A couple of weeks ago, I picked up Borderlands by Gearbox Software. I was starting to twitch from my lack of Fallout 3 FPSRPG goodness and I hoped this would at least give me a "fix". Luckily, it did. While it didn't meet Fallout 3's depth for story and missions, it brought the co-op element to the table. Something that would have made FO3 even more amazing.
Borderlands is set on a planet called Pandora. You are referred to as a "Treasure Hunter" whose goal is to find the mysterious "Vault". You are guided by a weird black-haired, fuzzy TV angel. At the very beginning, you have your choice of playing one of four characters. You can choose to be a Siren, a Hunter, a Beserker or a Soldier. Each, of course, has his/her own specialties. As a Hunter, you are an ace marksman with rifles, the Soldier is trained with general weapon skills, the Beserker is a melee badass and the Siren can handle her pistol like ... wait... nevermind. She's just very talented with pistols. They also each have what's called an "Action Skill". This special skill complements the style of play your character has.
The RPG elements of the game are not tedious at all. You level up, apply points to skills, find, buy and loot upgraded weapons, elemental artifacts, shields, backpack upgrades and character mods - Very simple, very nice.
The story is meh. Nothing really new.
There is a vehicle that comes into play when you've done a few of the first missions. It's incredibly easy to drive but if you think you can just drive into a hive of bandits who have a distinctly higher level than you and destroy them, think again. Your vehicle can only take so much damage before blowing up in your face. They do come in very handy if you're like me and get bored of running everywhere. The game areas are decent sizes. I think the maps are a little deceptive since they feel so much bigger when you're looking at them than when you're running from place to place. I would also have loved a more detailed HUD mini-map but at least you have waypoints to follow.
Enemies range from human bandits to acid spitting "Skags". The names were amusing in themselves, especially during my second run. You encounter them during missions and also just roaming the wastelands. The main bosses were also amusing in their own ways. The description of the first boss you encounter made me giggle like an idiot. Some enemies seemed much easier than others but again, nothing really ground-breaking with them.
That's the other thing - your enemies do not level up with you. They are at set levels, so if you try and destroy a "badass bruiser" when you're a level one, expect to watch body parts decorate the desert in a matter of seconds. But have no fear, after the first few missions, the saving system steps up - but watch it, it will cost you.
I wasn't sure I would like the art style of the game - it's more of a cel-shaded style but not so far gone that it's completely unbelievable. It's actually fun to look at and the level of detail achieved with the style is pretty nice. The soundtrack fits with the game perfectly, too. Lots of twanging guitars but not in an annoying way. It just fits.
I found the game fairly easy. I turned into a "critical shot" master with my sniper rifle and an "in your face" goddess with my shotgun. Whoever said diamonds are a girl's best friend was way off.
I got through the game in a few days. Definitely worth a rental, at least. Hopefully this title is going to be graced with updated content. It was fun and deserves to be kept alive.
so this game is SOO ME!
