Returning To Pandora With Borderlands: The Handsome Collection

Bringing together Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! and all of their collected DLC, The Handsome Collection’s key aim was to buff these games to a new-gen sheen, with those crucial 1080p visuals present and correct at 60 frames per second, and package them with the immense amount of extra content that Gearbox have lavished on them since release. For titles that were visually striking in the first place and managed to run on older hardware, you would assume that it would be a relatively simple procedure to bring them up to speed, with the developer promising “smooth high performance frame rates never before seen in Borderlands on consoles.”

To a certain extent, Gearbox have achieved this, as the visuals on the PS4 render at 1080p, and at certain points, particularly in Borderlands 2, the game will run at a very smooth 60fps, marking a clear improvement over both of the last-gen entries. However, this isn’t what many players will consistently experience, as there are currently clear problems that soon appear.

The Pre-Sequel definitely suffers the most here, from the opening cut-scene which displays frame rate issues and screen-tearing, immediately lowering your expectation’s of the game’s performance. During your escape from the Helion space station severe frame rate drops rear their head when the action gets too hectic. Admittedly there is often a lot going on – the flashes of bullets hitting your shield, troopers writhed in electric shock effects from your pistol, and flames being spewed forth by a boss character as you and Jack try to take him down, all with Pandora’s moon Elpis looming in the distance. However, this level of performance isn’t what was promised, and it feels like the game has been rushed out before work on it has finished.

Things only get worse when you reach the moon itself, with drops in frame rate becoming so prevalent and acute as to make it feel like you’re moving through treacle. It’s not totally unplayable, but the experience is currently severely hampered by the engine’s poor performance. Gearbox are working on a patch to rectify the issues, though they’ve said not to expect it to arrive immediately, and for a game that has already been on shelves for nearly a week it’s yet another case of publishers expecting consumers to buy a fundamentally unfinished product.

Admittedly, neither Borderlands 2, nor the Pre-Sequel ran without issue on the 360 or PS3, and when they run well the versions found in the Handsome Collection are a genuine delight, with Gearbox’s fantastic art style hugely benefiting from the enhanced resolution. Creatures and locations look fantastic with the extra detail, and the world as a whole looks better than ever. There has been a huge reduction in the screen tearing found in the PS3 version as well as texture pop-in. It’s a shame then that the improvements made there have in turn potentially caused problems to both games’ refresh rates.

Beyond the performance problems there are other minor niggles, such as not being able to move between the two titles in-game once you’ve selected one, forcing you to close the application and restart it, though quite how often you’ll jump between the two is questionable. Texture loading when you respawn or enter a new area is also slow, though nowhere near as bad as that found on the PS3, and it’s unlikely to cause anyone more than a few moments annoyance.

One of the key missing elements is the first Borderlands game, which Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has stated would be considered for porting if the Handsome Collection is “wildly successful”. I don’t entirely see where the logic would be in releasing the first title after the second one has been included, and it’s a shame that it wasn’t part of the package in the first place as it would have truly made it an essential collection for both Borderlands fan’s and newcomers alike.

Still, it’s hard to fault the breadth of content that the package does contain, with all of the additional campaign DLC included for both games, from the fantastic Tiny Tina’s Assault On Dragon Keep to the brand-new, and final, piece of Pre-Sequel DLC in the form of Claptrap’s Claptastic Voyage. Between the two titles there are hundreds of hours of potential gameplay, and returning players can take advantage of the cross-save function to import your save game from last-gen, as long as it’s within the same console family.

The cross-save is exceedingly easy to use, and you can upload and download your character back and forth between the different platforms if you should so desire. Couch co-op has been improved as well, with it now offering four-player split-screen, though this drops the maximum frame rate from 60fps to 30fps.

When it works properly, which it often does in Borderlands 2, the Handsome Collection is fantastic. The series’ wonderful stylised visuals look even better with the improved resolution, and when it achieves 60fps, movement and gunplay feel very smooth and responsive, and are a distinct step up from the 360 and PS3 versions. Online and couch co-op remain as fun as ever, and I experienced no connection problems when playing with friends online.

However, while the poor performance can be an annoyance in Borderlands 2, it becomes utterly crippling in the Pre-Sequel, with any more than a couple of enemies on screen often causing the frame rate to plummet, making firefights seem like online lag-fests rather than an encounter between highly skilled combatants. Given the game’s relatively modest beginnings, it’s hugely disappointing that it has released with such glaring inconsistencies in place.

Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is a generous, but currently flawed package. It’s a shame then that with this new generation, we’re still experiencing so many of the same problems as the last.