2K Games and Gearbox Software invited us to the Borderlands 3 reveal in Los Angeles, CA. The event consisted of a 45-minute presentation showing gameplay and an extended trailer for Borderlands 3. The event also allowed online streamers of Twitch and YouTube to get their hands on the game early and broadcast direct gameplay to their respective online fanbase.
During the presentation, we were given a deep dive into what to expect from Borderlands 3. Developers stressed that they had plenty of time to develop a more polished video game and from what we’ve seen thus far this holds to be true. Some new gameplay mechanics are sliding and climbing (over objects) which will make getting around easier even though these features are already implemented in most modern games.
Your weapons in Borderlands 3 now have two distinct firing modes which can be switched on the fly – however doing so uses the D-pad which can be a little tricky to swap during combat. We saw a demonstration of a hand pistol switched over to being able to fire rockets as part of the demonstration and during our hands-on time our machine gun could easily be used as a sniper rifle as well with the different gun settings.
Some other standout improvements to the Borderlands 3 gameplay was the destructible environment which will allow you to explode oil and other chemicals – hurting enemies (and yourself). We saw a few instances in the demo where the developers launched a cannister at an opponent then shot it to explode in their face.
Borderlands 3 Preview (Quality Of Life Improvements):
- Full Co-Op Gameplay Experience.
- Instantly Buy Ammo or Full Health from vending machines with one button click.
- Sanctuary III space ship allows for Interstellar travel and houses ‘lost loot’.
- Can revive NPCs and NPCs can revive you.
- ‘Loot Instances’ to balance against ‘Loot Hoarders’.
- More Boss fights – bigger overall game experience.
Borderlands 3 will be out on September 13, 2019 for Windows PC, PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.