Battleborn

 Xbox One
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 180 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 122 out of 180
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 180
  3. Negative: 44 out of 180
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  1. DzmitryBoston
    Jun 14, 2020
    0
    At the time of writing, the game is actually dead and unplayable. Not only online mode, but offline mode as well. I don't care too much about online modes in games, so I cant make any sense why developers killed even single-player mode. Why not update the game so it can only be a playable offline single-player campaign. What a let-down from gearbox. Due to the game being killed, I was notAt the time of writing, the game is actually dead and unplayable. Not only online mode, but offline mode as well. I don't care too much about online modes in games, so I cant make any sense why developers killed even single-player mode. Why not update the game so it can only be a playable offline single-player campaign. What a let-down from gearbox. Due to the game being killed, I was not able to finish last two missions. Disgrace.… Expand
  2. captainkane
    Jun 28, 2016
    4
    Battleborn is bad. I thought nothing could sink lower than The Division, but Battleborn is at least in the same tier. Battleborn hasn’t sold well and extreme price markdowns just after release are a bad sign. Overwatch has stolen BB’s momentum and rightly so. Despite its flaws, OW is a better game. It’s more accessible, runs smoothly, and will get better as Blizzard patches it.Battleborn is bad. I thought nothing could sink lower than The Division, but Battleborn is at least in the same tier. Battleborn hasn’t sold well and extreme price markdowns just after release are a bad sign. Overwatch has stolen BB’s momentum and rightly so. Despite its flaws, OW is a better game. It’s more accessible, runs smoothly, and will get better as Blizzard patches it. Battleborn’s struggle to gain traction will only continue and not all the blame falls on Blizzard’s top-notch marketing.

    Although Gearbox is best known for Borderlands, it gained notoriety for Aliens: Colonial Marines and Duke Nukem Forever. Both games were half-assed products. Gearbox and publisher Sega have been sued for blatantly misrepresenting ACM. Gearbox’s reputation has been justifiably damaged, so by the time Battleborn launched, many gamers such as myself were skeptical.

    Battleborn is a moba/fps hybrid. It doesn’t do either well. There are multiplayer and co-op components. Co-op can be fun. However, missions are repetitive and players can’t select which ones to complete. Instead, they’re thrown a random pool of 3 missions and must vote on one. If all 3 missions have been completed, players can either withdraw quickly and gamble on different lobbies or stick it out and replay missions. Since matchmaking times are dreadfully slow, there isn’t much payoff on gambling.

    The multiplayer component has several problems. Foremost, character animations are sloppy. So close quarters combat doesn’t work well because it’s nearly impossible to distinguish what the heck is going on. That’s a reason moba’s are set in the bird’s eye view perspective. Next, matchmaking is crap. It's unbalanced and slow. As a newcomer, I was regularly pitted against level 60+ players. I also noticed that lobbies more often than not consisted of low ranking randoms against high ranking premade teams. Additionally, I was put against the same high ranking players repeatedly even if I hadn’t played for several days. What the *&^%?

    Once matches start, players cannot switch characters. So if players need to rebalance their teams to counter the enemy, tuff toenails. If players drop out of games, they are not replaced. Being down 2 members is a guaranteed loss. Even worse, if players drop out of a match for any reason—I did at first because matches were cluster%#*’s—they are locked out of multiplayer until that match is over. Stats from those games including win/loss are saved. So players can drop out and still get credit for winning. Absolute BS.

    High ranking players have huge advantages against new/low level players. So I performed an experiment. I played with randoms for 50 consecutive matches. In all but 2 matches, my team never had a player above level 30. In nearly all games, the enemy team had 1 or more 60+ players. In more than half the games, the enemy team had 2 or more 60+ players. I lost 43 consecutive matches. That’s right. I experienced 43 loses in a row. In one gamemode, the first team to 1,000 wins. In half the games, my team never scored more than 200 points. In 5 games, we scored 50 or less points. I play ever genre of game and I’ve never experienced such crap.

