Byte Size – Borderlands Game of the Year Edition, PS4

Borderlands holds a special place for a lot of people, for some it was the key to online gaming for other the irreverent humour and mountains of loot made it addictive. Either way while it didn’t spawn the genre the franchise is certainly in the DNA of Loot Shooters.

2019 is going to be a Borderlands year, with the recent and as yet unreviewed here Borderlands on PSVR, the upcoming furore for Borderlands 3 and the recent hi definition revival of older games. I played a fair bit of Borderlands back in its day (incidentally a decade ago) and thoroughly enjoyed the inevitable 2012 sequel Borderlands 2 (reviewed here) too. In fact I probably played more of Borderlands 2 especially having it across at least three different platforms, but find the simpler joy here in the original retreading my first steps on Pandora. Not forgetting that back in 2014 (Gasp! How many years?) Guy took the ‘Pre Sequel‘ for a chamber emptying spin too, which went well.

The cell shaded graphics have been sharpened up, obviously and the addition of a mini-map makes for getting around more fun, plus the inclusion of any previous paid DLC adds some weight to the package. The game itself is still a pleasure to play, while mobs regenerate its not too much of a chore to wade through them time and time again, mostly because you always have a new masterful weapon of destruction to destroy them with. The shooting mechanics are on point, movement is as expected and the only real drawback on gameplay would be the driving controls. Akin to the Halo Warthog, its a knack that needs to click, again.

This time round I have played a lot of it alone, mainly because my friends aren’t really playing at the moment and well, this kind of experience can be challenging with randoms. That said, now having access to split screen up to four players makes it a good time with the family and we have enjoyed a few stolen hours reviving each other in the Wastelands.

As a warm-up to the uninitiated this Game of the Year edition will certainly peak their interest in the upcoming third adventure and for old dogs like myself it is a really comfortable trip down memory lane. It’s great to be back on Pandora with the team and if you decide to jump aboard the bus, you’ll be glad when it is time to get off.

Did somebody say ‘Golden Key’?