Borderlands (Xbox 360)

Borderlands is a fairly new game that is available on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. I am reviewing the game that is for the 360.

Borderlands is a mix of FPS (first person shooter) and RPG (role playing game), and combined they make RPS (role playing shooter), one of the first to be created for the Xbox 360. Basically meaning it's a shooting game from a first person point of view, which also comprises quests, missions and well thought ...
...again!". Fortunately at the time Borderlands released a 'patch', basically an add-on which can be downloaded from the Xbox Live Marketplace, which is an additional bit to the game to make it longer. I was disappointed you had to pay for this patch, but due to the nature of it I quickly forgave the producers! It was a zombie version of Borderlands, where you are introduced to a new part of the planet, and instead of the usual villains, they are ... more

Borderlands is a fairly new game that is available on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. I am reviewing the game that is for the 360.

Borderlands is a mix of FPS (first person shooter) and RPG (role playing game), and combined they make RPS (role playing shooter), one of the first to be created for the Xbox 360. Basically meaning it's a shooting game from a first person point of view, which also comprises quests, missions and well thought out storylines.

It has been compared to other Xbox games like Fallout 3 and Oblivion due to its role playing nature, and has been given great write ups from gaming websites and magazines, being called "completely original" with "fantastic graphics".

One aspect that makes this game so unique is the graphics. Before this game, I'd never heard of the term "cell-shaded". When I first started playing, I was fascinated by the graphics of Borderlands, as objects far away in the distance looked realistic, but everything up close was cartoony and as if it was from a comic book. The detail on everything is fantastic, as on each character/villain/animal it's got all the proper shading as though it was a realistic drawing, but the vibrant colours make it cartoon-like. I then learnt that this style of design was called cell-shading and commonly used in comic books. This factor really makes the game stand out from others, and I've never played a game like it. The graphics make everything in the game really bold and colourful. The second I started playing I was completely intrigued to keep going.

You choose from four different characters at the beginning. I chose Siren, the only female character - a common theme for me as I am indeed a female. I found this character very easy to get along with. Each person has their own special ability which can be a physical attack, an extension to your weaponry, or a magical power. Siren has the ability to launch herself into 'invisible mode', where she becomes unnoticeable for a short period of time and during that time can move about very quickly. It is useful in all stages of the game, especially at points where you have been overcome with enemies or become trapped between a few different villains and you can use this ability/skill to quickly escape and move to another point.

Each character has a 'Skill Tree'. As you get further into the game, you get experience. This experience builds up to make you a higher level (the highest is level 50), and for each level you go up you can choose to add a skill to your Tree. There are loads of different options so I won't write them all here, but some examples are: making your character stronger, making his/her shield last longer, making their special ability last longer, etc. For my character, Siren, I filled up one section of the tree that made her invisibility mode damage enemies in the blast radius when she performed it. This was very helpful and gained me a lot of experience.

I played this game cooperatively with my boyfriend and he chose the Soldier character. The special skill this guy has is the ability to lay down a gun turret which automatically shoots at nearby enemies. This is very handy if you're facing plenty of villains, as you can lay it down, crouch behind it for cover and just let it take care of everything for you! At the beginning of the game the turret lasts for about 30 seconds and you have to wait about 3 minutes inbetween usage, which seems like forever! You can use your skill tree to make the inbetween time shorter, to make the turret last longer, or even so that when you're standing near to the turret you and nearby friendly characters regain health AND ammo. This is probably the best perk of this character, and possibly makes this character the best in the game. When me and my boyfriend stood near his turret we both regained ammo and health, therefore removing the need to keep buying more ammo and health packs (therefore saving precious money).

The other two characters available are Hunter and Beserker. Hunter reminds me of The Crow a bit: big leather jacket, make up, etc. The Hunter's special ability allows the character to release a flock of birds (even more like The Crow!) which attacks enemies, and this skill can get better the more you fill up your skill tree. Beserker is an interesting character; he is very big and strong! His special ability is a physical one and allows him to go into a fast mode where he becomes invisible, much like Siren's ability, and can quickly pummel his fists into enemies to take them down. This is a handy skill when there are lots of enemies surrounding you nearby as you can move around them from behind and beat them up!

This skills aspect of the game is really motivational as it is difficult to choose which special abilities to give your character from the skill tree, and which skills will make your character 'best'. At any point you can reset your skill tree and reconfigure where all your level 'points' will go, but this will cost you money.

The game begins on a bus driving through a deserted landscape, you can only see sand and tumbleweed in the distance. You get off the bus and approach some rocks which surround a small, deserted community (no mention of where everyone is) and a small robot called Claptrap introduces himself and begins to explain some of the story and what you must do. The voiceovers in this game are very interesting - the person who voices the Claptrap makes him sound very cute! (Though this does get annoying after a while!). You start with a rubbish weapon that hardly does any damage and you are level 1. We are introduced to a few of the characters, and a couple of villains. You have to shoot the villains; this is like a practice as it tells you what to do. A few more controls are explained and then you enter the first part of the map, Arid Badlands. Here you have to complete some introductory quests and this really helps you get a feel for the game.

You can only use your weapon to begin with. Once you get to level 5 (not difficult to do at all) then you can start using your special ability to kill enemies. This is where the fun begins! The levelling up system is consistent and motivating, and with each level you are introduced to better weapons, better perks and allows you to upgrade to more powerful skills.

