As of 12am this morning, the highly-anticipated Borderlands 3 is available to keen gamers in New Zealand and around the world – and if there are a few empty seats at work today, it could be because people are taking a day off and indulging in a long weekend of hardcore shooting madness…

This isn't a game review (although we hope to follow up with one very soon), so we'll cover some of the basic things you need know before you descend into insanity with Borderlands 3 on console and PC.

What is Borderlands 3?

This game is the third instalment in a first-person role playing game series that likes to call itself the pioneer of the ‘looter shooter' genre. The Borderlands saga started way back in 2009. Ten years on, it's back, with both developers Gearbox Software and pubisher 2K Games on board.

In Borderlands 3, you play as either Amara the Siren, FL4K the Beastmaster, Moze the Gunner, and Zane the Operative. These characters are part of a group of Vault Hunters and each has different special abilities, so make your choice wisely.

You progress through the game by doing missions either solo or with friends. You will be busy collecting loot, earning skill points and money, levelling up, completing boss battles, and of course, collecting weapons to kill wave after wave of enemies.

There are apparently a billion guns of different types to collect, but it's kind of a well-known fact that not all of those guns will be worth it. As always, it's a case of trial and error and pure luck to find really good guns.

You'll also need to plan your upgrades, because it can be all too easy to pick up too many useless weapons or loot, and then spend forever clearing out your inventory to make way for something worthwhile.

The previous games have had solid stories with a tongue-in-cheek humour to them and a lot of madness (including midgets - or Tinks as they are now known - in fridges), so be prepared for more.

It helps to understand the rest of the series

You could jump into the Borderlands 3 series with no previous experience, but many things will make a lot more sense if you've played the previous games. You'll understand the world, its protagonists, the game's overall sense of style and feel, and you'll get to know common allies – as well as enemies.

If you decide to spend a little time getting to know the previous games, Borderlands 2 now includes DLC tie-in story and missions that link it with Borderlands 3.

A little white and yellow robot called Claptrap was always as charming as he was annoying – try not to beat him to a pulp (although it would be great if we could– it would make an interesting twist in the game)!

Borderlands 3 also marks the first time players venture outside of Pandora.

There are a lot of trailers for Borderlands 3 on YouTube. Check out the Borderlands channel to catch a ride to the game's mayhem – there are some truly insane clips.

How can you play it? 

Borderlands 3 is playable on PS4, Xbox One and PC.  For PC, you need the Epic Games platform. The game will remain exclusive on Epic Games for six months until it is released on other platforms like Steam.

If you're playing on PC, make sure your system can handle it

Here's the Borderlands 3 minimum and recommended specs guide. Don't forget to toggle graphics settings before you set out on your adventure too.

Minimum specs for 1080p Gaming

• OS – Windows 7/8/10 (latest service pack)
• Processor – AMD FX-8350 (Intel i5-3570)
• Memory – 6GB RAM
• Graphics card – AMD Radeon HD 7970 (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB)
• HDD – 75 GB

Recommended specs (1440P Gaming)

• OS – Windows 7/8/10 (latest service pack)
• Processor – AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (Intel i7-4770)
• Memory – 16GB RAM
• Graphics card – AMD Radeon RX 590 (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB)
• HDD – 75 GB