?Borderlands? Review
I was initially cautious about Borderlands. I wanted to get it purely for the multiplayer aspect, as I live some distance from a number of my friends and I wanted a game which I could play with them nights and weekends. As such I was willing to be a bit forgiving to the game, and distanced myself from the hype enough to where I didn?t allow myself to get excited.
When I initially heard about the game, it was touted as ?Fallout 3 Meets Diablo,? in that it was a de-facto dungeon crawler that revolved around quests yet was set in a futuristic wasteland. I liked both of those games enough to know that Borderlands couldn?t possibly hold up to them, but nonetheless I found myself really enjoying the game right off the bat. Anyone who has played any third person shooter in the past ten years will instantly pick up the controls, and the game is very intuitive. It?s the same tried-and-true ?go over there and shoot some things to win? style of gameplay that we?ve all been playing since Halo came out, and it is executed very well.
The game, much like Diablo, revolves more around item drops and leveling up than it does plot, storyline, strategy or anything else. Yes, there are characters you can interact with, and there?s an underlying story about corporate greed and ancient alien artifacts, but it?s buried under a giant mountain of enemies and randomly dropped guns and is rather silly anyway. The plot and storyline were clearly put in afterwards, the designers cared more about gameplay than anything else.
Because the game is pretty much nothing but running-and-gunning, it?s enjoyability is heavily dependent on the enemies. I?m sorry to say that the enemies exhibit none of the tactics or intelligence that you might have hoped for, as many will patiently stand there and wait for you to shoot them a lot of the time. They know nothing of cover, and if they have a soft spot they will continuously expose it. Which, considering that headshots are generally not lethal in this game, is not really that big of a deal. In fact, because the enemies level up along with you, were it not for their stupidity, they would be a real problem. As it is, they manage to remain challenging no matter what you do, always providing just enough resistance to make the game interesting while not making it too annoying.
The game is completely devoid of tactics, however. There are very few places to hide, and with no way to take cover other than crouching down behind a rock, neither you nor your enemies can effectively remain out of the line of fire for very long. You will basically spend your time throwing lead downrange for awhile and then die, which costs you nothing but money. Most of the spawn points are very close to the action and money is both abundant and minimally useful (guns, ammo and money are constantly dropped by enemies, so you don?t have to buy them) the fact that you lose a few bucks every time you die is of no concern whatsoever. This can get rather frustrating, especially when enemies begin respawning along with you, but eventually your character will level up to the point where you can punch through. Still, the game begs to be played co-operatively, if only because your partners can constantly stand you back up, although you can also catch a ?second wind? by killing an enemy before time runs out.
The guns and other items in the game are largely dropped, although they can also be bought from vending machines located in important locations. Since respawning is a constant, health items are only minimally useful. In general I grew to rely on shields which slowly regenerated my health as well as their own integrity, which allowed me to fight long enough to make progress before dying, or permit me to outlive my enemies. The guns dropped in the game are often powerful but level-locked, leading to a frustrating situation where you must carry around a weapon for several hours of grinding before you actually get to use it. Most dropped weapons are useless and just get converted into cash at the vending machines, and their attributes are largely random. When you pick up a gun, you can get a quick run-down of it?s properties, but they?re largely interchangeable. You just want guns with higher power and accuracy and ammo capacity, and you will upgrade constantly to get ones with sets of ?parts? that fit your needs.
The fact that the game relies heavily on grinding and lacks any real interesting plot points really forces Borderlands to rely on it?s multiplayer aspect. Alone, it?s a boring grind-fest where you constantly respawn to kill the same spawning enemies until you get the level or gun necessary to punch through. With friends, it?s all about cooperating, sharing drops, and putting bullets downrange. While it is possible to start fights, duels and otherwise attack your teammates, most of the time your bullets and explosions won?t affect them in the least, which is handy when there?s four people all trying to attack the same enemy. The enemies level up based on the total level of all persons playing the game, but not enough to make it much more challenging. If anything, more players makes the game easier in that it forces the enemies to divide their strength and thus they get ripped apart by the crossfire.
The world of Borderlands is vast but very same-y, with every mountain, hill and outpost looking very similar to every other one. The graphics are sparse in order to keep lag to a minimum, and nothing is highly detailed. No matter where you go, everything is pale and well-lit (even at night), so it?s always quite easy to see where you are and where you are going and where the drops fell. Drops are even highlighted by a tiny pillar of light that emits from their center, which makes them stand out powerfully even when they are small and semi-hidden. Many players have complained about the constant walking, but after unlocking infinitely-spawning vehicles, the world actually feels quite small. No location is more than a few minutes drive from any other location, and as the car crushes any enemies that get in it?s way, the only thing hindering you from your objective is the fact that it handles very poorly and is usually quickly destroyed by enemies when it gets caught on the architecture.
