Borderlands Box Art

I’ve heard some refer to Borderlands as a RPS (role playing shooter), or “Diablo with guns”. I tend to agree with the latter; while it is a shooter, there is little to no roleplay – or even story. Like Diablo, you can customize your gear and your skills, but will end up spending most of your time running through areas, shooting things until they stop moving, and collecting sweet loots.

The game does enable one to drop in and out of other peoples games, for a co-op style of play… But I’ve not really messed with that much. I tried it, once, and it wasn’t too shabby. That is to say, the feature worked as advertised. I’m sure if you are a social gamer, that this feature would be a fun one – but I’m not, so it’s not something I actually give a damn about. Mostly I wander the world of Pandora, alone, shooting dudes and taking their stuff.

There are cars, which you can drive and shoot and run people over with, but frankly it feels really cheap. While in a car, everything is a one-hit kill. Creatures that normally can take a crapload of damage splatter under the wheels of your dune buggy. Thankfully, most areas aren’t open to cars – you have to leave your ride outside.

The main draw here is the weaponry – and what weaponry it is! Sniper rifles that cause folks to burst into flames, shotguns that electrocute folks, revolvers that cause dudes to explode… it’s all here. I’ve heard tales of even crazier weapons – like shotguns that shoot rockets, but have yet to encounter them. Mostly, though, a huge part of the fun – what makes many of the challenges worth while – is finding a chest containing some new guns. It’s almost always worth it – rarely do you not find something neat, which you just want wait to try on the next mutant you come across.

This is quickly becoming my favorite game – it’s pretty much the only one I’ve played since I got it. With the promise of even better stuff available on the second go-through, and some sweet zombie fueled DLC available by the end of year, this is more than worth it’s $60 entry fee.