back to level 1. To level up whilst playing, you have to quickly decide the path you want your hero to take. These paths generally affect two of your abilities and can significantly change how you play the game. You can also level up outside of the game and you this can unlock other abilities which can add parts to the Helix skill tree.
The characters you get to choose from all seem really cool and I found myself playing with each and every one of them. However, I did take a particular liking to Orendi and his magical hands. I’m sure no matter your taste you will find a character who suits your needs as a gamer.
There isn’t much to say about the gameplay, it was good. It runs very similar to Borderlands and games of a similar ilk. It is fast paced but not too fast. It is frantic but not too hectic and the controls are exactly how you would expect.
I absolutely love the graphics of this game as it reminds me of all the things I loved in my childhood. It takes me back to first playing Wind Waker, or even Metroid Prime on the Gamecube. I’ve played a fair bit and haven’t found many glitches, whilethe frame-rate seems to run at a solid enough pace throughout so you won’t notice any difference during boss battles or other parts. The soundtrack is enjoyable and it blends hip hop and funk to keep a nice pace to your gaming session.
I have to admit that this game is an awful lot of fun. I mean, when you get into this, you will keep on playing for a fairly long period of time and you will enjoy it. Yes, you will get annoyed that it is missing some things which would have only made the game better, but you will be relatively happy with what you paid for. One of the issues you will have, is the modes being limited and the story itself being relatively short. However, would you actually want it to last any longer with this type of game…
What should I say… is this worth buying yes… will you buy it, with all the great games about to be released…. I don’t know, but if you do, let me know what you think in the comments below.
Thanks to OkyouheiGF on Youtube for the gaming footage.
Battleborn is out now on PS4, PC and Xbox One. Click on the packshot for the full-size version.
Important info:
- Publisher: 2K Games
- Players: single player campaign, multiplayer
- HDTV options: up to 1080p
- Sound: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
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GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
9 8 8 7.5 |
| OVERALL | 8 |
Writer: Aaron Linde
Producer: Chris Thomas
Music: Michael Rubino
Cast:
Orendi: Ashly Burch
Toby: Clifford Chapin
Nova / Galilea: Colleen Clinkenbeard
Shayne: Kara Edwards
ISIC / Oscar Mike / MINREC / Whiskey Foxtrot: Jim Foronda
Thorn: Caitlin Glass
Deande: Jennifer Green
Aurox: Christopher Guerrero
Boldur: Todd Haberkorn
Marquis: Zach Hanks
El Dragón: Jim Johnson
Ambra: Lydia Mackay
Ghalt: Major Attaway
Phoebe: Elizabeth Maxwell
Miko: Julie Mayfield
Mellka: Brina Palencia
Caldarius: Phil Parsons
Rendain: Chris Rager
Kleese: Bob Reed
Rath / Geoff / Attikus: Christopher Sabat
Montana: Ian Sinclair
Benedict: Sonny Strait
Kelvin: J Michael Tatum
Reyna: Kenneisha Thompson
I have been a video game player since 1993 and a music fan since I can remember. I studied Film and Journalism at university and ended up becoming a Primary School teacher. Video games changed my life and sent me on the right track and have stayed with me ever since.
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