Battleborn review, PS4, Xbox One, PC: 'Characters are fun but levels lack soul'

Gearbox Software - £39.99

Despite the majority of great modern games focussing on single player campaigns (see Uncharted 4, Witcher 3, Skyrim), developers seem to be increasing their multiplayer-only output exponentially, likely down to the past success of Call of Duty. A recent example would be Star Wars Battlefront; a long awaited reboot that was let down by its lack of soul and single-player.

Following this trend is Battleborn. Having created the wonderful Borderlands series, Gearbox Software decided to create an online-only multiplayer shooter; one that focusses on a variety of colourful characters split into factions, each one trying to conquer the universe’s last star/planet while destroying the evil Varelsi - an alien race who caused the universe to implode.

There's a huge amount of variety - with characters ranging from robot butlers to walking mushrooms - yet each falls under a similar umbrella thanks to the game's cartoonish artistic style. Each one can be customised extensively, leading to a huge range of possibilities, overwhelming at first but very much appreciated. They also differ in play styles; while one will primarily be a sniper, another will focus on close range encounters.

It’s these variations that make Battleborn enjoyable; without this huge variety, this could get very dull, very quickly. Within a single campaign level (yes, there is a campaign), once the novelty of a new character has worn off, it can get boring. It’s not because this is a bad shooter necessarily, but there’s something lacking - despite the colours and the characters, playing with a random team through many of these levels feels dry, uninspired at times.

What these levels lack is a soul. Each one offers waves of repetitive enemies, spruced up by boss battles every so often. These are by far the highlights of these missions, but due to its eight-or-so hour length, the campaign lacks in content, not helped by a messy story that isn’t worth investing in.

Multiplayer is where this game shines, but only just. Battles are frantic, offering variety throughout the various game modes. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of investment to gain access to many of the characters and can begin to feel like grinding. On the plus side, the addition of split-screen multiplayer is fantastic. As with Borderlands, Battleborn is best played with a friend by your side, and often this feature is dearly missed on other games.

Yet, what Battleborn really reminds me of is a much lighter version of Timesplitters - a game that defined my multiplayer experience for some time. Where the Timesplitters series succeeded was in embracing its own ridiculousness, with challenge modes such a curling monkeys poking fun at itself and the genre as a whole. Sure, it was basic, but then again, you didn’t have to be constantly connected to the internet, you could jump in and go. And what Timplsitters did, it did well - something Battleborn needs to work on.