The game takes place on
Pandora a sparsely populated planet that is a barren wasteland. The
alluring factor that brings people to this un-hospitable place is
the story of an ancient vault placed there eons ago by an
extraordinarily advanced alien race. It is said that the vault
contains great treasures of wealth and power. The main occupation on
the planet is treasure hunter.
That being said any form of
civilized government has disappeared and there are now small outpost
of mostly mercenaries and bandits who prefer to shoot first and ask
questions later. There are a few safe havens located in the
borderland most of which are merchant run. Dealing with these
merchants is done with not only money, but favors as well. You enter
their world as one of four mercenaries with the goal of trying to
find the alien vault for yourself. Will you be the one to find the
vault? Will you take friends to help your cause? Will you go in
alone and hope for the best?
In Borderlands you have to
choose one of 4 mercenaries. Each one has their own unique gifts and
fighting styles to choose from. Most players can find the one that
best fits their gaming style.
Roland-Once a Crimson Lance mercenary he now takes the role of
soldier. As a soldier he prefers the use of rifles and shotguns. His
special ability allows him to deploy an auto turret that will lay
down death to his enemies and provide him and his teammates cover
fire.
Lilith-She is a siren who has
the ability to phase walk. As a phase walker she can split herself
between two separate dimensions allowing her to invisibly fight with
super human speed. When it comes to weapons she prefers any gun with
the elemental effects of incendiary, shock, and corrosive rounds.
Mordecai-He is a character that considers him self a hunter and
those who know him do not argue that point. Traveling with him is
his companion, a bird of prey, that he calls Bloodwing. As a hunter,
his preferred weapon is a sniper rifle, however he likes to keep a
trusty revolver by his side for when thing get a little close for
comfort.
Brick-He is a man whose name describes everything about him. His
special ability allows him to go into a nearly unstoppable berserker
state. While in this state of mind he prefers to leave his gun on
his hip and let his fists do the talking. When it comes to a
weapons, he prefers anything with an explosive nature.
When you first start you are
dropped off just outside of a small outpost known as Fyrestone. You
are accompanied by an overly cheerful robot who leads you to your
first destination, along the way the player receives tutorials of
how to play. When you get there you find a old man who is an
unconventional doctor to say the least. This Doctor gives you you’re
one of your first quests. Quests from characters is not only way to
go. There are also bulletin boards that people from the local areas
post jobs, looking for those certain people with those special
skills to carry out.
This is how most of the game progresses you
accept quest that move you on to the next place you need to be.
Many of the quests are there just to
give you a way to earn exp. money and equipment. There is also a set
storyline that a good portion of the quests takes you through. Many
of the side quests were written very well so that even though they
are not part of the main story they still help to unfold the
background of the people you meet and explain the main plot more
thoroughly. The in game NPC characters have personalities that truly
make you love the ones on your side and hate the ones that stand
against you.
User Interface
There are so many good things to be said about the interface system
the designers used. Everything with the UI system is advanced and
extensive, but at the same time organized and simple to use. All
items have level requirements to keep you from becoming overpowered
too quickly and losing a sense of challenge. Each item has a rarity
value on top of that to show...just to how special the item is.
The order from most common to extremely
rare is white, green, blue, purple and orange. When you start, you
are only able to equip two guns at a time, though as the game
progresses you will have four slots total. One for each space on you
d-pad you can also rotate through them by using the (triangle)
button.
As for your menus, you have multiple
ways to organize all of your items. The menus also allow you to
compare items and show which stats are better.
When fighting enemies, the UI works
like a FPS with a few changes head shots act as critical hits to the
enemy. Every enemy has a health bar over the their head, many also
have an armor bar. Each shot tells you how much damage the enemy
takes . When dealing damage to an enemy , distance, level and the
type of weapon all affect come into effect. When things get really
hectic in the middle of a battle it can be hard to keep track of
where the enemy is firing from...not to worry here. In Borderlands,
as in many games of the type... You always know which way your
enemies are attacking from...thanks to a danger directional bar on
your screen that flashes to tell you...hey look this way pal!
When enemies drop items, simply walk
over them and pick them up, if you hold the appropriate button down
all ammo, grenades and health items nearby get picked up. As for
upgrades and weapons, you have to choose each item you want to pick
up. This is made easier since walking close to the item lets you see
all of its stats and its value. As for vendors, many of them are
actual vending machines where you can buy and sell items. You gain
experience for every enemy you kill and completing quests. As you
progress you also receive a fast travel system for places you have
been a very useful thing in such a large world.
Visual/Audio
The games graphics truly are amazing. Everything is
crisp HD quality. The style of the artwork is more that of a painted
or a hand drawn picture than simple digital animation. It is truly
artistic to look at it. The sound effects that accompany the scenery
truly bring this world alive in every way imaginable. Running
through the environment you hear your surroundings and the feeling
of a monster attacking you from behind. Playing with a sound system
really is the best over experience, it is a true audible treat.
Co-op
You can join with up to three other friends in game, either on one
console, or through system link, or online. If you do like PvP
(Player VS Player...) any time you and your friends are playing...
if you smack a friend and they smack you back a duel begins. A few
arenas set for the purpose of a duel have also been set to make
things more interesting. The more people you have playing the more
difficult the enemies and the better the loot.
Talent Tree
Each character has there own unique talent tree with three separated
branches... each branch has its own benefits for solo and co-op
mode. Choosing where to spend your talent points is a choice of
preference. You gain more talent points as you level up. So spend
wisely.
Cons
After all the time I spent in this game I was only able to come up
with one negative aspect, that is the load time between areas. I
timed it and it takes about a minute and a half of load time when
you move from one area to the next. Each area is so large that you
dont mind too much really..... because you spend so much time in the
area it is worth it. So get to it Impulse Gamers!
Let the games begin!
Andrew Brian Lewis
