 Limits on Game of the Year territory... |
| Review Date: October 21, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Justin (ZeroDown), Bronx, NY |
this is my first review, hope it's caring (feel free to leave a comment and tell me what i did incorrect/right). anyway, on with the amateur ramblings!
when i first saw the trailers for Borderlands a couple of months ago, i said to myself "that looks incredible (in both the graphical and gameplay departments), but it seems to be trying way too hard". i also plotting it looked like what Fallout 3 would've been if it was a FPS with RPG fundamentals as opposed to the RPG with FPS view that it is.
as a bit of side information, i got Killzone 2 a week ago and have been before a live audience it frenziedly. i've by now beaten it twice and i've spent pretty much every waking moment (to my girlfriend's annoyance) before a live audience the campaign or the multiplayer. when i woke up today there was a manner of language on my stoop. i told myself i'd open up Borderlands first (i also bought Resistance 2 and a few ancient school PS1 games (FFIX!)) and play it til the first save or checkpoint. this was at 11am, i'm prose this review at 11:30pm and save for going to dinner with my friends and dropping my sister off at the dorms, i've played the entire time. this game is just that engrossing and sheer fun
i don't reckon i can clarify just so what makes Borderlands so fantastic... there's just something about it. reviews i had seen on a few sites said that it takes a while for the game to get going and that by the 10th hour or so it really starts to be fun. well, if the game gets much more fun than this, it will be close to my game of the year. everything about Borderlands oozes style and like (meaning you can just tell how much the developers cared about this project). the pacing of the game is fantastic, the problem is a small up there, but it works and is never frustrating. the reins are spot on as far as openness, but some of the button mapping is a bit extraordinary (who maps fire to L2? and there doesn't seem to be a way to change it). the AI is fantastic with weapon-based enemies finding anyplace they can to duck behind and fire for cover, while the dog like creatures just get right up in your face. this can be frustrating, but it really makes you feel excellent when you finally blast them away.
the RPG fundamentals are just kinda... there. while i don't reckon they detract from the game, i also reckon that they could have been implemented another way lacking the by and large game changing on a base level. that being said, Borderlands does a fantastic job of Diablo style leveling-up. part of the reason i couldn't stop before a live audience is cause you're ALWAYS construction up your character in some small way. it's just incredibly addictive and fulfilling. the one minor nitpick that i can throw in here is having to press square every. single. time. you wanna pick up an item. you can hold it down to pick up multiple items that are very close to each other, but you'll be pressing square A LOT. i know tehre's some things you might not want, but you spend so much time in your supply screen anyway, they may as well have made it so you just run over something to grab it.
Borderlands sells itself on the plotting of it's "87 Bazillion Guns". i've heard real estimates that say there's at least a few hundred thousand and that sure seems to be right. you'll NEVER stumble on the same gun twice. it's both a excellent and terrible thing. observably it's fun to try out all sorts of different combinations, but a lot more often than you'd like, you'll wind up with a weapon that, while not useless, is just pretty lame and underpowered. when you do find that exact sniper rifle that shoots lighting, has a 500-round clip and a 120x zoom (just as one of soooo many examples), it'll all be so very valuable.
the rest of my nitpicks, and by the way, that's all they are, cause i don't see a single legitimate huge complaint with this game, would be as follows: while the game looks cool in it's own way, it reckon it's nearly like a cop-out art style, maybe they didn't feel like doing textures or something. there's also severe framerate issues where you're in the middle of large battles. the vehicles, which make being paid around so much simpler,don't handle excellent at all and you get less Exp when you kill an enemy with your car as opposed to being on foot. i wish there were large online multiplayer deathmatches and CoF battles and the like. i'll have to check out the online "duels" at some point, see if they nearly make up for that.
when you get right down to it though, this is just an incredible game all around. the graphics have a sheen and polish that not many games have (it's fun to see small HP numbers rolling off someone as you shoot them in the face). i still reckon Borderlands is trying a bit too hard to be "cool" in the way a Tarentino or Guy Ritchie movie would be, but it just works anyway (much like a Guy Ritchie movie haha). in the end there's just something about Borderlands, some intangible quality, that makes it such a valuable encounter. i haven't played the online co-op yet, so i can't speak to that, but the single player is one hell of a ride. the areas might all look a tad samey, there's only four character classes to choose from. the pouring physics are pretty terrible and there's not much variety in your enemies. thing is, none of that matters, Borderlands is incredible in spite of all of it's very minor flaws.
if you've ever liked an FPS, if you've ever liked level-up-fests like Diablo, etc, hell, even if you wanted more action from Fallout 3, you owe it to yourself to at least give Borderlands a chance. this, along with Killzone 2, BlazBlue, Uncharted 2, Dirt 2 (and i can only assume the new Ratchet and Clank game) is one of the top 5 best games of 2009. there's a damn excellent chance that this game is considerably better than any other videogame you're looking to get on Amazon... pick Borderlands immediately. you won't be let down.
delight in. hope this helped. =) |
Extremely excellent times
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| Review Date: October 26, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Yossarian, Durham, NC USA |
Borderlands is a heck of a lot of fun. As a guy who has played a lot of post-apocalyptic games (yes, including Harsh environment/Fallout -> Fallout 3), I have to admit that Borderlands hits that nice sweet spot between pure FPS and pure RPG. In Borderlands, you pick one of four characters and get to go for a romp in a fun quasi-post apocalyptic harsh environment that is part Mad Max and part Pitch Black. In the end, you are on a different planet that is a rough and tumble outback world filled with nasty aliens, rogue humans, and lots of gunfights. It's a excellent time.
Borderlands is not as much an RPG as Fallout 3, for example -- your character is more of a Diablo style with skill trees rather than fully customizable. Quests are also less elaborate, and a bit more on rails with areas unlocking for exploration only as you advance the plot. Borderlands also reminds one of Mass Effect for its combat heavy emphasis and shield technology, but let's get down to some information:
1) Guns, guns, guns. I knew Borderlands was hyping its "17 trillion guns" bit, but didn't realize quite how awe-inspiring this would be until I really got into it. It really is incredible how varied the weaponry is. With just a 20th level character, I've by now found sniper rifles that launch explosive rounds, rocket launchers that set everything on fire in a 10 foot radius, scoped shotguns that place 8 slugs in a tight circle on target from 200 meters away, SMGs that fire 4 shots at a time and electrocute the target, and everything in between. A excellent gun can really make a alteration in a fight, such as finding a strong sniper rifle early, or being paid a machine gun with a +60 round magazine that lets you walk up to someone and place a hundred rounds into their face. Sometimes enemies drop guns, but more often you'll find yourself giddy as you open a sealed gun case and see a gleaming new rifle. Really addictive.
2) Weapon proficiencies. As a replacement for of putting points into weapons skills as you level up, you gain bonuses for them the more you use them. This is more realistic and a lot more fun, since it gives you a way to reinforce your powers through use. Clearing a few caves with a shotgun will promptly net you added weapon bonuses that really pay off. Unconnectedly you can also (starting at level 5) place points into your skill trees, so you can get some nice cumulative overlap.
3) Second wind. One fantastic plotting is the "second wind" -- when you get KO'd, you get a few seconds to kill one of your foes and get a "second wind" that pops you back onto your feet. This is particularly nice when you get flooded by mutant dogs or flying enemies lacking notification. In a number of fights, I killed nearly every foe only to have the last couple take me down at close range. With a second wind, you manage to survive -- and it is extremely gratifying.
4) Level resets. One nice feature is that quitting and reloading the game resets all the areas, so you can farm areas repeatedly for EXP, different guns, and the like. This lets you level up if you are having harms, make money, and get those weapons you wanted.
Now, a few negatives:
1) No armor. Your character gets a wide array of selections between guns, grenades, and shield generators. But, there is no other armor in the game. This seems like a huge administration and cuts into the customizability of your character a honest amount. It would be nice to have slightly less guns in exchange for boots, gloves, helmets etc.
