Fine, I'm Playing Borderlands On A PC
As discussed on this week's Bombcast, I think I'm going to have to play Borderlands on the PC. In the distant past, controls used to be the single determining factor in my decision to play a first-person shooter on the PC or a console. But over time, as my familiarity with dual joysticks has grown and my attachment to the mouse and keyboard has waned, I've noticed myself worrying more about whether or not I'd get achievements from a game than how precise my aiming was going to be.
Well, Borderlands won't have achievements on the PC; it's not a Games For Windows Live-enabled game. Should make it an easy decision to get the console game, no? No. Gearbox's first-person, four-player loot-quest is certainly functional and fun on the Xbox 360 (though I haven't seen the PS3 version in person yet), but there's a whole bunch of reasons the PC version seems significantly better, based on a few minutes spent with both.
The PC version I played ran at a solid 60 frames per second on what Gearbox described as fairly modest hardware, compared to a less impressive 30 or so on the Xbox, and the lighting, textures, and color saturation looked dramatically better than the Xbox game sitting right next to it. Seriously, I'm not just saying that; the difference in visual fidelity was profound to me. Then there's that whole aiming-with-a-mouse thing, of course, which will certainly help in the tougher encounters with some of the game's named boss enemies. And Gearbox will also let you control the game's fairly complex menu screens--where you manage all your loot, talents, and more--with a mouse as well; on the console, you'll be stuck navigating with the controller, of course.
That's a strong list of reasons the game will likely be more playable on the PC, and for me, it makes a particularly convincing argument against sacrificing a better game experience just to increment my stupid gamerscore.
Another topic that came up on the podcast this week was Borderlands' trade interface, or more specifically, its lack of one. To swap items with another player, you have to communicate your intentions to one another, then manually drop your item on the ground and hope the other guy drops his, so you can both pick up your new gear. You don't need to be an especially nefarious individual to imagine the potential for abuse or griefing inherent in this rudimentary system.
On the podcast I promised I'd find out if the game would ship with a more secure trade interface than what I saw in my demo, and the official Gearbox answer is: It won't. So you'll do well to only traffic with trusted players in the early days of Borderlands' release, lest your precious loot walk right away from you. However, that may change after the game's release, since Gearbox says its plan for Borderlands DLC is to deliver features and content as requested by the community. A company rep says the trade thing in particular is something the company will possibly look at "if it becomes an issue where people care a lot."
Borderlands is out this October. If you wanna know more, why not read Jeff's last hands-on report?
As discussed on this week's Bombcast, I think I'm going to have to play Borderlands on the PC. In the distant past, controls used to be the single determining factor in my decision to play a first-person shooter on the PC or a console. But over time, as my familiarity with dual joysticks has grown and my attachment to the mouse and keyboard has waned, I've noticed myself worrying more about whether or not I'd get achievements from a game than how precise my aiming was going to be.
Well, Borderlands won't have achievements on the PC; it's not a Games For Windows Live-enabled game. Should make it an easy decision to get the console game, no? No. Gearbox's first-person, four-player loot-quest is certainly functional and fun on the Xbox 360 (though I haven't seen the PS3 version in person yet), but there's a whole bunch of reasons the PC version seems significantly better, based on a few minutes spent with both.
The PC version I played ran at a solid 60 frames per second on what Gearbox described as fairly modest hardware, compared to a less impressive 30 or so on the Xbox, and the lighting, textures, and color saturation looked dramatically better than the Xbox game sitting right next to it. Seriously, I'm not just saying that; the difference in visual fidelity was profound to me. Then there's that whole aiming-with-a-mouse thing, of course, which will certainly help in the tougher encounters with some of the game's named boss enemies. And Gearbox will also let you control the game's fairly complex menu screens--where you manage all your loot, talents, and more--with a mouse as well; on the console, you'll be stuck navigating with the controller, of course.
That's a strong list of reasons the game will likely be more playable on the PC, and for me, it makes a particularly convincing argument against sacrificing a better game experience just to increment my stupid gamerscore.
Another topic that came up on the podcast this week was Borderlands' trade interface, or more specifically, its lack of one. To swap items with another player, you have to communicate your intentions to one another, then manually drop your item on the ground and hope the other guy drops his, so you can both pick up your new gear. You don't need to be an especially nefarious individual to imagine the potential for abuse or griefing inherent in this rudimentary system.
On the podcast I promised I'd find out if the game would ship with a more secure trade interface than what I saw in my demo, and the official Gearbox answer is: It won't. So you'll do well to only traffic with trusted players in the early days of Borderlands' release, lest your precious loot walk right away from you. However, that may change after the game's release, since Gearbox says its plan for Borderlands DLC is to deliver features and content as requested by the community. A company rep says the trade thing in particular is something the company will possibly look at "if it becomes an issue where people care a lot."
