tl;dr: Backtracking simulator. Most story characters are insufferable caricatures that make you want to rip your ears out every time they open their mouths. Maps are designed like gigantic mazes with only one fast travel point situated in the most inconvenient location. Combat is the only thing that saves this game. 4.5/10.
After having played Borderlands 2 and 3, I can confidently say that this is by far the worst of the three. Let's start with what the game does well, because there sure as hell are a LOT more negatives than positives. Firstly, the general movement and combat is great. Moon gravity makes the compulsory long walks across the map as you inevitably have to backtrack much less tedious, and also adds a nice dimension of complexity to combat. Otherwise, combat is generally the same as in Borderlands 2, which also has great combat, so it would be really difficult to screw up there. Secondly, the game contains a LOT less aggravating enemies than in Borderlands 2. Yes, there are still Stalkers, but there are no more Buzzards, no more Skags, no more Rakks - just most enemies that made Borderlands 2 absolutely miserable have been removed, which is great. Enemies also no longer flee to Quebec whenever you get downed, making getting FFYL revives much easier.
Now the negatives. My biggest complaint is the amount of backtracking. Backtracking has always been a thing in Borderlands games, but the extent to which backtracking is used to pad out play time in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is ludicrous. The game will FREQUENTLY ask you to walk all the way through an enemy-infested map for one objective that is right at the end, force you to walk all the way back (because there are no one-way exit teleporters) and go all the way through another enemy-infested map for one objective, only to send you BACK to the first enemy-infested map (enemies have now respawned) for another objective that is, once again, all the way at the end of the map. It certainly does not help that the maps are seemingly designed by someone that hates fun, because some of these maps are the most convoluted and maze-like areas I've ever seen in a game.
My other complaint is the story. Okay yes, Borderlands is supposed to be silly and humorous, but what in the world were they thinking with some of these characters? For example, Pickle is just a very poorly done caricature of a Cockney British person, just jamming in random Cockney slang for no reason. Janey Springs' cartoonishly happy-go-lucky personality rubbed me the wrong way since the first second I met her, and no, this is not even about how she somehow finds a way to announce that she's a lesbian at every turn. And Nina is just Russian. That's it. That's her only schtick - she has a very thick Russian accent. It's also really difficult to feel for some of the main characters as well, for example Jack, Roland, and Lilith. The motivations for their actions are hazy at best (i.e. Jack kill scientists! He evil, he must be stopped, even though we were helping him this entire time!) I'm honestly struggling to even finish this game because the writing is just that horrendous.
Overall, save yourself the trouble. If you're interested in the story, just watch a recap on YouTube or something. I'm not even going to dignify this game by purchasing any of the DLC - I'm uninstalling as soon as the credits roll. 4.5/10.
