It has been like pulling teeth trying to complete this game for the past 5(?) years. I was a day one purchaser, big fan of Gearbox’s only good franchise, and on paper Borderlands 3 should be great - but Ive been just so impossibly bored. Ive spent a long time wondering why… and I think I figured it out: for a game thats called “Borderlands 3”, it sure doesnt feel like its really about The Borderlands anymore, does it?

Maybe its strayed too far from home. It seems the bigger Gearbox makes the bottle, the more they let the lightning out. As much as I hate Pandoras sometimes monotonous beige desert feel, I think Borderlands used to represent a specific kind of space-western vibe. The harsh trappings of the desperado wasteland, mixed with the exotic qualities of alien wildlife, made into a comically deranged satire of a Mad Maxian society. Without that, what is it a satire of? What satire is happening when you plug the Ice-T teddy bear into the navigation of your colony ship?

The game calls you Vault Hunter alot but did it ever feel like you were hunting or searching for anything? What were you, then?