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Watch Some Borderlands

Check out five new gameplay videos for Gearbox's latest.

2K has issued a handful of new videos for Borderlands, the upcoming action-RPG from Gearbox. They also sent us a copy of the game a few weeks back that had something like the first six or seven hours of the game in it. Or, at least, I played it for around seven hours, completing just about everything that there is to complete in this early version of the game. I played through the starting zone, got a chance to mess around with vehicles, took on some named skags, grabbed (and promptly sold) a ton of guns, and got a soldier class character up to level 17.

Borderlands continues to be fun and continues to be something I'm very much looking forward to seeing more of. I guess it's worth noting that the seven-hour stretch I'm talking about all happened in one sitting. Even in a build that won't carry over to live servers, I still ended up getting sucked into hoarding as much loot as I possibly could. On that note, only being able to hold 12 objects got to be rough in a couple of spots. I kept hoping I'd be able to dig up a scroll of town portal or something so I could get back and sell off the gear I was finding. It sounds like the size of your backpack increases as you play.

The other thing I realized about Borderlands has the potential to be a bummer for those of you hoping to get online. There doesn't seem to be any built-in item trading interface. You're just expected to drop items on the ground to trade them. If you played a lot of Phantasy Star Online, you probably got ripped off by a stranger due to a lack of a proper item trading mechanic. There also doesn't seem to be any kind of rules for loot distribution. Instead, the game just gives the items to whoever picks them up first. All of this translates to "you're going to want to play Borderlands with people you trust" with a side-helping of "let's hope these things get added at some point in the process." That said, I didn't exactly feel lonely when I was playing Borderlands by myself, either, so the cooperative play doesn't feel like a requisite for enjoying the game.

We're just about a month away from Borderlands' October 20 release date, and I've reached a point where I'm just about done talking about it. At this point, I'd just like to play through it. Here are some new gameplay videos so you can see a bit more of what I'm talking about. 
 
  
    
    
    
    
Jeff Gerstmann on Google+

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jeff

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Edited By jeff
2K has issued a handful of new videos for Borderlands, the upcoming action-RPG from Gearbox. They also sent us a copy of the game a few weeks back that had something like the first six or seven hours of the game in it. Or, at least, I played it for around seven hours, completing just about everything that there is to complete in this early version of the game. I played through the starting zone, got a chance to mess around with vehicles, took on some named skags, grabbed (and promptly sold) a ton of guns, and got a soldier class character up to level 17.

Borderlands continues to be fun and continues to be something I'm very much looking forward to seeing more of. I guess it's worth noting that the seven-hour stretch I'm talking about all happened in one sitting. Even in a build that won't carry over to live servers, I still ended up getting sucked into hoarding as much loot as I possibly could. On that note, only being able to hold 12 objects got to be rough in a couple of spots. I kept hoping I'd be able to dig up a scroll of town portal or something so I could get back and sell off the gear I was finding. It sounds like the size of your backpack increases as you play.

The other thing I realized about Borderlands has the potential to be a bummer for those of you hoping to get online. There doesn't seem to be any built-in item trading interface. You're just expected to drop items on the ground to trade them. If you played a lot of Phantasy Star Online, you probably got ripped off by a stranger due to a lack of a proper item trading mechanic. There also doesn't seem to be any kind of rules for loot distribution. Instead, the game just gives the items to whoever picks them up first. All of this translates to "you're going to want to play Borderlands with people you trust" with a side-helping of "let's hope these things get added at some point in the process." That said, I didn't exactly feel lonely when I was playing Borderlands by myself, either, so the cooperative play doesn't feel like a requisite for enjoying the game.

We're just about a month away from Borderlands' October 20 release date, and I've reached a point where I'm just about done talking about it. At this point, I'd just like to play through it. Here are some new gameplay videos so you can see a bit more of what I'm talking about. 
 
  
    
    
    
    
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natetodamax

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Edited By natetodamax

JEFF I LOVE YOU
 
This game is the sex

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hamlaser

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Edited By hamlaser

GUNS GUNS GUNS

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hungrynun

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Edited By hungrynun

I'm as excited as ever.
 
Bring on it October 20th!

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gingertastic_10

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Edited By gingertastic_10

This game has become way to over hyped for me.

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hamlaser

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Edited By hamlaser
@gingertastic_10 said:
" This game has become way to over hyped for me. "
*points fingers* PEW PEW PEW
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gingertastic_10

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Edited By gingertastic_10
@hamlaser said:
" @gingertastic_10 said:
" This game has become way to over hyped for me. "
*points fingers* PEW PEW PEW "
Did I just get shot at?
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citizenkane

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Edited By citizenkane

Awesome.  I can't wait to play this online with friends.  ^__^

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Spiritof

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Edited By Spiritof

Looks way more hectic than I expected it to be.
 
