After I was done having fun gunning down enemies and taunting them as they have nowhere else to look, I had to endure a dreadfully boring two weeks before the official release for Battleborn would be available. Although the Open Beta had a very limited story mode included with two different multiplayer options, the official release made sure the story was more convoluted without being boring or cliché.
You were Born for this
Upon starting Battleborn, you are greeted to a neat little backstory and a short (which felt ridiculously long) animated clip featuring many of the famous characters you will soon gain control of and lay waste to your foes. Word of advice for beginners: stay clear from the multiplayer selections; pick up the style of the game and how the mechanics work during story missions. This way, you gain a lot more experience on various characters, which can then be carried over to multiplayer.
Valve, is that you?
Although developed by Gearbox Studios (who are famous for Borderlands), the gameplay in Battleborn is pretty reminiscent of Valve’s widely popular first-person shooter, Team Fortress 2. All in all, it was mostly a mixture of Team Fortress 2 mixed with Dota 2 and blended nicely with Borderlands. This made for a widely pleasing gameplay to keep you addicted for hours on end.
My addiction started when I got my first Title, which will be displayed for everyone to see. Everything else that happened after that was a blur as I now have too many Titles, Skins, and Taunts to choose from. Perfection is boring; don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.
Not for Noobs
As it is with every competitive MOBA video game, Battleborn is not made for people who get too riled up easily or have a really short temper. This fast-paced, first-person shooter video game is packed with carnage, chaos, and just enough comedy to make it a great, sadistic game for great, sadistic minds.
It features a long list of heroes, all of which come with their own skill set, featuring two primary skills and an ultimate. These skills do not require any kind of mana cost but what maintain is the cooldown timers. Upgrade your skill tree as the game progresses while you gain experience points by killing or assisting in killing enemy heroes as well as killing minions. With so many things going on, it’s no wonder Battleborn is not noob-friendly with a steep learning curve involved.
Pick your Poison
The PvP format on Battleborn is toxic, to say the least; it pits you and four other teammates against another set of five opponents battling it out on the battlefield to see who will reign supreme. The battle takes place on three different maps, mainly Incursion, Capture, and Meltdown. Before the start of the match, you will be given a countdown timer to choose your favourite badass before one of your teammates does so it’s best to be quick about it.
Incursion focuses on you and your teammates battling waves of AI-controlled minions while working alongside your own to push the wave towards your enemies and wiping them out. If you want carnage, mayhem, destruction, and cursing at your TV every few seconds, Incursion is the map for you. Capture is a more fast-paced, objective-based, battle to the death match where teams of heroes face off to capture and hold objectives; preferably, this should be played with a group of friends for better communication and of course, finding the weak link to blame on when everything goes to hell.
Meltdown is one of my personal favourites as it is both objective-based with Battleborn’s signature hero-killing element. Don’t get it wrong, it sounds similar to Capture, but with one key difference. Meltdown’s main objective is to guide your minions towards your opponent’s incinerator, with each minion going through scores you points.
SCORE: 8/10
Written by: Wi-Liam
