Battleborn Early Review: Unabashed Fun for all !

Battleborn being a MOBA like game with long progression system, I am calling this an "early review" as I have spent around 15 hours in it by now playing mostly the PvE mode. Such games can take a month of play to see it all and I will update this review if my thoughts change during the course of further play.

"Fun ! 

Unabashed, 

carefree, 

mindless fun ! "

:^)

That is how I feel about Battleborn after spending a good few hours in it !

......and if you, like me, like fun games then I implore you to try this game out ! It seems to have enough depth to keep you glued for quite a while, while also doling out immediate fun in dollops as soon as you begin ! While it looks pretty intimidating from the far, what about its 25 characters you can play as and multiple levels of progression and completely new modes of PvE and PvP play, once I dived in, I realised it provided instant gratification while promising fun for a long haul ! 

Honestly , I am not yet sure how long it can last with the kind of content in there, but if there is one thing I am very sure of now is that the game is hell of a lot of fun :^) ! ! !  In fact, so much that I am currently totally hooked to its PvE co-op missions and it has consumed all of my leisure time ....and weaned me away from Uncharted 4 Multiplayer, which by no means is a small feat !

Play it the way you want :

I think what sets Battleborn apart from other FPS games is the fact that you can play it the way you want. Although the introduction puts you in the shoes of a character with a gun, you can play this game as a brawler, a magicians spellfest or as a sword and sorcery fantasy title  !

How, you may ask ! 

Well, thats where the splendid cast of 25 playable characters comes in ! Each character has its own special unique play-style and you can choose any character in each game session you play, no holds barred !
The fun starts when you realise that every character is not a shooter in here and in fact, my favourite of them all is a dual-katana wielding Vampire named Rath ! How cool is that ! His move set is completely melee based, as the description suggests, and he can unleash a katana tornado attack where he just spins with his swords spread out decimating any hapless minion unfortunate enough to be caught in his vicinity !

Similarly, there are characters that can fly about, characters which can shoot missiles, characters with a sword and shield, characters with Bow n Arrow, etc. etc. You name the kind of character you want to play and I am pretty sure one of the 25 heroes will fill that part ! This is very refreshing when playing the story missions as just the choice of character can change the flow of the mission in new ways and make the same mission feel new, slow, hectic or tactical ! 

So, How do I unleash my Heroics! 

The game has a dedicated PvE and a PvP aspect to it. PvE offers 5 player co-op in about 8 missions and the PvP offers about 3 modes which range from Capture-the-Flag like mode to proper MOBA modes. Personally I have not played any PvP in this game yet and wouldn't comment on that, but have spent more than 10 hours in the PvE. Each match, whether co-op or competitve, has the common element of levelling up your character as the match progresses and gaining new abilities making your character grow within each mission. This progression is reset upon the end of a mission or match and it might feel new or weird to see your character restart from Level 1 in each mission, but trust me, that feeling goes away pretty soon and you feel the rush of you character gaining power with each kill in every match !

 That lends a very action focussed, gung-ho feel and thrill to each mission you play and with 25 different characters to play as, with each character having multiple combinations of skills you can choose according to the situation,  things stay fresh and in fact require quick tactical thinking each time you go for an upgrade in your skill tree.

This also makes sure you are not stuck with a particular choice of skills and can re-spec and try out different skill combinations each time you play. I found this system very engaging and very rewarding while upping the thrill of the missions as decisions need to be made in thick of the moment and can alter your character completely.

Its Mayhem, ma co-op Mates ! :

The PvE story missions let 5 people play together and thats where I have found myself spending most of my time. Missions have a unique flavour to them with wide open areas and a mix of hectic frenetic in-the-face gameplay intermixed with resource collection and tactical tower defense like elements.


Whether you are a lone wolf who gives no damn except to cause some mayhem or you are the worrisome one who develops sweaty brows at the sight of a mismanaged team, the game welcomes you all. In a group of five, there is enough space for that one or two guys who are there just to blow baddies up ! Just choose a tank-ing hero and go crazy in the wide levels designed to gratify your need for carnage.