Borderlands is out this October. If you wanna know more, why not read Jeff's last hands-on report?
Hmm interesting about the whole trading system, but that dosen't mean it will stop me from getting the game. I mean something has to get cut for time's sake, and I plan on playing with friends, as I am sure others do, rather than random strangers.
I really hope that it doesn't look that much nicer on a PC, some of us (me) just cannot afford a new or updated PC right now.
" I really hope that it doesn't look that much nicer on a PC, some of us (me) just cannot afford a new or updated PC right now. "Not to be an asshole or anything, but that first part sounds pretty damned fanboyish. Perhaps you should've said "I really hope that it doesn't look that much worse on a console".
But really, it should be pretty obvious that an FPS on PC will be infinitely superior to the same thing on a console. For example, I played Bioshock on PC when it came out, and it looked fantastic. Then I played the PS3 version at a friend's place, and god damn was it ever ugly. Looked like it was running in 1024x768 on medium at 30 FPS, compared to my 1920x1080 on High settings at 60 FPS. :/
i would totally prefer to get it on PC but none of my friends have a decent one. they are getting it for xbox. i dont know what to do :(
Yes, anonymous company rep, it will become something people care about, so I suggest you start working on that right away. Seriously this game is looking so good, yet they can't think of a reason to put even a simple trading system in the game? This game will only be playable with friends until they patch in the trading system. It'd better be a free update...
Hmm, now you've gone and put me in a tizzy. Unless a demo comes out or my machine at least matches the recommended specs, I'll be buying on the 360. I've also got a feeling that there will be more of a community on the 360, but I may be completely off with that. It all depends if Borderlands feels like a cheap 360-to-PC port.
Also, I can only reiterate Jeff's comments in regards to the trade system – or lack of one. What the hell are they thinking?
Edit: Also, the DLC may well be free on PC but it definately won't be on consoles. One more reason to buy the PC version, if you can put away your gamerscore for a moment.
" i would totally prefer to get it on PC but none of my friends have a decent one. they are getting it for xbox. i dont know what to do :( "
Buy both versions, then have your friends come over and try the PC version. Then show them how inexpensive it is to get a nice gaming PC. You'll have them converted in no time! :)
@ Three0neFive
Easy dude. It was just a difference between the passive and active voice. Not a flame war. I am sure that he was not trying to offend anyone. I, like him, just want a quality port of the game for everyone.
So, they'll address critical problems only when people bitch about it enough, instead of for the sake of the game? Seems uncaring.
My PC should have no problem handling this game well. The issue for me is, I have no friends with PCs that are capable of gaming and I have no interest in playing a coop game with strangers. I don't know what I'm going to end up doing with this game. Life would be so much easier if you could play these games, cross-platform. Ugh.
I dunno, i like trophies/achievements too much. When i play a game on the PC, i feel like i have no goal other then to just beat the game, and get it out of the way. Even if i wanted to play it on the PC, i doubt mine could run Borderlands. My computer is several years old. I haven't bothered upgrading it since i started playing games solely on my console, and no longer need a gaming computer.
Everyone seems to play fps better with a mouse and keyboard. I hate mouse and keyboard, I'm very accurate with controllers.
Well I'm not a clingy PC elitist so I don't really give a shit about "precise aiming" with a mouse and keyboard, I've never been at a point in a game and thought, "damn if I had this on mouse and keyboard I'd be able to beat it", and until that time I'll be fine with the controller. On top of that, had Brad never posted this article nobody would have ever noticed how much better it looks on PC, granted most reasonable people are willing to throw down a couple hundred dollars every year on upgrades so most of us wouldn't get much of a difference anyway.
And controllers are fine for FPSs as long as the game in question is designed for that control scheme.
i think you have ti all wrong Brad! the reason to play something on the xbox isn't ONLY achievements its were your friends are. I think the deciding factor to wich system i will purchase Borderlands on is what are my friends buying it on if the majority of them are going PC then so am I.
I dont care for the graphics since the game already looks good, and even though the mouse is more accurate i would much rather play with a control, because its just more comfortable.
console version is my only choice :P
Hmmm, I just upgraded my gaming rig with 8GB of ram and a GeForce GTX295 so I probably should be investing in PC games but with the trading system the way it is it the 360 does have a slight advantage over the PC. You can see how other people have been rated as players as part of Xbox Live, somone who is constantly a jerk in Borderlands is going to get a bad rating from other players. This is going to allow you to filter out some of the jerks from the people who actually want to play the game nicely. The PC version won't have this feature meaning you're going to get more tossbags coming at you in the PC version than in the 360.
Please Log In to post.
Log in to comment