It's no secret that Borderlands 3 is way bigger than any of its predecessors. The game's world encompasses several different planets, which is larger than anything seen in Borderlands to date. And it will take you about 35 hours to see the full story of the new game and do a bit of side content according to creative director Paul Sage.
In an interview with GamesBeat, Sage said that while the team considered every aspect quite ambitiously, they didn't exactly expand the world for the sake of it.
"You want to stay true to the franchise, and yes, you want to have new and different things," Sage said. "They don't always have to be bigger and better, some huge feature. Oh, great, we're gonna add hang-gliding to the game! We're not doing that. You can get too far into it," said Sage.
This approach will be manifested in more than just pure scale, as Sage points out plenty of existing systems and mechanics have been updated or overhauled.
"The length of the game being 35 hours, if you just go through the main story - that's not including doing too many side missions. I think there was a lot of ambition right at the beginning."
It's par for the course, really, and means Borderlands 3 may ultimately end up being a smidgen longer than Borderlands 2 was at launch. But the launch is just the start of it all. We believe there's more to come, specifically downloadable content that will make Borderlands 3 even bigger than it already is. There's also New Game + and the many kinds of side quests that will make gameplay definitely more interesting and quite lengthier.
For an FPS campaign, 35 hours is really, really long, to be quite honest. However, the focus of the game on loot shooting and co-op means it should keep you hooked for hours on end. For those who want more, a single playthrough shouldn't be enough to reach the level cap.
Developer Gearbox is improving Borderlands as a whole, from player movement, sounds, to weapon mechanics. Sage even mentioned a new clamber skill that lets you climb up ledges and the overhauled loot distribution for co-op.
Borderlands 3 will arrive September 13 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. If you have Borderlands 2 installed, you should download and play the free Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary DLC, which bridges the story gap between the two games.