Lone wolf be doing his own thing ! 

...and the team-player kinds can always be the support, the snipers or the healers backing up the carnage with tactically placed turrets, well timed super abilities and a constant supply of health and armour. The Tower-defence like mechanics really satisfy the tactician inside me and the currency used to build those traps and turrets is found all over the battlefield. So, if you like to be the sneaky guy who is hard to catch but causes trouble all over, just run around, get them shards and place traps and turrets all around the bad-guys and revel as your hard work pays off !

You will find you He-Man style cartoons time and again; Very refreshing !

The shards are also required to activate or power-up the gear that you have equipped on your character. So, do remember to collect the shards in between the action and , honeslty, the game does a good job of guiding you around shards during the missions. My strategy always seems to rest on activating all of my gear first and then focusing on spending shards on defensive placements.

This zeal of the game to let each guy have his own fun is very very appealing and very effective to create a order in the chaos that ensues in each of its missions. Just know what your role is or what your hero specializes in and go do your thing ! The team will automatically get the help they need and the characters will balance off each other to keep the guns going even long after the "missions successful" screen has flashed :^D!

Multi pronged Progression system: 

This game makes you feel rewarded, no matter what! Just look at this mission failure screen,even a failure is celebrated with fanfare here :^D

Jokes aside, the game has multi threaded progression system where you make progress one way or the other as long as you are playing, and , like I mentioned before, the game rewards you for whatever you do.
There are multiple ways you progress in this game like:

• The overall Commander Rank of your profile which leads to unlocking more characters, loadout slots, etc.
• Each Hero you play as also has its own individual rank which can be earned playing more often as that Hero. This leads to unlocking new skills within that character's skill tree and are very useful. Also leads to unlocking cosmetic items for that character.
• Challenges: in game challenges can make you earn bonuses or can lead to early unlocks of certain characters.
• In game Gear Drops: Defeating major enemies or finding loot-crate-thingies can drop Gear for your characters which can be equipped for another set of bonuses. Gear have a rarity system like any good RPG and higher quality gear can make a difference in higher difficulty missions.

During my playtime, I have seen that there is always something to look forward to and you keep feeling that urge and a constant nudge from the game to play another match, just one more before you retire for the day :^) !

Verdict:

If the initial 15 hours are anything to go by this is a very fun shooter/RPG/MOBA hybrid game which can be played for a daily dose of adrenaline rush or for an evening of tactical play sessions with friends. It has that quality of letting you enjoy the mayhem with randoms or plan a meticulous victory with your friends. Its a balance not many games have been able to strike ! Battleborn does it a confidence that comes from Gearbox's previous co-op outing with the Borderlands series.

If you are looking for a fun stress-busting action game which is unique and has tons of variety then look no further. Battleborn is here at your service ! Whatever you do, do not play it alone ! The game is made for co-op, and just like The Division before it, it is most fun in co-op.

Pros:

• Super fun, super rewarding gameplay
• Splitscreen co-op !!!
• High-octane mindless action
• Tense Tactical Action
• Play it the way you want
• Multi pronged Progression system
• More content promised by Gearbox

Cons:

• Lag can affect melee characters more than a ranged ones
• Missions are selected by voting in PvE, which can lead to repetition

Battleborn Open Beta is loaded to explode!

After the fantastic Uncharted 4 open beta that literally had us glued to our Dualshock 4s like Jedis hold on to their Light Sabers, its time for another romp of fun, frantic fights and colourful characters on the PSN soon ! The full cast of 25 weird-unique psychos, that Gearbox calls Badasses, are about to land for free on your PS4 on the 8th of April and you can enjoy the madness that ensues till the 18th !

That's 11 full days of free BattleBorn with all 25 heroes thats absolutely impossible to ignore :^) !