2) Level-specific foes. Enemies have a high respawn rate and scale somewhat based on your level. This ordinarily works fine, even if you will face a lot of perilous and right enemies. One problem but is that you seem to do less hurt against higher level enemies. In particular, if a foe is much stronger than you, your weapons do nearly no hurt, while theirs will ruin you. This might be an effort to keep your level growth under control, but you ordinarily find out through trial and error. I had a character go up a level in the middle of a fight, and he went from doing 20 hurt to some high level raiders to doing over 100. It was pretty extraordinary.
3) The graphics in the game are fascinating and appealing, but there are some unfortunate bug things. Despite a nice strong jumping skill, it is possible to get stuck in the territory, which can also effect enemies. NPC scripts can sometimes get broken if interrupted by fights or the like, ordinarily requiring a reload (for example, I've had that small droid from the start of the game freeze up a few times, meaning you can't get through a gate and the game is in the end broken).
4) There are vehicles you can drive around in, which is a further nice feature. They also make excellent heavy weapons platforms if you are having harms with higher level monsters. But they are also a small buggy -- I had one simply blow up for no reason (and with full shields), and a further get stuck on some rocks that wouldn't let me exit and required a reload. And reloads take forever.
All in all, Borderlands is a fun game with much to recommend itself. Popping people with a sniper rifle and then cleaning up with a shotgun or assault rifle is a simple joy that is endlessly repeated. If you're looking for a FPS with character enhancement, or an RPG with lots of fighting, this is your game. |
fantastic PSN game
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| Review Date: November 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: mr.b123, |
This game is very fun to play online! I reckon the single player option is nice but not the right way the game was meant to play. Its simple to pick this game up and run through a couple quests in half an hour or even join on someone else's game. the action is fantastic and if you minimize travel time between action can be rather small. cars are fun and the addendum of challenges make for a fun addendum to the game. The four classes are a nice thought but the skill to develop their skill trees another way give these classes more changeability.
The mods for the grenades and class skills are brilliantly done. Also the skill to level up in weapon skills prevents any class from being limited in weapon choice. This game has many layers to it that keep it more fresh than other MMO-type games.
i would recommend it to anyone that liked Diablo/Diablo II's action/RPG fundamentals. The First person shooter element of this game is fantastic! |
Putting in the all nighters.
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| Review Date: October 29, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Christopher Reeks, |
If you could only clarify a game in one word, that word would be "insane." I've just stayed up till 7:30am and it was all worth it. It's like Killzone2 frantic and the RPG fundamentals of the first Baulder's Gate on PS2. I'm a level 28 soldier. Now the weapons are insane, I've had a shotgun that shot rockets, an SMG with explosive rounds, an SMG with a four spread shot so each round is four projectiles, a heavy machine gun with fire rounds, and a revolver with 303 hurt and zoom scope (meaning it's my sniper rifle for medium range, HAND CANNON!). The only thing that sucks is if you have a rocket launcher it has no hit detection (if you reckon your going to hit a target aim at the ground at its feet, its the only way to cause hurt, GEARBOX please send us all a patch!).
Other than that, see you on the Pandora on PS3. |
More than the sum of its parts
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| Review Date: January 25, 2010 |
| Reviewer: James Skemp, Madison, WI United States |
==What I was in the family way==
After all the hype and reviews I was in the family way a ripe-off, albeit a honestly excellent one, of Fallout 3. Of course, Diablo II with it's randomly generated baddies and weapons (and drops in all-function) was also mentioned. Seeing as how I played Diablo II and its expansion quite a bit when they were released, and categorically loved Fallout 3 (purchasing all of the DLC and even being paid into the double-digit levels for a second evil/neutral player), this sounded like something I would delight in. One thing I wasn't sure about was the first-person aspect, having a commonly weak stomach for 'twitch' games.
Because of this I chose to hold off until the price dropped, after a handful of months. But as I had a coupon that I wanted to use towards a game (since I was in one of those moods where I just needed something new to play) I chose to pick this up.
==What I got==
A pleasant bolt from the blue. Having just beaten the game after before a live audience for around 2 weeks (with two batches of the flu in there) this is probably one of my favorite games of the last year; certainly in the top 5.
