Chronospherics
Member
I just wanted to take a little time to talk about this game, and why I've been enjoying it as much as I have, and I wanted to do this because I know that's not a perspective that many share. I know for a lot of people, you put your time into other games, like Overwatch for instance, and while it's great that everyone plays games that they enjoy, I do feel that an inopportune launch window and other unfortunate factors may have caused some of Battleborns highlights to go under the radar.
There's not much point in comparing this game to Overwatch, as there are enough threads, journalistic articles, and other media doing exactly that in sizable detail, so it's not my intent to make that the focus here. For me, I have both Overwatch and Battleborn, and I have around 100 hours in both, with just a little more in Battleborn. I enjoy both of these games immensely, but for completely different reasons, and I just want to focus on the reasons I enjoy Battleborn for a moment because for me, this games been my game of the year (thus far).
The first person MOBA blend
For me, it's always made sense to transition elements from MOBA games into other genres. As a kid I used to play Future Cop LAPD's precinct wars multiplayer mode all the time, and I loved being able to interact with the strategic elements of the game (creating turrets, capturing bases, building units) while retaining a focus on the action. Thus far, that hasn't been something that many games have recaptured, with traditional MOBAs feeling a little too detached from the action elements of the core gameplay, with mechanics such as range limitations, and point and click orientated combat. This isn't a criticism of those experiences, which of course have their merits but it is to say that I feel that they're limited in their capacity to provide a sense of being close to the action, or immersion that I missed. Games like 'Airmech' and Conquest mode from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, almost felt like a partial evolution of Precinct mode, but there have been very few that have made a considerable effort to successfully blend these real time strategy and action orientated elements into much beyond the traditional 'MOBA'.
Battleborn then, offers an evolution of this formula within the form of a first person shooter and in doing so, offers a more action orientated experience than the 'MOBA' genre typically offers alongside the typical RPG and real time strategy inspirations. For me, it's been a neat blend of gameplay that admitedly didn't click the very moment I laid my hands on it. At first, I found the experience disorientating, with features like AoEs and crowd control feeling out of place within the first-person framework, but as I got used to the cast of characters and what to expect out of each of them, the Battlefield became easier to read and understand.
At the same time, the first person gameplay elements brought together a new layer of strategies that haven't featured in other games I play like Smite. Being able to play characters like a sniper or traditional assault rifle users alongside all manner of melee, stealth and 'other' weapon weidlers, the blend of playstyles is immense and the game doesn't manage to feel unbalanced or broken as a result of it. It's a really remarkable feat and understandably, the relatively small cast size (compared to other MOBAs) has helped, and continues to help Gearbox ensure that the game feels balaced, regardless of the characters you select.
This has been a big part of why I've derived so much enjoyment from the game thus far, being able to hop in one match and play someone so fundamentally different to the previous, and seeing how each individual character interacts with all the others on the Battlefield, it's remarkable and manages to make me stick with the game, wanting to see how I can be successful in different ways with different characters.
The Helix System
At the heart of this variability is the games 'helix system' (pictured below) instead of simply distributing the skill level up order, in Battleborn with each level you select from all manner of bonus effects for your skills, or passive traits. These choices can range between selecting to make your grenades explode in fiery napalm AoE instead of spawning a cluster of grenades, to choosing between additional bow and arrow accuracy or jump height. Each character has 10 levels, making ten choices between two or three options, composing a total of over seven thousand potential outcomes per character.
These aren't small changes either. Building your characters skill set in-game can drastically shape your gameplay style. Selecting increased AoE duration on Pendles poison bomb allows him to be played more defensively, taking minions and harassing enemies from further distances, but taking increased dash distance allows him to be aggressive, pursuing and poisoning foes as they attempt to retreat. It feels as though you craft your own playstyle, with your own set of influences on their skill set, allowing for an unpresedented amount of per-character flexibility.