Overall I?d say that Borderlands was a worthwhile purchase, but only because I have people to play it with. The Diablo-esque grinding is intense to say the least, and as the game is very dependent on lucky drops the only strategy is to keep respawning until you get the level or drops necessary to continue. In one encounter, a friend of mine and I were trying to collect crystals in The Lost Cave when we were just barely leveled up enough to try, and as such we spent a full hour just trying to make a few rooms worth of progress. Suddenly, though, we both hit level 16 (experience is shared, so all characters level up together) and found ourselves chewing through enemies with little effort, as we now out-leveled them. Even though we died constantly we only went back a few feet, meaning the only ?point? was for us to be persistent. If I were trying to do that alone, I?d have given up and gone off to play something else not so repetitive.
And that?s the game?s biggest flaw, it?s very repetitive. Though the enemies are diverse in appearance their tactics of ?run up and attack you? are always the same. Enemies constantly respawn, meaning you never get a moment?s peace, even when your level is high enough to where they are no longer any real threat. Enemies level up along with you for the most part, but this often results in a situation where you appear to make no real progress. You go up a level, they go up a level, and you only manage to break ahead when you get a gun that enables you to beat them.
Still, the game has it?s charms. It has a lot of dark humor, especially concerning the constant death, overabundance of heavy firearms and horrible medical care available in the game (after all, why cure the patient when he?ll just respawn a few feet away?) It?s also a lot of fun to play with friends, and the game seamlessly brings players in and out of the host?s game, turning the levels of the enemies up and down on the fly as necessary. And that?s good, because getting to play with friends is by far the game?s most important aspect. I don?t think Borderlands will hold the long-term glory of Left 4 Dead or Team Fortress 2 (especially since it does have an ?ending? of sorts) but it?s certainly a welcome breath of fresh air, what with it?s completely non-competitive nature and absence of often rude human opponents. In Left 4 Dead, if you fail, your team hates you, but in Borderlands, if you fail, you just respawn twenty feet away.
I was initially cautious about Borderlands. I wanted to get it purely for the multiplayer aspect, as I live some distance from a number of my friends and I wanted a game which I could play with them nights and weekends. As such I was willing to be a bit forgiving to the game, and distanced myself from the hype enough to where I didn?t allow myself to get excited.
When I initially heard about the game, it was touted as ?Fallout 3 Meets Diablo,? in that it was a de-facto dungeon crawler that revolved around quests yet was set in a futuristic wasteland. I liked both of those games enough to know that Borderlands couldn?t possibly hold up to them, but nonetheless I found myself really enjoying the game right off the bat. Anyone who has played any third person shooter in the past ten years will instantly pick up the controls, and the game is very intuitive. It?s the same tried-and-true ?go over there and shoot some things to win? style of gameplay that we?ve all been playing since Halo came out, and it is executed very well.
The game, much like Diablo, revolves more around item drops and leveling up than it does plot, storyline, strategy or anything else. Yes, there are characters you can interact with, and there?s an underlying story about corporate greed and ancient alien artifacts, but it?s buried under a giant mountain of enemies and randomly dropped guns and is rather silly anyway. The plot and storyline were clearly put in afterwards, the designers cared more about gameplay than anything else.
Because the game is pretty much nothing but running-and-gunning, it?s enjoyability is heavily dependent on the enemies. I?m sorry to say that the enemies exhibit none of the tactics or intelligence that you might have hoped for, as many will patiently stand there and wait for you to shoot them a lot of the time. They know nothing of cover, and if they have a soft spot they will continuously expose it. Which, considering that headshots are generally not lethal in this game, is not really that big of a deal. In fact, because the enemies level up along with you, were it not for their stupidity, they would be a real problem. As it is, they manage to remain challenging no matter what you do, always providing just enough resistance to make the game interesting while not making it too annoying.
The game is completely devoid of tactics, however. There are very few places to hide, and with no way to take cover other than crouching down behind a rock, neither you nor your enemies can effectively remain out of the line of fire for very long. You will basically spend your time throwing lead downrange for awhile and then die, which costs you nothing but money. Most of the spawn points are very close to the action and money is both abundant and minimally useful (guns, ammo and money are constantly dropped by enemies, so you don?t have to buy them) the fact that you lose a few bucks every time you die is of no concern whatsoever. This can get rather frustrating, especially when enemies begin respawning along with you, but eventually your character will level up to the point where you can punch through. Still, the game begs to be played co-operatively, if only because your partners can constantly stand you back up, although you can also catch a ?second wind? by killing an enemy before time runs out.
