Borderlands was developed by Gearbox Software and was first announced in 2007, to be released in 2009 for the PC, 360 and PS3. I was annoyed at release, because they delayed the PC version so they could improve the graphics further beyond the console-counterparts but it turned out to be an excellent game that has sucked up many of my hours.
As a quick FYI, the downloadable content (dlc) can cause problems. I stopped playing at around level 30-40 because my dlc wouldn’t work (only Zombies at this point).
I was waiting for the GOTY Edition, assuming it had the dlc on the disc. It doesn’t. I had to download the dlc and have the same problems – eventually fixed ‘cause I’m a genius, but still (if you need assistance, I’m happy to help, but I’m not gonna post the variety of methods on here, most of which doesn’t work – this one you need shaken and possibly stirred, though maybe not shaken).
There are also notorious problems with playing online, which as I can tell haven’t been fixed. You can find work arounds (e.g. GameRanger), but I just play LAN most of the time.
But, now that I’ve got the game running again with all the dlc, I’m playing it happily – it is great fun. Before I praise the mechanics, gameplay, storyline etc, I’ll let you know my biggest problem with the actual game:
It’s disappointing.
Don’t get me wrong, overall, it’s great! But there are a load of bits (storyline, loot) that are ‘disappointing’. I don’t want any spoilers so I’ll be vague (Hi, I’m Vague – mental note, Vague would be a cool nickname), the bosses are great and there’s a good variety, but just a couple seem like fillers. Particularly when they have a big build up, then it’s the easiest boss you’ve faced. Another disappointment is the loot – all bosses have a set loot-piece, like the first boss always dropping a specific gun and a couple of bits of random ammo etc. This annoyed me, as it’s supposed to be a Roll-Playing game – I DEMAND MORE ROLLING!
Still, the game’s pretty awesome. This was probably my most wanted game that I can remember, couldn’t wait for it and it didn’t disappoint.
You start off the game as one of four characters: Roland (the Soldier), Mordecai (the Hunter), Lilith (the Siren) and Brick (does what he says on the tin). You start looking for a Vault, one that no one else has managed to find, and it supposedly holds lots o’ pwetty tweasures. Reason enough, eh? It’s an exciting journey with your co-op mates and/or several Cl4p-TPs (or Clap-Trap), a small yellow robot that is scared shivering of bandits and weapons, originally for the purpose of helping people but is now just standing around hoping not to be shot.
You make your way through the story levelling up (to a cap of 50 or 61 if you have the Armory of General Knoxx dlc3) and gaining talents (per level from level 5) to fill talent trees. My character, for instance, is Brick. Brick can specialise in melee (talents that make his special ability more powerful), tanking (increases health, shield etc) or explosives (making his launchers do more damage, or regenerate ammo). You get plenty of talent points to reach the most extreme of two talent trees (maybe three with the new levels). But you don’t get your first talent point until level 5, which you have only one place to put it, in your ability at the start of all three trees. For Brick, this is going into a blind-barbarian-foaming-at-the-mouth-murderous-melee-fist-swinging-arms-pumping-rage-of-nastiness, or basically: he puts his dukes up. You can then run around hitting all the bandits and skags ‘til your heart’s content (or until the time limit runs out).
I suppose the other classes abilities are more interesting, but Brick is solid.
As you level, you also gain access to bigger inventories and weapon slots (to a maximum of any 4 weapons to be easily switched between), which leads me onto the next subject: how many guns are there in Borderlands? There are several websites/articles you’ll find on the internet claiming a number, 1 million, 3 million… I, myself, prefer Gearbox’s term pre-release: “A bazillion guns”, which is more-or-less, pretty accurate – It doesn’t matter how many there are, as long as you don’t find them all, which you won’t, ‘cause there’s loads of combinations that ARE randomised from the gun-generating software developed by Gearbox.
To conclude, it’s an excellent game, with plenty of hours worth of play, and a half-decent storyline. The game shines in the characters and settings, set in a similar world as Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, the best in the trilogy (in my opinion) which helps to make it somewhat special and sort of unique compared to other games today. At the very least, it’s something worth trying provided you can stand another FPS (with RPG elements).
Akardo
