With my pre-order for this game already placed, I decided that I would spend some of the weekend playing this game that I’ve been eagerly anticipating and see what it’s actually about. I spent a lot of time with this game, over 8 hours, and was really able to get into it in order to play every part the beta had to offer. Keep reading to find out if I’m still anticipating this game or if I regret placing my pre-order.
Story Mode
During the open beta you were allowed to play two “episodes” from the main story and to tell you the truth, I’m not really a fan of the whole episodes thing for the story mode. I’m kinda on the fence with one because I feel like the whole episodes thing doesn’t really give you a chance for the kind of story that is told in Borderlands, which this game has been highly compared to.
Let’s start with episode one. You get a short introduction that tells you a little about that episode but that’s it. I’m hoping that the story mode will have more story once the actual game is released because I really had no idea what was going on or why we were heading where we were headed and I had no idea who the characters who seemed important were or why they were even important. The main enemy in the first episode is a very similar character to Handsome Jack. They have the same personality and similar dialogue and I thought that it was a little uncreative especially when this games biggest pull is that this is the game that’s coming out this year and not Borderlands 3. This episode is also super hard as I tried to complete this episode alone three times and failed miserably. The only way this episode is being beat is by playing with a full team. This was kind of a downer for me because while I like playing with other people, I also like playing alone the first time as well until I get used to the game and so I can full immerse myself into the story. That doesn’t look like it’s going to happen with this game.
Moving on to episode two, this episode was super easy which was a complete 180 from the first episode and I was able to complete it with only myself and one other person who really didn’t know what the hell he or she was doing. The second episode introduced a new bad guy but you didn’t get to fight him at the end as you tried to save the planet that you were dumped on. I’m hoping that these stories that go along with each episode will be more fleshed out once the actual game is released.
Now for some little bits and pieces that I noticed while playing the episodes. The bosses are introduced the same way that they are introduced in Borderlands without the cool little comment underneath them. I thought that this was a little uncreative as well and didn’t think it was needed to introduce the boss battles. You already know when a boss battle is going to happen because it’s a bigger enemy then the rest and it’s harder to beat. There’s no need for an introduction. It works for Borderlands but doesn’t really work for this game. Each episode is also based on 5 lives. You and your whole team will share these 5 lives so you really have to work together to revive one another when needed. This in a way really sucks because instead of waiting for a revive half the time most people will spend those lives and then when you really need them they’re gone and the episode is lost. Yes you can earn extra lives during the course of the episode, but that doesn’t happen all too often meaning that everyone has to work as a team and that’s a lot to ask.
PVP Muliplayer
This is a new feature for Battleborn and during the open beta you were allowed to play two out of the three different multiplayer modes. Let’s talk about Incursion first. I will tell you that even though Incursion is interesting, it’s also extremely confusing and to tell you the truth I really had no idea what was going on half the time. The objectives are pretty clear, but it’s just one big cluster fuck of things going on. The next multiplayer mode was Meltdown, I will say that at first I had a really hard time getting into a match and was thrown into an Incursion match which I did not want. When I backed out I was locked out of the server unless I went into the Incursion match that I didn’t want to play in the first place. I’m hoping that this was just because of the beta and won’t actually be a thing when the game is released. When I finally did get into a match of Meltdown, it was pretty interesting and a lot less confusing then Incursion. Your objective is more simple and laid out, but it’s still a little jumbled because there is a hell of a lot going on. A LOT. I can’t stress this enough that if you’re into simple multiplayer team death match or whatever, then this is not what you’re looking for when it comes to PVP multiplayer.
Out of both multiplayer modes, I liked Meltdown the most but I’m not really sure how much I’ll actually be playing of each. I’m curious to see the third mode that wasn’t open during the beta and hoping that this will be the one that sticks and the one I play the most. I will however play the other versions especially if I need to grind out trophies for them, but that will probably be it. I can’t really see myself just jumping into a match all the time.
Small Overall Notes
I will say that overall the game ran pretty smoothly with only some minor bugs and glitches along the way, but this is the beta so it’s to be expected. I was just happy that there were no major crashes or anything else like that which I think is a good sign. I will say though that when playing with a full team of people on the episodes that there was some lag and that was a little annoying at times especially when it means that you could lose the whole mission because of people dying. I’m pretty sure this is just a beta issues as well and I hope it doesn’t make a reappearance at launch. I found the mechanics of the game as a whole to be ok. It takes a little while to get used to them especially if you’re playing a different character each time. Each character has their own unique abilities , which some are cool and others will make you scratch your head, but if you’re not playing the same character each episode or each multiplayer match then there will be some learning curve. While on the topic of characters, I will say that some of them are already overpowered and this is noticeable in the PVP multiplayer, so I am hoping that this gets fixed before the launch or at least gets some kind of patch. Also it’s very noticeable that the characters have the tendency to say the same thing over and over and over again which gets really boring and annoying really quick. The characters are also super weird, I’m not sure if I like them or not yet or found my one character that I’ll always play. I’m going to have to try them all out and eventually see, but at the moment I’m on the fence with there being so many characters. Other than that I thought the graphics were pretty cool and really similar to Borderlands. That’s not technically a bad thing, but it’s not really a great thing either.
Even after all that I’m still pretty excited about receiving this game day one. I’m also eager to play it the same day I receive it. It’ll be interesting to see how the overall story plays out as well as the other unavailable mode in the PVP multiplayer. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for good things, but keeping my expecations a little low just in case it turns out to be a total waste.
1 Broke Gamer Girl 