Borderlands 3 is like one of the vehicles from the Mad Max universe.
And I almost refused to review it once I started playing it, but well get into that later.
Borderlands 3feels like a tight, gonzo shooter.
The controls are responsive and intuitive.
you could always jump in and out of each others games without any muss or fuss.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
If youre shooting and your partner uses a menu it causes your screen to freeze for a few seconds.
This also happened in Borderlands 2 and the Pre-Sequel.
Its not a deal-breaker by any means, but its incredibly immersion-breaking.
Its a great shooter, has great inventory and menu management systems, and its frickin gorgeous.
Your character is a Vault Hunter.
Thats a Borderlands way of saying adventurer who seeks treasure.
The four characters are very different from one another, and all are fun to play.
Of course, the non-binary robot Beastmaster,FL4K, is my favorite.
FL4K uses they/them pronouns and seems intentionally written to represent the queer struggle of non-binary humans.
Each one is worth playing just to see their unique NPC interactions and unfolding backstories.
The games voice acting is top-notch.
Borderlands 2 was nominated for several awards for its cast and I assume Borderlands 3 will be too.
But the most important character in the Borderlands universe isnt a person, its the series trademark humor.
Gearboxs writers have always managed to make Borderlands raunchy, but self-aware.
I absolutely lovemostof it.
Its dark without trying to be edgelord-esque and surprisingly heartfelt.
Theres a deep, meaningful story that plays out beneath the potty jokes and hyper-sexual undercurrent.
Borderlands 3 is a beautiful story full of diversity and humor.
But its also an ableist nightmare.
Dozens upon dozens of characters in the franchise are disabled.
But not all are equal.
Hes the first (and thus weakest) boss in the game.
I felt a little gross seeing his splash screen, but thats nothing compared to the tinks.
Previous Borderlands games had an enemy unit called midgets.
Theyre about half the height of other enemy units and, typically, a bit more powerful.
Instead they changed the units name from midgets to tinks.
This sucks, its awful, and it does not pass the substitution test.
Whether you call them by socially acceptable terms (is tink even that?)
or denigrating ones (such as midget), the problem remains the same.
But the ableist bullshit thats hardcoded into the franchises DNA is becominga deal-breaker.
Everyone can be an enemy in the Borderlands world, thats great.
I want to love this game.
The wonderful writing and obvious efforts towards inclusivity is why I ultimately chose to complete my review.
Theres a lot of good here.
I just dont get how tinks and Shiv and other ableist crap made it into the game.
It distracts from something that, otherwise, would be a beacon for the industry.
