Borderlands

Thinking up ways of introducing games gets harder every time I write them. There’s an art to linking something totally irrelevant to a game, and sometimes it’s harder than you might imagine. So, sod the intro, I’ll open like this; Borderlands is pretty damned good. There, you can go now. For those more interested, here’s a quick synopsis. You play as one of four mercenaries who have decided to go to the planet Pandora in search of a mysterious alien treasure known as The Vault, which will grant the opener of said Vault infinite power. Or, you know, something like that. The story pretty much takes a backseat to the action after the intro, but that really isn’t a bad thing in my books, since I think we’re all here for the killing of new and exciting things. There’s a vague attempt at a story with the weird woman who turns up in the corner of your screen and tells you the Vault’s real every now and then, but you can safely ignore her and carry on with your trail of death.

And let me tell you, killing things is fun. Borderlands is a cross between an FPS and an RPG, and it doesn’t seem to favour either side particularly, though there is perhaps a slight lean to the FPS side of things. It takes the RPG elements of levelling up, assigning attributes, stats based fighting (yes, your bullets hurt people depending on its attack and their defence) and taking on quests to get more experience points. Thankfully, the FPS side is easier to imagine, since your playing from a first-person perspective and you’re shooting stuff. You can also hop into a big car and drive around super quick, running things over along the way with a wonderful squelch.

You get a standard variety of guns to fool around with, from your standard pistols, to machine guns, sniper rifles, and rocket launchers. They come in all shapes and sizes, with different advantages and elemental effects to wreak havoc with, so you can put together an arsenal of different weapons to handle any situation. That said, most of the time you’ll just pick out the gun that has the highest attack and use that, regardless of any other effects. Still it’s nice to have the variety in there. The vehicles in the game are customisable in the sense that you can pick the colour and the weapon for the gunners seat, but aside from that there’s nothing you can do with it. It’s actually a great shame, since there’s plenty of stuff you could do with it, but no matter.

The quests themselves aren’t that varied; it’s your standard list of “kill x number of enemies” and “go here, here and here and perform an action”. It’s standard RPG fare, and it would be boring if the gunplay wasn’t as good as it is. Unlike other action RPG’s, bullets go where you aim them, and the only stats being played are attack and defence, so you’re not going to be kept from blowing someone’s brains out if you’ve got their melon square in your sights by some random dice roll that determines whether you hit them or not. There’s also usually plenty of enemies on screen, which can be overwhelming if you’re not a high enough level, but provides a nice little challenge in each gunfight that keeps things interesting, without being too frustrating.

Much has been said about the graphics within the game, as developer Gearbox decided to go for a cel-shaded look, a graphical idea that many look down upon (see Wind Waker). The environments don’t look amazing in this style, but the characters within them are more interesting and visually pleasing, and going for a cartoon style allows for more varied characters and interesting looks to each one. It’s also pretty sweet to see someone’s head explode into a volcano of blood, and with the added cartoon effect it’s almost funny rather than sickening, which is always nice.

There’s a looping soundtrack that bases itself on which environment you’re in at the time, but it mostly sticks to country music, and this fits well with the environment. Dialogue, despite the lack of it, is well voiced and each speaking character is given their own identity. It especially adds character to the Claptraps you find around the place, who are easily the best characters within the game (if you don’t believe me, you should check out their dancing skills). Aside from that, sound effects work with what’s on show and there are no major complaints anywhere else as far as sound is concerned.

Borderlands probably isn’t a game for everyone. FPS fans will be put off by the large amount of RPG elements involved, and RPG fans may not like the gearing towards a straight-up shooter. But if you’re looking for a neat little cross between the two, then this is a definite buy. It’s like Fallout 3, only… fun!

Score: 8/10

Got your own thoughts? Think I’m wrong? Leave a comment below!