Beyond Pandora

Borderlands 3 takes to the stars. Is this a bold new direction for the series?

- Phil Savage

I’m in LA, in a ‘secret location’ – it’s a warehouse – to experience the grand unveiling of Borderlands 3. It’s early in the day, and I’m still slightly jetlagged. On stage, projected onto a giant screen, Claptrap is doing a dance. His shrieks echo throughout the building. Having established that the series’ mascot is back, and – depending on your perspective – as funny or as too-irritating-for-this-time-of-the-morning as usual, the demo continues. There’s banter, there’s wasteland combat, and there’s a miniboss. “Shiv,” introduces the title card. “Brought a knife to a gun fight.” Borderlands is back.

I’m initially underwhelmed. The early demo introduces some new movement options – sliding and mantling – but nothing that feels like a bold new direction for the series. An iterative sequel is all fine and well, but I’ve been fighting through Borderlands’ wastelands for tens – maybe hundreds – of hours. Is more of the same really enough?

Then, about 40 minutes into the demo, it happens. The demo skips ahead and we’re introduced to Sanctuary III. It’s Borderlands 3’s new hub – a safe zone where players can chat with NPCs, shop, pick up quests and test weapons. It’s also a spaceship. From the bridge, we can see the place that has defined the series up to this point: the planet of Pandora and its moon, Elpis. And then we leave, warping out of the system and arriving somewhere new.