Your probably asking yourself is this game a RPG or an FPS well it blends elements of both seamlessly effectively creating its own genre. I will try to cover all the elements of the game. Anyway on to the review.
Story
I've yet to complete this so i can't comment on the ending which i've heard isn't anything special. Basically 4 mercenaries travel to Pandora to find the Vault which contains one piece.... i mean treasure. No one knows if the vault really exists or not so you basically will be gathering information while trying to locate it. There is also a hot ghost type thing (i think she's refered to as a sprite, but i may have just made that up) at least i think shes hot i've yet to get a good shot of her she will help push the story forward. The 4 characters are as follows the cool intro gives you a jist of this (well i thought it was cool nothing happens in it):
1. Roland the Soldier - Has a turret and favours shotguns and combat rifles
2. Mordecai the Hunter - Has a bloodwing and favours handguns and snipers
3. Lillie (i think not played as her) the siren - Has a phase ability and favours elemental guns and SMGs
4. Brick the Berserker - Favours explosives and bare fists
If your playing fully split screen pick characters who compliment each other and primarily stick to your weapon classes that way you'll each have a specific role. I play as Hunter my sister as Soldier so she fights on the frontline while i pick off the enemy. This also means theres more ammo available to each of you.
Gameplay
Well i mentioned this is a new genre in itself so your probably wondering how this works. Well basically the borderlands is a large area of land where there are little settlements littered around. You speak to characters or go to bounty boards and pick up a variety of quests. After doing this you can go out to battle. Combat is typical of a FPS enemies get significantly tougher as the game goes on and fighting enemies who have higher levels then you is generally a bad idea. The games difficulty increases with the number of human players playing. This basically means if your going solo you will find things easier but in larger groups you will need to work as a team.
This is a large reason to either play online with friends or split screen. The sense of comradery is strong in this game and you will want to help out your buddies and they do the same for you (playing online is apparently a mixed bag but if you don't know someone don't be suprised if they fight for themselves and want to steal all your loot).
There currently is a level cap of 50 in this game as you gain levels you gain health and power and also skill points. Skill points effectively allow you to alter your character making him unique, this adds a lot more depth to the game and makes you become attached to your character, thankfully there is a character reset option so you can readjust these points later. The other great thing is the guns, this game has infinite possibility with guns yesterdays haul included a explosive sniper rifles and a shotgun that uses shotgun shells but fires rockets o_O. Seriously loot whores will love this game there is loot everywhere.
Characters personal skills make them better suited to specific roles to, for instance the defensive turret can throw out supplies and Roland can shoot allies to heal them as one of his skills. Mordecai can boost XP gained and on top of these kind of abilities there's also character mods that give solo or team boosts. Missions will take you to a variety of locations around the borderlands which later on you are able to drive between this is a minor distraction but is still fun nonetheless.
Generally i play tactical shooters over arcadey shooters and i still found this thoroughly enjoyable and you will need to use sidestepping and cover to actually survive, either that or you'll end up dying a lot. In this game your not dead till you close your eyes and are able to activate a second wind if you kill something while bleeding to death, where adrenaline kicks in and you stay alive basically with only your shield intact. I know this mechanic has been in other games but this is the first game i played where it actually works really well. I got through whole boss battle fighting with death a and it was fun. You also can be healed during this time this is another reason to play with ppl alone you'll probably die a lot while struggling to cover all weapon bases.
You can buy and upgrade weapons at vendors. Just a quick note to my knowledge you can buy back everything you sell i'm not sure how long these are still available in shops after though. You can also upgrade the size of your backpack. You use shields which can regenerate but your health doesn't (although some shields heal you incredibly slowly), shields need time to recharge and some weapons basically disable them in one hit. Hunter also develops shield penetrance later so i'm not sure but i assume the enemie will gain this ability to. For me regenerating health has ruined FPS games this one solves that problem by using this gameplay mechanic.
I think i mentioned everything also add to what i said guns can have elemental affinities and you will never pick up the same gun twice.
Graphics
The game uses cel shading giving it a unique visual style and your either gonna love it or not care, personally i like the unique visuals and i think without the style the graphics would not be as interesting. The enemies come in a lot of varieties and i'll just leave these to suprise you, but even within a family they change a lot. I've not had any frame rate issues or graphical glitches as yet and i'm playing on PS# just so you know.
Sounds
The guns all sound like they should, enemies scream sometimes right next to you making you realise even mental ppl are better at stealth then you. The music will kick in if your ever in an intense battle. I guess its a little quiet between battles but honestly I'm talking throughout playing this game so i never noticed. The voice acting is good and your characters vaguely talk to each other while playing telling everyone else what they found. This makes them more likeable i found just because they seem to have a personality to an extremely vague extent but still its a nice touch.
Difficulty
The game is as hard as you make it missions have recommended levels so you can do things and optional quests depending on how your feeling. It is possible to fight through high level areas but be prepared to be facing second winds a lot. I actually think the difficulty curve is perfect as yet i've never found the game too easy or too hard. Weapon levels mean that you never have guns too powerful for your level which would make the game too easy (although saying that my explosive sniper extremely rarely hits a critical of 14000+ on a specific enemy unless i misread that, but generally hits around 200).
Overall
If you haven't worked out i think this game is amazing there's nothing in particular i can fault. Its all round good family fun I think everyone should at least play it if not buy it. If you have someone to play splitscreen with this is an essential purchase.
Subject: Superbuu3's Review: Borderlands 
Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:46 pm
