The Borderlands Legendary Collection is one of the most fascinating Switch ports we've seen in a while - it's like a technical roadmap for the series, starting off from the last-gen Borderlands, encompassing its sequel and rounding off with the cross-generational Pre-Sequel. Unreal Engine 3 is the core technology in all cases, but its utilisation evolves from game to game with some fascinating results in the transition to Switch - not least that the more ambitious Pre-Sequel looks better and even runs better than Borderlands 2.
Of course, access to the original trilogy also shows the evolution in Gearbox's craft. Between 2008 and 2012, environments scaled up in complexity, the rendering pipeline improved, and more advanced effects were put to work in cutscenes - there was always a satisfying forward step. And the good news is that by and large, this Switch collection is a good match for the Handsome Collection on PS4 and Xbox One. Perhaps inevitably, the frame-rate target changes from 60fps to 30fps to achieve it on its mobile chipset, while the split-screen mode is also pared back from a maximum of four players to two, but on the plus side you do get Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition included in the mix here. For Switch owners, this creates a very complete package.
Let's tackle each in turn, then. The Borderlands series has travelled a long road since its 2008 debut. The simple wastelands of the original classic, marked by thick comic-book style edges, laid a template for the series' style and gameplay loop. Honestly it still has a lot of charm today, even if its environments now feel a little flat and simplistic. On Switch, that makes for a very straightforward port, with a native, fixed 1920x1080 resolution at 30 frames per second that rarely wavers from its target, plus a nigh-on identical experience at 720p in portable mode. There are some omissions up against the other current-gen console versions - anti-aliasing is removed entirely, for example, while shadow quality is pared back. Texture filtering is also of a poor quality, especially noticeable when playing docked.
from Eurogamer.net https://ift.tt/2XXIQs1
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