Personally, out of all the new IPs being released, I am most intrigued by Battleborn and cannot wait for the beta to start. Ratchet and Clank releasing on the 12th will be a huge distraction and a real test of mettle of Battleborn's gameplay ! Lets see if Battleborn can keep me from lpaying RnC till the 18th !

Hell yeah for the excitement crackling through my veins right now because its not like some measly demo that other games masquerade as a beta, its full of bloody content to check out the real meat of the game while being guinea pigs for the developers !


Check out the amount of things you can do in the beta:

• You can play co op with 5 people in two missions that I know of: The Algorithm and Void’s Edge.
• Play PvP against other players in : Incursion and Meltdown. Incursion sounds like a standard MOBA setup about capturing enemy base/tower/turret while Meltdown sounds like a hectic Horde mode with a PvP twist with a "first-to-the-finish-line" competitiveness to the whole setup!

And I thnk the biggest draw, apart from the gorgeous visuals, is that you can also play the game in split-screen with another friend right in your home ! Thats a kind of fun 99% of the games miss out on this gen ! Call over your best pal to your home and have a blast pushing each other out of the map :P !

Oh and weighing at just 8.5GBs, there is no excuse to not download this beta ! See ya on the Battlefield, felllow Badass  :^D !

Official link: https://battleborn.com/en/news/view/en-battleborn-open-beta-everything-you-need-to-know/

My PS3 strikes back: The games I missed out on !

So, yesterday I had the abominable, unheard of, never-to-be-mentioned thought of selling off my ps3 :O ! I know, I know, I heard them too as the Meta Soul of all gamers all over the world screamed so loud that every analog stick in the world trembled with rage, rumble motors or not ! I dwelled on selling it off and getting a Vita to play all the wonderful Ys games I never played on the psp. Memories of my time with Ys Seven came rushing through my gamer brain and along came teh tumultuous joyous goosebumps of time lost and hope of it to be found again ! See, the intentions were never bad, exchanging one joy for another , the greed for more gaming was the root cause of the thought of selling my ps3....however convoluted it may sound....:P Tee Hee !

So, what happened then? Did I forego my sense of gamerness and sell off my soul ? Did I do the unthinkable ? Am I proud owner of a Vita with my fingers sliding caressing over Ys games?


Well, lets say, the thought got me thinking about my times with the ps3, which were the best ever, no doubt. What it also got me thinking about are the games I never played on the ps3 and boy it turned out to be quite a list of really really good titles ! Even though I have played tons of games on my ps3, to the point that the poor thing died twice on me and I had to buy new ones, but I was amazed to realise that even after my exhaustive gaming time with the console, I still had quite a few great titlesthat I never really played before the ps4 arrived and swept me away with the 1080p crispness ! So, I decided to give my ps4 a very very well needed rest and turn my ps3 back on again for some good old revisit-a-thon ! :D


So, here goes a list of titles tat I want to play on my ps3, even as my ps4 library grows by the day and begs my time:

Final Fantasy XIII : The poster child of next gen back then which I completely missed out on when it finally released !


I have actually started this one already and boy am I amazed by the graphics, the music, the impeccable presentation and the unique battle system. having warmed up to RPGs over the years, I am enjoying this a lot currently !

Okami HD: I did play this one back in the ps2 era, but never really completed it.

 With the season of sales in full swing, I plan to buy this for the ps3 and see it to the sweet end for real for this time ! With the beautiful art style it has, one only needs an slight excuse to jump into Okami's world.

The Darkness: From the talented developers at Starbreeze, this is one title I always had my eye on but never really played it for some unknown reason !

The game has that very unique Starbreeze touch that continues to this day in the new Wolfenstien games made by the same devs, now called MachineGames. Also, apparently , the game has very unique storytelling moments which I would like to experince first hand. Hope I can get a copy soon, but its a difficult bet these days. Lack of a PSN version is a real bummer :( !

Max Payne 3: Max Payne was the game that thrust me into the business of games and game development but when Max Payne 3 was announced I just could not associate this new bald headed alcoholic to the legend that was Max Payne, the icon who changed my life.

