PS3 Review – Borderlands
Borderlands has undergone few evolutions since Gearbox first showcased the title. It is an action based shooter at its core that includes character building elements common in RPG games. Does Borderlands merely stand in the shadow of Fallout 3 or does it manage to carve out its own niche?
The events unfold on Pandora, a out of the way planet on the edge of the galaxy. Once Pandora had such promise and the original settlers were drawn there with hopes of better lives and vast mineral resources. It was soon realized that Pandora was a vast wasteland crawling with unspeakable monsters. Those with the means to escape did so. Others were not so lucky and were left to fend for themselves. Their only hope is a mysterious Alien Vault carved into the side of the mountain that contains vast alien technology and secrets. This vault is shrouded in mystery as the original people that discovered it have been wiped out.
Fast forward nearly 200 years after the discovery of the vault. You and several other fortune seekers are drawn to Pandora in hope of accessing the vault. Upon arrival in the town of Fyrestone, you are met with a vision of a mysterious lady known as the Guardian Angel. She knows of your travels and wants to assist you in finding the vault. Now you must traverse this vast wasteland fighting bandits and monsters, all in the hope of discovering the mythical vault.
The world of Pandora offers you four characters to begin your journey: Brick the Berserker, Lilith the Siren, Mordecai the Hunter, and Roland the Soldier. Each have unique weapon specialties and special abilities. If you choose the same character in two different play troughs, by the time you finish, they can be completely different from each other. Besides simply leveling up your character, you also level up each type of weapon. Focusing on mostly sniper rifles will make you an extremely powerful sniper at the expense of your other weapons. This offers some great replayability options as in one play through, you could be very proficient with sniper rifles and shotguns, while in another you’re a pistol marksman.
The story starts out decent, but in the end is fairly forgettable. It does a good job of at least explaining why you are on Pandora. With all the running around that the quests require of you it’s hard to tell what is a main story quest and what is a side quest.
The gameplay more then makes up for the lack of story. Borderlands is a FPS RPG that sets its focus on loot and guns. To say guns are a focus is an understatement, it’s almost an obsession in Borderlands. This is by far the most guns I have seen in one game. The developers claim that a couple hundred thousand to over a million guns are present. That may seem far fetched, but once you start playing the game and realize how many different combinations of firepower, reload speed, and environmental effects there are, it seems quite possible. Vehicle controls resemble those of Halo and allow for a buddy to hop in and gun.
As your character levels up more life becomes available, which is essential since it does not regenerate. Generally the harder the enemies are, the more life they can take away with each hit. Shields will become available to you very early on which do have regenerative powers. Shields can be upgraded by finding or purchasing new ones.
At level five special abilities will be unlocked. These are different for each character and really can come to your aid when you’re in a bind. From level five on, you gain one skill point per level to put towards your special ability or yourself. The list of upgradable characteristics is quite large, ranging from health to shield regen speed to better accuracy. When distributed correctly you are a force to be reckoned with.
10 Responses to “PS3 Review – Borderlands”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:48 AM
I must say I felt pretty much the same about everything you mentioned here. Nice Review. The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned does a nice job of extending the gameplay, giving a little more variety in enemies, and actually has a somewhat decent story line so far (haven’t finished it yet though). So for any of those who enjoy this game, definitely try the DLC.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:19 AM
I’d be all over this game, if it weren’t for the butt-ugly graphics. Too bad they couldn’t have made the story more interesting, sounds like a really intriguing premise.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:38 AM
thes game so suck i pay 200 DHM for floop game & its must have 1 / 5
November 30th, 2009 at 11:28 AM
JackC8 – I think you’re missing that the graphics use a different art style than most games we see today. Borderlands uses an art style very similar to Prince of Persia, FAR FROM UGLY! Besides, you shouldn’t miss a great game just because you don’t like its art style. That would be like me saying I’m not going to play Modern Warfare 2 because it looks TOO REAL!
November 30th, 2009 at 11:49 AM
I’ve had a great time with this game, currently level 48 on my main. While the main story was kind of lacking, i really liked the Cthulu style boss at the end. I liked the Zombie Island DLC alot, good story and quests, new enemies and a great environment. The weapons only get better on your 2nd playthrough. I thought the graphics were great in this game, Gearbox did a great job on this, definitely a sleeper hit.
November 30th, 2009 at 11:56 AM
I hope this is on a cyber monday sale today, I never picked it up, but it sounds pretty good.
November 30th, 2009 at 1:22 PM
this game is awesome and l’m glad l picked it up last friday. l love RPS games
November 30th, 2009 at 3:07 PM
Love the game. Most fun I had playing a game this year, besides Uncharted 2. Also, the Island of Dr. Ned DLC was pretty cool too.
November 30th, 2009 at 6:12 PM
I’ve have 100% of the trophies on this even the DLC ones.Awesome game.Anyone who doesnt get this is lame…i dont even like FPS games and I love this game.
November 30th, 2009 at 6:30 PM
I haven’t finished it yet, but this game is a blast. It is kind of the same progression as Diablo, where you keep playing for the next loot drop and level up. If you even remotely like this style of play, go for it. I bought the DLC but I haven’t played it yet so I have no opinion there, but I’m glad to hear other people are liking it.
If I could only get back to it… Assassin’s Creed 2 is keeping me away from everything else right now….