Shacknews Best FPS Game of 2019 - Borderlands 3

It’s not often that the third installment (technically the fourth if you count the Pre-Sequel) of any game innovates and improves upon an already proven formula. It’s usually just more of the same Malibu Stacey but with a brand-new hat now. Borderlands 3, however, took a look at its mechanics and made some major improvements landing it The Shacknews Award for Best FPS Game of 2019.

Maybe adding mantling and sliding to combat doesn’t sound like much, but they ended up adding a lot more vertical and tactical options to each and every gunfight players experience in Borderlands 3. And while the series has always been known as the granddaddy of looter shooters, they really cranked up the volume on the weaponry this time around. Sure, the guns and action have always been over-the-top in Borderlands games, but there were several tweaks made to each vendor’s gun-types that really kicked things up a notch.

Imagine being surrounded by monsters, fanatics, and shock troopers and blast your way through them in firefights where your pistol type turns into a grenade that spawns several tiny automated robo-guns that attack your enemies while you swap out for an assault rifle that shoots radioactive bullets. That’s the kind of insane FPS combat Borderlands 3 offered up. Other new mechanics like upgradable vehicles and weapons trinkets helped beef up the customization factors. And this was also the first time players were incentivized to completely explore a map with special creatures to hunt down, Claptrap parts to find, ancient alien relics to discover, and so much more to do outside of general quests.

Depending on your console or PC rig, the game also had some incredible HDR visuals that made things look absolutely gorgeous. It was also nice to see the creative team get to stretch their legs a bit thanks to the series finally leaving the mostly desert planet of Pandora. Overall, Borderlands 3 ended up being chock-full of head-exploding visceral action that looked as good as it played. That’s probably why our own Josh Hawkins ended up calling it a “masterpiece” in his review.

Blake Morse

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Blake has been writing and making videos about pop-culture and games for over 10 years now. Although he'd probably prefer you thought of him as a musician and listened to his band, www.cartoonviolencemusic.com. If you see him on the street, buy him a taco or something. Follow him on twitter @ProfRobot