It just did not fit and I never got even a tiny inclination to play this game. Now that quite a lot of time has passed and I have gotten over that gloom, I would like to give this title a try and check out what dpressed maniac has been let loose by Rockstar games.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker: Whoa ! I know, this title here will throw a lot of people off balance as I am known as a hardcore MGS fan. I even have the game installed on my ps3, its just that .........I don't know, I guess I got too busy enjoying Ground Zeroes and replaying that tiny snippet to hell to come back into this game. This will be top priority after FF XIII, for sure ! Big Boss cannot be kept waiting ! We are the Homo Ludens after all !

God of War Ascension: This was one demo where my jaw never closed at all ! What a rush, what an amalgamation of brilliant visual ideas was this single piece of demo for the game that I was left asking for more RIGHT now ! I thikn the only reason I missed out on this might have been to do something with some Naughty Dog game and the fact that GOWA required a 35 gb download  and I was totally against discs at that point of time. Whatever may have been the reason, I really want to play this now and guess what, it even went free on ps Plus recently and my bad luck that I forgot to add it to my library and missed it ...........Waaaaaaaaaa ! I am searching for a cheap copy now !

Dragons Dogma: Considered a gem by RPG players all over, I really wanna get into it. I really wish they release a ps4 remaster of this one because from the time that I did spend in this game at one point of time, it really was asking for better hardware. I will keep this on the back of the list just to see if a remaster crops up. If not, then ps3 shall rev its engines again for this one !

Dark Souls : Yes Yes, I admit it T_T ! As much as a die hard Bloodborne fan I am, as much as I swear by the level design of Demons Souls and BB, I have not played Dark Souls and my soul cries for the heresy committed ! I feel deeply hurt for having not played it but having played Dark Souls 2, an unpure, non-Miyazaki game ! My heart cries for a Dark Souls on PS4, but considering DS3 is almost here, I do not believe we will ever see the original remastered for the ps4 ever, which is a massive shame cos I would pay full price for it anyday !

HAZE:  Yes, as much as it was hated, I liked the shooting in the demo a LOT !

The game has bad story and bad bad writing but I somehow feel it would be a very fun game to "play" and sadly I never got my hands on the full game. I really wish I can find an old cheap copy  but it is extremely hard to find considering no one has it anymore. Everyone seems to have rid themselves of it. Wish I can find one and try it out myself.

ICO: Shadow of the Colossus is all time favourite game along with MGS3,

but yes, I never really got to play ICO and I believe the ps3 version is the best way to go before The Last Guardian finally graces the ps4 and sweeps me off my feet again !

Puppeteer : The game where nothing is ever repeated, everything you see on screen is new ! I bought it very proudly only for the ps4 to wean me away again before I could finish it ! Honestly, the game looks so so so good that it could easily have been a ps4 launch title and wowed everyone while at it. I am coming back to wield those magic scissors again !

Tales of Xillia : Because : the amazing and unique Battle system !

I have the game purchased and installed , just waiting for the go ! If one can't have a Ys game on a system, one needs some kindof replacement, I am hoping this will be the one !

hmmm...this has turned out to be quite a long list, feels shameful in a way that I missed out on all of these during my time with the ps3 but OTOH, it also shows how solid and diverse a library PS3 has that even after begin a loyal and dedicated gamer for so long, there are still such beautiful gems ready to be enjoyed on a system that almost a decade on now ! Here's hoping I actually go past FFXIII and manage to play these games and am able to withstand the calls of my beautiful ps4 for the time being atleast !

Here's to the New Year and some Old Wines that are yet to provide the heavenly bliss of gaming !

Borderlands 2 : Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon's Keep !

My on going playthrough of the absolutely wonderful DLC for Borderlands 2!  will keep adding more videos as I progress, which I definitely ill considering how much fun it is ! The nods to Dark Souls and Skyrim are priceless :D !

Destiny : Where is your Fantasy ?

(Lets say this is not one of my usual articles and its more like what I think about Destiny right now put into text. That said, lets dive in !)