The guns and other items in the game are largely dropped, although they can also be bought from vending machines located in important locations. Since respawning is a constant, health items are only minimally useful. In general I grew to rely on shields which slowly regenerated my health as well as their own integrity, which allowed me to fight long enough to make progress before dying, or permit me to outlive my enemies. The guns dropped in the game are often powerful but level-locked, leading to a frustrating situation where you must carry around a weapon for several hours of grinding before you actually get to use it. Most dropped weapons are useless and just get converted into cash at the vending machines, and their attributes are largely random. When you pick up a gun, you can get a quick run-down of it?s properties, but they?re largely interchangeable. You just want guns with higher power and accuracy and ammo capacity, and you will upgrade constantly to get ones with sets of ?parts? that fit your needs.
The fact that the game relies heavily on grinding and lacks any real interesting plot points really forces Borderlands to rely on it?s multiplayer aspect. Alone, it?s a boring grind-fest where you constantly respawn to kill the same spawning enemies until you get the level or gun necessary to punch through. With friends, it?s all about cooperating, sharing drops, and putting bullets downrange. While it is possible to start fights, duels and otherwise attack your teammates, most of the time your bullets and explosions won?t affect them in the least, which is handy when there?s four people all trying to attack the same enemy. The enemies level up based on the total level of all persons playing the game, but not enough to make it much more challenging. If anything, more players makes the game easier in that it forces the enemies to divide their strength and thus they get ripped apart by the crossfire.
The world of Borderlands is vast but very same-y, with every mountain, hill and outpost looking very similar to every other one. The graphics are sparse in order to keep lag to a minimum, and nothing is highly detailed. No matter where you go, everything is pale and well-lit (even at night), so it?s always quite easy to see where you are and where you are going and where the drops fell. Drops are even highlighted by a tiny pillar of light that emits from their center, which makes them stand out powerfully even when they are small and semi-hidden. Many players have complained about the constant walking, but after unlocking infinitely-spawning vehicles, the world actually feels quite small. No location is more than a few minutes drive from any other location, and as the car crushes any enemies that get in it?s way, the only thing hindering you from your objective is the fact that it handles very poorly and is usually quickly destroyed by enemies when it gets caught on the architecture.
Overall I?d say that Borderlands was a worthwhile purchase, but only because I have people to play it with. The Diablo-esque grinding is intense to say the least, and as the game is very dependent on lucky drops the only strategy is to keep respawning until you get the level or drops necessary to continue. In one encounter, a friend of mine and I were trying to collect crystals in The Lost Cave when we were just barely leveled up enough to try, and as such we spent a full hour just trying to make a few rooms worth of progress. Suddenly, though, we both hit level 16 (experience is shared, so all characters level up together) and found ourselves chewing through enemies with little effort, as we now out-leveled them. Even though we died constantly we only went back a few feet, meaning the only ?point? was for us to be persistent. If I were trying to do that alone, I?d have given up and gone off to play something else not so repetitive.
And that?s the game?s biggest flaw, it?s very repetitive. Though the enemies are diverse in appearance their tactics of ?run up and attack you? are always the same. Enemies constantly respawn, meaning you never get a moment?s peace, even when your level is high enough to where they are no longer any real threat. Enemies level up along with you for the most part, but this often results in a situation where you appear to make no real progress. You go up a level, they go up a level, and you only manage to break ahead when you get a gun that enables you to beat them.
Still, the game has it?s charms. It has a lot of dark humor, especially concerning the constant death, overabundance of heavy firearms and horrible medical care available in the game (after all, why cure the patient when he?ll just respawn a few feet away?) It?s also a lot of fun to play with friends, and the game seamlessly brings players in and out of the host?s game, turning the levels of the enemies up and down on the fly as necessary. And that?s good, because getting to play with friends is by far the game?s most important aspect. I don?t think Borderlands will hold the long-term glory of Left 4 Dead or Team Fortress 2 (especially since it does have an ?ending? of sorts) but it?s certainly a welcome breath of fresh air, what with it?s completely non-competitive nature and absence of often rude human opponents. In Left 4 Dead, if you fail, your team hates you, but in Borderlands, if you fail, you just respawn twenty feet away.
