Borderlands 3 is getting a NextGen upgrade for PS5 and Xbox Series X, which sounds really good. Time to travel back to Pandora, says MeinMMO author Max Handwerk.
Good news from Gearbox: It was already known that Borderlands 3 would receive an upgrade to the new generation. But today, on October 13, the developers announced that the madness can start all over again at the launch of the new generation: The upgraded version of Borderlands 3 will be playable on the new consoles from day one.
- This means that on Xbox Series X/S, you can play Borderlands 3 starting November 10.
- On PS5, it will start here on November 19.
For me, the second date is especially interesting – hoping that a PS5 somehow arrives on time (or at least only a few days late) in my living room despite all the pre-order chaos. Borderlands 3 – that would indeed be a very decent launch title! At least the contents of the upgrade sound exactly like the things I wished for the game in the past weeks.
The upgrade polishes Borderlands 3 – finally!
A great game with a few quirks: No question about it: For me, Borderlands 3 was one of the most exciting games last year anyway. It was fun since launch, and the DLCs always hit the right note for me. Especially the first DLC in the Handsome Jackpot looked simply great and had loads of awesome loot on board.
But the DLCs on the ice planet Xylourgos, in the wild west setting and finally in the brain of the good old Psycho Krieg kept me well engaged. I’ve completed all that, so I’ve finished the story. Now, of course, one could still farm loot until one finally has the ultimate build with the best weapons. So, theoretically.
My problem, however, is: At my home, the game was primarily played in coop split-screen – and my aging PS4 sometimes had to work pretty hard. Especially in the intense Mayhem mode, the explosions on the screen were quite overwhelming. And I was just waiting for my PS4 to join the chaos and quit in a big puff of smoke.
Fortunately, that didn’t happen, but I often struggled to keep up with the action on the horizontally split screen amidst all the stuttering. It varied from being more severe to less, but it was often quite annoying.
Maybe I’m just getting old, like my PS4. In any case, my motivation to blast through the game at the highest Mayhem levels and look for the best loot has run out for now. However, that could change with the upgrade.
That’s why the upgrade is so interesting: With the early release date and the fact that the upgrade to the PS5 version is free, Borderlands 3 already has good arguments to be the first test candidate on my still hypothetical PS5. However, content-wise, it could actually be exactly what the game needed for me. Let’s summarize:
- There will finally be a vertical split-screen (which will also be available on older consoles).
- In single-player mode and online coop, the game supports 4K resolution and 60 FPS on the new consoles.
- There will even be a 3-player and 4-player split-screen.
- All content and progress will be carried over.
- There will also be a new mode and new Borderlands 3 will bring you new skill trees instead of Vault Hunters – That’s the reason.
Overall, Borderlands 3 seems to run with significantly more power on the new consoles than on the PS4. At least I am sure that my PS4 cannot handle content like Maliwan Takedown for four players simultaneously. This gives hope that even the two-player split-screen will run noticeably smoother.
The new content also sounds exciting. The combination of more power, new content, and the early launch on next-gen is certainly reason enough for me to let Borderlands 3 run as the first title on the PS5. That I have already finished the story is irrelevant for now. Then I’ll just try to make Zane the best-equipped Vault Hunter in the galaxy.
What will your first next-gen game be? MeinMMO colleague Sven Galitzki has already made his decision.
