Since Lucca Comics and Games 2015 it has been a long time, between previews and articles of all kinds, we finally have in our hands Battleborn; title that combines the FPS and MOBA genres and that personally speaking last November (thanks to the cordial availability of 2K Games) I was able to try and above all appreciate. After several months, with an important Open Beta in the way, what will we find in front of us? All that remains is to make yourself comfortable, complete with a drink and various snacks, and discover with us the latest effort by Gearbox Software.
Welcome to Solus
Solus, a veritable anchor of hope, in a universe now destined to die. The Battleborn storyline is about pure and simple survival in a hostile environment where well five factions, the Battleborn, will battle to dominate the last Star left alive and defeat the despot and cruel Randain. During our adventure, therefore, we will have to choose which faction to side with:
- Peackeeper
- Last Light Consortium
- Jennerit
- Edrid
- Rogue
Without going any further, as it will be up to you to fully immerse yourself in history, the Campaign will allow us to discover all 25 characters available in Battleborn through simple missions; each quest will therefore be different from the other due to the different approach and modus operandi of your character in question due to the various skills that differentiate them from each other; overall, each mission is made up of objectives to be achieved, hordes to defeat and intermediate and final Bosses. To be a title devoted primarily to the competitive Multiplayer aspect, we are faced with a campaign with an excellent narrative and rich twists also thanks, as mentioned above, to the varied personalities present in the game.
The beauty of the Campaign, compared to most of the FPS in circulation, is the possibility of being able to enjoy it obviously in single player but also and above all in cooperative up to a maximum of five players online and also, for lovers of home evenings with friends, you can also play in split-screen. A function definitely appreciated by the undersigned who, after months, still cannot understand how it could not have been introduced in titles of the caliber of Halo 5: Guardians and not only. Are you a statistics lover and want to constantly get involved with yourself and with all your friends / opponents online? Well, know that when you finish a campaign mission you will be able to view a summary of your statistics: time spent, overall score and much more; the replayability will therefore be extreme making this section of Battleborn decidedly long-lived for the genre.
Borderborn
Gearbox Software, in a decidedly shrewd way, has taken everything good has been done in its previous and sensational saga, Borderlands. The gameplay of Battleborn is solid overall, the elements of MOBA creep in very well thanks to the differentiation of the characters; each Hero will therefore have their own weapon, firearm or white, and will have their particular skills unlockable in game, both in the Campaign and in Multiplayer. Just like it happens in league of legends for example, every time you start a match your character's skills will be reset; it will therefore be up to you to unlock the skills by simply leveling up.
The gameplay is totally based on a precarious balance between frenzy / impulse and rationality. Battleborn, having MOBA influences, will force the player to cooperate thus forming a reasoned team, varied and useful for every situation if possible, and making a constant and careful analysis of the opponent as, Call of Duty and derivatives you are warned, jumping headlong is purely madness in this game. Furthermore, even here the player, by completing the online and multiplayer missions, will be able to acquire experience points Helix, useful for leveling up and unlocking cosmetic upgrades and skins. Furthermore, within the Campaign and in the Multiplayer Arena maps, it will be possible to find and recover new equipment useful in order to significantly improve the characteristics of our favorite character.
Music and colors will be the masters
The precise choice of one consistently vibrant color palette, associated with a quality sound, make Battleborn a live title. The recovery of the cartoonish and even extravagant style of Borderlands creates a constant chromatic contrast of colors: everything has been used very well in the customization of each of the 25 characters in the title. The visual effect of laser weapons, classic firearms or magical abilities such as energy bubbles or explosions of all kinds is truly to be commended; a feast for the eyes.
It's time to fight… COOPERATE!
If we have been talking well about the game so far, it's time to talk about Battleborn's Competitive Multiplayer sector. Although the Campaign Multiplayer works great, unfortunately the same cannot be said for that Versus. Gearbox Software strongly wanted to focus on the competitive side by presenting us, moved by this idea, three playable modes with a maximum of ten players divided into two teams of obviously five Heroes each. Here are the main features of the Versus Online section of the game:
- Raid: together with our team we will have to eliminate the two sentries of the enemy, therefore it will not count to kill more enemies, but to use a lot of cunning and tactics to circumvent the opponent's defenses and bring home victory
- Capture: mode that combines the classic Team Deathmatch and Capture and Control
- Merger: together with our team we will have to lead waves of henchmen to death and get valuable points for each henchman who launches into the incinerator located exactly in the center of the map; the team that collects the most scrap wins
- Skill Based Matchmaking: every time you launch a game, in any mode you want to try, you will be matched with opponents of your same level and skill
- Character Selection: as happens in other famous MOBAs, League of Legends above all, even here the players in the game lobby will have to select a character who, to the detriment of the eternal undecided, cannot be selected a second time by any other player on the team
- Map draw: each mode will have certain maps that can be selected through a classic democratic vote in the match lobby
- Private matches: we will be able to customize the size of the team from 1v1 to 5v5, disable the “Unique characters” option and do much more. It will be possible to play with the AI which, depending on the skill of our team, will model the style and above all the real skill in our image and likeness to face us to the end.
The basic problem of the Versus Online component is the sense of incompleteness and little appeal that it reveals from the first hours of the game. The game modes present in the title do not convince at all and above all, the presence of various types of characters, make the imbalance of strength between the two opposing teams constant. In the future, more modes will certainly be introduced and above all an even more in-depth study will be made of the various Heroes present who, with the classic nerf or various boosts, will make the title more balanced for the competitive. Finally, I leave you to watch the Battleborn trailer:
