The Button Presser

Does this RPG/FPS Deliver? Get Ready To Enter the Borderlands and search for the Vault!



Borderlands is a game that held my attention for about two weeks, and never let go. It's satisfying Shooting and plethora of guns and quests to complete, made it one of the funnest games I have played all year. There's plenty of content here to hold you over for quite some time, and the great addition of co-op only makes it better. You've no doubt seen or heard about it's "Bazillions of Guns" from it's marketing campaign, and their almost right. Besides the Main Storyline Bosses you will face that drop specific weapons, you will most likely never find the same gun twice. This was true for me even after 40 hours of gaming in the world of Pandora.

Things start out in Borderlands with a quick introduction video to explain the story of the Vault, a hidden structure in Pandora that is said to hold many luxurious items to obtain and possible alien technology. The people of Pandora know the tale back and forth, and the four playable classes set out to find the Vault. Guided by a mysterious woman called "The Guardian Angel", they begin their quest in Fyrestone, the first town you will visit. From here, the hunt for the vault truly begins!



The classes in Borderlands all have an default appearance and all have names. The Big Guy in the game is Brick, the Berserker who can take a lot of damage and can primarily serve as the Tank to absorb damage for the other players, then theres Roland, the soldier class that is great to play when you're all alone since his Turret can be upgraded to Regenerate ammo and health, Mordecai the Hunter, who excels at Long Distance Combat and can summon his pet Bloodwing to swoop in and attack enemies, and Lilith the Siren who can use her magic like attacks to deal some damage to the enemies you'll come across in the game. All play pretty well, and you can have a great time playing no matter who you chose to play as.




The Enemies are well designed too. The cover of the game features the Raider Psychos, who love to charge you and deal some up close melee damage, and there are midget version of these guys that are hilarious as they run and scream at you attempting to hit you with their pipes or shotguns. Many other enemies become increasingly hard as you level up, and playing with co-op makes them even more tougher.



Co-op play is great in this game. Players can drop in and out of your game if you allow them too, and can complete quest with you no matter where they are in the game. But be careful, because unless you have already completed missions that they are doing, you will have to do them again in your own game. It's also good to be about 6-10 levels in range of each other, as the difficulty and number of enemies increase in co-op play. Lag will pop up occasionally, but most of the time it plays pretty smooth online even with it's large environments you're able to explore together. Splitscreen and System Link play are also available, so online or off, you can still play with friends. More games should do this!

The Level cap of 50 is a nice level to peak at, and getting there will probably require you beating the game at least once. Beating the game for the first time will unlock playthrough 2, which has tougher enemies and better loot, and also allows you to keep your previous level and items.



Overall, this game has a ton of gameplay to last quite a while, and more dlc is coming down the line, which is pretty sweet. If you like RPGs and FPS shooters, Borderlands is a game that truly gives you the best of what these two great genres can offer.




+ Great visuals and music add to the immersive gameplay
+ There really is tons of guns to find
+ Co-op is awesome can be played splitscreen, Lan, and Online
- Few Glitches Here and There can be annoying
- Not enough inventory to hold the Bazillions of guns
- Nasty save corruption happening on all platforms. Gearbox is fixing this as fast as they can

How does it look?
Borderlands looks great and the cel shaded like graphics make it unique from other Apocalyptic games

How does it play?
Mostly like a great shooter. Aiming at the head will hit the enemies head. The RPG elements come into play with the quests, and how you upgrade your character.

How long does it last?
It took me roughly 30 hours to beat, and I played for about 10 more in playthrough 2. I got to level 42 in that time

Is it a buy or rent?
If you have the money, I would say Buy. It will last for quite some time and more content is coming down the line. Helping friends out in Co-op adds to the value as well.