While the popularity of looter shooters has risen due to the likes of Destiny, The Division, and Anthem, many gamers will say that Gearbox’s Borderlands series is still the pinnacle of the genre. It’s not an understatement to say that Borderlands essentially built the looter shooter craze. Still, the series hasn’t gotten a full release since 2014’s The Pre-Sequel. In the five years since then, the genre has changed quite a bit, for better and for worse. Borderlands 2 has aged immensely well considering it still has a large playerbase. That being said, looter shooters have added new mechanics to the genre, and Gearbox’s next sequel could greatly benefit from adapting their own version of them.
In no particular order, here are 6 of those mechanics
(And no don’t worry, I won’t be saying PvP or Battle Royale)
Complex and Elaborate Raids
The raids in Borderlands 1 and 2 offered some truly memorable boss fights that put all the gear and skills you’ve earned to the test. I will never forget killing Terramorphous on a Second Wind! In retrospect however, these Raids were just tedious boss fights that could easily be exploited with the right builds. Seriously, Krieg’s Bloodsplosion build could defeat Pyro Pete in seconds.
Say what you will about the Destiny series, but Bungie knows how to do raids. Bungie showed what raids can be in the looter shooter genre. These raids require more than just “shooting it in the face.” Planning, teamwork, and communication are crucial to taking down these challenges. Borderlands 3 could introduce raids like Destiny, where the objectives are more than just defeating a boss. With the promise of multiple words to explore, they could create (and continue to release) vault raids for each planet. Considering how diverse the vault hunter classes can be, each player can be a pivotal role for the team.
A Weapon Infusion System
If there’s one thing that is super sad in Borderlands, it is knowing that the legendary weapon you’ve been using for the past few hours is now under-levelled. At that point, you have no use for it anymore except stashing it away for other playthroughs. What also doesn’t help is how strict the level-scaling is, where enemies 3 levels higher can one-shot you (that’s another topic for another article). Instead, they could take a page from Destiny. Destiny offers a convenient and simple weapon infusion mechanic, where lower level gear can be infused with higher gear to take the stats.
I hate to have to give up my Unkempt Harold for some mediocre gun, strictly because it is at my current level. While I would like this system, the Borderlands series loves to shower its players with a plethora of loot. Therefore, it should not be something that players can do all the time. Maybe have a large amount of materials or money be required to infuse them. This way, players can take advantage of all the loot, but they can still hold onto that one weapon they worked so hard to get.
Progression After Level Cap Is Reached
I’m not sure how anyone feels about this, but I am a gamer who has zero motivation to keep playing if XP is no longer being earned. Once the level cap is reached in Borderlands, players no longer earn XP (obviously). Games like The Division and Destiny are all about trying to keep the playerbase going for as long as possible. One way they do this is letting the players keep earning XP well past the level cap. Each time the XP bar is filled up, the player is awarded something, instead of gaining another level. In Destiny 2, players earn a Bright Engram which contains cosmetic items. In The Division, players would get a loot cache.. Once the level cap is reached in Borderlands 3, I’d like to be able to keep filling up the XP bar. Potential rewards could include loot, cosmetics, or materials.
Another way Destiny and Division keep the game going is the Power Levels and Gear Scores. Technically Borderlands 2 introduced a similar system with OP levels that went up to 8. With many games becoming a live-service of sorts, I’m very certain that Take-Two and Gearbox want people playing Borderlands 3 for quite some time. Hopefully without turning it into a shared world MMO. Borderlands 3 could easily expand on the OP levels to keep us motivated and playing for the next few years.
Competitive Co-op
Okay so this is something that’s not found in a looter shooter, but it is a feature in Dying Light (a single player zombie game with drop in, drop out co-op). At random times, the game would suddenly start a competition between you and your teammate. In one instance, my friend got a waypoint for our next mission. Right after the mission was activated, the game told us that whoever gets the waypoint first would get an XP reward.
This could easily be implemented into Borderlands 3. There could be minigames while playing co-op where a competition is put in place. The simplest form of this would be a reward for whoever can get the most kills in the next 5 minutes. This is a mechanic that I want all co-op games to introduce. Many gamers already compete with their friends in co-op for bragging rights (Whoever got the most kills, who died the least amount of times, etc.) Why not make it a full system where the winner can get something out of it!
I wholeheartedly agree with the Borderlands community that the game should stay a PvE series. PvP just wouldn’t work with how in-depth the RPG elements are. In fact, the RPG elements would need to be toned down to cater to PvP, which should NEVER happen. Adding a little competition, however, wouldn’t hurt.
Weapon Modding And Customization
No, I am not saying that Borderlands 3 should introduce gun crafting. That would take away the very essence of the game since it’s all about getting new and better loot. It does suck, though, to get a really cool legendary, but with an awful scope or magazine size. Borderlands 3 could learn from The Division series where mods can be found for specific weapon types. This would add another layer to the personalization of your playstyle. Going along with the ridiculous nature of the weapons, I’m sure Gearbox can design some ridiculous mods. Maybe a constantly regenerating magazine? Maybe a sniper scope that can hear enemy thoughts? The possibilities are endless!
*I had written up a section about how weapon color and skin customization would also add personalization. During the time of writing it, Gearbox had released information regarding the pre-order editions for Borderlands 3. Pre-ordering the game would give players a new weapon skins pack. It appears that my wishes were granted and we are going to have the ability to change the color or design of our weapons.*
Melee Weapons
“But Borderlands is all about guns!” I would agree with this statement. I would also ask that person, “Then how do you explain Krieg and Brick?” With all the different variations of guns and grenades, why not add melee weapons to the mix? Melee is a mechanic in Borderlands that only matters early on in the game (unless you’re Krieg or Brick). After so long, trying to melee an enemy is completely pointless, even with the Melee Override skills. Throwing in swords, hammers, and blunt objects into the game would give us yet another build to work towards. Destiny 2 introduced swords as lootable weapons, and if you’ve ever played PvP, you know that the community loves to slice and dice other players! Throwing in the chaotic nature of the series, the variations of melee weapons would be extremely entertaining.
*I did not want to write a whole section for this, but I think adding bows wouldn’t hurt either. Just a thought*
As stated before, the looter shooter genre has evolved. Each game in the genre adds their own personal touches. Whether or not you believe Borderlands to be superior to Division or Destiny, each game is here to stay. They have all made contributions to this loot shoot phenomenon. Borderlands 3 should adapt these mechanics, while also putting their own spin on them to maintain its identity. They’ve already announced guns with legs, so I have faith.
