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PREVIEW
Above Well, no one’s going to accuse it of being just another brown
shooter. Even the most brutal of fights looks oddly cheerful here.
“RATHER THAN WIDE
OPEN SPACES, THE
ACTUAL BATTLES
THEMSELVES TAKE
PLACE IN BIG ARENAS.”
Above Those pesky Varelsi. The bastard children of twigs
and ink splatters, out to extinguish all light from the universe.
Above Miko’s manner and moves are inspired by martial arts
movies. Because how else to humanise a mushroom?
FACTRICK
1. MINUTE MAN
Over the course of a 20-40
minute co-op scenario, your
character levels up roughly
every 60 seconds.
2. DEADLY DIY
You can build turrets on
fixed locations in every
map, enabling you to fortify
your overall defence.
3. FINE LUPINE
The Black Wolf, an end-of
level boss we glimpsed, is of
almost Dark Souls-level
physical stature. Erk.
Okay, it’s safe to say Gearbox isn’t trying to
out-Dickens Dickens with this game, but the
backstory does at least tee up one of Battleborn’s
most important elements: its massive roster of
playable characters. We’ve seen just a handful so far:
Rath the quasi-vampire, walking bicep depository
Montana, and Marquis the gentleman death-bot
join a mushroom, a combat droid, and an elfish lady
with a thing for bows in this pre-pre-alpha version.
While all characters have broadly the same combat
options – one primary attack and a couple of
specials – the variation between attack types and
equipment is huge. Montana is shamelessly lifted
(presumably using an industrial crane) from Team
Fortress 2 and its Heavy, carrying with him a
minigun the size of King Kong’s pepper mill. He’s
packing Hailstorm ammo for a special attack that
slows enemies, and has an ultimate ability called
Mansformation which transforms him into a
hulking great juggernaut for close-range damage.
Conversely, the aforementioned mushroom Miko’s
attacks are largely spore-based, either sending out a
spray of toxic fungus or deploying healing mushroom
matter to help out allies. His ultimate ability, Fungus
Among Us, does both simultaneously. Each of the
other characters is as different again, which makes
combat in Battleborn resemble a hybrid of Valve’s
TF2 and BASEketball. Weaponised objects
of varying absurdity fly this way and that,
abilities form domes over their affected
areas… it’s quite something to behold.
MARRIED TO THE MOBA
Rather than the wide open spaces of
Borderlands, Battleborn’s actual battles
take place in arenas, connected in the larger
game world via corridors that allow time
for a spot of banter between teammates.
And as you might expect from Gearbox
at this point, the banter is right on the
mark. It’s hard to be genuinely funny in a
videogame, and Battleborn does it without
coming across as try-hard. But its unique
approach to level design, along with the
pacing of enemy appearances, is markedly different
to PlayStation’s current crop of shooters, and it’ll
take many hours of play to determine whether this
experimental blending of FPS and MOBA genuinely
works to create something better than both.
Battleborn’s combination of long-term and midround
character levelling will also play a big part in
that experiment. In every battle you gain points to
spend in the Helix Menu, offering a binary choice
between more ammo or faster running speed active
for that one skirmish. Above that there’s a deeper,
persistent upgrade path to chip away at long-term,
and above that there’s a long game to be played in
upgrading yourself, the holder of all these characters,
to get perks that benefit all your Battleborn.
We’re not really sure who this game is for right
now – there’s a suggestion of depth and strategy
that’ll appeal to the hardcore, but a danger they
could be turned off by the Pixar-esque art direction
(we’re 50/50 in the office) and the fact that they’re
throwing a mechanical owl at a fighting mushroom.
It’s very early days for the project, and there’s plenty
of time for it to find its footing as Borderlands did
over a protracted development period. Gearbox’s last
game might have disappointed (hi, Aliens), but this
has so many new ideas we’re hopeful it’ll shine.
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