GameGuide

Borderlands has been described as a first person shooter, with a dash of Diablo. The loot dropping, character-levelling gameplay certainly harks back to that classic. The first person controls and aiming system are cribbed straight from Call of Duty (with the jumping and recharging shields by way of Halo). Last but not least, the graphic style is taken wholesale from the last Prince of Persia game, if that style were used to re-skin Fallout 3.

So, Borderlands should be a train wreck, right?

Actually, all of those disparate elements come together to form something of an enjoyable, if deeply flawed, game.

At its heart, Borderlands is quite simple. You are dropped off on the backwaters planet of Pandora, in search of a legendary alien vault, which may or may not contain vast amounts of treasure. You can choose to play as a defensive soldier, an attacking berserker, an elemental siren, or a sneaky sniper. And then, you’re off (and this is where the Diablo reference really makes sense), taking on missions from various characters, running off to complete them, then running back for your reward.

You’ll make money, level up and gain new powers, and buy and sell all sorts of guns. It’s an unapologetic grind-fest, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t compelling.

There is a lot about Borderlands to like. Despite so obviously tipping it’s hat to many other games, it feels fresh. It can be, at times, a very stylish game. Also, the gunplay feels solid, unlike in that other shooter-RPG hybrid, Fallout 3.

Unfortunately, there are also, as I mentioned, flaws. The first is especially relevant to a small marketplace like New Zealand: this is a game which is best experienced in four player co-op. What that means is, you really need three other friends who own the game and are willing to play with you online. There is a “quick game” option which finds random co-op partners on Xbox Live, but since this is a game that involves taking missions strategically and distributing loot… well, it’s not hard to imagine how that turns out. Not to mention, the lag I experienced in this mode was truly awful.

A smaller complaint is the art style. The cell-shading is fresh and it looks good, but it seems like the designers used that as an excuse to include very little variety. You’ll be sick of drab deserts pretty quickly.

My biggest complaint, though, is the story. There isn’t any. After a promising and classy intro, very little happens. Most of the people you take missions from look generic and boring, and only a few of them have any voice acting at all. Because of this, I found my motivation for playing missions ebbed away after awhile. I couldn’t help feeling that the developers missed an opportunity here.

All in all, despite the flaws, Borderlands is a fun game. It can be an addictive game. But, I’d recommend renting before buying.

Reviewed on: Xbox 360

Available on: XBox 360, PS3, PC


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