In my last entry about Borderlands, I made the decision to cancel my pre-order due to the fact that the item management system in the game turned out to be terrible. However, the game did have aspects that I was interested in, and with Best Buy running a Buy 2 Get 1 free sale on all console games $59.99 or less, I bit. (For those wondering, my 3 games ended up being Borderlands, Fallout: GotY Edition, and Brutal Legend.)
Anyway, on to Borderlands. Barring the issues with the item system that made me cancel my pre-order in the first place (no trading window, a lack of unique developer designed items, no loot rules, etc.), the game is fantastic in every other aspect and definitely recommended. I came to terms with accepting that I would play this game more for the action/RPG experience, and not to be a lootwhore. After all, people have already figured out a way to easily dupe items on the 360 version, so no real sense in coveting gear because it can all be shared anyway. My new goal in the game is to reach 50 with each of the 4 classes, but with Modern Warfare 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 on the horizon, reaching 50 with one class is probably more practical.
So what is Borderlands and why am I really digging it? The main reason I’m enjoying it is because it combines aspects of several top tier games. When I first started playing it I thought to myself, “Wow, Borderlands is like the current generation’s Phantasy Star Online.” Phantasy Star Online was an addictive online action-RPG that was released originally on the Dreamcast, but also found success on the Gamecube and Xbox due to its online play. People had to pay monthly fees to play it, but you joined up with several other players online and went through dungeons and quests together killing enemies to level up and find cool loot.
Borderlands preserves the most enjoyable aspects of Phantasy Star Online: the social aspect of the game – allowing for up to four players to play together with enemy difficulty scaling and better treasures dropping. At the same time, Borderlands implements a well-designed quest system that is not unlike soloing in World of Warcraft or practically any online MMORPG these days. I for one loved to solo in World of Warcraft, doing quest chain after quest chain since you were always rewarded with loot and experience. Borderlands implements the quest chain system superbly as well, and I can’t help but reminisce about WoW questing when I play Borderlands.
Tying the package together is the sound FPS system of the game. Surprisingly, the FPS mechanics in the game work very well. Fallout 3′s FPS mechanics were kind of hokey, but Borderlands is very intuitive because not only are there understandable statistics on weapons like accuracy and kickback on a weapon, but the control system is basically the Call of Duty 4 system. Fans of Call of Duty 4 will be right at home in playing this game and aiming for headshots. It can very much be played as a FPS game so it should appeal to action gamers as well.
For those of you that have yet to experience such addictive online RPG games such as World of Warcraft and Phantasy Star Online, surely you must have experienced the addictive nature of Call of Duty 4′s leveling up and challenges. Borderlands is like that (it has its own set of challenges that provide extra exp) but now throw in 4-player online co-op and tons of new weapons to find and share and you have a game that you can play with friends for many, many hours.
In summary, I can forgive Borderlands’ poor item system because all the other aspects of the game are just so well done and enjoyable. I even forgot to mention the amount of humor present in the game, as it doesn’t quite take itself so seriously and makes the game even more amiable. I recommend the game to anyone that was a fan of any of the action-RPG games that I’ve mentioned above, or even FPS fans that want to play a game where the emphasis is on co-op and not adversarial. Pick it up today for yourself and 2 friends, with Best Buy running the Buy 2 Get 1 free sale and let me know if you want to play co-op. I’m soloing for now, but would love to find some people to play it with – after all, I’m going to have to since people don’t really share loot in public games…
