Marketing majors must be turning over in their seats at the way the cross-market games industry is flubbing this years' biggest events. On one hand you've got Bethesda putting out the widely enjoyed Fallout show and totally failing to capitalise on that momentum with anything substantive- rather just enjoying the backwards spike in previous games that success warranted. And now you've got Borderlands which absolutely did have a big announcement coming up, unfortunately it followed the tie-in release of what some are calling the single worst movie of the year. In a year that debuted Madame Web. And that, well that is certainly going to rub off on the way that people see the announcement- particularly considering how Borderlands is currently being viewed.
Borderlands has pretty much always had a market, even back when they had to create it for the original title. People just immediately connected with the collect-athon prospect of gun piling and the environment of the original game was fun enough to bunny hop around whilst blasting cell-shaded bad guys to meaty giblets within. Borderlands 2 was really where the franchise hit it's hump though- dialling up the humour and the colours and the gameplay loop so far that few could consider that game anything less than a bonafide classic. Some still consider the title one of the wittiest around, even if some of the modes of humour have dated somewhat across the years- good writing remains good writing through tastes, it would seem. And in B2's case- that witty writing elevated Gearbox's largely weak narrative composition skills.
Tales from the Borderlands, however, offered us the very same world through the lens of competent storytellers at the now-defunct Telltale- who delivered a set of ordinary non-super characters to this world that wormed into everyone's hearts for their distinctiveness as well as their heartfelt ethos- something that Gearbox couldn't pull off themselves if their lives depended on it. Rhys and Vaughn's journey really set the stage for how expansive this franchise could become if the creator's allowed it- crawling out from under the gameplay into becoming a competent vehicle of stories all of it's own. Which might be what made the Borderlands movie sting even more. We know it can be done well- so why can't they do it well?
Borderlands 3 is a well documented sag- and you don't need me to tell you that. Crappy villains, a total disconnect between design and performance, questionable design philosophies- they've essentially gone the way of Bethesda- losing touch with what their fans actually want and bizarrely struggling to reclaim that basic connection title after title. (I'm still utterly stunned that Bethesda can't figure out what kind of Legendary Weapons we want to discover- good lord!) More stunningly, in Borderlands' case, is the distinct loss of identity the franchise suffered. None of the charm, wit or atmosphere of the original two games survived into the third to the point where outside of the raw gameplay loop which was actually half decent- not incredible but good enough- the game felt like a bad parody of what Borderlands was supposed to be.
With Borderlands 4 what one would really hope for is a bit of a reset button hit on what these games are even supposed to be. Bring us back to the routes of the franchise to start with and then carry that spirit forward to paint a universe better in line with desolate and weird frontier of anarchy that 'Borderlands' defined. Bring back 'weird' instead of the vapid and commercial cousin of weird: "Quirky". But in order to improve yourself, first one needs to acknowledge that there is a problem to begin with- and nothing with the way that Borderlands has trended, the products it's put outs or the statements spluttered out by Gearbox director Randy Pitchford- has indicated any self awareness in this manner.
Which it was makes it so sad that Borderlands 4 was announced just a few days out from the terrible movie that encapsulated what everyone thought the current creatives of the franchise were edging towards. Vapid, unamusing and dull- crap. The movie captured nothing of what Borderlands was and nothing of what the fans want it to be. And of course you have Randy Pitchford going on and on about how much he loved the movie, and you have to wonder if any lessons even could be learned. This is a man who raved about the success of Tiny Tina's Wonderland even despite the all around aura of "don't care" that game received. Why? Because the profit margins were favourable. Is this really a head we can trust to... you know... improve the brand?
At the very least we can trust Randy and his team in one important regard- they know how to make a fun game. When the controller is in your hands and you are between story beats Borderland 3 plays like an absolute dream and that is the one of the most important aspects of a video game- if that was tripping we'd really have a problem. Of course, gameplay alone isn't going to help the culture around the game from spreading and really keeping this franchise as evergreen as it was in the days of 2- but at the very least it'll keep reviews favourable and early sales high. It's a shame that we're in a situation where we apparently have to choose between one or the other but what are you gonna do when the company head is delusional?
So with Borderlands 4 on the horizon all we can really do is prepare for the next assault on the senses whilst wondering if we can finagle a 'mute all jokes' option into the settings and call it an 'accessibility feature'. There is absolutely no grounds to believe that Gearbox is going to getting any more in touch anytime soon and as long as Randy is leading them they'll likely continue to learn the wrong lessons in everything but gameplay. I guess Randy is so very lucky that this is the creative field that he works in because boy-howdy would be up a creek if he were literally anywhere else. Also, no more movies on Borderlands, please- it was a terrible idea to begin with.
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