It?s no secret that I?ve teetering between trepidation and excitement about Borderlands 3. I have a history with the series and it?s a huge part of what prompted me to love games like Destiny. As the original looter shooter, Borderlands became iconic not just for its bright popping visuals, but for the brutal way it parodied so many things, from the very genre and games it was inspired by, to modern culture and countless references. It was a dark game, but it was also a funny game, and it balanced out all of its over-the-top ideas without ever feeling too overbearing. But it was a decidedly late-2000s game. The landscape has changed a lot since then, and one of the worst things about long waits for new games is the way time completely shifts what we think we want. Fortunately, though Borderlands 3 is a familiar friend, its also learned a lot of lessons over its five years of development time. At the gameplay reveal event, I got to go hands on with Borderlands 3 for 90 minutes, with the freedom to play how and what I wanted within this particular slice of Gearbox?s latest game. I chose to play as Amara, though I could have also picked Zane. I wish I?d had a chance to play them both because it seems like there are some big gameplay differences between how each of the characters play. Borderlands does a great job at making characters feel like they have a distinct identity not only in look and personality, but in gameplay as well. Borderlands 3 is no different.

Borderlands 3 ...