Borderlands

Borderlands Review

PS3, Xbox 360, PC

There’s an insatiable urge in all of us to quantify our leisurely enjoyment with some type of trophy or reward. Gaming is not averse to this line of thinking, it embraces it and pushes it onto us like some addictive chemical found in most foods we scarf down while playing ‘just one more level’. Achievements, trophies, and even the odd stamp system of the Wii are just some of the ways that console makers have tried to give us some type of showing for our gaming habits. One could argue that this system is derived from PC gaming, but not through an overarching and meaningless number attached to in game tasks, but the tasks themselves. Looting in games has practically been a genre all on its own, feeding on that need we all have to get just a little more because we know the next one…that will be the one.

Borderlands is a first-person shooter that adopts the lust of loot, most popularized in games like Diablo, as a main component to its appeal. The developers over at Gearbox were smart enough, however, to not just rest on that to sell the game. They also went out and made it funny, chaotic, rewarding and engrossing, just enough to make it a worthwhile game. It’s not perfect, but it does enough right when it counts.

Fresh off the bud on the world of Pandora, you’ll get to select one of four classes. These are fairly self-explanatory with a Soldier, Hunter, Siren, and Berserker to choose from, and each with their special ability and talents.  I didn’t find any of them vastly superior than the other, and given the co-op nature of the game each balances out to help form a solid ‘team’. While it might be a better time had by all to play with others online, it’s hardly necessary. The AI is a little tougher with more people and the loot is supposedly better, but you can get through this game alone without much difficulty at all.

Depending on your approach to the games questing, there’s a boatload of side quest to take on from NPC’s and bounty boards. They’re always the same though. Go here, kill this, activate or blow up this, come back and collect your reward. It’s a little lifeless in function because your interaction with the actual NPC’s doesn’t feel very genuine and there isn’t a sense that you’re doing anything to actually help or hinder anyone. This is where the game suffers, in part because it could have been a fuller experience but also because it lends itself too much to the game never feeling like its own breathing world.

The story starts out interesting and strong enough, with a wicked opening cut-scene that got me pretty pumped. From there, the narrative is essentially told to you by a visual presence that pops up sporadically throughout the game. It’s a missed opportunity because with more real characters throughout the game you could have felt that your impact actually changed things. This never gets off the ground though.

Most of the interest in this game will lay in the combat though, and that itself is solid and fun enough to make up for the rest. A utilized engine in the game generates hundreds of thousands of guns, if not more, all with their own stats and helpers tied in. Corrosive, explosive, fire and shock damage help you deal with enemies using any of the various weapons you’ll find. Certain characters are by nature better with specific weaponry, but a neat little system of leveling your use with guns means you can play however you’d like without issue.

The combat is fluid, controls tight and has a penchant for bloody. All of this is excellent. A nice Fight for your Life mechanic also means when you’re downed by an enemy, you can save yourself by killing them before you bleed out. Or, if you’re playing with a partner they can make it over to heal you. It keeps you in the action longer and means even intense battles can be a lot of fun without needing to respawn. There’s no real penalty for dying though, lessening the difficulty of the game.

This became an issue by time I finished the game. Completing every quest the game offered me up until the end meant that I finished at level 37, 50 happens to be the level cap on the game. But the enemies in the end game are hovering around levels 29-31…meaning I steamrolled the last part of the game without having to blink.

The game is helped along by quick travel, and easy driving if you wish. But area to area nothing ever feels different, until the very last level – which was a great change of pace. If Borderland becomes a franchise, I really hope they change this part of the game. Give it some variety; give some life to the occupants of the world to make it a bit more involving. As it is the game is tremendous fun, but won’t stick with you for very long afterward. So there’s a give and take, it’s a face value game that feeds the loot hound and combat luster in all of us, but it’s meaningless and unfulfilling by the time you realize there’s nothing really going on.

The World:  Pandora is a great setting…at first. While I can get past games with a set tone and environment throughout, without some additional active life or characters it all bleeds together. Fallout 3 had an issue of everything looking the same, but at least NPC’s moved and altered as the game moved forward giving it a semblance of seeming real. 7/10

The Combat: Anyone who’s ever played a first person shooter can pick up this game and have a blast. It’s simple, effective and the weaponry keeps things interesting. The added RPG elements round out the options for your character giving you better control over just what they bring to the fight. 9/10

The Co-Op: This is one of those rare games that straddle the single player and co-op features extremely well. You don’t NEED to play with someone, but it makes it more fun for sure. A simple lobby allows for you to match up even if you don’t have friends that play, and private lobbies let you make it exclusive if you do. Combat and loot ramps up a bit to make it more worth playing with friends. The only problem I found was there could have been a trading system, instead of needing to just drop guns. 9/10

The Story: Uh…hmmm. It set up so well, and then peters off before the games even 30 minutes in. Told to you basically by a ‘vision’ you have as you move along, it’s a terrible narrative device that robs the game of being really outstanding. Near the end you’ll likely not care one bit about what you’re doing. Fine if you just want to kill more shit. 5/10

The Weapons: Not just in the combat section, because this was such a selling point in its own right. A smart little engine generates a ton of different weapons – and for true loot enthusiasts this alone could make the game. Perfect accuracy or more damage? Explosive rounds but a weak fire-rate? There’s an answer to pretty much any gun you might want if you scrounge and play enough. It’s not enough to sell me on a game – but going forward this could be the start of something truly awesome. 9/10

SCORE: 78%