Of course this adds something to the games depth and strategy too. As these decisions are made on the fly as you level up in-match, they can be made with intent to adapt to the current battlefield. With each helix you make a player-determined effort to evolve your character into that which is perfect for the current multiplayer match. It's a simple concept but it made me feel as though I had more control over the battle than in traditional MOBAs, the skill order selection of games like Smite often isn't very personalised, and it doesn't shift the characters playstyle in a considerable manner, for instance.
Lore and challenges
From my time with Overwatch something that I felt was missing is a sense of progression. Of course, progression is not neccesary for me to be entertained by gameplay, but I do feel that it is nice to be recognised for various feats performed in game. Even simple things like getting a penta-kill are rewarded with a 'pentakill' title in Battleborn feels like something to work towards earning. Worthy of Song is another title that tends to be harder to earn (earning 25 player kills in a match) and I enjoy wearing that title in the in-game lobbies. While RNG is a factor to the games loot distribution, it's pleasant to have something that rewards specific behaviour alongside that, as it makes you feel as though your always working towards something.
The most significant manifestation of this reward system is the 'lore system' (pictured above) where you can unlock lore for specific characters by completing 5 specific challenges. These tend to involve things like using skills in a particular way, or performing other feats on the Battlefield such as killing a particular enemy, or beating a mission on a particular difficulty without dying. For the most part they're rewarding to accomplish and alongside the individual character ranking system, reflect mastery of a particular character. For me, it's nice to know the healer on my team is a 'master' of that character and it's good that people have means in which to reflect their specialisations to other players because it means you can have more confidence in your team.
Of course, these challenges can present issues if implemented inappropriately. Challenges shape player behaviour so it's important to ensure that the challenges your multiplayer game features, are encouraging people to play the game in a manner that's effective and enjoyable for everyone else. However for the most part the challenge system does exactly that, and doesn't feature absurd challenges that aren't condusive to successful player versus player coordination. Some challenges like this did exist (such as asking Isic to kill 250 minions with his charging dash) but Gearbox have recently adjusted these in line with more what's achievable without orientating your entire playstyle towards that one particular task.
Gametypes
Unlike many similar titles Battleborn features both co-operative and competitive modes of play, with a fully fledged singleplayer 'campaign' featuring as the focus of pve content. Campaign missions can be seen as being similar to a 'dungeon' or 'raid' from other games, as you progress through a variety of linear and non-linear environments completing a number of objectives, while defeating minions and select number of bosses.
This experience is undermined to some degree by relatively rigid AI, but the action orientated gameplay helps keep the experience fresh and it's neat place to try new characters and skills. I enjoy taking a break from PvP content with a co-operative mission, and often use the experience to test out a new build or character that I'll later take into pvp later.
The player versus player modes themselves consist of moba-esque modes with a slightly more significant real time strategy influence (with the exception of Capture, which is a more straight forward mode akin to domintion or conquest from other first person shooters). Incursion sees teams fighting to push one lane, building super robots and acquiring mercenaries (by killing and capturing them) in order to make the push to the other teams sentry. It's fun, and the FPS and real time strategy elements set the mode apart from similar modes that feature in MOBA titles.
Meltdown however is my favourite mode, featuring two lanes with the aim of pushing your robots into the enemy teams robot dispencer to 'win' the lane. Win both lanes and you win the game. Significantly, unlike Incursion and modes on other mobas it doesn't feel as though a snowball effect is as significant. Losing part of lane doesn't make that lane any more difficult to sustain after that fact, so comebacks are common and it feels as though there is everything to play for, even if you're behind.
Battleborns core rpg mechanics help with that too, as experience is easy to come by regardless of whether you're winning, or losing a game. It can affect the experience if the other team gets a couple of levels faster than some of your team members, but these RPG systems don't cause the matches early moments to feel overly predictive of match outcome, and due to the relatively brief leveling period (matches only last 30 minutes at maximum, and you often reach max level between 15 and 20 minutes in) it doesn't feel as though you get left behind or stuck in a disadvantageous position as a result of the RPG systems for a long period of time.
Environments, Aesthetics and other details
Sometimes I think that everything that's happening on screen - with the hud and in-game effects - often obscures what is actually, a very pleasant game to look at. I'm of the opinion that Battleborn has great artistic direction, with some really impressive visuals that feature across its multiple maps and modes but I think this aspect is perhaps best demonstrated, rather than written about.
