Review – Borderlands 0

by Adam Blue • Reviews

Back when Gearbox first announced Borderlands, I liked the look of the graphics and the idea of modifying your weapon how ever you want against the countless combinations. Well, as it turns out I was wrong about the assumption (I wasn’t the only one) with the weapons. The idea would have been cool, but you cannot modify and customize your weapons. Then after some development time, they change the graphics to a cell shaded cartoony look. I was not impressed. But, because of the hype it was receiving, I figured I’d give it a go anyway. I mean, Gearbox has never let me down. And because of the earlier release date, I got the 360 version…and because both Sean and Chad would have that version.

After getting into the game, I realized this is Diablo as an FPS. You mainly kill the same enemies over and over again that are near or at your level, and you collect a plethora of items. Guns, guns, guns, and guns. I guess the game becomes a ‘gun hunter’. You have four classes to choose from, and from there you upgrade certain abilities to your needs. Want to go tank, healing, or a little of both? And with that, each character class has a unique ability that goes along with the upgrades. While doing all of this you have the exact same controls as Call of Duty. Smart move, in my opinion as they are fantastic controls. You can also warp between points so traversing across large areas doesn’t get too boring. There’s a lot of land to cover here, so the addition is welcome. Vehicles are available as well. They can be fitted with a rocket launcher or chaingun, can also be ridden by baddies, and allow for a co-op partner to ride in. Speaking of co-op, the game allows for four players at once to go through the entire game. This for some is the greatest thing ever, while for others, not so much.

The story here is really…nothing. You’re supposed to find an alien vault. And…sometimes someone talks to you about it. And…someone else is trying to get to it. Early game, some people you meet had cool little artsy intros that just seemed to disappear over time. And it didn’t make sense how some minor characters had this, and majors didn’t. I mean, I guess story isn’t a big deal when you’re having so much fun with the gameplay. The one redeeming quality to the story is hearing the journals you’ll collect throughout the game. It has some of the best dialog I’ve ever heard. It’s hilarious! And that goes with some of the other dialog too. It’s all pretty witty and well written. Now if there was just a deep story or mythology to go with it…

You can play this game by yourself or with three other people. The game in co-op is supposed to be harder and better loot is to be found. I personally found better loot when soloing…and sometimes had a better time. Soloing, you really get to know how powerful your weapon is. In co-op, it’s more about how many people you have flanking the enemy. When soloing, I get to go at my own pace and use better loot management strategy. When in co-op, you may play with someone that doesn’t share loot, doesn’t tell you when they find anything, or they keep everything for them self to sell later on. Luckily though, xp and money is shared with the whole party.

There’s really not a whole lot more to say to describe this game. It’s all pretty basic. A diablo style FPS. And as basic as it is, and as turned off as I was initially, I realized this basic gameplay is what makes it fun. But are there any problems with it? In a way, yes. It just felt like things were missing. First, like I mentioned before, story. Being on an alien planet with so much land and so many possibilities, I was hoping for a whole new mythology to get into. But there’s nothing here. There are some neat things hinted at, but I wish for more immersion in this world. At times I’d also compare the world to Zelda: OoT…but then feel there’s too much missing to be that immersed. It was the one area where I think the game lacked. Enemies didn’t have much variety and the world looked to similar. The last two aren’t huge, but it is noticeable.

There’s really not much else to say. This game is fun. I got to lvl 50, almost done with my second play through, and started up the other classes (well, for achievements..but I do plan on playing them more). I think I played ~52 hours. Even with it lacking atmosphere and immersion, I’d say it’s so fun that it could be GoTY. And there’s reason to keep up with your character considering the DLC that could be coming out. We already know of one, Zed’s zombie island, but I hope there’s more and that it’s well worth it.

In the end, I say this is a game to buy. Even someone like me, who only gets into Diablo style games 50% of the time, this one is just fun.

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