A lot has already been said about the art style in Borderlands, and sure, there are some screenshots out there and a touch of video that focuses more on teasing the environment than actually showing the game being played. But it's actually seeing the game in motion, seeing the characters, how they'll move, and how the enemies look that really sells the look. The art style looks awesome in stills. But it looks even better in motion. Really, Gearbox should just release a guided demo video that covers the same stuff shown at E3. Randy Pitchford's enthusiasm for the game was absolutely palpable during the demo I watched at the show.
Another bit from that demo is the thought that Borderlands' new look almost didn't happen. It sounds like a few artists went off and started prototyping a version of the game with the new "concept art" style. Seeing as how the game had already been in development for a long time, it's a pretty major change to make. Pitchford said he was ready to shut the artists down, but after seeing what they had built, he went ahead and overhauled the entire look of the game.
But what about the game itself? So far, a lot of the hype surrounding Borderlands has focused on its weapons, or more specifically, the number of available weapons. It's described as having over half a million guns... but it's more informative to say that the weapons are generated procedurally, so you'll get randomized statistics and potential status effects or bonuses across an array of weapon archetypes. It sounds like the defensive shields that you'll equip will also be handled this way. Equipment will also be broken out by rarity using the same color-coded system that World of Warcraft (and our own achievement system) utilizes.
If this is starting to sound more and more like an action RPG, you're not wrong. Characters are broken out into four classes, each with a branching skill tree and unique abilities. You'll be able to name your character, but Gearbox has also named its versions of each of the four types. So we saw the heavy, tank-like character, Brick, trigger some kind of wild berserker rage, causing him to switch to fists and run around wasting enemies while growling, grunting, and laughing maniacally. Since the game allows for four-player co-op, you'll be able to mix and match the different classes into your party. As you gain levels, you'll fill out your tree and also build up other statistics, including things like "shotgun proficiency." You'll also earn more storage slots in your digital backpack, allowing you to carry more items.
Not too much has been said about the story in Borderlands yet, but we do know that the players are on the hunt for an alien vault full of... something. I don't know, I'd guess that a vault built by aliens would probably have some pretty cool stuff in it. Between that quest and the post-apocalyptic vibe, Gearbox describes it as a sort of Mad Max version of Indiana Jones.
The demo of Borderlands wasn't very long, but it most definitely made an impact. I could feel my weird loot lust creeping up my spine as soon as I saw a list of gun stats. The mission structure sounds cool, the co-op (with a few options for actually fighting players) looked sharp, and all in all, it was one of the most impressive games I saw during E3 last week.
Here's the teaser trailer for Borderlands, which doesn't really do it justice:
Here's a trailer for Zardoz, which is only loosely connected in that Zardoz has a floating head that pukes guns (which I don't think Borderlands actually has, but hey, guns):