Borderlands 3 is out now, sounds like it could use a patch
Looto
Gearbox Software are back for more goofy looty-shooty action in Borderlands 3, released at the stroke of midnight like a spirit conjured from Hell. Once again we'll be shooting through baddies in a wacky sci-fi world where weird and wonderful guns burst out their guts. We don't have a review for you yet because 2K's UK PR people apparently only gave advance access to a handful of #influencers, but I feel quietly confident that will shake out as "It's Borderlands."
The latest Borderlands introduces four new characters/classes, multiple planets we can visit, and adds a load of new gunbits into the bag the loot system shakes up to throw procedurally-generated rolls. Combined with preset designed weapons, it's apparently boasting over one billion potential guns. Guns which grow legs and chase foes! A gun you can throw as a bullet-spewing boomerang! Guns with all sorts of underbarrel guns! A gun which fires new guns for you to collect! A gun which fires burgers! A gun which fires faeces! It's Borderlands, innit.
I'm being a bit scornful because, historically, the Borderlands wacky humour doesn't jibe with me and the action has been boringly bulletspongey, but I do know many dig it. If you do, hey, this is more of it. And, y'know, co-op FPS campaigns are still a lark with pals.
Do be warned that the initial PC release sounds a bit wonky. Issues reported on the game's forums and a a Reddit thread include stuttering framerates while aiming, stuttering while turning around, and the game not launching due to DirectX 12.
Suggesting fixes for stuttering do sound a little unlikely but if you're hit by it, maybe you'll at least feel better if you change your graphics settings to Very Low then manually readjust individual settings to what you want (which many claim works?). As for the DX12 issue, editing a config file might work. This early after launch, it's hard to tell what's game bugs and what's PC problems and which fixes are placebos and... but it definitely has some issues.
Borderlands 3 is out now on the Epic Games Store for £50. Unlike most exclusives Epic pay for, this deal isn't one year long. The official word is that "Borderlands 3 will be available on additional PC digital storefronts in April 2020."
We're sending our Nate to Borderlands 3 to return with a review. I still say we should've woke dragged him out of bed at midnight and frogmarched him to Game to buy the largest Double Dog Collector's Edition he could carry, but apparently he's just going to play it on Epic this morning or whatever. Not the real experience, Crowley.
Guidesman Ollie is diving in too, starting with a Borderlands 3 characters and skill tree guide.