And I like that.

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teptom

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Edited By teptom

This game is getting closer to the top of my " Games I Can't Wait To Play " list every time I see it.
 

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giyanks22

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Edited By giyanks22

Okay...WOW THAT LOOKS FUCKING AMAZING!!!!

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Cazamalos

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Edited By Cazamalos

Crecente have a good and honest preview on kotaku lol

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Death_Burnout

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Edited By Death_Burnout

Gah, you're lucky to have a small build of the game.
 
I will say they could of taken a bit more care with their gameplay videos, not great reactions...

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MeatSim

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Edited By MeatSim

Ugh, so many games coming out in the same month though.

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Kohe321

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Edited By Kohe321

Looks awesome, can't wait!

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ZeroCast

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Edited By ZeroCast

Is watching some Borderlands.

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JoelTGM

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Edited By JoelTGM

It plays a lot better than I thought; it looks like a proper FPS but with RPG elements that I really like.  Definitely buying this for the PC.

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CL60

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Edited By CL60

I dunno why but I'm just not very interested in this game. May change after I play it though. You never know.

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ajamafalous

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Edited By ajamafalous

Vertical split screen!

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KowalskiManDown

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Edited By KowalskiManDown

Finally an FPS that appeals to my sense of taste. None of this gritty, grey and brown CoD bullshit.

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Gnorbooth

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Edited By Gnorbooth

DO WANT!!!!!!!
 
Can't wait for Oct. 20th to launch this up myself and to start stealing all of my buddies loot!

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Gregomasta

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Edited By Gregomasta

It's looking good, I'm not so happy about no in game trade system.  I'm definitely looking forward to it.

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jack_daniels

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Edited By jack_daniels

Cell shading has kind of been done. Probably gonna skip this one, unless the gameplay is crazy awesome.

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SpecialBuddy

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Edited By SpecialBuddy

Yup. That looks about the same as what I played. So im excited.
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warchief

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Edited By warchief

I am building a new rig just for this game! well this and dragon age, but still BORDERLANDS FUCK YEAH!!!

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Seppli

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Edited By Seppli

Somehow I don't like how the enemies are damage sponges, but I guess that comes with the territory of being an RPG too. I guess otherwise the whole thing with leveling up and getting bigger dmg numbers pop up doesn't work out. I don't know, if this will work for me.

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deactivated-59c96a6e99d9e

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Borderlands is still looking awesome. Anyone know if full class specs have been released?

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BigBoss1911

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Edited By BigBoss1911

I still cant believe this game has 600,000 weapons.

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KnifeySpoony

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Edited By KnifeySpoony

I'm bummed to hear about no loot distribution for online play, but I figure since characters carry over from single player to co op, it won't matter too much. I can just play a bunch on my own if I need items.

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Edited By Jayzilla

Me: "Dude drop your gun right there next to me."
Dude: "No"
Me: "Dude, I will totally trade you this gun with +5 chance to crit for that 20% chance to daze for 5 seconds."
*I drop gun*
*He picks it up and logs out*
 
Moral of the story: If they don't fix it by release, I am not getting this game. If they fix it with a patch or something I will, but I feel like that is a valid reason for me NOT to play this game.

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AURON570

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Edited By AURON570

Borderlands is starting to look like, if button mashers crossed with FPS games. then again it does drawn on themes from the Diablo games.

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Edited By CptBedlam

I'm still sceptical. I can't see myself enjoying this grind-fps-gameplay for long. It looks quite shallow.

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deactivated-5eb4b2e027234

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Did anyone else notice that Roland's arm is white when seen through the FPS view, and he's black?

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Edited By BawlZINmotion

I don't really like how much you have to shoot mobs,but I guess that's the RPG part kicking in. As long as the game is fun to play I don't really care. I'm very eager for October to roll by so I can find out.

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Edited By InFamous91

i'll buy this game when the price goes down or Christmas...too many games are coming out in October. I've just preowned Uncharted 2 and Brutal Legends, so thats all i need for October

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Psyx2

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Edited By Psyx2

I haven't been this excited for a game in a long time.

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zitosilva

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Edited By zitosilva

Wow, it's way more "arcady" than I thought it'd be. Not that I'm complaining, it still looks amazing. I'm just surprised.

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Edited By Jinto

Fallout meets co-op =win!