Anyone remember this video? this is what Destiny was conceptualised as :

Where is this adventure and exploration? secret areas and secret loot?
Yes, Bungie,  the pressing question I ask of you:

Where is the 'fantasy' of Destiny?

The fresh start:

I am fan of Bungie and Halo and I have been playing Destiny since the Alpha, the first time Bungie let players get their hands on it and have loved the gameplay since the first time I moved my trigger finger in it! Its been more than a year of shooting Hive, Fallen, Vex and Cabal and I will be honest, the amazing art and the super fun gameplay loops have kept me hooked for so long. I still remember seeing Moon for the first time and declaring on forums that it was the best Sci-fi rendition of Moon ever. I didn't like Venus then, because it was just like earth, to be honest, but then I landed on mars:

 and watching a dawn on mars was enough to make me stand in awe again till a rocket from the Cabal brought me back into the "shoot>jump>headshot>Super Charged>Obliteration!" loop of Destiny fun :^) ! And boy did the Cabal know how to fall gloriously when shot in the head .........bam...pooff....phhkkhkhkhkh !

That kind of stuff reinvigorated the play sessions with smiles back on where they belonged :) !

Then came the strikes, something that's still my go-to place for fun and then, after month of not being able to form a group came the raid :O

 The Vault of Glass !

Oh, hell yeah ! The feeling of wonder restored beyond expectations, we followed our leader "HarshadB" like hobbits would follow Gandalf into the unknown! Each step taken as told..."Don't worry, jump down"....."Stop !"....."Crouch"....."Hide from the white ones"...."follow me" ! I was a wide-eyed boy again :^) , a little child filled with wonder as the rabbit hole (literally) kept getting deeper and deeper ! "Those are Oracles,this is the Relic, one portal is the past and one is the future", shouts of "I am blind!" "shoot him now !"........I was lapping it all up like a hungry boy let loose in the toy store of his dreams ! I was ecstatic and, like a perfect Hobbit, when "djsinghaero" told me there's a hidden chest beyond Atheon which only the first timers can see, a blatant lie, I immediately jumped over to my death ! :^)

I was in awe, I was in reverence of Destiny and Bungie ! It was one of the most memorable gaming time of my life , up there with Journey !

....and it lasted for a while.Once it was all done, I kept playing for the loot, the exotics, the Gjallarhorn and the fun the game was, including the PvP(however much lag it may have, it does have the needed ingredient: fun) ! But over time, as the surprises and awe faded away and I had my Hawkmoons and Gjallarhorns,  I turned my eye towards the world of Destiny.....only to find none ! 

Then it started snapping:

I mean..... where is the Fantasy of the world? When Bungie initially revealed Destiny as a concept, the world, the fantasy was huge, and even in the final game the way each place is well named , it all hints towards a very strong mythos. 

But where is all of it? Where is the reason to fight? Where is the context? Where are the people who need saving ? 

Something as simple as , Why is the "Valley of Kings" on Mars called the Valley of Kings?  Or Why are we, a group of Exo, Awoken and Humans, going together in this battle against the Hive, Vex and the Fallen? Why are the Exo and Awoken even interested in it? cos the Queen doesn't seem to be and we have no idea where the Exos came from and thats me, my Warlock is an Exo and I have no idea who he is ! I know the game went through some development hell back then, but it been an year since release and we should now be treated to a proper game ! Heck, Witcher 2 got a totally new opening cut-scene months later because the devs felt it was needed and this is supposed to be a 10 year haul of a franchise and we don't get a proper beginning or basis for the fight !

......and Who are we saving? Humans in that slum under the Traveller that we never ever visit? What are they doing there all day?

Who is that Speaker who has nothing to do at all? He has no role I can tell? I have never seen one human from the city, has anyone seen any human we need to save? I am at the tower, I take orders from a broadcasting robot, I go out into the designated areas, do what the broadcasts say and I come back into the tower. 

That's my Destiny ? My Legend ?

