Gameplay Impressions
Gameplay ImpressionsWe were sceptical about Gearbox Software's decision to give Borderlands the cel-shaded look, but that change of plan has worked wonders. The planet of Pandora may have a hand-drawn look, but it creates that post-apocalyptic look with some style. Rather than look cartoony, it feels like you’re walking, shooting and looting your way through the pages of a graphic novel. The attention to detail is outstanding and it’s this unique art-style that is part of its charm and is essentially what sets it apart from the likes of other FPS/RPG hybrids such as FallOut 3.
The variety and the amount of choice you have to tailor the experience to your own requirements is occasionally overwhelming, but ultimately a huge part of the appeal. The random content generator doesn’t just apply to weapons, but it also applies to the behaviour and spawning of enemies and the type of loot that is dropped. This means that you can return to an area to find something different there, or you can play the game again and have a different experience.
Borderlands boasts a vast game world where exploration and looting is part of the fun, but despite huge treks across the landscape enemy variety keeps things interesting and combat is consistently enjoyable and rewarding. There's a nice steady flow of loot and the temptation of tackling the tougher enemies to get better rewards was often on our minds. Greed = excitement + challenge.
The variety of weapon combinations ensures that there's a 101 different ways in which you can tackle a mission. At one stage you infiltrate a bandit camp and the clever level design means that you can tackle them in a variety of ways, taking to higher ground to snipe down on your enemy, or hiding behind cover with a rifle perhaps, or running into the opening armed with a rocket-launcher, or shotgun, to take them out face-to-face. The vast weapon choice means there’s plenty of room to experiment and the vending machines scattered around Pandora are constantly being updated with new upgrades and weapons.
You really feel like your character is progressing and getting stronger and as he does Borderlands gets more exciting and immersive. The variety of creatures and bosses means that gameplay is unpredictable and exciting. One minute you’ll be up against the scuttling, acid-spitting Skags and then you’ll see a midget psycho armed with an axe hurtling toward you, or swarms of Rakks bursting from the back of a huge rhino-like monster.
The questing system has been handled well and you can take on multiple objectives, including fetch quests and assassination missions, switching between them intuitively and using the excellent way-point system, which ensures that you should "almost never"* never get confused about what to do or where you need to go. Some quests ask that you have reached a certain level, but you can still tackle them if you feel brave enough. This is where co-op play has a real advantage.
Though we’re thoroughly enjoying our Borderlands single player experience, it’s the co-op mode that really shines.It feels a little like an MMO where you join up with friends against the higher level beasts to kill them and share out the loot and it was a nice idea to implement a feature that splits the loot equally between the four players. We’ve played co-op on a number of occasions with each player choosing a different class. If you get a good team together, you can see that some of the objectives as well as the maps have been designed specifically with co-op in mind.
Click for larger imageFor all its greatness, Borderlands isn't without its annoyances. The enjoyment of exploration is hampered slightly by the constant need to have to kill enemies. You can leave an area, return, and the enemies - particularly the Skags that you've just killed - will be back with a vengeance, snapping at your heels when all you want to do is have a good look around for ammo or loot.
*There’s also a couple of missions that we initially assumed were bugged because the map indicates that there should be an object there, but the area appears to be deserted. We discovered later, while on a mission to bring back a enemy’s prosthetic leg, that we had to search outside of the flagged area to find it. We found it completely by accident. It’s a small issue when there are so many different quests to carry out, but it can be annoying if you’re the type of player who likes to complete all objectives.
The text-based quests and lack of dialogue did detach us slightly from the storyline in Borderlands, but the exciting, in-depth gameplay more than makes up for its short-comings. Borderlands is extremely addictive once you get started because it rewards you well for your efforts and your character progresses at a nice and steady pace - reaching that next level never seems too far away. Part of its appeal lies in looting and spending your cash on the near-endless supply of excellent weaponry, but the smooth combat mechanics, entertaining enemies and clever level design compliment the engaging visual style superbly.
Final Score: 9/10
