Borderlands

Borderlands from the makers of Brothers in Arms, is extremely hard to define as it's an unprecedented gaming experience. It could be described a science fiction, action, role-playing game, but this doesn't really cover it - you'll just have to play it for yourself and find out!

In Borderlands you have four player options: Roland, Lilith, Mordecai and Brick and a near-endless variety of weapons and character customisation. Your mission is to find a mythical Vault that promises wealth and power. It's hidden somewhere on danger-filled Pandora, a post-apocalyptic, 2000AD-inspired planet. Guided by an Angel who appears out of nowhere, you must navigate this alien barren land and make your fortune.

• Andrew Highton September 26, 2010 PS3

  ****

  Thousands of possible weapons? Attractive cel-shaded graphics? Frenetic gameplay and entertaining characters with humorous dialogue? If any of these features sound appealing to you then continue to read.
  
  Graphics
  
  Borderlands goes down the rarely seen route called "Cel-Shaded Lane". Several games have utilised this style e.g. Prince of Persia and they add an extra bit of surrealism to the game. Now the visuals are certainly pleasing on the eye and they keep with the cartoonish theme of the game and the textures have clear outlines and mark distinguishable features making the game pretty. However the game sadly suffers from serious pop-up as you'll transport form area to area in the game and the game spends precious seconds registering all the details in the environment. Occasionally when your face-to-face with an object you'll notice the significant lack of detail which doesn't necessarily detract from the enjoyability of the game. But when you have games such as Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2 boasting exceptional graphics capable of challenging any game, you can't help but make comparisons. But credit to Gearbox for creating a unique look that for the majority works.
  
  7/10
  
  Gameplay
  
  With good graphics some games fall beyond this hurdle by making their flaws appear beautiful but Borderlands has virtually none to speak of. From the first 5 minutes of the game you will be introduced to an intuitive tutorial of simplistic controls. The handling of the weapons feel smooth whilst the player mechanics are standard. The genre of the game can best be described as "RPS" or "Role-Playing Shooter" as the genre is a cross-breed of First Person Shooter and Role Playing Game. A recognisable game that used this formula was the critically acclaimed Fallout 3 and this certainly does offer a different varied experience. You're given the choice of 4 characters who, although have no individual stories of their own, have different properties. My initial selection was Mordecai the scout who is armed with favourable sniping skills and his own special ability unique to him. There are MORE than enough missions, varied tasks too, to keep you entertained without making the experience unpleasantly boring. It uses the same clichéd elements most RPG's use as your character kills enemies, completes missions to earn experience points and eventually levels up. One of the surprising satisfactions I found was the upgrading of weapons and other equipment. All weapons and equipment are designated by colour which represents different levels of rarity; finding a new weapons that is better than your current one gives you a sense of achievement for finding this new accessory that will become your new best friend.......temporarily. To be honest though the Enemy AI isn't really up-to-scratch because even though the toughness of each enemy increases (and their are quite a few of them) they don't get any smarter.
  
  9/10
  
  Story
  
  As good as the gameplay is, one of the biggest letdowns of the game is unfortunately the story itself as an ungripping journey and unimaginative conclusion detract from the games qualities. The story itself centres around a mysterious vault that can yield unimaginable power and chaos but at no point through the game do you feel intrigued as to what unimaginable power he vault holds. Throughout your adventure you complete main quests that slowly reveal details about the vault and the characters who'll play in an integral part of the story too. It's a similar cliché for all RPG games to have a story that can't quite live up to the expectation of the game and I believe this is no exception. The true atrocity of the story though is the ending, which I will not divulge any information about, as you have battled your way for countless hours to reach your destiny as the "chosen one" if you will. But after a pulsating final few locations you reach its conclusion and you think "what was that? Did I seriously just spend all this time playing just to do that?". Needless to say it's one of the most disappointing endings to a game I've encountered in YEARS.
  
  6/10
  
  Sound
  
  On-going music whilst your travel in this genre game is an absolute must and it also has to be pleasing on the ears as you'll be roaming around an open landscape for hours so you'll need an audio companion. Music suits......no builds the atmosphere in this game as you'll hear a dark piece of soundtrack to suit the night-time time zone along with the toughness of the particular area your in. Then it'll suddenly jump to a more action-influenced piece of music as you franticly battle with a hoard of enemies. The sound effects are a plenty ranging from the countless weapons in the game (each with unique sound) to the noises of characters and the enemy alike. The noises are certainly distinguishable as you'll hear one noise and think "Haha one of those pesky little things are trying to catch-up to me". To "OH NO RUUUUUUN FASTER". The voice-acting is very good too with minor characters who serve no relevance to the game providing a few lines of different dialogue to the game's unofficial mascot CL4P-TP or Claptrap. He is replicated throughout the game in different forms but he is your companion for the majority and he adds a lot of humour to the game. Whether he's talking about his own robotic problems or showing of his dancing and singing he really makes the game lighter and makes you smile.
  