    In 15 games, my team voted to surrender. That’s right. Your teammates can vote to quit. In 9 of those games, we trailed the opposing team by only 10%. So my team voted to quit even tho they had a strong possibility turning things around and winning.

    Players must earn gear from co-op to use in multiplayer. So newcomers stand no chance of succeeding in multiplayer unless they slog it out in co-op. Also, higher ranking characters have access to more abilities. So newcomers should expect to get creamed if they wanna give multiplayer a go early on. The mandatory tutorial is pointless as it doesn't explain anything which only increases player frustration. There’s no multiplayer mode that pits gamers against bots. I don’t consider co-op combat training. If you never played a moba, BB is not the place to learn.

    Performance-wise BB falls short. It was created with Unreal Engine 3, a tried-and-true tool Gearbox has used before. Despite such experience BB runs poorly. Frame rates consistently fall into the teens. Even PC gamers with powerful rigs complain about low frames. Visually, BB is an undemanding game, so low or inconsistent frame rates reek of bad optimization. BB textures appear muddy and everything looks low res. BB looks and plays like a 360/PS3 release.

    My verdict should be obvious. Honestly, I can’t say enough bad things about this game. I owned it for 3 weeks and got rid of it. I don’t regret my decision. Like The Division, BB needs to be rebalanced and retooled. But in both cases, the developers don’t have the skillsets to fix their experimental products. Unfortunately for gamers, both experiments failed. Battleborn was DOA. Both fans and the developer need to let it go. Far better games exist.    … Expand
  3. Maxson
    Jun 28, 2016
    0
    This game is dead, don't even bother picking it up. You won't find anyone playing this boring crap online. It's sad when see the fanboys defending this game. Some of the fanboys are trying so hard to get more people to buy this game. Don't buy it, you're going to waste your money if you do.
  4. partyintheback
    May 15, 2016
    1
    This is a very lousy game. The graphics are outdated, the art direction is ugly and obnoxious, the gameplay is messy and unfocused, and the story and characters are annoying due to bad writing, terrible dialogue, and miserable voice acting. If you were a fan of Gearbox's Borderlands, this won't satisfy you. This feels like a low budget mash up of genres like MOBA and tower defense. It'sThis is a very lousy game. The graphics are outdated, the art direction is ugly and obnoxious, the gameplay is messy and unfocused, and the story and characters are annoying due to bad writing, terrible dialogue, and miserable voice acting. If you were a fan of Gearbox's Borderlands, this won't satisfy you. This feels like a low budget mash up of genres like MOBA and tower defense. It's not fun, the missions are irritating, and it's just a very poorly made game in general. Avoid at all costs.… Expand
  5. SuperJoystick
    May 9, 2016
    3
    Terrible. A complete mess online with too much going on and terrible lag. Gearbox did well with Borderlands but they are a mediocre studio in terms of everything else they touch. Anthony Burch was the best thing that happened to them. This game gives me a migraine.
  6. VoltrenXytech
    Nov 23, 2022
    0
    at the time of this review the game has been entirely shutdown for a few years, and it was a wonderful and amazing game, but i want it back, and there is almost no chance of that happening

Awards & Rankings

29
#29 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2016
26
#26 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. XboxAddict
    Jul 13, 2016
    70
    It feels as though Battleborn wanted to be so much of everything including an RPG, a MOBA, an FPS, and the list goes on, but instead of trying to be good at everything, I would suggest that it should have been great at a few things.
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  2. Official Xbox Magazine UK
    Jun 20, 2016
    60
    A varied but over-engineered shooter that's a little bit of everything and a whole lot of nothin'. [July 2016, p.84]
  3. Windows Central
    May 25, 2016
    70
    Battleborn is an incredibly ambitious title, and beneath the issues, there beats the heart of a robust and strategic MOBA shooter – and it occasionally reveals itself in exciting moments throughout both PvP and PvE. Methodical, strategic players will potentially get a lot out of the game – particularly if you're playing with co-ordinated friends – but the clunky engine could dissuade traditional first-person shooter fans. It'll be interesting to see how Battleborn develops further over the coming months.
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