Watch Borderlands 3's full opening cinematic now to prepare you for launch day

Yesterday, Gearbox accidentally leaked its own Borderlands 3 launch trailer, hours before the review embargo lifted for the third mainline entry in its now decade-old looter shooter franchise (the game itself is scheduled to launch this Friday, September 13). 

In any case, with the embargo lifted, more footage of the game has been making its way online, including the full, high-res version of Borderlands 3's opening cinematic. The music-set, action packed cutscene has been a staple of the Borderlands series leading all the way back to the original game in 2009, leaving a high bar for Gearbox to deliver another gold sizzle reel with its much anticipated threequel. 

Watch the full thing below, via GameSpot, and find out whether the studio nailed it or not. 

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While I'd still say Borderlands 2 holds the crown for its opening cinematic, this one presents some subtle and clever subversions of the DNA we've come to expect from the series' introductory cutscenes so far.

We still have cars running over bandits and skags, badass title cards for each of the new playable Vault Hunters, and another banging tune ("Put It on the Line" by The Heavy) to set the mood for the thing, but it's all presented with slight variations of what's come before.

Borderlands 3 releases on PC, PS4, and Xbox One in just under three days time, and you'll see a review from GamesRadar+ sometime in the following week, as we've yet to receive code in advance of launch. In the meantime, check out our Borderlands 3 review round up to see what everything else is saying about this latest iteration of looter shooter mayhem. 

Check out our Borderlands story recap to catch you up in time for game's release, or watch the entire thing in video form below!