There are lots of different quests and missions in this game, and you have to go to new areas to explore them all properly and to pick up more quests. Some quests are simply to kill Bosses or certain people, some are to talk to people, some are to collect plants or objects, some are to enter certain places. In return for completing quests you receive experience points to help you boost your level. You may also receive money or a weapon/shield as a bonus. Sometimes these can be amazing, but more often than not they're a bit pants so you can just sell them for money!

There are seven different types of gun in this game: Combat Rifle, Pistol, Revolver, Rocket Launcher, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle and Sub-Machine Gun. These can be purchased from randomly-placed vending machines around the map. The vending machines are great ways to get your hands on more weaponry, for example, guns, shields, ammo, and other things like health packs and weapon perks. You can also pick these things up, most of the time from enemies who you've killed as they drop bits and pieces. Generally you'll find the better weapons are dropped rather than in a vending machine, though I believe that the method of finding weapons is a little inconsistent. Sometimes a complete nobody villain will drop a wicked weapon, yet a Boss (an enemy that was really tough to kill for a quest) will drop a weapon not even worth selling. The selling aspect of the game is another similarity to RPG gaming, as you can sell items for money to buy even better items.

It Borderlands, guns are rated by colour as to their rarity so you can generally tell at ease whether they are worth anything/do much damage.

Another brilliant part of the game is the vehicles. Once you've got to a certain level, vehicle pick-up points appear in certain places where you can magic a jeep out of thin air! You can have up to two vehicles at any one time, and if two of your teammates are in them and you wish to be travelling with them, you can even teleport to the jeep for ease of movement! The jeeps also have the ability to fire bullets or rockets which is brilliant in destroying enemies and makes getting around much much easier - allowing you more time to complete quests and get your level up!

The higher level you are, the higher level your enemies are, which makes the game consistent and fair, and prevents the game from becoming boring - the more you play the harder it gets.

It is quite an easy going game which doesn't require too much thought, though the storyline is a little hard to follow, and on my first play through I didn't pay much attention to it. It didn't make the game harder, but made me wonder a lot of the time where on earth I was and what was I doing!! From what I could gather you are sent to a different planet looking for an alien to collect something or other from it! Along the way there are enemies to kill, both people and animals, both of which will attack you. There is a map feature which helps you find your way by handily showing where you are and where you have to go, hence why I found it not too important to follow the storyline as I simply had to follow the path to go to the next bit. It probably would have made the game more enjoyable though if I properly understood the quests I had to embark on.

Unfortunately I found the ending to be a bit of an anti-climax. Yet another Boss to kill, and yes it was difficult, but nothing spectacular happened which made me go "Wow! I must play that again!". Fortunately at the time Borderlands released a 'patch', basically an add-on which can be downloaded from the Xbox Live Marketplace, which is an additional bit to the game to make it longer. I was disappointed you had to pay for this patch, but due to the nature of it I quickly forgave the producers! It was a zombie version of Borderlands, where you are introduced to a new part of the planet, and instead of the usual villains, they are all zombies. The colours and tone of the game changed too, and everything was a lot darker and more intense. There are quests for you to complete throughout this patch, and I managed to complete it cooperatively with my boyfriend in about 5 days, which wasn't too bad. Not too long but not too short.

A brilliant aspect of this game is the co-op ability. As previously mentioned, my boyfriend and I completed this together which was really fun. Though I dislike the split screen for the pure fact that I don't like sharing the TV(!), it was fun and engaging. I really like working cooperatively on games and Borderlands really encourages it by making it easy to use and enjoyable. You can have up to four people playing in one game, and I find this works best when you're playing online with three others. The online games are fairly easy to get into by selecting Quick Match, though it's best to match your skill level up to the other people in the game, therefore if you're level 30, it's best to enter into a game with other level 30s, so that you're all at the same point.

You can also duel with friends both offline and online. I didn't really find much point to doing this - but you get a nice Xbox achievement out of it if you win a duel when you do it for the first time so it's definitely something to try out!

Speaking of achievements, I found them quite easy to come by. I've never fully completed a game and received ALL achievements for them on Xbox before, therefore was pleasantly surprised to find out that when I completed this game I had almost all of the achievements. You receive achievements mostly by completing quests or gaining access to different territories. There are only a few achievements that you really have to put lots of effort into, and these aren't difficult to get, but can be a bit time consuming.

The controls of the game are fairly easy to get the hang of, and are definitely more matched to RPG rather than FPS. They are quite generic to Xbox so if you're used to most controls on that, then it should be very easy to pick up.

Overall it is a really addictive game with brilliant visuals. I completed the game cooperatively in about three weeks and to be honest I'm not really sure how I feel about that! As a FPS, three weeks on a game is actually quite a long time to complete it if you're playing a lot, but for a RPG, I found three weeks quite disappointing. Most RPGs are continuous and never ending, and whilst technically there is no end to the game as you can roam the Borderlands as much as you want, eventually you do run out of quests so there is no point to the game anymore. I think the designers could have made the game last longer, with more quests so it has the proper feel of a continuous RPG. Another downside to the game was that I feel there could have been better weapons nearing the end of the game, and also the 'Loading...' page inbetween different Borderlands areas was really long, I wish they could have speeded it up!

Despite these points, this game definitely had me reeled in, and completely overtook my life for three weeks - I was even dreaming about it at night! So probably for the best it wasn't any longer.... ;)

For any gamer, I really recommend this game. Though I've said a few downie points about it, Borderlands is an incessantly addictive game which is fun, enjoyable and brilliant to play cooperatively. Though I stopped playing it a month ago when I completed it, I feel that in a few more months when I've forgotten most of the story I'd happily pick up my controller again and replay it, but this time being a different character, and I reckon I'd love it! 

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