Borderlands is a popular series, so it was only natural that it would be ported to the Nintendo Switch. I’ve never had a chance to play any of the games, so it was exciting to try something new that I’d heard so much about. With the Borderlands Legendary Collection, you get the first three games and (almost) all of the DLC. Borderlands 1, Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre Sequel, are included in the bundle. Let’s take a quick look at this trio of “awesome” games and see if it’s worth your time and money. 

https://youtu.be/dRrEumUao3s

For those of you who’ve never played a Borderlands game, like me, here’s a quick rundown. The gameplay is a combination of action RPG and FPS. While the story and direction of each game is a bit vague, it does get better as the series goes on. There are plenty of awesome weapons, characters, and vehicles to try out and customize. When you start up any of the BL games, you first need to choose a character class. Each character has different stats, abilities, weapons, and powers. As your character gains experience and levels up, their stats will increase. BL1 and BL2 have different sets of characters, while BLPS uses characters from previous games. So you get a good variety of gameplay, and I liked being able to see what each class had to offer. It’s also fun when you join up with a team of friends in co-op or multiplayer mode, having some of the different classes on your side can be a big help. 

I wish I would have started with the second game because, if we’re being honest, I didn’t really care for the first one. BL2 and the BLPS felt a little more story-driven. There were more missions and quests to complete, as well as more character dialogue. When I played the first game, I didn’t really know where to go and what to do. Their towns had that “abandoned” feeling, besides the random enemies that would spawn. I guess I’m just used to games where the characters talk a lot. But the two latter games are definitely better in that aspect. 

The places you’ll explore in the Borderlands series are full of materials, ammo, and so much loot. I was pretty surprised by how many “things” I could open and unlock. There are numerous items and SO many weapons you can find or buy in some cases. So even though you start out with basic arsenal, if you know what you’re doing and where to find these items, it’s a lot easier to progress. Of course, when I first started, I didn’t know what the heck was going on, so it took some getting used to. There were so many frustrating moments in the beginning when gangs of bandits or giant monsters would gang up on me. But as my inventory grew, so did my chances of survival. 

Each game looks and plays greats on the Nintendo Switch. If you know me, then you know I’m all about some aesthetics. I really liked the realistic\cartoony art style. Even though the environments are somewhat dull, the characters and colors pop on the screen. It’s also neat to see the transition of gameplay and graphics in each game. I really did enjoy each one better than the last. I didn’t get to play a lot of the games online, but what I did experience was fun. I also didn’t notice any lag or frame rate issues while playing online.

When it comes to memory on your Switch, all three games combined are around 47GB altogether. The silver lining is each game’s a separate download, so you don’t have to have all three on there at once. And if you add in all of the time it’ll take you to beat the series, that’s around 200 hours of gameplay. So I would say that you really do get your money’s worth.

While Borderlands does sound awesome, there are a few things I really didn’t like about the game. For example, using the Joy-Cons seemed a lot more difficult then the Pro controller. Aiming just seems a lot easier and more accurate. I also really didn’t like the lack of direction. BL2 and BLPS were easier to figure out, but I would have really preferred a more story-driven experience. This is pretty funny considering I’ve been complaining about new games being too cinematic and helpful to the player. It turns out I need more help than I thought. 

Overall though, the Borderlands series was a really fun, entertaining set of games. Even if you don’t care for the story campaign, there’s a fun co-op\multiplayer mode as well. Within the first hour or two of my BL playthrough, I thought I was going to be writing a negative review, but as I went on, the games really grew on me. I might even check out Borderlands 3 if they release that on the Switch. If you’re a fan of first-person shooters, silly dialogue, a huge variety of weapons, and looting everything in sight, then I highly recommend the Borderlands Legendary Collection on Nintendo Switch.