Borderlands Review

FPSs and RPGs are staple genres in gaming.  They have been used over and over again.  These genres have been used to the point of exhaustion.  There are a few new IPs that are expanding and reinventing these genres.  Enter Gearbox Software and 2K Games with the sleeper hit, Borderlands.  This game successfully combines the two previously mentioned genres into one.   Gearbox themselves call the game a RPS (role-playing shooter).  The irony is, that is not the only thing that makes it unique.  Borderlands sports a co-op system that will change how console games handle co-op and multiplayer.  In other words, think Fallout 3 + Mass Effect + up to four player co-op.  So does Borderlands really live up to all its potential, or does it pull a Too Human and fail?  Read on to find out.

Usually, I start off with the flaws in a game.  The problem with Borderlands is that flaws are hard to come by.  However, there are some issue I have with game.  The first one is the weapon system.  Before its release, the ability to mod weapons was heavily pushed.  They touted that with modifications, there would be over one million weapons.  It wasn't the sheer number that really impressed me (as impressive as it was).  It was the ability to mold weapons to my liking.  I was confused  when I put the game into my system and found that the only weapon I could mod was my grenades.  The game also can be glitched by cheating players.  You can clone weapons and share them with friends.  I know tis not game breaking at all and is in lots of online RPG games, but I had to list it since it is a glitch.  Also, I did not like that I could not change my character's clothing.  You can change three colors of your character's outfit, yes, but why not allow players to add thing such as hats?  Why not give them a choice of pants and tops?  Heck, why weren't they items you could find a wear that gave your character bonus and such.  You, the basic ring that improves one's dexterity and/or luck for example.  Then there are the vehicles.  If you allow for up to four players to play, why not allow gamers to spawn up to four vehicles?  I know each vehicle can fit two people, but I don't always ways want to ride with another person.  Also, there is only one vehicle with a choice of a rocket launcher or a mounted machine gun.  Gearbox could have included more vehicles.  Allowing players to fly would he greatly welcome.  Lastly, the story is feeble.  This due mainly to the ending.  It does a solid job of building the story up, but the ending left me wanting.  Lucky, player levels max out at 50, so I will be playing the game again trying to get there.

As some of you may have all ready figured out, I found way more things Borderland did right than wrong.  First off, I love the graphics.  I remember when this game was first announced years ago, it had a "realistic" look to it.  Then over half a year ago, they revealed a new art direction that was cell-shaded.  Honestly, I wrote the game off at that point and was disappointed.  In fact, it was not until I saw the game in action at E3 2009 that my interest in this game returned.  The graphic style fits.  The game is cell-shaded, yet realistic.  You can see the grit, grime, slime, and shine of the world around you.  There is blood and gore in this game.  You can and will remove entire limbs from enemies.  Heck, if you hit them with a powerful enough shot, they will explode into bits and chunks right before your eyes.  Then there is the elemental weapons' affect on your foes.  Weapons and even some action skills can have an elemental effect.  These elements include Fire (burn), Acid(corrosive), Electricity (shock), and Explosive (explode).  Watching enemies killed with elemental effects is truly entertaining.  You can hear them scream appropriately as well.  I my favorite would have to be corrosive as it literally melts them away.

There are four classes in the game.  They include:

Brick, a Berserker, a tank that is strong in melee combat with the special ability of entering a berserker rage mode to rapidly punch through the enemies.

Lilith, Siren, a being with superhuman powers but with no way of controlling them; Lilith's Phasewalk ability allows her to temporarily enter another dimension and then exit within a group of foes, causing a shock-wave blast that harms them.

Mordecai, a Hunter, aided by his pet bird Bloodwing which can be used to assist in his long-range attack skills and scavenging.

Roland, a former Crimson Lance Soldier, able to deploy a turret to help with close-range combat.

From then on, players take on quests assigned through NPCs (non-player characters) or from bounty boards, each typically rewarding the player with experience points and a reward item.  Players also earn experience by killing foes and completing in-game challenges (such as getting a certain number of kills using a specific type of weapon). As they gain levels from experience growth, players can then allocate skill points into a skill tree that features three distinct specializations of the base character.   A Hunter, for example, can become specialized in sniping, gunslinging with revolvers, or going rogue and using his pet bird Bloodwing to assist in kills and gathering. Players can distribute points among any of the specializations, and can also spend a small amount of in-game money to redistribute their skill points.   This makes the game really deep in that instead of 4 bread and bone classes, players can modify their character as they see fit.  In fact, you can pick and choose skills from all trees, not having to focus on one.

One of the key features of Borderlands is the randomly-generated weapons and items created either as dropped by foes, found in storage chests about the game, sold at vendors in the game, or as quest reward items.  The game uses a "Procedural Content Creation System" to create these weapons and items, which can alter their firepower, rate of fire, and accuracy, add in elemental effects such as a chance to set foes on fire, and at rare times other special bonuses such as regenerating the player's ammo.  A color-coded scale is used to indicate the rarity of the weapon or item. It is estimated that the random system can generate over 17 million variations of weapons.  I guess this is their replacement for one million customizable weapons.  The Procedural system is also used to create the characteristic of random enemies that the player may face. This allows for enemies of the same species to have widely-varying attacks: for example, variations of "spiderants" in the game could leap around and would jump onto players' faces, while another variant can roll up into a ball and attack people, depending on the content generator.  The character differentiation in the game is superb.  You fight many different types of enemies.  Within these types of enemies, you will notice that there are many "sub-types" and looks for them.  I already mention the 4 player co-operative play.  It is seamlessly incorporated.  You can play the game solo, and every time someone joins you game, they adjust the creatures of Pandora (planet where game takes place) to be stronger.  When they leave, they re-adjust them and make them weaker.  There is PvP (player versus player) support as well.  You can duel one on one mid game if there is a disagreement.  You can also go the the arena and fight 1-v-1 or 2-v-2.  The dueling works great as well.  I battled a friend in the arena and had a blast.

As of the writing of this review, I have completed my first play through and have started a level 38 Hunter, a level18 Siren, and a level 25 Berserker character.  I am hooked.  I will be playing this game into the foreseeable future.  DLC has also been announced.  "The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned" is the first installment of downloadable content for Borderlands and includes new quests, items, and enemies.  The storyline takes place in an area known as Jakobs Cove. Dr. Ned had been in charge of keeping the workers of Jakobs Cove alive, but ended up transforming them into abominations. The player assists Dr. Ned in trying to cure the victims of his work.  You know I will be getting this now.  Xbox 360 and PS3 players were able to download the DLC on November 24th.  A PC version will be released, but no date has been announced yet.  I really do not know what else I could say about this gem of a game.  This game is a genuine sleeper hit.  More people should be talking and playing this game.  Alas, hype has hindered another great game's progress.  If you have not tried this game yet, you owe it to yourself to play it.  Co-op on consoles will never be the same.  Gearbox put a lot of developers on notice with Borderlands. No longer will people settle for tacked on co-op with only two player support when more could and should be included.  No longer will people allow developers to completely neglect to put a true deep, cohesive co-op in games that should have it.  Now if you will excuse me, I have a Hunter I am trying to get to level 50.

AnalogHype Rating: 9.5/10

Buy, Rent, or Demo: Buy