Borderlands.  
 
I'd like to think that's all that needs to be said at this point...but it isn't.  In the course of only two days time since release, we have over 2,000 people registered with the achievements progress tracker here on Giant Bomb.  Needless to say...holy fuck.  Now, with the knowledge that Borderlands has been selling out everywhere (much to the surprise of Gearbox if you keep up with Randy Pitchford's Twitter), it would seem that some of you won't get to play the game until sometime next week.  Sorry.  =  / 
 

Consider the following to basically be my review of the game.

• Story that doesn't override the actual gameplay - There is plenty of story there if you are reading the quests and actually listening to all of the little things you are picking up for quest items.   Whether that's enough for you or not is your own thing to judge.  Essentially, though, it's like WoW in the fact that you can get into the game and thoroughly enjoy it without having to know what the hell is going on...but if you WANT to dig up all that story, it's there and ready to be read/heard/seen.
• Memorable NPC characters - It doesn't matter whether it's Claptrap (who I'm SURE will be the new "it" character for people to adore), T.K. Baha, Patricia Tannis, Dr. Zed, 9 Toes, Sledge, or the hilarity of Scooter; I guarantee you that these are characters you won't soon forget.  This is thanks to very original character designs as well as INCREDIBLE voice acting work and well-written, memorable dialogue.  There are even moments that will test your attachment to certain characters.
• Well-balanced gameplay - There's never a point where the game feels like too much of a shooter or too much of an RPG.  As a shooter, it is fully competent in terms of everything from controls to the general feel of shooting a gun.  Meanwhile, on the RPG side of things, it has enough stats and numbers for you to cram into your head that making decisions on switching one piece of gear for the other can sometimes be a bit of a challenge...ESPECIALLY when it comes to class mods.
• Familiarity - One thing that ANY RPG fiend will tell you makes a game worthwhile is the environment you are surrounded by.  I've played through the Arid Badlands in its entirety a total of four times already (that's completing every quest in the area on each run), and I'm STILL not tired of that area.  I can easily identify where I'm at just by looking at a specific pattern of dirt on the ground!  Familiarity is what makes a game like this worthwhile to me.  What's more amazing is that they did all this...in a barren wasteland!!!  Kudos, Gearbox!!!  On the same level, the controls work very much like Call of Duty 4, the "trading" of gear is very much akin to Diablo and Champions of Norrath, and the driving is very much the same as Halo.  However, all of these components combined make for a generally enjoyable experience without having to try and relearn a ton of complicated controls.  Familiarity is EVERYTHING in Borderlands.
• Difficult choices - A good RPG will give you difficult choices when it comes to gear.  "Man, that gun is awesome, but I'm $6,000 short.  Should I sell all this stuff for that gun?"  Even up to the point I've at now (level 24), I'm still sitting back and saying "man, should I get the epic SDU for my shotgun or save up to try and get a better shield"?  Decisions, decisions, decisions.  I made a decision last night to drop my Titan Class Mod (48% max health, +stats for my Tank tree) and instead get a Centurion Class Mod (40% team max health, +stats for Tank tree).  In turn, it was a MUCH better option, as I ended up having MORE health thanks to one of those +stats being for my increased health passive skill.
• Excellent class archetypes - I find it interesting how they were able to take all of the classic RPG archetypes of warrior/barbarian, rogue/assassin, healer/paladin, hunter/ranger, etc etc etc...and turn them into interesting hybrids.  Brick is my main so far, and his ability to be a great tank as well as physical brawling is ASTOUNDING.  Meanwhile, Mordecai is a really well-built ranged class with a "pet" to use for his action skill, but even then, something getting up close to him can go away very quickly.  Roland is an unique way of looking at the healing class, as his heals are TRULY healing "damage" since he has to shoot you for big heals.  It also means that using high fire rate combat rifles in conjunction with big damage is a massive benefit to him.  Sadly, I've yet to try out Lilith, but I'll be playing around with her in the course of next week.
• Reactions - When I shoot someone with a shock-based weapon...and they start going into a convulsion of electrocution, it's one of the funniest and coolest things ever.  Melting someone with corrosive acid, setting enemies ablaze with fire damage, blowing someone up, watching someone's head explode from a well-placed headshot...all of these little things make killing enemies an incredibly fun thing.  It also will result in more "DOOD, THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME" comments than you've ever heard during the gameplay of any other game.