Borderlands

[Aleister Black]

A game I've been playing quite a lot over the past three days:




Borderlands




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai7pMPCDHpo&feature=fvst

Borderlands is a so-called RPS, a Role Playing Shooter. The game is a bit of a mix of games such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Fallout, Diablo and more of that ilk.


I'm kind of taking the worst bit to start with: the story. Unfortunately, the story of Borderlands isn't really engaging. I know that it's about treasure hunters/mercenaries searching for something called the Vault, within which is rumoured to be a big treasure of sorts. The story, pretty bland to start with, just doesn't catch the imagination because of a lack of NPCs and dramatic moments. Story-wise, not much goes on in Borderlands.




Review

Graphics. This is where Borderlands sets itself apart. Now you either dig this style, or you don't. It is cell-shaded, but not quite. It has a cartoony feel to it, giving it more colour than, for example, Fallout (not that Fallout lacks perfect graphics!). Its style fits perfectly, and makes it stand out more than it would have if it had just gone for the realistic look again. The atmosphere is portrayed pretty well, the lack of NPCs and such drags it down a bit though. Sometimes you feel as if the game could have been more 'alive' than it is now.

The world is cut up in smaller pieces, comparable to those in Fable1 but much bigger than that. Loading times are a bit long, but I've definitely seen worse. Also, you'll spend quite a lot of time in each area, and you won't have to switch that much.




One thing that sets Borderlands apart is its visual style. Another is its multiplayer potential. While you are playing, you are able to invite some friends to join you in your game. This makes the enemies stronger, but they also drop more and better loot. You can also play online with randomers, and you can have duels when you're getting into 'my character is stronger'-fights.

You'll notice this doesn't sound like your regular shooter. The game is basically an RPG, but with guns, and LOTS of guns. There are reportedly thousands of different guns in this game, and I'm inclined to believe those statements, if the amount of different weapons I've come across now are anything to go by. You can get these guns by searching through containers (which are never locked) or killing enemies who will drop loot.



The game also has a typical RPG level system, and every class has 3 skilltrees to work your way up in. The 4 classes are the Hunter (sniper rifles and a bird who attacks enemies), the Soldier (combat rifles and a gun turret he can deploy), the Berserker (your avarage tank with strong arms and a deep love for explosive stuff) and the Siren (a woman who likes to use elemental stuff and has a phasewalking ability, making her invisible and fast for a short amount of time, also adding damage when she returns to normal).

The characters are pretty cool and I'm really enjoying playing as the siren so far.




The online aspect is pretty cool as well, but I do need to note that it is far from perfect at the moment. It's very awesome if it works, but it took me an hour of fiddling with ports on my router before I could connect to a friend, and getting a connection with anyone is really hard. There has to be said, though, that once a connection is established, it doesn't drop. I played for several hours straight with a friend from Australia without a single hickup.




Oh, and you can also drive around in buggies with mounted machineguns and/or rocket launchers. Pretty cool although they're a tad overpowered. Driving over enemies is sure to kill ANYTHING. Probably the reason why they do most bossfights in places where you can't go with the buggy.






So far, this game has a few obvious flaws. It lacks an engaging story and the technical side of the multiplayer just doesn't work well at the moment. While the first one is pretty permanent, the second one might just get fixed, which will make this game a lot better.

On the good side, the game has an awesome visual style, and the gameplay just works. When you do manage to play with a friend, multiplayer makes this game so much more addicting and fun to play, and it's already pretty addicting in singleplayer!

If I had to grade this game, I'd give it 7.8 out of 10 points. It's great, but far from perfect. A few minor changes could get it over 8, however, and if the multiplayer is fixed so you don't need any technical router/modem-related savvy just to play with some friends, this game will easily score 8.3 or maybe even 8.5.






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3PdZ...eature=related

[Contra Fates]

That review was very rep worthy! Great work!

Chris has been playing a LOT of Borderlands, and it looks like a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it's really not...my style of game. I suck at shooters, haha. =/

I'll probably still give it a try, though!

[Casanova]

Fantastic. My cousin just got this game after I turned him onto it, and your review has brought up a lot of interesting points that I can keep in mind so as to not be disappointed in the long run. We've been psyched about playing this together, do you recommend co-op or not? What I mean is, is it as good as playing it alone?

[BlackJack]

Well, now I wanna play this.
Is there a subscription fee?

[Aleister Black]

Fantastic. My cousin just got this game after I turned him onto it, and your review has brought up a lot of interesting points that I can keep in mind so as to not be disappointed in the long run. We've been psyched about playing this together, do you recommend co-op or not? What I mean is, is it as good as playing it alone?

Did you get it for the PC or console?

Anyway, playing with friends is THE way to play this in my opinion. Definitely beats playing on your own.

[Happy Sumo]

I bought this game when it came out, and I enjoyed it very much. It's basically meshing Diablo 2 with Halo/Crackdown in a game. Well...to me that is lolz.

Very entertaining, especially with friends online, plenty of action. But might get boring fast for some since there's not much to do after you beat it, except... make a new character and do it all over again, or go through a 2nd playthrough.

*two thumbs up for the game*

[Casanova]

Did you get it for the PC or console?

Anyway, playing with friends is THE way to play this in my opinion. Definitely beats playing on your own.

Xbox 360 and you are so right. This game rules when you play co-op. The only downside is the inevitable arguments over how the loot gets shared. xD

The enemies are challenging, the quests are fun, and the classes really come into their own as the game progresses. You'll be glad to have someone playing with you sooner or later.

Also, I loved how the controls are practically the same as Call of Duty. Great decision to make, as it means the VAST majority of FPS regulars that pick it up will feel instantly comfortable with it.

This game is pretty damn good overall. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a good shooter and RPG elements like selling loot and progressing through skill trees.

[Fuyumine]

Nice! Great review, man! Good stuff.

I was kind of skeptical about the game when I'd first heard about it, but now I'm really intrigued.

[Casanova]

Nice! Great review, man! Good stuff.

I was kind of skeptical about the game when I'd first heard about it, but now I'm really intrigued.

It's seriously worth checking it out. You'll be wondering how on Earth this kind of game hasn't been successful in the past. It's such a simple concept but so addictive at the same time.

Also, something that Aleister didn't touch upon is how graphic this game can be. I've thrown grenades and spotted limbs hanging around. You can literally shoot the limbs off of an enemy and if your weapon is powerful enough, you can completely obliterate the top half of an enemy's body so that only the legs are left. This game still surprises me with how gory it can be. Today I blew up a buggy with some dudes in and when I checked the wreckage I found half of a skull with brains hanging out of it.

[Aleister Black]

Cool, I have got to try that!

So far I've seen plenty explode, up to and including bodies which is always a nice touch.

[dthc]

I love this game and generally I hate shooting games because I suck at killing things. I have one gun that essentially every time I kill someone with it, their skull splits open, brain flies out, and they lose an eye. And it doesn't use ammo.

[BlackJack]

Random note: You can buy it for half-price on Steam right now.

[cocoli]

Thanks for sharing with US. Continue the good job! Some really useful content!
Really apreciate this. Thanks for sharing this post.. Really it contain very much informative information

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