BattleBorn Review

Introduction

So since it's launch, BattleBorn has been my husband and I's favorite game to play together. I love everything about it (except for the split screen map). The graphics are awesome much like Borderlands, gory comic-book style. The catch phrases shouted by the playable characters are amazing. "INAPPROPRIATE GESTURE". The character selection is awesome regardless of your playing style.

Characters

My husband is a huge Oscar Mike fan. Seriously he's played atleast 95% of the game as one character. I have more eclectic taste and have taken to Mellka, Alani, and Montana as well as a few others. The aptly named "heroes" are all unique and have great backstory's to keep you enthralled. Here are a few of my favorites. You can see a complete overview here.

Alani:

Raised as a healer, but forced to be a warrior, Alani is all that remains of her order after Rendain’s Imperium stole the oceans from her world. Through meditation, intense focus, and warranty-breaking
misuse of water-soluble nanotech, she can summon tidal waves with the flick of a finger.

Galilea: 

Warped by a corruptive agent in a mission against the Jennerit, Galilea endured hundreds of years of
self-imposed exile on Bliss before joining the Battleborn. The darkness within her is both her greatest strength and most profound struggle.

Mellka:

Born as a refugee, Mellka was raised and trained among an aggressive Eldrid commando group known as the Vigilant.  Proficient at several combat styles, but prefers exotic weaponry such as her biologically-active Eldrid gauntlet, now permanently fused with her left hand.

Montana:

When he’s not clotheslining bears for fun, Montana can be found suppressing enemies with his fearsome minigun and soaking up industrial-sized buckets of hurt on behalf of his comrades. Self-appointed morale officer of the Battleborn and friend to all.

Oscar Mike:

A discarded clone soldier from a long-forgotten war, Oscar Mike is a capable front-line fighter,
engaging enemies at range with his assault rifle, cloaking for quick exits from tight spots, and inspiring his allies with his... unconventional
personality.

The Story

Set in space, Battleborn tells the story of a number of different alien species, all of which have fled to Solus, the last star in the galaxy. Though divided at first, the different species are forced to unite against a common enemy, the Varelsi. You play as any one of the "Battleborn" they've sent out as a last resort to save the universe. 

Battleborn is a "genre-fused" game—infused with several elements from FPS and MOBA games. I was a little hesitant about the genre fusion, because the last time I got my hopes up about an FPS with a storyline, Destiny happened, I was sorely disappointed, and bored. I'm happy to announce that this time was completely different. 

The Visuals

The game may look familiar to fans of Gearbox's last game franchise, Borderlands. That's because it has a very similar visual style. The cartoon/graphic novel style worked perfectly for Borderlands, and it works the same for Battleborn!

Battleborn's visual style also takes inspiration from the CGI used in Pixar movies. Unsurprisingly, the Borderlands style mixed with the Pixar-ish style blend wonderfully, creating a very good looking game!

Co-Op

My dearest gearbox, thank you thank you thank you. We all remember the good old days, when you and a friend or family member could sit on the same couch and go head-to-head in viscous "no screen-cheating" local combat! It was even better when you and the person next to you could work together and take on your mutual enemies,

Not a lot of games have that anymore, focusing solely on online multiplayer, and leaving local splitscreen completely out. Playing online is fun and all, but it doesn't even come close to the type of intimate gameplay that comes with being right next to your opponent and/or teammate!

That being said, fix the co-op map. Seriously, it does not need to take up this much of my screen. I'd like to see what I'm doing instead. Did your developers learn about opacity in their programming schools?

Online Multi-Player

Ok I'll be honest, I only played the online multi-player once. Sorry, I don't like human beings very much and the douchecanoes I got matched with re-enforced my belief that the world is full of scum. But my husband plays it sometimes and seems to enjoy it so... I don't know, play for yourself and make up your own mind I guess. Or read this article at IGN.

Conclusion

Battleborn is awesome. Absolutely worth buying and playing. The way the characters level up and the rate at which gear drops makes the competitive aspect just as great as the storyline. Enjoyable for everyone age 12 and up!

5/5