The story quests provided no context at all either,except for "Shoot! Its the bad guys!" and the DLCs just keep adding new Bad guys to shoot, albeit in the same old places. I have recently been getting interested in FFXIV and even Elder Scrolls Online and these games provide tons of unique story content before asking you to jump into Dungeons (Strikes in Destiny) and you can stay engaged with unique content for months before you start redoing the missions for grinding.

Dear Bungie, Where is the world of Destiny? Please spare me the Grimoire cards Bungie. I am a book lover and I have read all the books of the Witcher series but..... it did not serve me a videogame when I bought a book, nor did it serve me a book when I bought Witcher 3. There is a difference, right? 

The godforsaken Grimoire cards!

If I want to read a book on Destiny's universe I would buy and love it too, if its good, but I didn't spend $100 to read flash cards on my PC ! I spent them to live in a world full of wonders , forge my own legend in it and there is none in Destiny ! 

House of Wolves: The promised DLC to solve this exact problem !

This was supposed to be the saviour of the fantasy, the story, but it did nothing at all ! Its still the same ol', same ol'.Why is my Queen not angry at me(an awoken) for not serving her but instead serving a Speaker of the humans? And all those mentions of many Houses of Wolves, I got nothing out of it. Skolas is the new bad guy and all other new bad guys are clones of the older bad guys. "Kill them all ! " That's all I got from it because all the past events Ms. Petra keeps referring to while describing missions to me, they have never been told to me by Destiny before.....ever !

             So, how do I care if a certain Fallen Captain clone with a yellow bar on his head has fought in the Great War of AwesomeTreachery? What war, who fought.......never heard of it, never been told ! Oh, maybe my Ghost knows as usual, but he is silent this time....maybe the speaker at the tower would know....nope, he just sells some piece of cloth and arm bands !...........what are you doing Bungie?

So, it all made for no context to me.

 "Get a Scorch cannon and shoot the rest: That's House of Wolves for me !"

 and for all of us out there actually !

 Same problem with the new playable activities:

Prison of Elders: 

Why is there no context in POE at all? We aren't even trapped in a prison by someone's treachery and trying to escape, instead we are just in there playing gladiator for Variks ! Why the hell, may I ask ? The Queen never asked for Gladiatorial events, she asked for help from the Guardians to defeat the Fallen.

 Just to make a point about context, why can't I be escaping out of a prison while finding tougher enemies as I go? Why can't each round instead be about escaping an area, blowing up a wall to get to the next, finding a key from a special target to move on and ending up in cells with tougher enemies untill we reach the boss and escape the prison? It  doesn't change anything, we can still have the same objectives as now, but it changes everything. Now, there is a reason for doing it all, there is a story to it all that fits inside the universe we are fighting for,  not disjointed levels that need clearing of enemies ! Now, its an actual event happeneing in the current history of Destiny. It makes a difference, we are not playing Pong here, Bungie, are we? :-/

Trials of Osiris:

Who the hell is he, the Osiris? Why is he giving out Egyptian headsets that belong more to a costume party than Destiny? Is he a religious fanatic, cos his servant is a "Brother" Vance surrounded by Candles? Why has he organised this event? What purpose does it serve in the overarching (lack of?) story of the Destiny universe? 

Stop checking messages Dude, we are angry here !

.....and for all things spoken and said why the hell is he on The Reef that belongs to the Queen of Awoken? Mr. Vance isn't an awoken from what I can see ! Is the Queen sharing profits with Mr. Osiris from this reality TV fight show of the guardians? I know, its all for fun and everything does not need justification, but going that little extra bit is what its all about ! 

         If I know there is a rogue group of Gaurdians fighting back for mysterious reasons that need to be subdued or if Osiris, the last king of Ancients has an artifact/weapon that can turn the tide against the darkness and Guardians are being tested for being sent to him (Mercury Lighthouse?) then wouldn't this "just-another-MP-Mode" turn into an actual event happening in the Universe? How hard it is to put such context in?

