Battleborn

Battleborn is arguably one of the most underrated games of recent memory. It is a genre-blending first-person-shooter with far more depth than Overwatch; a MOBA-like game much more approachable than most other MOBAs; and a co-operative raid-and-loot grinder with way more personality than Destiny. While it is not without its flaws, it continues to evolve with excellent support and regular updates from its developers. I am astonished by the negative sentiments it receives from many corners of the gaming world, and its lack of coverage and support here on Giant Bomb is perplexing.

Do you like first-person shooters? MOBA-style, team-and-objective-based PvP? Co-operative PvE raiding with loot rewards? Do you like playing and mastering a roster of unique characters, each with their own personality, powers, and play-style? Do you like obsessing over loot and gear, and enhancing your chosen character with simple but significant load-outs? Do you enjoy shaping unique characters during a match via interesting talent-tree-style choices? Battleborn has all of that. It is a one-stop shop that excels in every category it blends together.

Battleborn's cast of characters is large and growing. Each character plays very differently from the next, and your choices of gear-loadout and talent build have real effects on each character's play style. Melee characters feel very different from mid- and long-ranged characters. Tanky characters feel very different from glass cannons. To jump from one to the next gives the impression that you are playing the game from a new perspective. Do you want your squishy mid-range DPS character to have a bit more health, stronger shields, faster run speed? Design a gear load-out, and a talent build, that will achieve that. All the while, Battleborn treats you to a personality-rich environment of snarky, intriguing characters that snipe at each other in an adult, playful way, as you tear through hordes of malicious aliens or enemy players.

No review of Battleborn, even a cursory on like this, is complete, it seems, without commenting on its comparison to Overwatch. Such comparisons are common, and silly. They are both first-person, character-based shooters, but they are very different in scope, scale, and execution. Battleborn has far more depth than Overwatch; its roster of characters is larger, more varied, and, dare I say it, more interesting. Battleborn has a complete, 8-episode, co-op raid experience that Overwatch lacks. It has substantive talent and loot systems, again features lacking in Overwatch. Its MOBA-like PvP modes feel more consequential and rewarding than Overwatch's short, repetitive, simplistic scenarios. I own both games, and honestly can't find a compelling reason to prefer Overwatch over Battleborn. The only thing Overwatch does better than Battleborn is matchmaking. It is easier and cleaner to jump into a string of Overwatch games than it is in Battleborn, but even that is changing. A few days before I wrote this, the Battleborn devs made it possible to stay queued with your pick-up group, bringing Battleborn closer to achieving the uninterrupted stream of matches that Overwatch currently benefits from. Beyond that, the two games aren't in the same league in terms of features and depth, and Battleborn comes out, quantifiably, ahead in nearly every way.

I highly recommend Battleborn if you are looking for something more from the first-person-shooter genre, but don't want to dive fully into the often overly-complex world of MOBAs. Battleborn hits the sweet spot at the intersection of many genres. Give it a try. You may find, as I did, that it will surprise you and become your one-stop-shop for your FPS, MOBA, and loot-raiding needs.