Battleborn has had a rough year. Picking May of 2016 as the spot you push out your hero shooter/moba to market had to be a unfortunate mistake. While Overwatch took the world by storm, Battleborn fizzled. It was panned by many reviewers, and disregarded by consumers. In the meantime, Gearbox has been updating the game with new content and features. On to what seemed like a pretty impressive package from the makers of Borderlands. It had the comedic undertones that their popular series was known, for a colorful and vibrant artstyle. It was an ambitious move in a new direction for Gearbox.
More recently, they just made the game free to play and even in that they couldn’t avoid the shadow of Overwatch which is currently hosting its timed anniversary event. Regardless, now that Battleborn is free to play essentially, is it worth your time or hard drive space?
Let’s start with the facts and then we’ll get to the opinions. If you’ve never owned Battleborn, the free to play version of the game is a limited slice of the whole package. Gearbox has carved up the game into pieces that they’re hoping to sell to players who try the game and like it. What you’ll get if you do feel like committing the 30+ GB of space needed for the download is a portion of the competitive multiplayer aspect of the game. Six heroes and a multiplayer mode that plays like a first person shooter/MOBA that has deep progression elements in unlockable skins, gear packs, and other items to keep you playing.
At the low, low price of free there isn’t much to lose here
So to answer the question is it worth taking a look at, I think it is. At the low, low price of free there isn’t much to lose here and having dipped back into the game myself it’s got some pretty intriguing mechanics for fans of multiplayer hero shooters. Battleborn is by no means a low quality game, nothing about it screams that when you fire it up. It’s got a colorful and creative cast of characters to choose from with unique movesets, plenty of customization, and the actual gameplay is pretty fun. The team-based MOBA Shooter feels unique in its tug of war style gameplay by combining elements from some gaming’s most popular games. Each character has the unique skills that you’ll find in a shooter like Overwatch, while also having a progressive set up of upgrades to be earned in match akin to something like League of Legends of DOTA 2. On top of that is another layer of customization with loot boxes that contain power-ups for your character that can be earned during each match. Each team must fight through minion defenses while also battling the other team’s heros to make their way to an overall objective. It’s actually a lot of fun to play after the fine-tuning that Gearbox has done over the last year.
I’m not recommending that anyone go out and buy the full package just yet, but maybe Battleborn is worth a look for those that are looking for something a little different when it comes to shooters with a little more depth. Battleborn is currently free to download on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