C'mon, Bungie,  HoW content has the same issue that Destiny has had overall.

  Lack of context !

The game is great and the gameplay the best out there, but the gameplay cannot hold on its own forever ! 

Where is the fantasy, Destiny? 

How do I become Legend without a world ?

    I know you will just say 'The Taken King' fixes everything, just like you said House of Wolves will. House of Wolves didn't, it added more activities but it didn't fix the basic issue here, the complete lack of a believable fantasy which we can invest in ! 

                 

After being burnt by it, I am very wary of buying The Taken King and I believe my money can be better spent on a very awesome Hideo Kojima game that month and on a specific Sci-fi game called No Mans Sky after that. And if that doesn't arrive soon, I may just try Final Fantasy XIV instead.

You might say my comparisons are unfair and FFXIV asks you to pay each month to play it(and it ain't a shooter), but then I have also spent $100 on Destiny. With that money I could have bought and played FFXIV for 6 whole months with much larger content and updates and , not to mention, Elder Scrolls Online does not even charge a subscription fee and for the base price $60 I could have had an immense world of my own !

But, lets say this isn't about money, I still can't get over the fact that after putting in $100 and hoping for similar content as other games ,after 2 DLC packs, I am still left with a game which has about less than half the content of a similar format game and has no fresh events regularly which even F2P game Warframe hosts every other week!

I am not optimistic anymore, Bungie ! I think the time has come to put down the rifle and take a break...............

...the problem is...it makes me sad :( ! That's is real problem, that it makes me sad, cos I want to play Destiny, but the game is getting jaded and is revealing its empty-ness as I come any closer. Its a Shiny hollow shell, where my Legend is just a Mirage.............

Save it Bungie !

Battleborn: Get aside Mr Destiny A new addiction is incoming !

BATTLEBORN !

Nice name, yeah? Well, not really.Generic space marine is what I think of when I hear  Battleborn but I paid attention because it sounded a lot like that awesome amazing super fantastic Miyazaki love called Bloodborne but, calm your horses,  it has nothing to do with it which is sad because anything to do with Bloodborne is most welcome, will be appreciated and devoured till  no more can be devoured ! 

     The similarity of name with the Japanese masterpiece is not the only reason Battleborn caught my attention, in fact, putting aside teh jokes, the real reason is that its being made by Gearbox, the creators of Borderlands franchise and, well, I liked Borderlands 2 quite a bit. The cast of multiple crazy characters and the skill trees combined with the unique art style worked its magic on me back in the day and , in fact, writing this right now makes me wanna re-buy the game for my ps4 to try out the newer characters which were released later as DLCs. Damn it, there goes my money again, I shouldn't be writing stuff at all and should be just posting this kaboom-a-shazaam of bad-assery mixed together with some phonetic crooning of exotic sorts :D .......!

   What you just saw, Ladies and Gentlemen, needs no explanation : its gamingsuace being poured in dollops ! Bring it on Gearbox, let the games begin :) ! Yeah ! all that excitement brewing in me and I haven't even shared the gameplay demo yet. Well, I am not Snake to keep you waiting, here , here :

(That Ratchet and CLank vibe to te banter is unmistake-able)

You know what, I can be that Archer right now :^) and that Vampire Ninja :O : the cast of characters is crackling with energy ! I think Destiny, the only game that actually ever got me "addicted" in the true painful sense of the word is in danger now. I sense a true competitor even if the games are very different from each other. Destiny is following the MMORPG formula while Battleborn wants to tread the MOBA way, both not really committing to the respective genres instead trying to be lighter versions of each. Yet the common element of selling a fantasy of playing as exotic characters mowing down enemies together with your friends while earning yet stronger powers as you play remains at the heart of both .......and that both are aimed at the FPS lovers out there ! 