==RPG fundamentals==
Borderlands has a honestly robust skill tree, for each of the four character classes, similar to Diablo II versus Fallout 3; the former having a small set of skills, within a couple of skill trees, that you can boost in skill, and the latter having a wide variety of skills, lacking too much in the way of skills requiring other skills. This makes it extremely simple, ignoring the decisions you have to make when gaining new skill points, to work with this element. In fact, the declaration making administer is honestly bendable, as you can always reset your skill points (lacking losing any) to try a different style.
Having played a game with a skill implemention like this, I'll honestly have a slightly harder time going back to games that don't allow you to reset (even if within the tale this element makes sense).
Language of tale, it's really much better than what I plotting it would be, after the various reviews. The ending seems a bit abrupt, but everything is tied collectively, so it may be more an issue with the open-endness of the game. Which brings us to mission structure.
There are seemingly well over a hundred missions, only a small amount of which are required to advance the tale. The rest serve to help boost your level (more on this later) to what is required for the tale missions. Commonly they tie into the tale enough that it makes sense to just do them, especially for the rewards (whether you're going to just sell them or not).
Back-tracking, an elemental element of RPGs, is present in this game, but isn't too terrible once you gain access to an 'second-travel arrangement.' With enemy respawns being honestly quick (approximately two in-game days, which seems to be less than an hour) and vehicles available for most large areas, the travel isn't deadly.
==Shooter fundamentals==
Borderlands is a honestly standard FPS, made fascinating by the art style it uses and the overabundance of weapon choices. While there are a handful of weapon types, most weapons are randomly generated, making it honestly hard in the beginning and middle of the game to choose just four weapons (the most you can have equipped). Commonly you'll probably have at least one or two kept in your backpack to swap in.
This randomization and weapon type scope is what really makes this aspect of the game fascinating, in my attitude. But when you add in class-specific skills, you end up with something completely more. In fact, I reckon it's honestly simple to miss out on the importance of your core skills, often forgetting to use them. I in person didn't use my typeset skill all that often until near the end of the game, and having played with others online, that seems to be honestly common for lower-level first-timers. Perhaps that just serves to show the deepness of this game.
As by now mentioend, I have a hard time with FPS games ordinarily, if they're twitch. While Borderlands can be, commonly you survey the area and come up with some kind of plot; rushing straight at enemies at or above your level is suicide.
Which brings us to the level aspect. Each enemy has a set level, excluding one-off mission-related enemies, which is regular throughout the game. Higher level enemies give fantastic rewards, but are also more hard. This is the same with the quests/missions. Thankfully there's nearly no grinding required (even if I should note that I did all optional missions in addendum to the tale-related ones). Encounter also changes based on this, so targeting lower level enemies eventually becomes near useless.
Death is fascinating in this, allowing you to get a 'second wind' if you kill an enemy before you bleed out. Failing that, a certain amount of money is deducted and you are resurrected at the next-door 'rank' (saying no more in case of minor spoilers) ready to go back up against them.
==Multiplayer==
Borderlands offers on- and offline cooperative play. Offline coop is okay, with the split screen (side-by-side) a small hard to use. Online multiplayer (using Playstation Arrangement) was honestly quick and lacking issue. You can choose what game you join, making it honestly simple to find a group at your level (or higher/lower if you so choose). (Unlike on Xbox, Playstation owners typically don't have mics, so I can't comment on interaction.)
Having let my Xbox Live Gold subscription lapse a few weeks ago, online multiplayer was really the reason I picked this up for the Playstation 3; surprising since I ordinarily don't care too much about online play with games.
==Replayability==
With a new game plus mode (keep everything, replay the tale again with enemy levels augmented) and four classes, as well as the online multiplayer and two currently DLC (with one more in the works), replayability is pretty high. Once I end the DLC and a few imminent games - Mass Effect 2, BioShock 2, and probably Heavy Rain - I'll be back on Pandora.
==By and large==
By and large, Borderlands is, again, one of the top 5 games I've played in the last year (in no particular order, Fallout 3, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Lost Odyssey, with Batman: Arkham Asylum being paid bumped). A excellent, long, game, with an fascinating tale, and high replayability means I give Borderlands 5 of 5 stars. |
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