Gameplay
Borderlands is a fairly simple, action-oriented FPS/Diablo clone. The gameplay is as straightforward as that description would indicate: you pick up quests and either follow them or not, killing creatures, bandits, and other (bad guys) all over the map. Quests are a bit of an afterthought; you simply activate them, follow the quest marker, and either kill whatever is at the end or kill whatever is at the end and then press (E). Roughly the level of complexity you would expect from a hack ‘n slash.
The game has been referred to as a (sandbox) title, but just like the (RPG) tag, I consider this to be a deceptive categorization. Borderlands is a sandbox in exactly the same way any hack ‘n slash is a sandbox. All the maps are open to you once you unlocked them, you can fast-travel back and forth freely once you’ve unlocked this, and you can do the quests you receive in any order, though again you have to unlock them first. The quests and maps are always the same, and thus play out the same way. If this is the definition of sandbox, then the entire hack ‘n slash genre fits there anyway, making it a meaningless point of reference.
Borderlands fuses the genres of hack ‘n slash and FPS more efficiently than has been done before. The shooter gameplay feels natural and solid, though no amount of twitch skills are going to overcome using bad, underpowered weaponry, or taking on enemies that are simply too difficult for you. A nice touch in its fusion is the fact that critical hits are determined by where you hit the opponent (different enemies having different weak spots), rather than a random dice roll.
But like so many fusions before it, Borderlands does not manage to excel at either of the genres it represents. The FPS gameplay certainly works, but it’s ultimately limited: the enemy AI is lacking, there’s not exactly a rich variation in types of guns or types of enemies, and a lack of basic environmental functionality when it comes to cover or destructible environments makes for semi-uneventful if not overly simple shooting action. The boss-fights are a good example of this game’s limits as an FPS, as in singleplayer many of them can be won y combining bunny-hopping and circle-strafing and just pelting the boss.
Similarly, the character and loot system are very shallow compared to the current standard of hack ‘n slashes. There are four classes (Hunter (rogue), Siren (mage), Beserker (barbarian), Soldier (paladin)), each with a basic skill tree that includes a stack of passive skills and only one activated talent per character. The passive skills are fairly unique and combine for different playstyles (for example, you can turn the beserker into an offensive powerhouse with explosive weapons, hand-to-hand fighter and/or prototypical tank), but the lack of activated talents is a shame, especially when not all activated talents are equal (the Hunter’s is kind of weak compared to say the Berserker’s).
There’s a fairly rich set of basic weapons (pistols, snipers, SMGs, combat rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers and alien rifles), with a variable set of boosts (from elemental damage to less recoil to faster reload time), but the aforementioned over-simplicity seeps in here, too. The procedural generation of these weapons allowed Gearbox to brag about a (bazillion guns) available in the game, but this claim is as meaningless here as it is for any game featuring randomized loot.
The variation mostly comes down to small tweaks in stats, and most of the guns you find will simply be inferior to what you have. One bonus point the game gets here is when it throws kinks into your expectations, such as rapid-fire rocket launchers or the different kinds of scopes available, but don’t expect too much from the game’s purported endless variation. Such simple standards as gunsmithing or custom weapon modifications would have improved the limited loot range quite a bit.
The game uses a color-coded system for rarity, and you can find weapons from the basic (white) to the most rare (orange). The epic (purple) and legendary (orange or yellow) weapons in particular often have unique (if short) descriptions and the most interesting effects, such as causing multiple types of elemental damage.
A lack of customizability of characters seems to indicate that Gearbox completely missed one of the key draws of action RPGs: admiring your character decked out in dozens of hours worth of confiscated loot. It’s an infantile pleasure, but still a pleasure though admittedly a less important draw in a first-person game. Instead, this game barely offers any customization (other than tweaking your character’s color scheme), with armor having been replaced by invisible shields. A hugemiss when you consider Borderlands’ setting would allow for some fairly badass Mad Max getups.
After the game has been completed once and you’ve sufficiently recovered from the letdown of the terrible ending fight and lack of end-game loot (seriously, no end-game loot other than some cash? In a hack ‘n slash?), you can go for playthrough #2, which is essentially just a higher difficulty with requisite better loot, though the challenge level does make it an interesting experience. More than these two levels of difficulty aren’t available, quests can’t be replayed unless your host hasn’t done them, and the level caps off at 50, effectively strangling long-term draw for sticking to a single character.
Multiplayer
The above converges to make an OK, but not particularly engaging single player experience. Part of this has to do with the game’s over-simplicity, but a bigger part of it is that the game is really designed for multiplayer. A lot of battles, especially boss fights, are set up so that smart players can combine their characters’ individual abilities with the available terrain and specific opponent’s weaknesses and strengths. That makes for more challenging (as enemies become tougher with each player to join) and more interesting, tactical combat. Equally, upping the challenge by gathering players seems to be the only way to gather really good loot. Even some skill trees and class mods are clearly aimed at multiplayer.
