Battleborn

'Battleborn's visual style is a mix of comic books and anime. Characters are larger-than-life and highly stylized, with steampunk and fantasy affectations tossed in with the mostly cel-shaded sci-fi theme. Gearbox has made noticeable improvements to their tech, as surfaces and models look sharper and more realistic than in their previous work, even if lighting lags behind. The 30fps framerate is a bummer for a game where everything happens so fast, as even a slight slowdown could turn a hairy situation into a downright massacre.

The voice cast is stellar, with lots of anime vets coming over from 'Dragon Ball Z', 'Ghost in the Shell', and the like. They bring humor to their characters, especially Ashley Burch, whose work as Orendi sounds awesomely similar to her Tiny Tina. The rest of 'Battleborn's audioscape has a high production value, something Gearbox has a knack for.

On the surface 'Battleborn' is a lot like other competitive shooters we have seen in this generation: solid mechanics that provide a sweet honeymoon period, but are only held up by a stringy framework that brings down their replay value. I can see myself playing it a month from now, but six months, or a year? Anyone’s guess.