Borderlands 3 is the 2019 installment in Gearbox Software’s iconic looter-shooter franchise. Packed with chaotic combat, over-the-top humor, and an arsenal of outrageous weapons, the game takes players on an interplanetary journey to stop the maniacal Calypso twins - loud, tryhard streamers with a god complex. While it builds on the series’ foundations, it also introduces fresh gameplay mechanics, improved visuals, and new characters, ensuring a wild ride for fans and newcomers alike. If you’ve ever wanted a gun that shoots other guns or a poop-firing rocket launcher that talks to you, this is the game for you.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Borderlands 3 cranks up the chaos with its signature fast-paced, explosive gunplay. The four new Vault Hunters each bring unique skills and playstyles, offering plenty of variety in how you wreak havoc. The mission structure mixes main story quests with quirky side missions packed with the franchise’s trademark humor. The cooperative mode elevates the experience, letting you and your friends tackle the mayhem together, strategise around complementary skills, or simply argue over who gets the coolest loot. Unfortunately, the game occasionally stumbles, with bugs crashing the party and forcing you to reload the map during epic moments. While some quests can feel repetitive, the sheer variety of fun weapons and playstyles, paired with smoother gameplay compared to its predecessors, ensures Borderlands 3 stands out as a wild and chaotic looter-shooter.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Borderlands 3’s cel-shaded art style screams “Saturday morning cartoon meets heavy metal album cover”, but now with more polish. Every planetary destination feels like it was designed by a team that binged a mix of sci-fi movies and psychedelic art. Ranging from Pandora’s desolate wastelands to the neon-soaked cityscapes of Promethea, each area is vibrant and detailed. However, performance can be inconsistent with older systems with the game only really shining on modern hardware.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
The game’s soundtrack complements the action well, featuring high-energy tracks that pump up firefights and atmospheric tunes for quieter moments. But unlike many other games I’ve played, I must admit that none of Borderlands 3’s soundtrack really stood out to me. Additionally, while the enthusiastic voice acting brings Borderlands’ eccentric characters to life, the many attempts at humour often feel forced or juvenile.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Where Borderlands 3 stumbles hardest is its story, which feels like it was written by a group of interns who just discovered internet memes and never stopped laughing at their own jokes. The main antagonists–the Calypso Twins–come off as cringe-worthy streamers who are more annoying than threatening. Furthermore, the plot is paper-thin, relying on loud dialogue and forced humour to distract you from how little is actually happening. Both new and returning characters suffer too; they’re either poorly developed or reduced to walking joke machines with no real depth. Emotional moments, when they happen, feel out of place and completely fizzle because they’re buried under the chaos. As someone who typically enjoys digging into a game’s lore and worldbuilding, Borderlands 3 made it impossible to care—there’s only so much screaming and hollow dialogue one person can take.

Rating: ★★★★☆
As a completionist, it took me 83 hours to achieve 100%. With four Vault Hunter classes, multiple customisable skill trees, and countless weapons, Borderlands 3 offers solid replay value. After the main campaign, you can tackle True Vault Hunter Mode in a new game, DLC adventures that add new stories and planetary destinations, or endgame content. While the base game is worth the price, the DLC can be pricey—fortunately, the franchise often sees great discounts during sales.

Borderlands 3 is like a loot-filled piñata at a party that’s half amazing and half awkward. The gameplay is explosive, the humour is loud (often too loud), and the sheer variety of weapons and playstyles keeps things interesting. But then the bugs crash the party, the story trips over its own punchlines, and you’re left wondering if the Calypso Twins are villains or just the world’s worst streamers. Overall, it’s an entertaining looter-shooter that delivers in terms of action and replayability, but it struggles to capture the magic of its predecessors. Nonetheless, if you’re a fan of looter-shooters or the Borderlands franchise, Borderlands 3 is worth checking out, but waiting for a sale might be the best choice for most players.

Stubbornly refusing to reinvent itself after a five-year absence, Borderlands 3 sticks to its guns and manages to outdo itself. Refined movement and shooting, a legion of enjoyably challenging enemies, and the single largest arsenal of mechanically distinct firearms I’ve ever seen in a video game easily make this the best in a great series of co-op shooters. Its trademark stylized art, on-the-nose humor, and tattoo-fueled storyline are all enjoyable enough in their own right, but what really makes Borderlands 3 excellent is the addicting item chase that unfolds over the course of 30 hours’ worth of lovingly crafted main and side missions. What’s more, this is an adventure I could see myself happily undertaking again from scratch with a new character and a fresh group of friends.

I will eat 1 tablespoon of MAYONNAISE for every like this review gets.