We asked how you feel about Borderlands 3 and what score you would give the loot shooter. You, the readers of MeinMMO, responded, and we have evaluated your opinions as a community test.
This is how Borderlands 3 currently stands: On Metacritic, the cooperative shooter is popular and currently achieves an average score of 84. (As of 23.09, 12:30 PM) This includes:
- 31 reviews positive
- 3 reviews mixed
- 0 reviews negative.
The reviews from the press are also mostly positive. We at MeinMMO have given Borderlands 3 a high rating of 9:
What this community test is about: On September 13, Borderlands 3 was released and you, the players, had enough time to find the strengths and weaknesses of the game.
We conducted a survey asking you to rate Borderlands 3 and to tell us what you think of the loot shooter. You did this diligently and we summarize your opinions here.
What you like
Here are the highlights that stood out positively to you in the first days and weeks after the release.
Borderlands 3 remains Borderlands
What is praised: Especially the fans of the series are happy that Borderlands 3 has remained fundamentally the same. The game has focused on its greatest strengths and expanded upon them:
- There is even more crazy loot to hunt – includinga weapon that shoots new weapons
- The fast, easy co-op is now even more accessible with the new level sync
Borderlands 3 did not take the path of a complete “games-as-a-service” title. Anyone who buys the release version has a complete game with a comprehensive story campaign. There will be story DLCs, but no long-term update cycles.
Our readers write about this:
Borderlands is simply Borderlands – I like that. The gameplay concept stays the same, just as the fans wish for a Borderlands. The right adjustments were made to give the gameplay more finesse. […]
It is a worthy third part of a great loot shooter series. No forced improvements to the concept and important gameplay elements, but innovative and necessary improvements in specific areas.
dynamic
Or:
It’s exactly what I expected, except that it plays a bit better than its predecessors. […] It’s a 7 out of 10 for me, just like all the parts before it.
Belpherus
The comfort improvements are fitting
What is praised: Borderlands 3 has addressed some weaknesses compared to its predecessor. Therefore, there are some comfort improvements of familiar mechanics that aim to make the gaming experience smoother.
These include an improved gunplay, a clearer map, or a new skill system. There is now also the ability to slide and climb, which is already standard in other shooters.
These improvements have caught your attention, and you have found many of them to be good:
[…] Generally, I like the gunplay much better – as well as the weapon selection, or the new fire modes and functions. The hit feedback via the hit marker is much better. The weapons feel “more powerful” and “deadlier” because of this. The shootouts are simply more fun.
I personally find the new characters, including the action skills, much more impressive and creative – especially Moze and FL4K appeal to me. […]
dynamic
Or:
The new boss mechanics are top-notch! Many bosses were incredibly fun. I found the boss before the first vault very well made and Tyreen was also quite cool.
DasOlli91
[…]
Or:
Compared to Borderlands 1 and 2, the gunplay has improved drastically. The weapons now have the necessary “punch” and finally feel good. This was something that bothered me a lot in Part 1 and 2. In Borderlands 3, every weapon is fun and encourages experimenting.
The movement has also been expanded sensibly. The sliding and pulling up are welcome additions that make life much easier – especially for exploration.
The vehicles can finally be steered well, albeit not perfectly, but definitely better than in the predecessors.
I really like the story and the game world so far, the quests and side quests are a lot of fun, which is also an improvement over the predecessors. […]
Grammy 919
The weapon variety
What is praised: The many different weapons are particularly highlighted. The weapons now feel unique, and there are even more than in the predecessor.
Especially sought after are the crazy legendary weapons, which all have a special twist and are often tied to an Easter egg. For example:
Just the variety of different weapons is well received by you:
As a Destiny Guardian from the beginning, there’s something in Borderlands 3 that I missed since Destiny 2 and was actually the main reason I spent thousands of hours in Part 1:
Mc Fly
Weapons, weapons, weapons!!!
