Battleborn Reviews
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.
Gearbox attempted to think outside of the box with Battleborn and try something genuinely different. In many respects, they succeeded in this mandate.
Gearbox's blend of shooter and MOBA is generous and inventive, but the marriage of genres doesn't fully convince.
The PvE and co-op experience that Battleborn provides is futile and scarcely interesting. On the PvP side Gearbox's title proves more whorty, but the game has too many gameplay issues to stand out in the competitive moba-like scene.
Review in Italian | Read full review
While engaging and mostly rewarding, the gameplay can also be described as hectic and chaotic.
Battleborn carves itself a deserving spot on people's lists. Its endearing roster, wild set of abilities, great variety of modes, progression systems, and the promise of free content in the form of new heroes, modes, and maps have left me addicted and turned me into a MOBA fan, a feat I didn't think was possible.
In that respect Battleborn sometimes feels a bit unfocused and unfinished. Undercooked, maybe, to use tired terminology. I think Gearbox would have benefited from really focusing on their cast and progression system instead of superfluous co-op story content.
While not deep in story, Battleborn leverages the development team's strength to create a fun roster worth experimenting with in the wide open online arenas. This isn't a new Borderlands, but it doesn't have to be to feel like a success.
A really awesome art style which gives a somewhat comic book feel.
Battleborn feels like it's squandered the majority of its potential with its execution. If enough polish is applied and the objectives made less punishing, it could warrant investment for the PvP. But the limited number of PvP maps, lack of unique missions and shabby story are still severe negatives.
BATTLEBORN delivers the fun factor and all-around humor that you can get from a game. You can ditch the Story Mode and hop on the multiplayer side as that's where the game really shines. Despite its lack of a better narrative, the stability of the game's server, and its fun multiplayer concept can surely reel you in to get the game. Are you now ready to haul-ass and nuke some newbs?
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.
Battleborn does have its hiccups with required online connectivity, dialogue and some odd character choices. But the positive far outweighs the negative, with exciting gameplay, fun multiplayer components for both local and online play, and fantastic level design.
Battleborn constantly pops with a charmingly garish visual style, a small army of exotic characters, and disorderly combat with just enough strategic edge to keep it from being sloppy. While some may find the clashing colors and overall derangement to be a little too busy, I personally felt right at home with its special blend of stupidity and style.
Battleborn is big, colourful and wholly raucous, but its overall design and first-person-shooter/MOBA-inspired mechanics don't gel as well as I was hoping they would. There's a lot of repetition, poor difficulty balancing and a limited amount of content to be found at launch, and while that will surely improve over the coming months, it makes the game's expensive price tag loom high at this point in time.
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.
Battleborn is a lot of fun but how popular it will be remains to be seen. Releasing it during roughly the same window as DOOM and Overwatch was poor timing on their part. I plan to keep playing it, but given the game's retreading of Borderlands with an added MOBA spin, I don't expect my friends to join me.
If you have the option, don't play this game alone. That's a great way to dislike Battleborn. There is no real loot to collect, and the story is threadbare. It's about having fun with friends and strangers, and if that does not appeal to you, then this game is not likely to please.
Showing signs of early promise, Battleborn very quickly becomes a chore, its repetitive story and paltry selection of multiplayer content putting the nail in its coffin after about 10-15 hours or so. That's assuming you even have the perseverance to stick around for that long. Battleborn is a disappointment.