But while multiplayer is definitely superior to single player, it’s not exactly an impressive gameplay mode. The basic functionality a co-op mode in which players jump in and out of the host’s game is fine, but several problems make it fall short. For one, it uses GameSpy, which just honestly baffled me, as I don’t recall seeing that online gaming network used in the past 5 years, and being forced to register for the mediocre service is hardly a plus though it did run trouble-free for me for most of my gametime. But there are a few niggles with the gameplay as well, such as a lack of trading between players, the fact that only the host’s quests can be active, and the fact that everyone gets booted when the host quits.
Also, while it works fine in co-op with friends, there’s plenty of opportunities to annoy one another, including that one player can initiate travel regardless of where everyone else is (unless they’re in a menu) and no one can stop travel once initiated. A bit of a head-scratcher is that loot is dropped in one chunk and everyone can grab it, bringing back the old ninja loot rush that more recent hack ‘n slashes like Titan Quest and Hellgate: London removed by giving individualized loot drops.
Sound, graphics
Borderlands’ sound design is competent, but nothing special. For a game with gory combat, it lacks delicious sound effects to go with it. The voice acting is ok, with some terrible performances alternating with a lot of decent ones. Finally, the soundtrack is pretty damned good, and works well with the graphical style and overall feeling of the game.
Borderlands is rendered in a somewhat unique, fetching (concept art style). I say (somewhat unique) because I had already seen a vaguely similar style when playing the (rather mediocre) indie FPS Merchants of Brooklyn just before Gearbox announced the switch. Regardless, the look is not your standard FPS drab we’re becoming used to, and that only works in the game’s favor. The graphical style works extremely well with the gory combat and light-hearted feel of much of the game.
Style, story
The light-hearted feel is probably one of the game’s strongest points. It (borrows) from other titles in rather obvious manners, from its Fallout-esque billboards to its BioShock-ish quest screens, but when it comes to overall style, it’s all about having an over-the-top, irreverent style reminiscent of a lot of recent Quentin Tarantino flicks. Sadly, this style is big at the beginning, with a great opening sequence and giving cool introductions to nifty characters like TK Baha and Dr. Zed, but for some reason it completely gives up there, with only the bosses staying zany, and the rest of the quest-givers being stock and about as interesting as the bottom of my foot…
…which leads me to the story, and the world it’s set into. Both are irredeemably boring. The arid desert world of Pandora is exactly like any other arid desert world, complete with requisite dangerous creatures in the skags, scythids, raks and antlions spiderants. Your overall quest is to find the Vault, a mythical storage facility of alien origin holding tons of loot, while being guided by a pretty bland Guardian Angel who communicates with you through a device that also represents your on-screen interface. Only the first time she talks to you, you don’t have that device yet. A plot hole in the opening cutscene? If that ain’t a record.
I would guess most players feel inclined to ignore the plot and just fight on. The simplicity of quests, clear quest markers and lack of paths means this is a perfectly valid way to play, you won’t really notice it impact your game in any way. Hell, I’d almost recommend it, considering much of this game’s writing. Borderlands got off on the wrong foot with me right from the start, by having the gall to tell me I’m about to meet a (funny little robot) before introducing me to a trite, uninteresting little robot. At times, the (comedy) writing is so forced that it’s almost painful.
Conclusion
Borderlands is an odd game that felt unfinished in many aspects. It doesn’t do much particularly well, and what it does do well doesn’t carry through (the limitations imposed to multiplayer and the sudden cessation of well-written characters and stories after the opening area are two prime examples).
The game really only shines in a cooperative environment, so if you’re looking for a good single player experience, look elsewhere. Even by hack ‘n slash standards, an almost inherent multiplayer-aimed genre, Borderlands is single player-unfriendly.
But even then, once the style and initial thrill wears out, Borderlands doesn’t last like other action RPGs do. The lack of variety in enemies (about 8 types), the lack of any type of armor, and the uninteresting selection of weapons among the game’s (bazillion) guns means Borderlands can start to wear thin fairly soon. It’s the kind of game people love in the first 10 hours, and which really stops having much draw soon after the first full playthrough.
FPS/RPG hybrids are pretty rare as genre combinations go, and that alone may be enough to draw people in. But the execution leaves much to be desired, and the game really lacks lasting value because of it. Such a flaw hits hack ‘n slashes harder than most genres, as the crutch of such a game is its addictiveness, and while Borderlands is good at the 60 meter sprint, it falls flat on its face about halfway through the 5,000 meter track.
