Tag: Borderlands Pinball

Borderlands: Vault Hunter (Pinball FX Review)

Borderlands: Vault Hunter
Pinball FX Debuting Pin
First Released February 16, 2023
Main Platform: Pinball FX
Switch Platform: Pinball FX
Designed by Zoltan Vari
Set: Gearbox Pinball ($14.99)
Links: Pinball FX Wiki
When I first saw the layout, I was like “okay, okay, this looks kind of sick.” This is why any first impressions that aren’t gameplay first impressions are worthless, kids. It didn’t take me long to realize Borderlands ain’t any fun at all.

What a shame about some of the decisions made here, because there’s a lot to like about Borderlands’ jump to silverball. I mean, hypothetically of course. I couldn’t really enjoy any of it because something else always got in the way of the good parts. Usually it was the extra ball hole, which is located directly above the right slingshot. This thing is far too easy for the ball to go into accidentally, and it MURDERS the pace of Borderlands. Combined with the ultra violent slingshots that are pretty much unavoidable thanks to the table’s angles and all remaining potential is obliterated. Take the shooting gallery. It’s perhaps the best central target(s) of any table Zen has done that debuted in Pinball FX (my father is a HUGE fan of it). It’s fun to blast the targets. Except they usually take two hits each and regain their health quickly, on a table with tons of sinkholes that eat up time by returning the ball well away from the flippers. In fact, the targets themselves are surrounded by a sinkhole, and when the ball goes into it, which isn’t that hard, it takes a couple seconds before you can shoot again since it returns on the habitrail well above the left flipper. It’s such obviously trollish design. There was no consideration at all for whether it was fun or balanced. This is a game that wants shots that generate a constant sense of urgency while having a layout with a constant sense of downtime. That doesn’t sound fun at all to me. That sounds miserable, and it is.

Elias on Borderlands Faithfulness: In the games, you play as Vault Hunters: badasses who shoot, loot, and level-up to improve their abilities and their stats. In this pinball table, the Vault Hunters play such a minuscule role in the table that they are only used for skillshot and super skillshot. There’s no powers or skill trees whatsoever. The spinner on the farthest left lane is used for getting XP. Leveling-up allows you to get more points when you kill enemies. It doesn’t really affect the combat. When the inlane and outlane lamps are lit, you gain access to a second wind. So just like the games you get a chance to shoot and kill an enemy before you die and respawn, and if you get it within the time limit, you don’t die. Shooting and looting, the entire point and the core gameplay mechanics that makes up the franchise are both a tad bit lacking. Zoltan Vari tried staying faithful to Borderlands 3 (I prefer Borderlands 2 myself) by making it take forever to actually get good loot. The video games revolve around constantly getting weapons, which doesn’t happen much on this table. It just hurts my soul being a fan of the franchise. The table allows you to choose between 4 different guns that all shoot the same and only make the shooting gallery targets take one less shot. They’re cardboard targets, while the Psycho who jumps onto the table only takes one hit. Why? Shouldn’t a gigantic person on the table take more hits than a cardboard target? Claptrap becomes annoying since his lines repeat so much, the Catch-A-Ride spin disc is sketchy, and there’s too many shots that take grinding to build-up. A 1:1 Borderlands pinball adaptation? Sounds great! But this ain’t it. I still found the table fine enough to award a GOOD rating, but it’s not worthy of the Borderlands name.

Elias is right. There’s no legit sense of combat. None of the danger elements of Borderlands feel like a gun fight. It’s a shooting range. The looting is bad too. The idea is clever, placing three different-sized boxes behind the cardboard targets. Unfortunately, they aren’t something you can really aim at. They’re not designed specifically like VUKs. The ball barely fits them and is constantly going over them, back again, and not going down into the holes. To convert the loot box shots, you need not just accuracy but the right speed, and that’s hard to control. Also remember that there’s a gigantic sinkhole between the playfield and boxes. That’s where the cardboard targets come from. That gap makes this feel like a spiritual sequel to Rogue One and causes all the same stop-and-go problems that pin has. This table has absolutely no flow. Combine that gap, the extra ball saucer, the violent slingshots, and the orbits designed to prevent ball control and I honestly can’t believe this was good enough to not go into THE PITS. I hated this table, and that sucks when there’s so much to like about it. But, let it be said, Angela and especially Oscar adored the shooting gallery and the strange angles, feeling the uniqueness alone elevates the table. Of all the new tables, Borderlands was one of the most divisive among The Pinball Chick Team.
Cathy: BAD (2 out of 5)
Angela: GOOD (3 out of 5)
Oscar: GREAT (4 out of 5)
Jordi: BAD
Sasha: GOOD
Elias: GOOD (Nintendo Switch)
Overall Scoring Average: 2.83 – GOOD
Primary Pinball FX Scoring Average: 2.8 – GOOD
Switch Scoring Average: 3.0 – GOOD
Some review copies were provided in this review, others were paid for.