  9/10
  
  Hours
  
  The game consists mainly of missions and nothing but, there are no collectibles apart from a few clap-traps to rescue but even then they are missions. But this isn't a bad thing, some consist of getting from A to B whilst some can be killing a big boss. There is definitely variety with tasks plus you'll also have lots of missions to do that are aside from the story missions such as the claptrap rescues and individual missions for minor characters. Generally your first play through, depending on how many missions you attempt, can take you between 50-70 hours taking into account ability. After completing a single play though you can do a 2nd play through where all the enemies start at the same level as you ended the first play through but you can complete all the missions again for additional XP for those missions. If after this completion your officially a Borderlands fanatic, you may want to have a go at play through......2.5! dum-dum-dum. If you feel bold enough to try this then this time around you will have no missions to complete and nothing else to do other than go from area to area facing enemies that are all level 50. The keyword is survival and you can see the developers want you to get the most out of the game.
  
  9/10
  
  Conclusion
  
  Borderlands is a breath of fresh air with its nice looking but inconsistent graphics, the gameplay is terrific fun and the variety of weapons and new accessories always makes you search every nook and cranny of the game looking for new and better equipment. There is more than enough content in this game to keep occupied especially with a well made soundtrack and countless comedic bits of dialogue from characters (claptrap in particular). If you can overlook the disappointing story as the major downfall of this game then you'll absolutely love this unexpected treat of a game.
  
  9/10
  

• Matt Taylor March 26, 2010 360

  ****

  Seemingly unlimited number of weapons, unhinged humour, 2-man vehicles...
  
  Probably the best 4 player co-op game you can buy. Seriously, if you have 3 friends you play online with regularly, why haven't you bought this?
  
  It's a riot!
  
  Perhaps more aimed at the hardcore gamer market but I'm sure it's easy enough for anyone to play who's had a little shooter game experience.
  
  It's a lot of fun and did I mention you can melt peoples faces? (it's all in good taste)

• Alex Langsworth November 22, 2009 360

  ****

  Firstly, Borderlands is not to be considered either an average adventure role-playing game, nor an average first-person shooter. Borderlands mixes elements of both of these genres into a quirky, yet lovable combination. Gearbox, the game's developer, has dubbed this game an RPS (role-playing shooter) due to its engaging shooting gameplay with the levelling and item system used in other adventure games.
  
  The graphical style of Borderlands is almost comic-like in appearance, with the liberal use of cell-shading graphics that give the game a very unique feel. While the setting of the game is very reminiscent of Fallout 3, the style and feel of the characters and enemies could not be more different.
  
  The story is the only real let-down with Borderlands. For those that would want an engaging and plot-driven story like Fallout, they are not likely to find that with this game. The story mainly centres on a planet called Pandora, which is said to contain a vault, in which can be found treasure, power and alien technology. Your character (one of four playable classes) sets off to find this vault. While the premise of the story is interesting enough, the game leaves you with little explanation during the actual gameplay.
  
  Gameplay in Borderlands consists of quests that can be completed to further the main story, as well as quests that grant you experience and items. The main attraction of Borderlands is the fact that the actual movement and fighting plays just like a game like Halo. The mechanics of battles and general exploration in Borderlands is extremely similar to the Halo franchise, but the game also lets you obtain new guns and skills as you progress.
  
  Another great aspect of this game is the ability to complete it several times with the same character. Once you have finished it for the first time, you have the option of doing it all again, but keeping your stats and weapons from the first time round. Also, all the enemies and available items are better the next time around, which makes for an interesting second playthrough.
  
  A fantastic addition to the game is the fact that you will almost never find two of the exact same weapon. Each weapon you find will have a randomly generated set of stats, making each item find an exciting experience.
  
  Each character class in Borderlands has also got a special skill available to use from level 5 onwards. This skill can be levelled to provide the user with more damage to inflict upon the enemy. These skills range from turning invisible to employing a portable turret to take down your enemies.
  
  To keep the gameplay fresh and accessible, there is a feature called "second wind". This means that when you are defeated by an enemy, you have a chance of gaining a little bit of health back by killing another enemy that you can see in the next 30 seconds or so. This is a great feature that makes the challenges that bit easier.
  
  Lastly, the entire game can be played with up to four people together online. When this happens, all the enemies you battle will be a bit tougher, but the rewards you find will be that bit better. While the single-player experience is great by itself, the ability to play with friends makes this game one of the best this year.
  

• Borderlands: Main Trailer 360PS3 | 01:43 Play Trailer