It's rare that we see high profile, or high budget video games with especially stylised artstyles, typically, seemingly forgoing free creative influence with the intent of instead crafting a 'realistic' or more grounded aesthetic that I feel is compromised by user expectations. Battleborn doesn't feel as if it perfects its visual style, with some areas looking less interesting than others, but for the most part the maps each feel imaginative and creative. Again, I really feel that this is rarely seen in the triple A side of the video game industry, exuding levels of artistic creativitity that often feels restricted to smaller scale, and respectively lower risk projects like Comic books, or independent video games.
There's a pretty decent soundtrack too, with each map and mission featuring its own theme, and then there's the games dialogue and voice work. Each character has over twenty minutes of voiced dialogue that they spout out during combat or mission sequences. The game has a similar sense of humour to Borderlands, which while lighthearted and unsophisticated, can quite entertaining. Personally I enjoy how things like the taunts are willing to cross a line that not many games do, and actually make an effort to make fun of the player killed. For example, one of the characters I play has a taunt where he imitates the person who died with a pretend voice saying "I died like an idiot" the and then proceeding to laugh. It feels like a proper taunt, and not many games feature those presumably for fear of aggravating someone on the other end.
Of course, it's likely to be hit and miss, as each character has a different sense of humour, but for the most part when it's crosses the line it tends to come across as quite self-aware, for instance Gearbox poke fun at 'edgelord' character Rath, suggesting he might be a vampire. It's not something I especially care for, but I'd rather that than see a character like that exist with out some sort of self-awareness in reference to his design. If you simply don't like the in-match chatter though, it can be turned off in the menu.
Support and Downloadable content
Thus far Gearbox have been great, with weekly 'Battleplan' updates outlining what to expect in the near future, alongside the addition of three extra maps and two characters. It should be noted that maps are free, but characters need unlocked with credits or purchased via the season pass. The model isn't at all unfair however, as earning the characters with in-game credits is very achievable, and doing so doesn't restrict you significantly from other content, as you still drop loot items, and earn loot packs through leveling, independent of the in-game currency system. This contrasts games like SFV, where if you want to unlock extra characters you have to forgo unlocking anything else while you attempt to save incredible amounts of in-game currency, or games like Uncharted 4, where in-game currency acquisition is intentionally moderated by 'daily' systems in order to ensure that people who don't use MT aren't rewarded too quickly.
The maps they've added thus far have all been fantastic additions, and the updates to the game have been continually addressing gameplay balance by tweaking characters on a seemingly, bi-weekly basis. Gearbox's balance updates are ensuring the tight knit cast of complex characters all fall in line with one another, with seemingly considerable vigilance to usage, win ratios and overall character performance, similar to what you would expect from MOBA esque titles.
Not to mention, the game has gotten better in a number of ways, with tweaks to performance and other issues such as collision that were present at launch. One of the biggest problems with the early builds of the game was that you had a tendency to get snagged on objects in the environment when moving, which was difficult to compensate for when considering the combat takes place in first person (hard to see if there's a ledge you're about to get stuck on) but Gearbox recently addressed that and the game tends to feel a heck of a lot smoother to move around the environment, loosening the thresholds in which characters get 'stuck' on the environment.
---
Of course now, the game isn't without it's faults (most of which I feel I covered above), but in spite of these, I'm getting an incredible amount of entertainment out of it so far. I still play Overwatch, but I appreciate it as a different game, however for me, the depth and flexibility of Battleborn, coupled with the unique artstyle and first person gameplay has kept me coming back. I imagine moving forward, the game will be in lots of sales and discounts, so if you're interested in it, then I do recommend it, for whatever that's worth.
All screenshots were captured from my PS4 just now, and of course, I'm not in any way affiliated with Gearbox or this game, just wanted to show my appreciation for a title that's provided me with a lot of entertainment this year. I should also note that although this thread makes comparison to other games, that is not the point of my post, I think all games mentioned are great in their own right, and have derived plentiful entertainment from each and every one of them.