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Edited By TheFrostedGamer

Man...I duno. I was starting to get pumped about this game because I like Gearbox (and Randy) and I like Cooperative FPS. But like....game looks like it has absolutely zero tactics whatsoever. I'm not talking hardcore Starcraft tactics. I'm talking ANY tactics. I duno. Is the prospect of a billion guns supposed to compensate for the totally flat game play? Maybe...it's weird. An FPS doesn't have to have a cover system but, at least terrain you can use manually as a strategy. Otherwise it just becomes Serious Sam or Doom, which are fun coop but you don't get a lot of mileage of it. I also agree with those questioning the game's enemy A.I. I duno,man. Definitely looking like another one of these genre-blenders that doesn't do any particular thing, particularly well. I'm kind of on-the-fence about the art style - seems like it works in some spots, in others it's kinda weird and off-putting. Perhaps it'll turn out like an online Serious Sam with classes/loot/stats, which is fine.

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Edited By Kayrack

good stuff, i want to make a custom character though.

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Edited By KillEm_Dafoe
@BigBoss1911 said:
" I still cant believe this game has 600,000 weapons. "
It doesn't. It has over 17 million weapons.
 
I can't fucking wait for this game anymore. It's just a little over a month away but seems like an eternity. I know the 2 year-plus wait is going to be completely worth it, though.
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H00NER

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Edited By H00NER

I'm not seeing this. The cell shaded graphics look flat, and the AI is terrible. The enemies appeared to just stand still while being shot.

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Edited By kwyee
Wait, you are saying there's a preview build in the GB office in Sausalito? Time for a road trip + b&e :D  
Sux to hear about the backpack limit, since I'm quite the pack rat.   But the rest looks great!
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Creelow

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Edited By Creelow

Man it looks hella kewl. 
 
Still wish you could see more of the upgrades on characters. 
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TheHBK

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Edited By TheHBK

That was weird the enemies werent really doing anything.  And there was no blood, no real visible indication that a shot hit.  Is this turned down to easy with no blood for promotional purposes?

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natetodamax

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Edited By natetodamax
@BigBoss1911 said:
" I still cant believe this game has 600,000 weapons. "
Over a million if I recall correctly
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KillEm_Dafoe

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Edited By KillEm_Dafoe
@TheHBK said:
" That was weird the enemies werent really doing anything.  And there was no blood, no real visible indication that a shot hit.  Is this turned down to easy with no blood for promotional purposes? "
I saw plenty of blood. And besides that, there's tons of numbers flying out of enemies indicating the amount of damage you're doing every time you hit them.
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Xeiphyer

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Edited By Xeiphyer
@Jinto said:
" Fallout meets co-op =win! "
This is wrong. I wouldn't compare it to fallout ever, because that creates an expectation that this game isn't trying to fulfill. Fallout was a RPG with some FPS elements to it, but behind the scenes it was still a RPG, What I mean is that it was all dicerolls, even if you were aiming at the enemy perfectly, you are still going to miss.
 
Borderlands is a FPS with RPG elements added, so you hit what you aim at, but they added rpg elements like levels, classes, and loot.
 
A lot of people are getting angry about the AI being crappy, and I agree too, its not that great looking from what we have seen thus far, but the game isn't about AI, its about adventuring, shooting shit, and getting loot, just like every other RPG, except this one has guns instead of swords (pardon the simplification). 
 
Personally, I would get fed up at borderlands if every enemy was hiding behind cover all the time because of how long it takes to kill some enemies, I get fed up with it in pure FPS games every once and a while too, all you are doing is going room to room, hiding behind cover and shooting enemies when they pop out from cover. SO personally I prefer borderland's style because the focus of the game isn't about the enemies, and by all accounts shooting them has been very fun so far.
 
I am really looking forward to playing Borderlands with my friends and I hope they fix the loot trading and dropping business shortly after launch, its probably too late in the development cycle to change anything now, but launch patches work great.
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EndrzGame

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Edited By EndrzGame

I'm just not seeing what's so great about this game anymore. I like the art style, I think it looks great. But after looking at all the these vids the game play looks like it was put on the back burner for a 'create all kinds of guns' program. I mean really, the AI in GTA IV was smarter than what this looks like. Like I said in another post, I'll rent but 2K just lost a sale here.

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TheMustacheHero

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Edited By TheMustacheHero

This game looks...not good. I mean the only indication you had of hitting someone was numbers, no blood splays no enemy flinching, and the enemies kept saying the same lines over and over and took like 600 bullets to kill. This game is not looking good.