Action · 2019 · Gearbox Software · local · online
Borderlands 3
A shooter with bazillions of guns — and each of you finds your own.
What it is about
Four Vault Hunters set out to stop a cult, and the real engine is the loot: the game throws out weapons whose properties are assembled at random, without pause. You compare, swap, discard and find something better twenty minutes later.
Each of the four characters has their own ability and three skill trees to go with it. That ranges from a robot that fights alongside you to a second set of arms with their own guns.
As a pair you can choose in the settings whether you share the loot or each get your own — the latter is the default and also removes the level differences. You play online on every platform, and split screen on console only.
Our verdict for couples
The reason this works better for a couple than most games of its kind sits in a setting that is easy to miss: by default each of you gets your own loot and your own difficulty. That removes the usual argument over who takes the good rifle, and equally the problem of the more practised one racing ahead until the other suddenly cannot hit anything. You can play very different amounts over two weeks and still carry on together on Friday. The rest is a very loud, very colourful shooter whose humour is noticeably more wearing than its predecessors' — you either listen past that or you do not. Split screen exists only on console; on PC there simply is none.
Pros
- Each gets their own loot — no arguing over the good gun
- Each plays at their own difficulty level
- One copy is enough on console split screen
Cons
- No split screen on PC
- Story progress belongs to the host
- The humour is considerably more wearing than before
Suitable from
Hobby
- Conflict potential
- Harmonious
- Cosiness
- Mixed
- When you can stop
- After 30–45 minutes
- How long it lasts
- 15–40 hours
What other co-op fans say
On the shooting almost everyone agrees: it lands, and it gets distinctly better with more people. On the rest opinions diverge widely — a striking number of reviews consider the story and humour the weakest part of the series, some in unusually sharp terms. Split screen comes up repeatedly as a missing-persons report: on PC there is none, and several resort to third-party tools to bolt it on.
- “fun game, 10x better with friends!”
- “Amazing game with evreything i want but i want to play it splitscreen in my pc with my brother so i downloaded nuclues and it worked”
- “The writing is really cringe. The gameplay is okay. overall a bit mind-numbing and unmemorable. If you're into endless/loot/grind you might like it.”
Summarised by machine from 60 Steam reviews, not written by our editors. The quotes appear verbatim in those reviews.
If you like this one
Runs on the same devices as this game.
A shooter with role-playing gear for people who enjoy comparing weapons.
An action role-playing game in a grim world where two people can set out from one television.
Absolum
A beat ’em up with randomised runs from the Streets of Rage 4 people — and considerably easier as a pair than alone.
Four knights punch their way across the kingdom to rescue princesses. That is all the plot anybody needs.
Related in the magazine
- Guide
When you're both good at this
Almost every co-op recommendation is written for uneven couples — including our last one. For two experienced players the problem inverts: difficulty isn't what's missing. Needing each other is.
- Guide
When one of you never plays
The usual advice is: pick something easy. It is wrong, and wrong from both directions. What actually helps are four design patterns — and a list of what does not.