How many hours have you put into Borderlands? If you're like most people who relished fighting on Pandora, that number is probably pretty high. Sinking hundreds of hours into that seminal “shooter looter” was par for the course, and much of that appeal stemmed from the unending parade of collectible knick knacks, tiddlywinks, and doodads.
Well, Gearbox would certainly like it if people are drawn to Battleborn as fervently as its last new property, though the appeal is going to be pretty different. You see, it's the characters that are supposed to keep a controller stuck to your hands, the goofy quips that urge you to ignore your significant other, and the playful repartee that means your dog is going to have to wait one more hour for his nightly walk.
Here's a setup that should make anyone with a sense of humor smile: Every star in the universe has been darkened by the evil Varelsi, except for one shining ball of hydrogen. And now all of the space-faring species in existence has flown to the last inhabitable place to—what else?—fight to the death. Not smiling? Congratulation, you passed the “Are you a sociopath?” test. Battleborn has a grim backbone, so much so that it would smother the fun shooting if you had to ruminate on its bleaker themes for too long. How can one take pleasure in sniping a mushroom man when its the last such creature that's still alive?
Laughing really is the best medicine, though, even if the ailment is the end of all known life. “The way we envision the universe is one in which people do have a sense of humor,” said writer Aaron Linde. “And we can tell a story that has a heaviness to it, has a weight to it, and has consequences--real, burly consequences. We can have that. But we can tell our jokes.” It's that levity mixed with despair, giggling in the face of doom, that is the pillar that props up Battleborn. After all, if you're not smiling, you're probably crying, and no one wants that.
So, you hear the tiny-headed, overly muscled Montana exclaim, “I should change my name to Mantana,” a joke that has been done before, but that doesn't mean it's any less funny here. The gentleman fighter Marquis has a top hat that houses a savage owl, and melees enemies with an dismissive backhanded slap so they know in their hearts how inadequate they are compared to someone as rich as this monocled nobleman. “It's interesting striking our tone and defining that balance of how those elements interact. What's it like to get characters like that together, and how do they bounce off of each other?” said Linde. “That's been the most interesting thing about the game.”
The campaign is markedly different from previous Gearbox shooters...
If you're more concerned with slaying these characters than bonding with them, don't worry, there's plenty of bullet slinging beneath the humorous narrative. Although there is a single-player option, we've yet to see what it entails, but we did get our first glimpse at the cooperative campaign in addition to the five-versus-five competitive battles that have already been revealed. There are five factions in Battleborn (and diverse characters within those groups), and each of them is united in the same goal: eradicate those horrible Varelsi. That's why Miko the Eldrid (a race of sentient mushroom people) can team up the with Rath of the Jennerit Empire (“Not a vampire, but he gets that a lot”), and you don't have to stretch your imagination to make that pairing seem believable.
The campaign is markedly different from previous Gearbox shooters such as Borderlands and Brothers in Arms. Rather than presenting an open world in which to explore, or feeding a linear story to you, Gearbox has constructed a series of interconnected instances that last roughly half an hour. There is a narrative in these objective-laden missions, although you're just as likely to play because you want to spend time with the characters, level up a little bit more, or just love shooting feisty aliens. “You'll consume the game in bite-size chunks, but they'll be tied together in a framework and arc,” said creative director Randy Varnell.
You can team up with four friends to vanquish the horrible creatures that threaten the universe. Battleborn is played from a first-person perspective, and there are characters who specialize in the ubiquitous down-the-sights style. But what makes combat in Battleborn interesting is the diversity present throughout the cast of characters. The aforementioned Rath has a sword, which means he's deadly in one-on-one duels but struggles against crowds of flying, swarming, slithering meanies. In contrast, Montana wields a mean Gatling gun, and while he excels at crowd control, one agile threat can fell the big brute in a hurry. It's important to know your strengths and weaknesses, along with what your teammates are capable of, because you wouldn't want to be the slacker who keeps dying while everyone else does the heavy lifting.
The combat has abilities lifted from action RPGs to separate it from traditional shooters. With magic, area-of-effect attacks, and melee strikes, there's a lot more flexibility here than figuring out what kind of gun you want to use. There are some amusing situations as well, such as when Montana does an “I'm squishing you” motion as he lines up a colossal belly flop. But what really adds some spice is Battleborn's adoption of MOBA-style leveling up. When you begin a competitive or cooperative match, you start at level one, and slowly build your powers as you earn experience. It's almost like a sped-up version of Gearbox's last hit. “In Borderlands, you pick a character, and you're going to play that character all the way through a long arc,” said Varnell. “In Battleborn, you have that growth, but in a 20- or 30-minute play experience.”
...There's a lot more flexibility here than figuring out what kind of gun you want to use
Every minute or two, your character gains a level, and you have the choice of two skills to imbue him, her, or it with. For instance, you may be able to choose between equipping a red-dot sight or a scope, which is an important difference when you factor in your own play style as well as the objectives at hand. A scope would be mighty useless against lightning-fast creatures, after all, so don't paint yourself in a corner. At the beginning of every match, everyone starts at the ground floor, so those who have sunk untold hours into the game are on relatively even ground with those who are newbies. That's a big difference from Borderlands where you would have to start over again if you were level 20 while your friend was a lowly novice, or just power through with wildly mismatched stats.
There is still a meta unlock system that rewards long-time players. We were told that veteran Battlebornrs (that sounded better in my head) can swap out one choice in the upgrade tree for another. So maybe instead of choosing between a red-dot sight and a scope you can choose between a red-dot sight and a, um, poisoned ferret companion. We don't know specifics on the various unlocks, but considering Marquis already has a vicious owl buddy, it's not far fetched if Battleborn has rodents, marsupials, or even crustaceans waiting to befriend.
From what we were shown, the campaign objectives seem fairly predictable. You're going to have to kill enemies, rather in the name of offense, defense, or for whimsical fun. That doesn't mean Battleborn lacks variety, though. “Most of the diversity is going to be realized through combat encounters and different enemies and combat puzzles,” said Varnell. He pointed out that there were thousands of enemy types in Borderlands, and with the same creature team working on Battleborn, there should be a healthy smattering of beasties here as well. Plus, the stages themselves inject a fair number of surprises. “One is a very jungle-y planet, an environment where you go from desert to jungle to these massive golemic ruins,” Varnell said. Another he described as “gothic Tron.” So even if you're just shooting a gun, swinging a sword, hurling some magic, or however else you want to attack, the nuts and bolts will hopefully stay fresh.
Battleborn is trying to combine bits and pieces from a variety of places to create a fresh take on a crowded genre. There are hints of Dishonored (first-person melee), Team Fortress 2 (personality-driven shooting), and Futurama (comedic science fiction) present. Left 4 Dead, too, is there in “how you approach combat with a diverse set of characters and get narrative on top of that,” said Linde. And yet, Battleborn is still its own beast. “We always start at a point of excitement and enthusiasm,” said Linde, and you can see their fondness for this game in how they speak excitedly about it. “At the end of the day, it's about being entertaining, and entertaining ourselves and other people, and we're not bad at entertaining with humor,” said Linde. We'll see if we're laughing along with the team come Battleborn's release next year.
Tom McShea is a freelance writer covering the video game industry. He wants all games to be on the Vita. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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