made it to level 22, then quit
borderlands gets too much credit for its blend of rpg and shooter. im all for blending, but in borderlands there are too many yawning, menial runarounds (you spend WAY too much time scrounging for $20 and $30 cash bundles and ammo) like in a bad rpg. and there are severe limitations in the way of a fps. for example, when driving the dune buggy you cant even drive and aim in independent directions (in other words, where you aim - thats where your car turns to. makes for a lot of head on collisions). and so in order to shoot anything out of the car your best options are to: a. get in the gunner seat and be a sitting duck for anyone you dont kill instantly, or b. intentionally drive AWAY from your enemies while locking on with your gun and PRAYING that you are driving in such relation to your opponent that your cannon is actually landing its shots. other aspects of bad rpg's/fps's that the game includes:
1. cannot run and gun (either in car or on foot)
2. respawning fee doubles every time you die
3. boundaries (or "borders") of the map which, when crossed accidentally, KILL YOU (lol).
4. dune buggy is tough to drive/flips easily/comes to a dead stop at minor obstacles.
5. lack of interaction with the environment (afai concerned this is inexcusable in the era of red faction and gta iv).
6. lame treasure hunting plot
7. re-spawning of opponents in areas previously cleared (its only a problem because the gameplay is so damn circular)
8. too many menial (ie. gopher) missions for chunk change
9. inconsistent upgrades (buy a $20,000 gun or pick up a better one on the ground...)
10. static deviations in character development (skillset is weak, not creative, and totally linear).
11. inconvenient control over life gauge (again, in a good fps i dont have to pause the action to recharge my hp).
12. game is in love with enter and escape keys (i dont want to have to peel my hand away from my belkin n52te just to accept a mission, and then start it)
13. too many maps (this also makes teleporting slightly confusing). i only need 1 large one, thanks.
in short, i was excited about the blend approach of this game, as well as its asthetic (futuristic wild west), and it underwhelmed or annoyed me on all fronts.
