Review: Borderlands

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Damn, I was looking to get this, but if the single player really is that boring maybe I won't. After okaying Oblivion I've learned what the word "repetitive" means in gaming.

And yeah! "You get guns that shoot lightning (haven't seen any shurikens yet)" I laughed so hard on that!

 

[Booze Zombie]

The cel shading thing is a gimmick if you ask me -- an excuse for critics to call it "artistic". The world doesn't seem all that unique -- it's a lot like Fallout 3.

If you like to think that a desert and a nuclear wasteland look the same...

The cel shading is a unique graphical choice in a modern game, it's not "artistic", it's stylish and if you didn't read the blurb on the back of the game's cover, the cel shading should tell you what the tone of the game is.

The tone of the game is "fun", over the top and violent.

Also, Fallout 3's world felt dead and artificial, even for a nuclear wasteland.
Borderlands feels a lot more alive, I think.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Damn, I was looking to get this, but if the single player really is that boring maybe I won't. After okaying Oblivion I've learned what the word "repetitive" means in gaming.

And yeah! "You get guns that shoot lightning (haven't seen any shurikens yet)" I laughed so hard on that!

I've spent about 30 hours on the single player, and loved every second.

It is not boring to play alone, it's just a different kind of game.

Single player: subtle and immersive.

Playing with friends: chaotic and funny.

 

[Sexy Street]

Personally, I disagree with the sentiment that the single-player is tedious and dull. I've been playing single-player just as much as multi-player, and I find both to have a roughly equal balance of pros and cons. Granted, I'm the sort of loner who tends to solo in MMORPGs, so I'll agree that most people will probably prefer having some friends around, but going it alone still isn't that boring. And I've actually found that single-player gets a better loot turnout: individual pieces of loot may have a higher chance of being better in multi-player, but it feels like it isn't scaling up enough (i.e: the value of loot dropped with 4 players is less than 4x the value of loot dropped with 1 player).

Either way, still an awesome game.

It's not tedious and dull so much as it is extremely unwelcoming, I found. I had a hell of a time getting into the game when I played it at first, going solo - the world felt very lonely, and clearing respawns when I trekked into Skag Gulch over and over was pretty repetitious. Playing it co-op makes it a much more welcoming experience.

skag gully good sir! Skag gully...

 

[antipunt]

I found this game a lot more fun than I originally anticipated. Rarely have I recently enjoyed a game with a superficial storylines.

 

[MarsProbe]

Looks like a fun game, but alas, due to the reliance on playing with other people over solo play, I think I'll be giving this one a miss. I just don't have enough friends on my list with Borderlands to ensure I'd always have people to play with.

An aside maybe, but every time I see the word "punk" ungainly welded onto the end of another, sometimes to create a new genre/style, it rather gets my back up. Yes, atompunk and *sigh* stitchpunk, I'm looking at you...

 

[300lb. Samoan]

wow, I've never gone from 'blissfully unaware' to 'chomping at the bit' so damn quickly!

I don't even know why, probably because it strikes me as Team Fortress meets Fallout 3. Also probably because of the co-op multiplayer.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

every time I see the word "punk" ungainly welded onto the end of another, sometimes to create a new genre/style, it rather gets my back up. Yes, atompunk and *sigh* stitchpunk, I'm looking at you...

every time you see that happening, you can rest assured that it's just some flavor of bullshit because true punk stands alone. it's independent by definition.

 

[MarsProbe]

every time you see that happening, you can rest assured that it's just some flavor of bullshit because true punk stands alone. it's independent by definition.

I missed out biopunk. Have no idea where I heard it last, I think I most recently heard it used to describe Bioshock in a way.. Cyber- and Steampunk are still fine as well of course. Though I digress....

 

[300lb. Samoan]

every time you see that happening, you can rest assured that it's just some flavor of bullshit because true punk stands alone. it's independent by definition.

I missed out biopunk. Have no idea where I heard it last, I think I most recently heard it used to describe Bioshock in a way.. Cyber- and Steampunk are still fine as well of course. Though I digress....

Oh yeah, that's true. I'd allow for those because cyberpunk and steampunk have established literary and visual styles. My problem lies with kids who start bands and feel the need to invent a new genre so they just label themselves [blank]-punk and proceed to write garbage that wouldn't hold up at a real punk gig without getting laughed out of the room (and getting a million beer bottles thrown at them.)

 

[Spitfire175]

Borderlands is without a doubt my game of the year, no matter how good MW2 will be. I've never had so much fun with a game as I have had with borderlands.

