Ah, Borderlands. The game of a million lame—and not so lame—jests. My brother got my hubby into Borderlands 2, who in turn got me into B2 and naturally, we wanted to check out the original. Hubby, of course, opted to buy the Game of the Year Edition and get all the DLC. Yay him. Then I went and bought it for PC, 'cause...REASONS.☺
***Borderlands***
Released 2009 | FPS/RPG
Available for all platforms | Review: Xbox 360, PC
Available for all platforms | Review: Xbox 360, PC
*Rated M for Mature 17+*
Blood and Gore | Intense Violence
Mature Humor| Strong Language
HGG rating: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 7/10
HGG rating: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 7/10
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| Mordecai as The Hunter... |
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| ...with Lilith as The Siren... |
First Impressions?
A little boring, truth be told. I'm sure that wouldn't have been the case if I hadn't started this series by playing Borderlands 2 first. It grows on ya, though.
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| ...and Brick as Himself. |
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| ...Roland as The Soldier... |
Same comic book style graphics as the other Borderlands games and it definitely suits this series. The voice acting is well done, though the main characters don't speak much at all. That always bugs me in games.
Xbox 360 vs. PC?
The graphics are crisper in the PC edition. The 360 controller works rather well with the PC, though it only has partial support. The only time I really notice the "partial" situation is when I open the map. The controller does NOTHING on the map. You have to use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the map. Now, if you use a keyboard while PC gaming, no worries. The on-screen button prompts are all keyboard, even when using the controller.
Gameplay?
Typical first-person, shoot-em-up style game. There're tons of weapons to enjoy, though this game falls far short of what Borderlands 2 has to offer.
There's no single technique that really works with this game. Make sure you're several levels over the baddies is about all I can advise. Again, I'm not great at games, especially first-person shooters. And this one had me cursing many, many times, and dying more than that.
You get to choose between four characters. Some are easier to use than others. I found Mordecai to be easiest with his Bloodwing skill. I've tried out Lilith, but I personally find her skill rather pointless. Brick goes into a punching frenzy, which I've seen in episodes of CoOpted - Borderlands, but I've never tried him out for myself, so I'm not sure how easy he is to use. I did give Roland a shot in a co-op game with my hubby, and Roland has a turret. That may sound awesome, but it's absolutely NOTHING compared to Axton's turret(s) in B2.
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| Sniping Rakks |
Storyline?
There's a storyline? Just kidding. Of course there is.
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| The adventure begins... |
There is a vault and it might contain treasures, or it might contain monsters. Either way, it can only be opened every 200 years and guess what time it is? That's right, it's VAULT TIME! You have to collect pieces of the vault key so it can be put back together, then use it to open the vault. So. Much. Adventuring. Fun. WOO!
The storyline's not great, but it's not horrible either. It is what it is. There's no real character attachment that happens, but you're not completely bored with what's happening either.
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| Fyrestone |
Complaints?◄And I find the box art off-putting. I assume this is the kind of art that appeals to gamers who prefer first-person shooters? Maybe... Huh. Anyway.
Oh, and first-person. I hate first-person but I enjoy these games. Wish they weren't FPSs.
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| Me likey the loot! |
Overall?
One thing we noticed about these games is that, though certainly a fun game, it's far more entertaining with friends. It's one of the few games I'd recommend purely for the co-op experience. I'm not one to game with others unless I know them really well (hubby and brothers only, basically), but I think this game could be entertaining even with strangers. ;)
My rating?
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ - I give it 7/10 life hearts. It was good, but nowhere near as good as B2. Had I played this first, it would probably rate higher. Bottom line, Borderlands is good, but they definitely improved on just about everything when they made Borderlands 2. If you like FPSs, crude humor, and playing games with friends, you'll like Borderlands.
Where to buy?
*All screenshots, vidz, and game art © 2K Games/Gearbox Software. These companies do not in any way endorse this fan blog.
Until next time...