Or:
I think they have combined the strengths of Parts 1 & 2 and the sequel sensibly into Part 3. It is simply incredibly fun to try out all the new weapons.
Wrubbel
What is criticized by you
Here, many of you wish for improvements through a patch or perhaps for a sequel.
The performance struggles
What is criticized: Particularly on the PS4 and Xbox One, the performance issues are noticeable. Many players complain mainly about performance drops when playing co-op in split screen:
The performance problems on consoles primarily became noticeable after the press released their reviews, as these were mostly tested on PC.
Our colleagues at GamePro also reported on the performance issues on consoles in their review and are specialized in console games.
But even on PC, Borderlands 3 is still plagued by some bugs and issues. For example:
- Massive lags in the menus of the game
- Dropping frame rates despite a solid PC
- Persistent “A new update is available” messages in the menu
- Extremely long loading times
One reader lists even more problems:
[…] What annoys me extremely is the game’s performance. There are often no or only minimal game sounds. Either you hear nothing at all or only the weapon sounds or only the environment sounds.
When accepting game invites, it has happened that the Xbox just shuts down completely for my colleague and me. The in-game menu loads extremely slowly, especially in the skill area.
Sometimes it still runs choppy and there are occasional seconds-long “freezes” from the game or it stutters.
Gearbox definitely needs to adjust this! […]
Chris Zle
The menus are cumbersome
What is criticized: The menus and the user interface are sometimes unnecessarily complicated. One of our readers, Tocadisco, describes it as “fiddly” in the comments. It is sometimes difficult to find certain functions, such as attaching cosmetics to weapons.
Sometimes the menu navigation also requires more clicks than actually necessary.
Here you are divided
There are also a few areas of the game that you perceive differently. These aspects are also subjective.
Story and humor
What is viewed with mixed feelings: Some are satisfied with the story, as it is quite extensive for a loot shooter.
Others miss the antagonist from the second part: Handsome Jack – many do not consider the new villains to be on par, which undermines the story compared to the second part.
The humor is sometimes described as childish, coming with potty jokes. Some like it, others do not – this can be debated.
One critic of the story says:
[…] A major sticking point for me is the story – it’s not bad, but thematically I don’t like it at all. But I think that’s a matter of taste. The choice of enemies and the theme behind it were likely a publisher’s decision to attract the Fortnite audience.
But Borderlands primarily concerns gameplay – and the game convinces in every respect, even though it cannot compete with the predecessors in terms of story, it is still better than other loot shooters. […]
dynamic
But there are also advocates:
Borderlands 3 is exactly what you expect! Endless fun in co-op, a strong story that drags a bit in the middle but is still a great story!
Chris Zle
The mentioned potty humor is simply part of it for some:
Yes, the humor is still childish and filled with potty jokes, but what do you expect? It’s still Borderlands. Without this kind of humor, it just wouldn’t be Borderlands.
Grading by MeinMMO readers
This is how many people have given a score: A total of 3,287 of you rated Borderlands 3. The scale ranged from 1 (very bad) to 10 (very good).
These are the results: Overall, despite the technical flaws, you are very satisfied with Borderlands 3 so far.
Most of you gave the game a score of 9 or 8. Even the score of 10 came up often. Here you can see a percentage distribution of the three most chosen ratings:
The percentage distribution of all ratings looks as follows:
- 9 – 26%
- 8 – 24%
- 10 – 20%
- 7 – 8%
- 5 – 7%
- 1 – 5%
- 6 – 3%
- 2 – 2%
- 3 – 2%
- 4 – 2%
On average, you give a 7.6
Taking all the results of the 3,287 votes together, you collectively give Borderlands 3 a score of 7.6
This is what is interesting about the rating: Although many of you rate the co-op shooter with an 8, 9, or 10, we still end up with an average score below 8. There were also more ratings of 1 or 5, which pull the average down a bit.
Here’s another quick overview of your pros and cons:
