Review | Borderlands

Format: Xbox360/PS3/PC | Genre: FPS/RPG | Publisher: 2K Games | Developer: Gearbox | Release date: 23/10/09 | RRP: £34.99-£44.99

By Sam Giddings

In Borderlands, Gearbox politely disagrees with the common notion that a good story – or in this case, game – needs to say something important.

Borderlands is unashamedly old-fashioned.  At a time when many developers are striving to evolve strong narrative cohesion and compelling plot-lines, Borderlands reduces the first-person shooter to its purest principles: the visceral thrill of ploughing through enemies with ultra-devastating weapons.

Refusing to embrace the trend towards story does not mean that Gearbox has been lazy, however.  In a canny sidestep, atmosphere is used instead to preserve immersion in a perfect way.  Combined with a deftness of touch rarely seen these days, the sci-fi world of Pandora feels as plausible as the ISG Ishimura or Rapture. The cel-shaded artwork is a visual feast:  jaunty characters and tongue-in-cheek enemies are supported by a clean, crisp backdrop, while swirling dust bowls are punctuated by rusting, ramshackle settlements, capturing the flavour of Wild West pioneering.  The sunny clime is served by a dynamic day/night cycle, and the warm desert setting makes for an inviting change after the grim claustrophobia of Fallout 3.

There is a story, though it’s of secondary importance.  A mysterious guardian angel appears, persuading you to hunt the mythical Vault and lost alien artefacts – and so begins your journey.  Quite literally fresh off the bus, you arrive in the bandit-infested town of Fyrestone, ready to set about liberating the locals and making a name for yourself.

//All guns blazing
Using the Call of Duty-driven mechanic of left-trigger to aim down the sights and right to squeeze off a few rounds, progress through the first few tutorial missions is easy.  You’ll be introduced to grenades, regenerating protective shields, shops and – most importantly – new guns.  Each weapon comes with stat-based proficiency levels, and using each weapon class regularly will improve your skill. With each increase comes a boost to accuracy, damage, rate of fire, speed of reload, and so on.

This is where Borderlands starts to exert its inescapable grip: role-playing.  By taking such an established and solid shooting core, Gearbox has been able to underpin it with a deviant RPG of subtle and absorbing beauty.  There are statistics for just about everything: health, chances to hit, damage inflicted.  Elemental effects add yet more depth: certain weapons contain a probability of delivering corrosive, fire, lightning or explosive damage.

Initially, the sheer variation of weapons is overwhelming, but it soon crystallises into simple choices.  Magazine size versus damage; damage over elemental effect; zoom scope versus unscoped: these are all conflicting components of the weapons on offer, but it won’t take long before you can pick and choose without too much thought.  As Borderlands is driven by FPS combat, the vast majority of players will already know how they like to play, and thus weapon selection becomes comparatively easy.  For example, I found one particular machine gun capable of dealing excellent damage, but its small magazine size and three-burst rounds didn’t sit well, so I stuck with an earlier model.

The paradigmatic shift to incorporate RPG elements is so perfect, I found myself wondering how anyone has failed to deliver it before now.  It boils down to this: not sure about a particular gun?  Try it.  It’s that easy – you can always switch back.  Even assessing guns in your inventory will provide you with helpful annotations: “high chance for elemental damage;” “effective against armour.”  Mix in grenade mods with varying effects, as well as specific shield types, and every player is left with a wealth of choice, all randomly generated, much of it unique.

[Continues...]

Pages: 1 2