
DAAAMN!
That's all I could say when I started this game. I remember the days of playing both Morrowind and Oblivion when I would stack drawers and houses so full of items that it would cause my game to either freeze or crash. Then game Fallout 3, another pseudo FPS/RPG where a player is able to level their character as they wish with whatever weapons they wish. Well this game added a whole other dimension in comparison to its previous competitors. I shall explain:
Borderlands is set in the stereotypical post-apocalyptic/societal disarray setting (reminiscent of Mad Max) on a remote planet called Pandora. The game is designed to be set in a distant future in which colonization ships traveled to this remote planet in search for a better life. Yet soon after setting foot on this deserted remote wasteland, the colonists only managed to find deteriorated alien ruins of a supposed lost civilization. Chaos and lawlessness ensues soon after the people with power and authority extracted from the planet. The remaining settlers simply try to get by with few provisions and constant raids from bandits while weapon manufacturers are making a killing distributing weapons to all involved parties.
The story begins with the character selection screen, of which we are given the chance to embody Brick, Lilith, Mordecai, or Roland. Each of these characters seem to have somewhat of an interesting storyline associated, yet very little is revealed or even developed through out the game. Each character possesses different abilities and quirks, and because of my style of gaming, I chose Lilith (the Siren) whose abilities focuses on elemental effects and a powerful skill called "Phase Walking" which enables her to shift into a parallel universe and making herself invisible during this short period. This came especially handy when running away, evading, or simply running through a crowd of enemies. The other three characters also have their own niche accompanied with awesome abilities and upgradable stats.
Now here comes my opinion breakdown:
This game has got to be one of the worst things to have if you are either obsessive compulsive or suffer from attention deficit, for this game will cuddle you and whisper enchanting lullabies while you fulfill your need for carnage and order. The weapons in this game are endless, or so it feels. With each type of weapon broken down into 3 main stats (accuracy, damage and rate of fire) and several other perks, each weapon feels different. I have yet to encounter the same exact weapon throughout the game and I'm fairly sure I've cycled through at least 1000 different weapons and items.
As far as the game goes, it has been infinitely entertaining, and the 4 player co-op makes it that much more fun. Having 4 different characters combine up to unleash a whole can of "whoop-ass" on random. I could see how playability may be somewhat limited as the multiplayer offers very little in the world of "versus", but it should perform wonderfully at those year on end reunion LAN parties where a group of 4 blaze through the game within 24 hours.
For rating I give it the following:
Addictiveness: 9/10
Immersion: 7/10
Artistic Quality: 8.5/10
Innovative: 8/10
Overall Enjoyment: 8/10
Reasons:
I was addicted to this game only because of my obsessive compulsiveness with the weapons and Items. I did not however feel too immersed into the game because the duties of running back and forth between the map, even with fast-travel, made the game a little bit of a chore to play. The stylized appearance and toon shading were very well executed, although I did feel at times where the quality faltered due to the massiveness of the game/world/items. As far as action FPS/RPGs go, I feel that this game is a hard hitter in this decade's lineup (especially when taking into consideration it's well balanced co-op, which is always a plus)
I did enjoy playing this game a lot while it lasted, although I do feel that at a certain point, the game became a lot more about item collecting, management and killing rather than a deep fulfilling storyline. I was somewhat disappointed when the character's story was not developed much further than the first couple of seconds in the intro, but I suppose to please the FPS "shoot whatever moves" Gamer Jocks, its good to keep things simple and cut to the chase.
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