PS. this is the first thread I've made (aside from some small news post a while ago) so I hope it's alright to post this kind of thing here.
There's not much point in comparing this game to Overwatch, as there are enough threads, journalistic articles, and other media doing exactly that in sizable detail, so it's not my intent to make that the focus here. For me, I have both Overwatch and Battleborn, and I have around 100 hours in both, with just a little more in Battleborn. I enjoy both of these games immensely, but for completely different reasons, and I just want to focus on the reasons I enjoy Battleborn for a moment because for me, this games been my game of the year (thus far).
The first person MOBA blend
For me, it's always made sense to transition elements from MOBA games into other genres. As a kid I used to play Future Cop LAPD's precinct wars multiplayer mode all the time, and I loved being able to interact with the strategic elements of the game (creating turrets, capturing bases, building units) while retaining a focus on the action. Thus far, that hasn't been something that many games have recaptured, with traditional MOBAs feeling a little too detached from the action elements of the core gameplay, with mechanics such as range limitations, and point and click orientated combat. This isn't a criticism of those experiences, which of course have their merits but it is to say that I feel that they're limited in their capacity to provide a sense of being close to the action, or immersion that I missed. Games like 'Airmech' and Conquest mode from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, almost felt like a partial evolution of Precinct mode, but there have been very few that have made a considerable effort to successfully blend these real time strategy and action orientated elements into much beyond the traditional 'MOBA'.
Battleborn then, offers an evolution of this formula within the form of a first person shooter and in doing so, offers a more action orientated experience than the 'MOBA' genre typically offers alongside the typical RPG and real time strategy inspirations. For me, it's been a neat blend of gameplay that admitedly didn't click the very moment I laid my hands on it. At first, I found the experience disorientating, with features like AoEs and crowd control feeling out of place within the first-person framework, but as I got used to the cast of characters and what to expect out of each of them, the Battlefield became easier to read and understand.
At the same time, the first person gameplay elements brought together a new layer of strategies that haven't featured in other games I play like Smite. Being able to play characters like a sniper or traditional assault rifle users alongside all manner of melee, stealth and 'other' weapon weidlers, the blend of playstyles is immense and the game doesn't manage to feel unbalanced or broken as a result of it. It's a really remarkable feat and understandably, the relatively small cast size (compared to other MOBAs) has helped, and continues to help Gearbox ensure that the game feels balaced, regardless of the characters you select.
This has been a big part of why I've derived so much enjoyment from the game thus far, being able to hop in one match and play someone so fundamentally different to the previous, and seeing how each individual character interacts with all the others on the Battlefield, it's remarkable and manages to make me stick with the game, wanting to see how I can be successful in different ways with different characters.
The Helix System
At the heart of this variability is the games 'helix system' (pictured below) instead of simply distributing the skill level up order, in Battleborn with each level you select from all manner of bonus effects for your skills, or passive traits. These choices can range between selecting to make your grenades explode in fiery napalm AoE instead of spawning a cluster of grenades, to choosing between additional bow and arrow accuracy or jump height. Each character has 10 levels, making ten choices between two or three options, composing a total of over seven thousand potential outcomes per character.
These aren't small changes either. Building your characters skill set in-game can drastically shape your gameplay style. Selecting increased AoE duration on Pendles poison bomb allows him to be played more defensively, taking minions and harassing enemies from further distances, but taking increased dash distance allows him to be aggressive, pursuing and poisoning foes as they attempt to retreat. It feels as though you craft your own playstyle, with your own set of influences on their skill set, allowing for an unpresedented amount of per-character flexibility.
Of course this adds something to the games depth and strategy too. As these decisions are made on the fly as you level up in-match, they can be made with intent to adapt to the current battlefield. With each helix you make a player-determined effort to evolve your character into that which is perfect for the current multiplayer match. It's a simple concept but it made me feel as though I had more control over the battle than in traditional MOBAs, the skill order selection of games like Smite often isn't very personalised, and it doesn't shift the characters playstyle in a considerable manner, for instance.
