New Battleborn modes and features announced

2K and Gearbox promised big news about Battleborn at E3, and it looks like they've delivered — early too. E3 is still a few weeks away, but the companies announced today all sorts of new details about the upcoming hero-shooter, which was first revealed back in July 2014.

Up until now Battleborn has been a pretty hard game to classify. When originally announced, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford summed it up as a "FPS; hobby-grade coop campaign; genre-blended, multi-mode competitive e-sports; meta-growth, choice + epic Battleborn Heroes!" While I still can't completely classify it, we at least know what sort of gameplay to expect.

For starters, Battleborn will have a Story Mode. This is described as a "narrative experience" playable in a single-player capacity, as well as cooperatively with up to five friends via splitscreen or online. The Story Mode will be modular, which means players can choose which missions to play next, and choose to replay missions for a chance to earn better loot.

As for the story, here's a brief overview:

Battleborn is set in a distant future, where nearly every star in the universe has gone dark at the hands of a mysterious enemy. Solus, the last star, is the only beacon of hope for the universe’s surviving population. The fading of stars has led to a great war among those desperate for the last remaining resources. Heroes, called Battleborn, fight for the dominance of their unique factions as all life in the universe teeters on the brink of extinction. Now, the mysterious enemy is threatening to finish what they’ve started, and only an unlikely alliance between the universe’s most powerful heroes can stop them.

If story isn't for you, Battleborn also features a robust team-based competitive multiplayer system that supports to up 10 players online in 5v5 matches (sounds an awful lot like a MOBA). There are three distinct modes — Incursion, Devastation, and Meltdown.

• Incursion: Teams of heroes defend their base from waves of AI-controlled minions while working together, alongside their own minions, to destroy their opponents’ base
• Devastation: Teams of heroes face off in a fast-paced death match and must capture and hold objectives on the map to win
• Meltdown: Teams of heroes protect their minions as they march to their death at the center of the map. Points are scored for minions who throw themselves into the incinerator, and the team with the most points wins

Battleborn will have 25 unique playable characters, each with their own unique weapons and powers (sounds a lot like Overwatch, or just about any MOBA out there). Battleborn will make use of an accelerated character growth system known as the Helix System which allows players to level up a character from 1 to 10 in a single story mission or competitive multiplayer match (again, sounds like a MOBA).

Battleborn will also feature a persistent progression system in which all experience points, whether earned through playing Battleborn's Story Mode or Competitive Multiplayer modes, contribute to leveling up individual Character Rank, as well as the player's profile Command Rank.

Character Rank allows each hero to permanently rank up from 1 to 10 outside of missions and matches. Leveling up characters will allow players to swap out augments in that character's helix skill tree and unlock skins specific to that character.

Increasing the Command Rank will unlock badges and titles for bragging rights. Loot will also be rewarded which, in turn, can be used "to benefit" any hero the player chooses to command. The exact benefits have not been detailed.

Battleborn is scheduled to released this winter for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.