For a lot of fans of Gearbox Software’s Borderlands series, the cooperative story campaign will be the beating heart of Battleborn. A lot has been made of the 25 characters and the competitive multiplayer modes that adapt MOBA gameplay ideas, but a lot of people will just want a solid co-op shooter to enjoy.
The variety and contrasting styles of those characters is impossible to deny, and they can have a substantial impact on how you go about playing the game. Where Borderlands had four tuned and complimentary characters to play as, there’s now an awful lot more combinations for up to five players, and you have to discern which characters are going to mix well and support one another.
That’s not least because of how several of the characters are centred around first person melee combat. I have a soft spot for animals in mech suits, so with someone else picking Toby, a penguin in a mech suit, I initially had to settle for a very different character. Shayne & Aurox’s symbiotic pairing made for a curious character to play as. A moody looking teen with a protective demon hovering over her, they’re designed to be on the front lines, soaking up damage and dishing it out in equal measure.
They’re a tank, in other words, and demonstrate how the characters tend to fit into three loose archetypes. The pair’s abilities see them able to go invisible and get close to enemies before pulsing energy to damage them, another has Aurox sent off to grab an enemy and bring them closer, while their ultimate attack causes a big area of effect blast around the two. All of the characters do have some kind of ranged attack, with a boomerang in this case. However, I could just as easily play as Toby, try to hang back with longer ranged attacks, arc mines and throwing up attack amplifying shields, as the mushroom-like Miko to be the group’s healer, or something else entirely.
There’s also a lot to be said of the game’s MOBA-like levelling system. Each level or online match you play had your character starting at level one and levelling up at a rapid pace. Each time you level, you get a point to spend on the helix upgrade system, picking between two possible boosts to your character. It can feel a little inconsequential at times, but I came to regret picking certain perks.
Playing as Toby, I boosted his defence shield to split the beam from his laser cannon. The problem was that though this felt like it would be better for dealing with crowds, it actually just meant that I couldn’t use the shield to amp up my shot power and reliably snipe enemies. Put simply, it was a build that I didn’t feel suited me, but the joy is that next level I’d be starting from scratch and be able to avoid the same pratfall.
The story sees the last vestiges of civilisation in the universe huddled around the very last star, Solus. Ordinarily, these disparate and strongly contrasting races would all probably be battling one another, but they’ve united under one banner to fight against the invading Varelsi and the turncoat Rendain, who’s looking to only save himself and his people. You, the titular Battleborn, are all that stands in their way.
The game eschews the open world form of Borderlands, instead featuring nine missions in the game that act as TV-style episodes. There’s more missions on the way after release, but Gearbox have to keep the variety high and lean on the inherent replayability of taking on different roles, as well as trying to tackle these missions again on higher difficulty levels.
There’s several ways that they dress up the churn of fighting through enemies, with on the fly challenges in the game and with different narrative led objectives. In the Renegade mission, Caldarius has been imprisoned in enemy territory and needs to be rescued by activating three generators and defending them from waves of enemies as his jetpack recharges. Interestingly, this means that the first time you play through it, you won’t be able to pick Caldarius. This was actually a mission that we failed as a group, with the rushing enemies getting through our defences – these set pieces let you build towers and summon drones to assist you in battle – and making quick work of the generator.
There’s no second chances to be had here, and failure means you have to start the mission over from the beginning. It’s an unforgiving note that I’m sure some will find to be too punishing for their tastes, especially with the prospect of playing on higher difficulties, but at the same time it will appeal to those who want a challenge.
Thankfully there were no such failures with the other story mission we played, dubbed The Void’s Edge. Instead of defending, we were on the attack as we escorted a Wolf Sentry bot on its suicide mission. It was constantly chatting away with inane banter, but there were some nice twists like being able to spend some shards to give it defensive weaponry or heal nearby players. There was also some interesting level design that gave us the option of splitting up in order to open a barrier, instead of just brute forcing our way through.
The towering Varelsi boss at the end also exhibited some interesting attack patterns. Amongst other moves, we had to lower the Conservator’s shields in order to deal damage – I camped out and punched it in the face repeatedly – as well as quickly adjusting to taking out its supporting shield units before it could engulf us in a black hole. One particularly memorable moment had me drag one of these enemies out towards me with Aurox and kill it at the last possible moment. We were literally seconds away from defeat.
That one moment alone made me feel like we were living up to Gearbox’s self-aggrandising tagline for the game, that it’s a game for every kind of badass.
You’ll be able to see for yourself with an open beta running on PlayStation 4 from April 8th, and on PC and Xbox One from April 13th, ahead of the game’s May 3rd launch. It’s rather comprehensive, with two story missions, both Incursion and Meltdown multiplayer modes, as well as all 25 heroes.
For more on the game, check out our hands on preview of the Incursion game mode from a few weeks back.