Battleborn

While Battleborn didn’t gel as well with my gaming sensibilities as much as I’d hoped it would, even I can’t deny that the game has a lot to offer to the right sort of gamer. If you’re itching for a new Borderlands-esque experience which is all but guaranteed to keep you occupied over the long term, Battleborn will certainly scratch that itch. If, however, you never cared for the Borderlands style of humor, and you’re more of a solo-minded gamer, you might want to look elsewhere for your next shooter fix.

Although certainly not without its flaws, Battleborn is a solid foundation for Gearbox to build upon in the upcoming months.

The cast of Battleborn is fantastic; I've enjoyed exploring the ins and outs of characters like the steampunk sniper Marquis and fungal healer Miko, and every time I play I'm focused on earning further access to the unique roster. However, there’s no interesting story for them to take part in, and a lack of interesting stages and multiplayer modes inspiring me to power through the slow unlocking process.

Bold concepts, but the experience never quite comes together. For all its potential, Battleborn feels dead on arrival.

Only buy into this with a dedicated online crew, or watch your enthusiasm for Battleborn die in its infancy. [July 2016, p70]

It’s an intriguing mix of online FPS mayhem and MOBA characteristics that can lead to especially fun matches. As such, it’s a shame that polishing issues arise constantly while also the current content is lacking.

Battleborn can deliver some enjoyable moments, but the lack of modes and maps, long match times, and excruciatingly slow progression combine to make the game feel like a grind more often than not.

With issues peppering its campaign as well as its multiplayer, Battleborn's fusion of first-person shooter and MOBA is far from a complete success. A lengthy list of complaints comes perilously close to overshadowing proceedings, so it's fortunate that its engaging upgrade system and varied roster of characters end up being the true stars keeping you invested in the multiplayer.

A surprisingly complicated shooter that could prove worthwhile for those who invest the time.

Battleborn offers a somewhat unique take on online based shooters by mixing in elements from Moba. The combination makes for some interesting battles where team work is just as important as a good aim. Add a surprisingly robust story mode and you will have plenty of fun ahead of you, even though the game is light on content and could use some polish all around.

Battleborn is a good multiplayer game that suffers a bit from its light content.

Layers of color, humor and fun gameplay hide an unpolished title, with full potential in reach - but only if Gearbox Software can expand the core mechanics with more content and variety.

When you do have a team where everyone knows their roles and works together, then it can be a lot of fun. Battleborn is a well-oiled machine with the potential for some great times to be had, but sometimes getting to those great times can take some patience.

Despite my issues with it, I’m having way more fun with Battleborn than I thought I would. It took a while, but I’ve managed to find a couple of characters whose playstyle I really like, and that’s enough to keep me going for a while longer. And I’ve had enough exciting matches that I see its potential. But it assumes its fundamental conceit is good enough that you’ll spend dozens of hours unlocking its full potential.

The combat is frantic and tense, but often feels samey and superficial. The in-match leveling works wonderfully in the campaign, but can become problematic in multiplayer. The varied cast of heroes adds longevity, but the game still feels relatively content light. With so many moving parts that never quite gel, I found plenty of things to love but just as much to feel confused by and ambivalent about.

Battleborn offers a seven hour long campaign that feels pretty weak, but the multiplayer is fun and there's lots of loot. Like many other games in this genre, Battleborn works best when you're playing together with friends.

When the game is firing on all cylinders, it is one of the most refreshing new IPs this generation. The problem is that the charm begins to wear off with age and the mediocre loot system doesn’t do enough to incentivize excessive replay.

The first impressions of Battleborn are disappointing because too many elements are thrown at you in too little time. The story missions seem rushed, but there is still fun in the game, for example when you discover a new tactic via the in-game leveling system. Battleborn has fun to offer, but you have to dig a little to find it.

Battleborn left me feeling like it was not bad or good, it just is, and that's not a good thing.

Aside from its charming presentation and humorous characters, it all feels a little shallow, offering snippets of things we’ve seen hundreds of times before.

An ambitious team shooter that struggles with its identity and is let down by a weak script and try-hard comedy.

The PvE and co-op experience that Battleborn provides is futile and scarcely interesting. On the PvP side Gearbox's title proves more worthy, but the game has too many gameplay issues to stand out in the competitive moba-like scene.

We wish the story had a stronger narrative, the online restrictions weren’t so frustrating, and the humor had more variety. But the diversity in everyone’s abilities and playstyles should be enough to keep the light of this last star shining for dedicated Gearbox fans.

A promising work in progress. [Issue#175, p.72]

Battleborn has plenty of ambition, but it just isn't particularly satisfying to play. It isn't broken, it's just the whole experience feels lightweight and derivative.

I applaud the ambition, but not every grand venture ends with triumph.

Battleborn has laid the groundwork for a decent online cooperative and competitive shooter, but most players would do will to hold off until it rectifies its balancing issues and dearth of content.

It's enjoyable in its best moments and especially in one of its multiplayer modes, but the problem comes with its lack of longevity.

Yet the single player was a bore in its core gameplay loop, the two multiplayer modes have issues with their map design, and the gating of characters and abilities just feels unnecessary for a MOBA. However, it is still possible to get a kick or two out of Battleborn.

Chaotic, frenetic and often clumsy, Battleborn is a game that has a lot of flaws in its core design. Still, we can't quite stop playing, mostly thanks to the great cast of playable characters, as well as the game's addicitve progression system.

In six months’ time it may well make its mark, but for now Battleborn’s mix of genres suffers from too little content and too much repetition.

Battleborn is a funny and beautiful world, but it stumbles at the hands of the game's excruciating progression systems and thin multiplayer modes.

I'm not sold on Battleborn's commitment to the MOBA genre but there's something fun there underneath all of it. I'll probably hop on occasionally to play Capture throughout its lifetime while the bulk of my efforts are spent on more polished shooters.

Somewhere in the confusion of half-baked genres, messy visuals and flawed design are some great features. Battleborn does itself no favours trying to convey them. For the persistent only. [July 2016, p.92]