Shoot, loot, shoot, loot, loot, and more loot. If you like to do the former and love to find the latter, then Borderlands is the game for you.
On the planet of Pandora, a vault said to contain powerful alien technology is waiting to be found, and so your group of four mercenaries comes to the planet in the hopes of discovering this legendary treasure.
Borderlands styles itself as a science fiction first-person shooter with RPG (role playing game) elements. A lot like Mass Effect? Hell no! Mass Effect moves at a snail's pace compared to Borderlands. Closer to a mix of gameplay elements from Fallout 3 and the graphics of Crackdown.
When you first start the game, you get to choose from four characters: The Soldier, Roland, The Siren (think stealth role), Lilith; The Hunter (sniper),Mordecai; and Brick (beserker). Each character has its strengths and weaknesses. Each character also has a special "active ability." Roland deploys a turret, Lilith can phasewalk, Mordecai can release a special pet "bloodwing" that deals damage to enemies, and Brick... well, let's just say that Brick utterly destroys... everything.
On top of that, each character has a skill tree from which three different branches can have points assigned to them which affects various aspects of that character's gameplay.
Once you've chosen your character, you meet a robot named CL4P-TP; AKA - Claptrap. This is your guide during your initiation stage on Pandora. Once you leave the town called FyreStone, you'll encounter Claptraps at various locations. ("Look at me I'm dancing, I'm dancing!").
Once you gain the trust of the locals (various missions) you start expanding the locations available to you to explore and complete different missions. And once you start, you easily get hooked hunting for loot. The harder the mission, the better the loot that is dropped or found in special chests. Loot can range from weapons to ammo, modifiers to grenades.
But enough about the storyline. I'll be honest. It's weak. What makes this game fun, is the four-player co-op.
Players can jump in and out of friend's games. With each additional player, the foes of Pandora grow stronger. However, the strength of the opponents on Pandora depends on the level of the game's host. i.e. If the game host is a level 20, then the game opponents will be around level 20. Players joining the game will fight against that level of opponents. So, if you are a level 30, and join a level 20 game, you'll be destroying opponents with one shot, but getting very little experience. Conversely, if a level 20 joins a level 30 game, they will find it almost impossible to contribute any firepower to the group and will likely die... a lot. (But the experience you earn will be huge).
Money and experience are distributed evenly between all the players. But guns and ammo are usually a first come, first serve deal. Watch out for the loot whores.
What about the guns? 17.5 million. Say that again. 17.5 million. That's how many unique weapon combinations are possible within Borderlands. Pistols? Check. Shotguns? Check. Machine guns? Check. Rocket launchers? Check. Add in such elemental variations such as fire, acid, lightning, and explosions, and you've got the mix for some serious running and gunning.
An entire review could be written about the weapons by themselves. Each one has an accuracy rating, rire rate, and damage dealt. Include in that the elemental variations which can deal damage in multiples from x1 to x4.
And then there are the weapon levels. It goes something like this. White > Green > Blue > Purple > Orange. Orange weapons are the "legendary" weapons. They deal extrodinary amounts of damage and also include an extra modifier expressed by red text. There are also three tiers of orange weapons.
Borderlands is a fun, sometimes challenging game, that is best played while in co-op mode. The level cap on your character is 50, and you will not reach that level on your first play through. Thankfully, on the 2nd play through, the opponents are leveled with you, and starting out again seems to be more of a challenge.
I'd rate Borderlands at an 8.7 out of 10. The positives are a great co-op experience, nice graphics, lots of guns, lots of loot and many hours to get your character to level 50. The negatives are the weak storyline, and even weaker ending.
But fear not, DLC is on the horizon (ZOMBIES!) and it's sure to have the same co-op experience and gameplay.