The competition is real and as far as I am concerned, Battleborn is already in the battle with Destiny for my time. I cannot wait to try it out for myself and see the punches it packs considering I am already getting jaded with the DLC pricing and the direction Bungie is taking with the way they serve content in Destiny. Instead of being a world where regular new events occur, Destiny is more on the lines of fixed content being delivered via DLCs which you keep playing till the next paid DLC arrives. This may have always been what Destiny was 'destined' to be but I perhaps had a different vision of a persistent world where newer events get pushed into the world every week, like Warframe does. I mean whats the point of running your game on servers if you aren't pushing fresh events regularly? Even small missions which change things, like :

"Fallen are taking over cosmodrome...defend it , events lasts till Monday evening."
 Or
"Hunt a special target amidst a massive firefight between hive and fallen on earth. "
Or
" Fight alongside cabal in taking over an area from Vex....some guardian can choose to take Vex side... Events lasts for few hours ! "

 /end_Destiny_rant.  I got carried away but thats how I had imagined Destiny to be. 

So, what does Battleborn do? Battleborn isn't going that way either, instead they are being a MOBA with a co-op campaign. A MOBA is primarily PvP genre, just like League of Legends and DOTA, and I think thats why Gearbox is so focussed on revealing co-op content first to distinguish themselves from regular MOBAs and catering directly to the FPS fans first and foremost. Just like any other MOBA, Battleborn has a wide array of characters, 25 to be specific and Gearbox is making a huge deal out of it and comparing it to Borderlands 2's 4 but, to be honest, that comparison is just misleading. This is a MOBA-esque game and 25 is not over the top for a MOBA !( C'mon Gearbox, get your act together ;) !) But when they are as crazy and imaginative as Gearbox makes them, then that count of 25 sure packs a punch !

This difference from Destiny, yet sharing the similar fantasy is what excites me actually. This game can be heaven with a bunch of friends, just like Destiny is... but with 25 characters to choose from and each match letting you level your character up differently, there is a LOT of builds to try out and a LOT of fresh gameplay to be savored. Considering that we are having so much fun with just the three classes, technically six, in Destiny, imagine having 25 characters with multiple skill trees which can be changed every mission... ....I see smiles plastered on my face :^)! I hear cackles of laughter while failing and victory dances when the classes just work together ! Who doesn't want to be a Vampire Ninja, for gods sake ! I know I do ! :^D and did I mention a four handed witch yet , oh and a Mecha that can fly up in the air and shoot tracking missiles ala "insert-favourite-anime-name"  !!!

.....and just look at the art style  ! 

In-Game screenshot !

My heart screams :OKAMI !!! :)

Although I am not totally convinced by the art but the mix of Diablo-esque art with Sci-fi with Ratchet n Clank tendencies looks fantastic to me. The explosions are what caught my fancy instantly, they look hand drawn and pulled straight out of Anime ! Apparently the character designer from Borderlands has the reins of Art direction in this one and he has been allowed to go as crazy as he wants and though something feels off about it IMO, it still feels "alien" in a very new way. Its unsettling, unfamiliar to look at and I guess that's the premise of the game. Its the place left after all star systems have died and your warriors fight the last battle of the universe in this far-away corner of the universe ! A world alien to all aliens too, an inviting yet unsettling place for adventure. SOunds and looks equally cool. Hoping it gets mroe polished by the time beta arrives and more importantly, hoping to jump into the beta myself. Sony hasn't really been giving us the betas that were promised with PS+ subscriptions !

Here's the official website, btw: https://battleborn.com/

The promise here is huge and the possibilities immense.

I just hope the MOBA influences don't dilute the fun for me. Battleborn has a 2015 release window.Here's hoping for a excting end to this wonderful gaming year of 2015 !

Oh, edit: Here's the latest interview of th eproducer, much needed tons of info in there, enjoy:

ID 's engines Rock ! Doom 3 and RAGE both look fantastic on my PC !

Check out whats cooking on my PC these days, the best of graphics and the best of ID's tech 4 and Tech 5 !























Can you spot which ones are from RAGE and which one's from Doom 3 ! :^) Yes, Doom3 +Sikkmod +Wulfen's texture Mod = Awesomeness of the highest order !