Battleborn – review

With the rising popularity of games such as League of Legends and DOTA2 into a mainstream market, many developers have taken inspiration from these games. One of these titles comes from Gearbox, known for producing Borderlands. Battleborn is primarily a First Person Shooter infused with MOBA mechanics such as unique character skills and mission based levelling up. This combination creates an FPS which adds a tactical element which many modern shooters do not possess. The game features 8 co-op campaign missions as well as 3 different competitive modes which have 2 maps respectively.

If you’ve played Borderlands, then you likely know that Gearbox add a certain style of humour to their games. This is definitely a key characteristic of the game, as each character has plenty of gags throughout the campaign and through interactions with each other in multiplayer. This varies from weird ramblings about eating someone’s insides to claiming the same character on the other team is an impostor.  The humour is heavily present throughout the game, which unfortunately can cut some people off from the title. If you played Borderlands and found the humour to either be cringey or forced, then you will run into the same problems with Battleborn. Characters also talk a lot, which hearing the same gag several times in a match can be incredibly tiresome. Fortunately, there is an option to turn in-game dialog off.

Launching the game for the first time, you are forced to play through a prologue. I believe in most cases this is a good thing, since it introduces you to how the campaign will play out and introduces a few main characters. Unfortunately, due to the complex nature of MOBA style games many features are left unexplained. This can negatively impact online play, as I’ve seen many players rage quit during both campaign and online multiplayer. The majority of the game does revolve around online play. You can split screen, I would not recommend it due to a downsizing of resolution with a sidebar taking up a portion of the screen with some framerate issues here and there. Once the prologue is complete, you can take part in either campaign or competitive multiplayer with a limited starting roster from the full 25 character cast.

“There is a real lack of variety in the campaign, with recycled campaign mechanics and a small number of enemy types.”

With campaign, you can invite friends to a lobby or search online to find other players. Unfortunately, the online campaign currently randomises which missions you will vote on if you do a public search and you won’t be able to play in order with the same group you find. Campaign missions mainly play in a very similar fashion as well. Each mission typically involves activating a wave defense phase, clearing out enemies and killing a boss. A few of the missions also revolve around defending a walking sentry robot. There is a real lack of variety in the campaign, with recycled campaign mechanics and a small number of enemy types. Enemies typically behave in the same way as well, either charging at a nearby player or shooting from a distance. Considering that your characters have such a unique array of weapons and skill, the enemies all fall flat in comparison. The narrative is also particularly weak, which is rather disappointing considering such a unique cast of characters is available to play. However, the game’s real strength comes through in the multiplayer.

Multiplayer comes in three different 5v5 game modes. Incursion, where players push a single minion wave to destroy the other teams sentry turrets. Meltdown, which involves sacrificing minions for points in two separate lanes. Capture point, which involves capturing and holding 3 different points to score. With a heavy emphasis on teamwork, there are many complexities to these modes which bring a steep learning curve. Whilst casual players may be put off by this, those that invest their time will find success very rewarding. Each game type also allows for each character to shine in their different roles instead, meaning a character tier list is not as big a concern for those who enjoy one particular character. The depth and complexity within multiplayer comes from two core mechanics; experience and shards. Experience is earned for a variety of actions, such as killing a minion or assisting in killing an enemy Battleborn and is needed to level up. Shards are collected from the map and enemies which can then be used to purchase equipment or build structures such as turrets around the map. Once you learn the positions of shards on the map and how often they spawn, you can potentially swing the outcome of the game. Experience can make a big difference as well, as at level 5 (out of 10 character levels) you gain your characters ultimate.

Understanding these mechanics of the game is not a straightforward thing however, as you either need to learn through playing or invest time in reading guides. When levelling up and selecting new perks, it also becomes apparent quickly that certain perks are much better than others. This adds to the learning curve, since it isn’t always obvious which build is best when you are new to the game. With these complexities also bring a heavy demand on teamwork, which is limited by communication and skill. Playing solo in the matchmaking can be quite a frustrating experience, and a full RRP can be a big barrier to getting friends to play. However, satisfaction is high when you come together as a team to pull off a victory. I do find there is a gap of two important features for a true competitive experience. There is no ranked matchmaking and there currently is no competitive style draft mode. With so many high profile MOBAs treating these as standard, it is a disappointment that these are not present with Battleborn.