 

[Fasckira]

I was hugely disappointed with Borderlands, so much so that its lead me to dub it "Boringlands". In co-op it can be a great game but thats only because its your friends making it fun. The game itself is incredibly dull and after the first hour things just get repetitive. It really is just like an MMORPG but without the horde of other players to mix things up a bit.
One of my friends, a huge fan of Borderlands, argued that its not going to be as fast paced and action filled as your typical FPS games due to the RPG element but I respond, "Why not?". Games like Deus Ex and Fallout 3 became hugely engrossing by merit of having a decent storyline that involved the character. I appreciate that this has to be sacrificed slightly due to the co-op nature of the game but thats just it; its like they've put so much effort into making it co-op friendly that all you really have is this wide open desert with the usual fetch quests and respawns.
The graphics are all very pretty of course and the characters are vaguely interesting but the "atmospheric" music is awful, being that of the same few notes playing over and over again (now that I have mentioned this, if you haven't already noticed then you will now!).
Overall, I regret paying £30 for it. Would have been cheaper just to load up Fallout 3, remove the storyline and add an orange hue to the landscape.

 

[SomeUnregPunk]

I was hugely disappointed with Borderlands, so much so that its lead me to dub it "Boringlands". In co-op it can be a great game but thats only because its your friends making it fun. The game itself is incredibly dull and after the first hour things just get repetitive. It really is just like an MMORPG but without the horde of other players to mix things up a bit.
One of my friends, a huge fan of Borderlands, argued that its not going to be as fast paced and action filled as your typical FPS games due to the RPG element but I respond, "Why not?". Games like Deus Ex and Fallout 3 became hugely engrossing by merit of having a decent storyline that involved the character. I appreciate that this has to be sacrificed slightly due to the co-op nature of the game but thats just it; its like they've put so much effort into making it co-op friendly that all you really have is this wide open desert with the usual fetch quests and respawns.
The graphics are all very pretty of course and the characters are vaguely interesting but the "atmospheric" music is awful, being that of the same few notes playing over and over again (now that I have mentioned this, if you haven't already noticed then you will now!).
Overall, I regret paying £30 for it. Would have been cheaper just to load up Fallout 3, remove the storyline and add an orange hue to the landscape.

how odd. I found Fallout 3 to be repetitive and boring. Your stuck in a brown&black&bleak world with barely any real point to keep going. If it wasn't for all the PC mods out there for that game, I would have stopped playing it at level 5 of my character. I agree with the music since I killed it and just stream a radio station in.

 

[Danik93]

I love the game but one mayor fail is the vehicle steering on PC driving with W and S and using the mouse to steer... that's fail!

 

[LilGherkin]

The Claptrap robots have become my new favorite NPC's his dance is hilarious along with their over dramatic bleeding out when you find broken ones.

Just look at how hilarious his acting is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=876X30YznqE&feature=related

 

[Roamin11]

I was hopping Susan Arnt was goin to review this game.

 

[Artorius]

well i am halfway through the story campaign///
and well only thing i could say was the game was well..un-immersive.
almost all of the story is told through text box.
and the NPC well..they talk the same lines over and over and over again >.<
and good review xP..
looting is gr8 xP..

 

[DemonCleaner]

every time you see that happening, you can rest assured that it's just some flavor of bullshit because true punk stands alone. it's independent by definition.

I missed out biopunk. Have no idea where I heard it last, I think I most recently heard it used to describe Bioshock in a way.. Cyber- and Steampunk are still fine as well of course. Though I digress....

Oh yeah, that's true. I'd allow for those because cyberpunk and steampunk have established literary and visual styles. My problem lies with kids who start bands and feel the need to invent a new genre so they just label themselves [blank]-punk and proceed to write garbage that wouldn't hold up at a real punk gig without getting laughed out of the room (and getting a million beer bottles thrown at them.)

Yeah,shit like *core music needs do die in a hole somewhere

 

[clank1013]

ive heard alot about the game, but im still undecided.... and to be honest this "review" didnt help a single bit, everything he said i pretty much already knew, i would call this a summary rather than a review. reviews dont just tell u what is goign on in the trailer any1 could do that after playing the game for 5 mins......

 

[DanHibiki]

ive heard alot about the game, but im still undecided.... and to be honest this "review" didnt help a single bit, everything he said i pretty much already knew, i would call this a summary rather than a review. reviews dont just tell u what is goign on in the trailer any1 could do that after playing the game for 5 mins......

well, basically this game is about driving from one end of the map to another killing thousands of semi identical characters.

There's no plot, and the enemies range between roaches to bullet sponges.

The good things about it are the looting (which though is somewhat fun still boils down to finding two good guns out of a pile of vendor trash) and playing with friends.

If you want some mindless fun with your friends, pick it up. If you want a rich gaming experience, just walk away.