Heading to play Battleborn at E3, I’ll admit I had no idea what to expect. As a hardcore fan of third and first-person shooters, I’m very resistant to trying any games that reside outside these genres. I was not only surprised to discover that Gearbox’s latest title caters to a multitude of players – including diehard shooter aficionado’s like myself – but further, it was one of the most entertaining games I played at E3.

Following on from the Borderlands series, Gearbox has retained the franchise’s cartoony look with Battleborn. For the uninitiated, Battleborn is a first-person multiplayer combat game that integrates MOBA elements. The story goes that a major catastrophe has destroyed most of the known galaxy. The universe’s remaining heroes have retreated to the planet Solus and banded together to battle the Varelsi, who are responsible for the galactic implosion.

Teams of 4 players can join together on quests to fight the Varelsi. In keeping with Borderlands, Battleborn seldom takes itself too seriously. Each of the 25 characters you may play as possess a unique back-story and is crafted to humorously represent well-known elements of video games. Naturally, I gravitated towards Oscar Mike, the stereotypical space marine of the Battleborn bunch, who can also do a impromptu push-up or three. Other characters cater to different playstyles, such as melee combat, magical attacks and long-range fighting. These included Marquis, a butler with a cane that doubles as a sniper rifle, and Rath, a vampire-type individual who uses his dual swords to dish out the damage.

You have a primary mode of attack, two secondary abilities and ‘ultimate ability’ that operate on a cooldown. For example, Oscar Mike’s utilises an assault rifle as his main weapon, and he can additionally use a grenade launcher or stealth cloak. Oscar Mike’s ultimate ability is an airstrike, which can be used to pepper a small area with missiles. Players can also unlock new skills and upgrades at the start of each match.

With three other players, we ventured through an enemy base, fighting countless minions and even a few tough boss-type characters. If one of your team goes down they can be revived, as with most co-operate games. Battleborn was rather enjoyable, especially working with my team to overcome hordes of enemy Varelsi. Learning your character abilities is easy, and I was quickly using all of skills, especially Oscar Mike’s airstrike when things were staring to look dire.

My hands-on time with Battleborn was brief, but I was left wanting to play even more. Gearbox are shaping up to deliver another highly entertaining and humorous co-operative experience when Battleborn releases in 2016 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.