Bordering on greatness
Borderlands blasts its way onto game consoles
By KENNETH BRISENDINE
Issue date: 11/12/09 Section: Entertainment
Borderlands, available on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, is a science fiction, first person shooter with just enough role playing game elements to make it addictive.
At first, I was not impressed by this title, and I am not usually a fan of first person shooters. Little by little, this game started to grow on me. The great co-op mode, above average online play, ability to level your character, developing customizable abilities and guns and shielding upgrades make it quite addictive.
The four characters are hit or miss. Mordecai and Lilith are really well designed, while Roland is a little bland; Brick is really annoying. Each has a different specialization and special ability which can be modified with upgrades and the skill tree. I found the guide robots, known as Claptraps, to be irritating.
The design seems half-hearted; it tries to blend 3D graphics with an illustrated looking style that does not seem fully implemented. I think it would have been better if they had gone one way or the other. The monsters and locals on planet Pandora, however, look cool enough.
There are 130 missions, more guns than you could possibly count, amusing bosses and some fun vehicles.
The four characters and the amount of customization allow a lot of replay value that makes it worth the $60 price tag.
One of the initial turn-offs of the game was the difficulty of the enemies. I was expecting more run-and-gun fun, but it takes quite a few shots to take down the bad guys at the beginning of the game. As you advance it levels out quite a bit. You will be able to kill weaker bad guys with one shot, while the tougher villians will take a little more effort.
A really cool feature is the "second wind" ability; after you have died, you have several seconds to kill an enemy, which will resuscitate you and refill some of your heath and shields. This saved my rear quite a few times. In co-op and online play, friends can also heal you when you are down.
The story is not exactly riveting, but that is not what I was expecting in a game like this. The game is not perfect by any means and there have been some major bugs reported, which they have been working on correcting. But, if you like co-op games this is definitely for you. Online play is very good and solo play is also good, but not great. Initially, I thought this would be my first negative game review, but give Borderlands a chance to grow on you and I think you will find it a treat.
At first, I was not impressed by this title, and I am not usually a fan of first person shooters. Little by little, this game started to grow on me. The great co-op mode, above average online play, ability to level your character, developing customizable abilities and guns and shielding upgrades make it quite addictive.
The four characters are hit or miss. Mordecai and Lilith are really well designed, while Roland is a little bland; Brick is really annoying. Each has a different specialization and special ability which can be modified with upgrades and the skill tree. I found the guide robots, known as Claptraps, to be irritating.
The design seems half-hearted; it tries to blend 3D graphics with an illustrated looking style that does not seem fully implemented. I think it would have been better if they had gone one way or the other. The monsters and locals on planet Pandora, however, look cool enough.
There are 130 missions, more guns than you could possibly count, amusing bosses and some fun vehicles.
The four characters and the amount of customization allow a lot of replay value that makes it worth the $60 price tag.
One of the initial turn-offs of the game was the difficulty of the enemies. I was expecting more run-and-gun fun, but it takes quite a few shots to take down the bad guys at the beginning of the game. As you advance it levels out quite a bit. You will be able to kill weaker bad guys with one shot, while the tougher villians will take a little more effort.
A really cool feature is the "second wind" ability; after you have died, you have several seconds to kill an enemy, which will resuscitate you and refill some of your heath and shields. This saved my rear quite a few times. In co-op and online play, friends can also heal you when you are down.
The story is not exactly riveting, but that is not what I was expecting in a game like this. The game is not perfect by any means and there have been some major bugs reported, which they have been working on correcting. But, if you like co-op games this is definitely for you. Online play is very good and solo play is also good, but not great. Initially, I thought this would be my first negative game review, but give Borderlands a chance to grow on you and I think you will find it a treat.
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