Lore and challenges
From my time with Overwatch something that I felt was missing is a sense of progression. Of course, progression is not neccesary for me to be entertained by gameplay, but I do feel that it is nice to be recognised for various feats performed in game. Even simple things like getting a penta-kill are rewarded with a 'pentakill' title in Battleborn feels like something to work towards earning. Worthy of Song is another title that tends to be harder to earn (earning 25 player kills in a match) and I enjoy wearing that title in the in-game lobbies. While RNG is a factor to the games loot distribution, it's pleasant to have something that rewards specific behaviour alongside that, as it makes you feel as though your always working towards something.
The most significant manifestation of this reward system is the 'lore system' (pictured above) where you can unlock lore for specific characters by completing 5 specific challenges. These tend to involve things like using skills in a particular way, or performing other feats on the Battlefield such as killing a particular enemy, or beating a mission on a particular difficulty without dying. For the most part they're rewarding to accomplish and alongside the individual character ranking system, reflect mastery of a particular character. For me, it's nice to know the healer on my team is a 'master' of that character and it's good that people have means in which to reflect their specialisations to other players because it means you can have more confidence in your team.
Of course, these challenges can present issues if implemented inappropriately. Challenges shape player behaviour so it's important to ensure that the challenges your multiplayer game features, are encouraging people to play the game in a manner that's effective and enjoyable for everyone else. However for the most part the challenge system does exactly that, and doesn't feature absurd challenges that aren't condusive to successful player versus player coordination. Some challenges like this did exist (such as asking Isic to kill 250 minions with his charging dash) but Gearbox have recently adjusted these in line with more what's achievable without orientating your entire playstyle towards that one particular task.
Gametypes
Unlike many similar titles Battleborn features both co-operative and competitive modes of play, with a fully fledged singleplayer 'campaign' featuring as the focus of pve content. Campaign missions can be seen as being similar to a 'dungeon' or 'raid' from other games, as you progress through a variety of linear and non-linear environments completing a number of objectives, while defeating minions and select number of bosses.
This experience is undermined to some degree by relatively rigid AI, but the action orientated gameplay helps keep the experience fresh and it's neat place to try new characters and skills. I enjoy taking a break from PvP content with a co-operative mission, and often use the experience to test out a new build or character that I'll later take into pvp later.
The player versus player modes themselves consist of moba-esque modes with a slightly more significant real time strategy influence (with the exception of Capture, which is a more straight forward mode akin to domintion or conquest from other first person shooters). Incursion sees teams fighting to push one lane, building super robots and acquiring mercenaries (by killing and capturing them) in order to make the push to the other teams sentry. It's fun, and the FPS and real time strategy elements set the mode apart from similar modes that feature in MOBA titles.
Meltdown however is my favourite mode, featuring two lanes with the aim of pushing your robots into the enemy teams robot dispencer to 'win' the lane. Win both lanes and you win the game. Significantly, unlike Incursion and modes on other mobas it doesn't feel as though a snowball effect is as significant. Losing part of lane doesn't make that lane any more difficult to sustain after that fact, so comebacks are common and it feels as though there is everything to play for, even if you're behind.
Battleborns core rpg mechanics help with that too, as experience is easy to come by regardless of whether you're winning, or losing a game. It can affect the experience if the other team gets a couple of levels faster than some of your team members, but these RPG systems don't cause the matches early moments to feel overly predictive of match outcome, and due to the relatively brief leveling period (matches only last 30 minutes at maximum, and you often reach max level between 15 and 20 minutes in) it doesn't feel as though you get left behind or stuck in a disadvantageous position as a result of the RPG systems for a long period of time.
Environments, Aesthetics and other details
Sometimes I think that everything that's happening on screen - with the hud and in-game effects - often obscures what is actually, a very pleasant game to look at. I'm of the opinion that Battleborn has great artistic direction, with some really impressive visuals that feature across its multiple maps and modes but I think this aspect is perhaps best demonstrated, rather than written about.
