Ambitious !
The reason why I enjoyed Borderlands is the same reason this game has been praised as industry changer by many, the combination of RPG and FSP. Of course, Borderlands is only a light RPG and more like Diablo with guns than Baldur's gate with guns, the story is almost non-existent and the game lives off his quirky humour and setting more than immersion by means of a storyline.
But the fact that the game shares all the mechanics of a good shooter, fast-paced combat, many guns, different enemies but tops it off with a random weapon generation system (plus shields, grenades) is brilliant. The game also features character progression, levels and skills and now that I have played a shooter that lets me do that, I wonder how can I ever go back to a shooter with no levels, no random loot, no skills etc. ? It remains to be seen, but Borderlands sets the bar very high. And the weapons you get are so outrageous and insane that it makes all the more fun, a rocket-launcher shotgun that electrocutes enemies ? You name it, it's in there somewhere.
However, like I said, level design and story are not Borderlands strongest points and as much as I like having a mission system in an FPS game, 7 out of 10 missions (most of which are sidemissions) are tedious and dull, bordering on frustrating, especially when all you have to do is scavenge for parts and that involves endless searching on maps and googling for answers, feels more like work. But all the main missions are challenging and rewarding, alternating between steep and narrow episodes and large areas. The enemies vary from all sorts of mutants and critters. What I like about this game is that the different weapons also mean that you must formulate a strategy depending on which enemy you are facing, do you go for accuracy and less damage ? Or maybe the combat rifle after all ?
The game has an interesting art-style, a last minute change by the developer and although the areas are far from gorgeous and I had enough desert action for a lifetime now, the comic/art style makes up for it. There are a handful of tile sets in the game, not enough to keep you on your toes but there is some variety in there.
The difficulty curve is odd, the game becomes easier as you go along, because if you do all the side missions (which makes the game way too long and boring), your character will end up way too powerful for all the enemies, including the bosses. The last two bosses (who look amazing by the way and are huge) were a piece of cake while my first two boss fights had me struggling. I guess this kind of balancing issue is what you get in a FPS shooter with levels, if you happen to be too powerful, the game becomes less challenging, I did not even care to take cover towards the end of the game because I could just take out all the enemies with the blink of an eye.
Again, the story is a bit dull and the game hints that there had been some sort of alien invasion thing or so going on and I hoped this would become relevant at some point but it does not, what a shame.
Like I said before, I like getting my moneys' worth but this game just took too long in the end and I started skipping the side missions eventually and I reckon I am not the only one. Next time, make it 10 hours shorter but more challenging and more varied.
All in all, an ambitious game that makes up what it lacks in story and level design with innovation (RPG/Random loot) and the art style. I can recommend this to all fans of FPS who are looking for something that gives them a different experience from the run-of-the-mill fare that is out there.
