Borderlands Review

"Porky Pig had changed quite a bit since his Looney Tune days...

After the show went under and he got the bad news,

Porky couldn't find a job anywhere due to his sp-p-p-peech impediment.

Desperately resorting to drug tests and shady back-room deals to sustain his measly living standards in the poor part of town,

Porky was implemented in the homicide of a politician's brother when a mugging went bad.

He found himself banished to the barren wasteland, Pandora,

where he was meant to waste away or be eaten alive by the local wildlife.

Porky was just trying to make ends meet.

Porky didn't mean to take anyone's life.

But now, after being hunted day in and out for decades,

Porky the Motherf***ing Badass Pig is NOT dicking around.

He will rise to the top.

He will crush those in his way.

Even if he becomes grotesque, gigantic, or nigh-unrecognizable,

Porky. Will. Fight."

...........

When I first saw Borderlands, I thought it was a really strange game and I couldn't figure out why people enjoyed playing it or how the hell it got runner-up as game of the year. However, after playing it for several hours at a friend's house, I realized that this game is gameplay dynamite.

Borderlands combines the idea of randomizing weapons, different classes, and guns to create a fun-filled console FPS rendition of Diablo II. Though D2 had some damn simple/awkward controls and a good deal of preparedness was required to make a decent character that could survive outside the gates of Hell mode, Borderlands simplifies everything so that the game is one laid-back, streamlined questing experience.

"70 points for the baby!"

The basic premise of Borderlands is that on the virtual wasteland of a planet that is Pandora, there is a secret "Vault" which any lucky bounty hunter or treasure seeker can find if they manage to survive the harsh conditions, bloodthirsty wildlife, and bandit assaults. New players can choose from four different classes: the Hunter, the Berserker, the Soldier, and the Siren. Each class has a slight specialty with certain guns in the beginning, but one aspect where the game shines is the diversity of potential ways to take the chosen character after leveling up. Each character type has three different skill trees that allow him/her to grow in different ways, each of which may suit the current weaponry and conditions you find yourself with. Each class also possesses a unique skill with a slight cooldown: Hunter summons a homing hawk which deals great single-target damage, the Siren can turn invisible and cause explosions around her, the Soldier drops a protective turret, and the Berserker...goes berserk.

"Originally, there were supposed to be five, but the fifth pissed off the Berserker."

Four weapons can be equipped at once, with varying rarity, specialty, and type reminiscent of Diablo's two outfit slots. There are only a handful of unique guns, and most of the fun of Borderlands is adapting playstyle to revolve around the best guns you can find or purchase in your scavenging attempts. Rather than being one of those games where the "fun level" peaks and then plateaus because there's nothing new to get, players constantly have to stay on the watch for new guns, enemy suicide bombers, Badass enemies (that's an actual sub-class in this game), and new quests.

"or he do

DYNAMITE YOUR FACE OFF!?"

Though some of the quests are unimaginative fetch quests, some of them are absolute gems and I actually laughed quite a bit while playing the game. For example, near the beginning of the game, you are sent to collect audio diaries of an intelligent female scientist hired to research Pandora, who, after years of being exposed to the crazed, daily, life-and-death battle to survive has degenerated into a lucid yet insanely lonely scientist who accuses her audio recorder of being an obsessive lover and imagines the past history of random bandits she lures into her camp and kills for her birthday (Poor Leslie). The bosses, item descriptions, random enemies, and easter eggs found throughout the game also add their own personality to the game, and the entire experience feels dynamic.

"Not if he keeps fumbling with that knife."

Summary:

The game's pace almost never slows down as long as the quests remain entertaining, and though the game seems like a simplified console port of an MMO at first glance, it is a game that continues to have replay value and is a great co-op game to play with friends. The gameplay is smooth, seamless, and responsive, with gamers of different styles able to enjoy the playthrough no matter which character type they choose. While gamers who are adamantly against quest-oriented games and gameplay-focused games will not enjoy Borderlands, I believe that the quality of the gameplay is excellent and deserves a 5. Borderlands utilizes cel-shading to create a cartoony alien world with traditional enemies and unique environments. While not necessarily excellent in the conventional standard, Borderlands graphics are easily above par for a current-gen game in that it creates a very distinct art style that really adds to the flavor of the game, so graphics get a 4.5. The music, though unfortunately not astounding, was alright. During times of battle, the music became notably more tense, and during scenes of great importance, the music correctly reflected it. Therefore, I believe that music should get a 4. The story wasn't exactly innovative or new, so it would be easy to expect that narration is par, but the random lines uttered by npcs, the unique personalities of the major shopkeepers, and the dialogue of the crazed bandits adds immensely to this somewhat goofy cel-shaded alien world where being badass is a boon. Narration therefore - surprisingly - gets a 4.5. The atmosphere in this game is amazing. Hands down. The graphics, the music, the gameplay, and the hilarious dialogue all fill out the world of Borderlands so well that it feels like a memorable classic (which is really hard to do in this day and age). Atmosphere gets a 5. Overall, I believe that Borderlands receives a 4.6. It IS a fun game and though the difference in rating is disproportionately higher than the corresponding difference in level of fun, I honestly believe that in its core components, this game deserves the rating.