Eli Roth’s adaptation of first-person shooter Borderlands had a fan event this week that left the majority underwhelmed.
I don’t normally pay attention to reviews, but I had a feeling this was coming. When they released that one minute clip a while back, it didn’t feel right, or even funny. One of the biggest pointers towards its lack of quality was the piss “joke” in the trailer. As one of the quotes mentions, it may just come off as a poor man’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
BL1’s writing was serviceable, and decent enough for a new IP and game.
BL2’s writing was genuinely good, self aware enough to be funny and still had emotional moments.
Its the team that has handled the series ever since the Pre Sequel that dropped the ball, hard.
I never got around to playing the Pre Sequel, but do want to point out that it had the same lead writer as Borderlands 2 (Anthony Burch, of Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin’ fame).
I think it’s also possible that the series’ shtick was growing old by the third game.
BL1 writing was perfect for the time. The thing that made Borderlands was the 4 player online co-op. Internet culture was full of over the top edgy humor during that era. The writing fit the time.
I remember when Baron Flynn’s intro was just him smoking a joint. Everyone burst out laughing.