Borderlands: The Handsome Collection Review

Multiplayer:

Of course, it’s in Borderlands’ excellent multiplayer offerings that the game truly shines, and that is no different here. Three friends (or strangers) can hop in and help you dispatch the vast array of enemies you’re faced with in the countless hours you’ll spend within the Handsome Collection. The variety of classes and characters means that these play sessions can be extremely varied, with skills that truly complement each other. It’s a totally different beast when played with others, and it’s usually better for it.

Most of my play time was spent playing splitscreen with my partner. Whilst menus have been changed for the better – there’s less need for awkward scrolling here whilst upgrading and changing gear – the aspect ratio of each players screen still leaves a lot to be desired. Whether you choose the horizontal or vertical split you feel like you’re missing vital screen real estate, with play sessions feeling a bit cramped and cumbersome. We got used to it fairly quickly, but it was never comfortable and it’s a shame there’s not a more elegant solution that Gearbox could have found. Still, at least it’s better than playing alone.

Presentation:

It’s in Borderlands look that I expected the least amount of change here, but it was weirdly where I found the most. As a heavily stylized game I didn’t see where the series could up the visuals, but after playing the aptly named Handsome Collection I don’t know if I could go back to the previous-gen counterparts of these games. I never noticed how indistinct and clunky things looked until the Handsome Collection showed me how sharp and fluid they could be instead. The resolution bump is immediately noticeable, as is the upgrade to a solid 60 frames per second.

All the audio is as you’d expect, however, and has no real difference between the original and this upgraded package. That’s not a bad thing though, as everything was pretty stellar the first time through. Voice actors are perfectly cast and the music – a simple score of pumping techno accompanies most minute-to-minute action heavy gameplay – is solid throughout.

Conclusion:

If you have any love for Borderlands base gameplay of shoot this, loot that, you’ll find far too much to enjoy here, and you’ll already know what you’re getting into. For anyone uninitiated, that needs to change now. The Handsome Collection is the best that Borderlands has to offer, and there is a ludicrous amount of bang for your buck. For those few that didn’t enjoy the formula the first time round, that’s not going to change, but I doubt you ever expected it to.