It's rare that we see high profile, or high budget video games with especially stylised artstyles, typically, seemingly forgoing free creative influence with the intent of instead crafting a 'realistic' or more grounded aesthetic that I feel is compromised by user expectations. Battleborn doesn't feel as if it perfects its visual style, with some areas looking less interesting than others, but for the most part the maps each feel imaginative and creative. Again, I really feel that this is rarely seen in the triple A side of the video game industry, exuding levels of artistic creativitity that often feels restricted to smaller scale, and respectively lower risk projects like Comic books, or independent video games.
There's a pretty decent soundtrack too, with each map and mission featuring its own theme, and then there's the games dialogue and voice work. Each character has over twenty minutes of voiced dialogue that they spout out during combat or mission sequences. The game has a similar sense of humour to Borderlands, which while lighthearted and unsophisticated, can quite entertaining. Personally I enjoy how things like the taunts are willing to cross a line that not many games do, and actually make an effort to make fun of the player killed. For example, one of the characters I play has a taunt where he imitates the person who died with a pretend voice saying "I died like an idiot" the and then proceeding to laugh. It feels like a proper taunt, and not many games feature those presumably for fear of aggravating someone on the other end.
Of course, it's likely to be hit and miss, as each character has a different sense of humour, but for the most part when it's crosses the line it tends to come across as quite self-aware, for instance Gearbox poke fun at 'edgelord' character Rath, suggesting he might be a vampire. It's not something I especially care for, but I'd rather that than see a character like that exist with out some sort of self-awareness in reference to his design. If you simply don't like the in-match chatter though, it can be turned off in the menu.
Support and Downloadable content
Thus far Gearbox have been great, with weekly 'Battleplan' updates outlining what to expect in the near future, alongside the addition of three extra maps and two characters. It should be noted that maps are free, but characters need unlocked with credits or purchased via the season pass. The model isn't at all unfair however, as earning the characters with in-game credits is very achievable, and doing so doesn't restrict you significantly from other content, as you still drop loot items, and earn loot packs through leveling, independent of the in-game currency system. This contrasts games like SFV, where if you want to unlock extra characters you have to forgo unlocking anything else while you attempt to save incredible amounts of in-game currency, or games like Uncharted 4, where in-game currency acquisition is intentionally moderated by 'daily' systems in order to ensure that people who don't use MT aren't rewarded too quickly.
The maps they've added thus far have all been fantastic additions, and the updates to the game have been continually addressing gameplay balance by tweaking characters on a seemingly, bi-weekly basis. Gearbox's balance updates are ensuring the tight knit cast of complex characters all fall in line with one another, with seemingly considerable vigilance to usage, win ratios and overall character performance, similar to what you would expect from MOBA esque titles.
Not to mention, the game has gotten better in a number of ways, with tweaks to performance and other issues such as collision that were present at launch. One of the biggest problems with the early builds of the game was that you had a tendency to get snagged on objects in the environment when moving, which was difficult to compensate for when considering the combat takes place in first person (hard to see if there's a ledge you're about to get stuck on) but Gearbox recently addressed that and the game tends to feel a heck of a lot smoother to move around the environment, loosening the thresholds in which characters get 'stuck' on the environment.
---
Of course now, the game isn't without it's faults (most of which I feel I covered above), but in spite of these, I'm getting an incredible amount of entertainment out of it so far. I still play Overwatch, but I appreciate it as a different game, however for me, the depth and flexibility of Battleborn, coupled with the unique artstyle and first person gameplay has kept me coming back. I imagine moving forward, the game will be in lots of sales and discounts, so if you're interested in it, then I do recommend it, for whatever that's worth.
All screenshots were captured from my PS4 just now, and of course, I'm not in any way affiliated with Gearbox or this game, just wanted to show my appreciation for a title that's provided me with a lot of entertainment this year. I should also note that although this thread makes comparison to other games, that is not the point of my post, I think all games mentioned are great in their own right, and have derived plentiful entertainment from each and every one of them.
PS. this is the first thread I've made (aside from some small news post a while ago) so I hope it's alright to post this kind of thing here.
