Game review: Borderlands - Playstation 3 (From Epsom Guardian)

Game review: Borderlands - Playstation 3

9:00am Friday 20th November 2009

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Drawing influence from games such as Fallout 3, XIII and Diablo, Borderlands is described by its developers, Gearbox Software, as a RPS (that’s a role-playing shooter by the way).

Set in the distant future on the hostile and bandit-ridden planet of Pandora, the game starts off with the four controllable characters on a coach, on their to Fyrestone. Upon selecting your character, they are presented with an apparition of the ‘guardian angel’, a mysterious woman who appears through out the game, guiding you toward the equally mysterious macguffin, the Vault.

In the cutscene proceeding this, a narrator explains that Pandora is a wasteland which attracts treasure hunters and mercenaries alike. Why? Because Pandora is host to the legend of the Vault. A huge repository which holds advanced alien technology, infinite wealth, fame, power and women.

Upon arriving at Fyrestone you are introduced to a quirky Claptrap robot that guides you round the area, and it’s at that point where the game really kicks in.

Following an attack on the town by a bunch of bandits, you are instantly thrown into the thick of action and it’s up to you to take them out. From here you have to accept various tasks in order to gain the local’s trust and unlock further missions and inventory.

Gearbox Software have cleverly designed each character you play with a set of individual skills and a unique look.

Brick is a stocky beefcake of a man who specialises in melee attacks. His special skill is the ability to go into a state called “bezerker” – a skill that reduces the damage he takes whilst making his attacks more potent.

Lilith was once a human, but became a siren – one of a group with uncontrollable powers. Her special ability is called “phase walk”, which basically enables her to become invisible and be able to sneak around enemies at great speed.

Mordecai is proficient with sniper rifles and pistols. His special skill is his pet Bloodwing – a deadly bird-type-thing that he keeps as a pet (as you do), and can be trained to kill multiple people.

Finally there is Roland – a former soldier who is in search of an old enemy – an individual who specialises in the ability to deal damage, heal team-mates and spawn ammo.

Upon starting you are given the option to change the look of your character, however this feature is proved to be a bit redundant in the single-player campaign, as you are unable to view your character in the 3rd person.

Throughout Pandora there is a stupid amount of weapons spread around for you to find. While not all of them are good, you can quickly find one that suits your style, with a good percentage of them quite satisfying to use.

You can also take part in a bit of looting – on Pandora the locals keep money in the most peculiar places, letter boxes for example – very odd.

Anyway, the money that you find or ear, you can be spent on more weapons, shields and medicine – a feature that ensures your character is always prepared for the worst.

And the worst does happen. Pandora is far from safe – throughout the planet there are a variety of nasty locals and animals, all wanting you dead. There’s the horrific Skags, which are dog-type-things and split their head in two to reveal a huge mouth. And then there is the bloodthirsty bandits, with the midget bandits being particularly unnerving, not to mention the nutters that set themselves on fire and run towards you.

The environment of Pandora is vast and, luckily, the developers have thrown in a few vehicles for you to get around (probably taking notes from another RPG set in a nuclear wasteland, where you have to walk around for hours and hours – (Fallout 3 *cough *cough!).

Featuring a controversial make-over, Borderlands sets itself apart from other first-person shooters with its cell shading. It is highly stylised and for the most part, the game looks amazing. However, on occasion, its ambition gets the better of it and the framerate lets the game down when things get busy.

The design of the game recalls the barren wastelands so prominent in Fallout 3. However, where Fallout 3 clearly had the influence of films such as Mad Max and I Am Legend breathing down its neck, Borderlands bares a bit of a resemblance to the old westerns of the 50s. The artistic style is a blend of sci-fi, western and a touch of anime.

The music clearly has a hint of country music running through it, giving the game the sort of atmosphere not seen since Joss Whedon’s Firefly. It’s an odd mix of sci-fi and traditional guitar music that somehow, oddly, gels together really well.

The rest of the audio is also good. The voiceover work is particularly good, with each character delivering their lines with a southern American twang – again, adding to that feeling of the old west. The weapons also sound great – a very important element that makes using your weapons all the more satisfying.

Borderlands has tons of re-playability thanks in part to its multiplayer mode. Should you wish to play with other people, you can do the whole campaign and work as a team of up to four. With each new person joining in, the enemies become harder to defeat – a neat little feature that adds the emphasis on teamwork.

The game also gives you the option of playing locally, both on a local area network and on a split screen – a much missed feature that more games need to do!

Sadly there is no option for you to share ammo or weapons, as having this would of added to the spirit of teamwork that runs through the game. Having said that, the game is all about looting, so I guess it’s every man for himself.

Overall Borderlands is an impressive title and quite clearly the birth of a new gaming franchise.

Whilst the game suffers a bit from its graphical ambitions, it excels with tons of features and an impressive multiplayer mode.

Verdict: 8 out of 10

The Good

Loads of weapons
Good multiplayer

The Bad

Dodgy frame rate
Installation takes a while

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