Well children, it’s always nice when you get a surprise come your way. You know the feeling when a significant other comes to you with a completely random present, and it’s something that you’ve pointed out in a shop window before, and you get really excited and go “Oh my God! How did you know? This is just what I needed!”. Well, that’s Borderlands.
Developers Gearbox (of Half Life Blue Shift fame) have really done a fantastic job here. Everything from the ever so funny Claptrap-heavy menu to the sleek and stylish intro (featuring the great song ‘Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked’ by Cage The Elephant) lets you know that this game is gonna be a slick and rich experience that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
You start the game by picking any one of four classes. The Hunter is a long range, sniper-like character, the Siren is the stealthy character, the Soldier is your run-of-the-mill weapons expert and the Brute “Brick” is your tank-like tough guy. In other words, DPS, Rogue, Knight, Tank. Truth be told, while there is a distinctly different feel to each character (provided by the one skill and several changeable-at-any-time passive skills you have) there really isn’t much difference here. With the exception of class-specific rare items, all classes can use all weapons and shields (aka ‘armor’). This is not a drawback by any means, but some more variety would’ve given the game more re-playability. That being said, the game does suffer from the classic case that if you pick anything other than the soldier or the tank, you’re going to be hurting until you hit level 6 or so.
Pretty....
After the first five levelings of orientation are done, the world starts to open up. The distinct visual style of Borderlands simply escapes no one (and rightly so). Borderlands is a cell-shaded visual achievement. Characters, items, environments and even the menu pop out and smack you across the face. Voice acting is simply ace, and while much of the world is a barren desert, there is still enough variety in the environments that you feel that you’re always in a new place. Everywhere from wide spaces, mines (indoor and out), caverns and even Fallout 3-style indoor environments will set the scene for your quests and exploits.
Speaking of quests, here’s where I feel as though the game falls a tad short. Don’t get me wrong, the quests are great fun and always present just enough of a challenge to keep the game interesting. That being said, I feel they’re too much of the classic D&D game ‘go here, get this, come back, do something else’ variety. For such a sleek, stylish and innovative game, I would’ve preferred to see more original quests. Once you finish a critical path quest (quests related to the main storyline), you will be able to collect additional quests from bulletin boards in town and from other people that you have already met. Unfortunately, in an effort to extend the game play time, you’ll find that several of these side quests will appear in succession, meaning that you will hand in a quest and a few minutes later pick up another one and go “Oh man! I was JUST there!”. Lame, but such are RPGs.
CL4PTR4P is great fun and you will quicky develop an emotional connection with the little guys.
As for all of those who are skeptical towards RPG/FPS hybrids (um, hello? Deus Ex, System Shock?), rest assured that while this game could’ve easily fell into an area where it falls short in both, Borderlands rises to the occasion and provides an experience that will put a smile on fans of either genre. The action can get very heavy at times with an AI that is very capable and acts in different ways (depending on their class or ‘type’). It’s a truly satisfying experience to hide behind cover just long enough for your shields to charge back up before flying back out into combat. The weapons have a great feel to them and you can really ‘feel’ where the stats are placed. For example, I had a beloved sniper rifle that did some damage but had a high chance to cause X4 explosive damage. Coupled with high accuracy, this rifle quickly became my long range weapon of choice. You can therefore understand my hesitation when I got a new rifle that (thanks to the intuitive and very easy to use item comparison system (center your sights on a dropped item and it will pop out it’s stats with green (better) and red (worse) arrows comparing it to your currently equipped item)) was just a tad stronger than my fave rifle and provided more zoom and ammo capacity, I was tempted to try it out. Where I immediately noticed a flaw in this plan was with the accuracy of the weapon. Even though it did a bit more damage (enough to conserve ammo in some fights) and had better zoom, I could tell that the loss of accuracy was costing me sneakage time, so I ditched it.
If this doesn't get you giddy, then Borderlands is probably not your cup o' tea.
The above is just a very brief example of some of the scenarios you will run into in Borderlands. Adapting your style to match your inventory and inventory to match your style has never been this easy. that being said though, I would have preferred that my compare window have my equipped items up top instead of at the bottom – if it’s equipped, it must be my fave. If I’m comparing, I must be comparing it to my fave. Unfortunately, while they are few and far between, the game does have some minor flaws.
While the graphics are insanely good and very distinct and stylized, the use of the Unreal 3 engine has yielded the classic texture pop (blend now since Gears of War 2 fixed it from pop to a smoother blend – you’re not fooling anyone Epic) issue here. While it’s mostly a beginning of level process, it still annoys and pulls you a bit further away from the otherwise immersive environments. Furthermore, the vehicles that I was excited about turned out to be nothing more than faster (albeit welcome) modes of transportation. While they’re welcome, I would’ve preferred more quests and storyline (which is also nothing to write home about and is entirely text-based when it comes to quests (what is this? 1991!?!?!)). (Has sudden realization that he is being harsh and cynical). Bear in mind though, Borderlands can be replayed with your end-game character and inventory again with an adjusted difficulty and improved loot (you will beat the game at around level 35/50, so this is key). Co-op (2 player split-screen and 4 player online) works the same way and is LOADS of fun.
Look, this game has issues. What game doesn’t? While this game’s issues keep it from being a perfect score, it’s still an outstanding game that anyone who likes loot-based RPGs should pick up right now.
Good:
- Lots of Loot (Estimated 250,000 plus items, all with a great look and feel)
- Really pretty, sounds good, loads of fun
- Tons of replayability with adjusted-difficulty co-op, post-end-game replay
Bad:
- Story is not that great
- I have to READ quest text?
- More variety of enemies would’ve been welcome
YourBoyBlue gives Borderlands four outer-worldly critters out of five.
