Zero Punctuation: Borderlands
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
I didn't say that, or if I did, it was unintentional. What I meant to say was if you're going to release a game whose single player campaign can't stand up on its own, then why even bother? Why not just release a game specifically for multiplayer if that's where you're going to pour all your effort? Its because it wouldn't sell, or that's what logic and games over history would suggest.Xelanath said:
My original point was simply stating that the single player campaign, especially in console-based FPSs has basically rendered itself irrelevant. Before, multiplayer used to be a nice little selling gimmick with the single player campaign having to stand on its own strengths and merits; now all most people want is the 4-player campaign, so developers put little to no effort into the single player, copping out with saying they "intended it to be played multiplayer".
i was hoping that you would mention the thousands and thousands of guns then complain about the fact that many of them are slightly different versions of the same 5 guns
Throughout the video Yahtzee says, well maybe I'm not liking this because it's more enjoyable with other people, but so is bowel cancer or whatever. While it's true that most things are more enjoyable with more people, it's beside the point. Borderlands is a multiplayer game. If you don't play it with other people, of course it's going to suck. The whole fun of Borderlands is battling it out against the monsters and whatnot as a team. If you play it by yourself it's just a grindfest. It's pretty clear that Yahtzee is not a fan of multiplayer games. So why did he review this game? It's like a food critic reviewing a book.
Yahtzee, did you in fact criticize this game's writing as "unnecessarily good?" Did I hear that right? So the trouble with the writing is that it's good... when it didn't have to be? Curious, that.
Most of the enjoyment from this game, for me, was looking for all the tid-bits which were references to pop or counter culture.
Janis Kobb and Janis town for example is a Firefly Reference.
I also liked a lot of the subtle things the other person I played with missed. Like how after you kill the Rakk Hive you enter a petrified, much larger, rakk hive to retrieve what you were seeking.
Oh, and telling my online comrades that we shouldn't be trying to open Pandora's Vault.
Janis Kobb and Janis town for example is a Firefly Reference.
I also liked a lot of the subtle things the other person I played with missed. Like how after you kill the Rakk Hive you enter a petrified, much larger, rakk hive to retrieve what you were seeking.
Oh, and telling my online comrades that we shouldn't be trying to open Pandora's Vault.
amen. Your the first person that agrees with me that this game is crap i absolutly hate the monotonous repetitive engine where the is nothing the developers have done to show off with the graphics in the game and there is only 4 guns not 22 million no sorry blue shotgun and red shtogun with one extra cartridge is not a completely unique weopon ITS SH*T I HATE THIS GAME NOT BETTER THAN FALLOUT AT ALL im so glad i didnt buy it thanks yahtzee for agreeing that this game is crap and for reviewing it i was looking forward to it all year 
I was honestly shocked he reviewed Borderlands, I was expecting it to be beneath him. I'm actually kinda disappointed he reviewed it. I knew he'd hate it. While he is right on most of the points of the game, I really enjoy it more as a way to play with my friends... It's more of a background thing while we shoot the shit, and talk about how our week was, I can see how it would be shitty with random people or single player. I played it single player and it was really bland.
I will never ever understand how someone thinks that games must have a great single player as well as multiplayer. Multiplayer by itself is not good enough? Don't get me wrong (no really don't get me wrong here) single player experiences are BY FAR my favorite thing in gaming, and I can't stand seeing games shoehorn in multiplayer no matter how "not terrible it is". Bioshock 2, Riddick, Darkness, and even Uncharted 2 (despite its quality) etc are all guilty of this. But Counter Strike? Diablo? and Borderlands? These are games that stand up on their multiplayer alone. In fact they are pretty much only made for multiplayer. This is a game design choice that makes no sense to try and condemn. You don't like multiplayer? Then you don't play it. This is like disliking RTS games and deciding that no one should make em anymore.
I dont get it, i loved the game on single player, i guess u have to know people to do it co-op and i agree with Yahtzee that random pairing in a campaign game is just stupid. I played everything but the underdome on single player and had a blast, i guess im one of the few thenThe Cheezy One said:
Its about Friggin time someone gave Borderlands the beating it deserves. The promised Diablo style world and customizable characters completely fell through. Cardboard cutout player characters online with no individuality, playing the same environments repeatedly with predictable enemy spawns, for the lose.
I'm not even gonna start talking about the complete fail-sauce the graphics got dipped in after they released those BEAUTIFUL early screenshots.
I'm not even gonna start talking about the complete fail-sauce the graphics got dipped in after they released those BEAUTIFUL early screenshots.
I would agree with some other posters here in that I don't think the game was a bad single player experience at all. Certainly I have played a lot of worse first person shooters in my time. I do feel though, that one of the factors that keeps you playing is a desire to get your character powerful and pick up cool new weapons that you can show of to your friends in multiplayer. Also, with the Undersome DLC it actually encourages you to go co-op againsta challenge that would be very hard (not impossible, but hard) to manage on your own. This is a little bit like a MMORPG, but one where you can play casually (ie; for a couple of hours at a time) and still get things done.
It's by no means a perfect game, but it's a whole lot more fun than most released over the last year and has replayability after completion (something that many single player orientated FPSs don't have). And yes I do play this a whole lot more than Modern Warfare 2.
It's by no means a perfect game, but it's a whole lot more fun than most released over the last year and has replayability after completion (something that many single player orientated FPSs don't have). And yes I do play this a whole lot more than Modern Warfare 2.