Borderlands is a unique blend of ‘straight-up shooter’ and ‘dungeon trawling carrot-dangler’. Gearbox Studios has combined two separate and unique gameplay motivators seamlessly and come up with something that combines the instant gratification of a solid FPS with the prolonged compulsive gameplay that Diablo or WoW fans will recognize.

Not content to simply combine two separate genre conventions, the developer has gift wrapped Borderlands with what it calls ‘next-gen cellshading’, a rendering technique which gives the game a unique and almost cartoony look. In line with the offbeat look and feel is an unusual narrative, which consists of bizarre and amusing characters, quirky one liners and of course the kind of gratuitous and stylized violence that one would expect from an animated Tarrantino movie.

The game kicks off with a brief and entertaining introductory video. As part of Borderlands’ design philosophy, there is minimal dialogue and no drawn out cut-scenes. At the outset players must choose between 4 unique characters; Brick the Beserker, Lilith the Siren, Mordecai the Hunter and Roland the Soldier.   Each character represents 4 unique approaches to taking on Borderlands.

Gearbox wants players in the game, and so within 2 minutes of having closed the disk tray you are running around the dusty plains of Pandora. FPS veterans will recognize the basic control scheme, from movement to scrolling through weapons and aiming down scopes. RPG fans will immediately spot the similarities when they notice quest markers, item statistics, an experience bar and various character advancement choices.

There’s FPS in my RPG

The formula is really quite simple. Just like in Diablo, players must run around performing quests, gaining XP, leveling their characters and of course; collecting awesome loot. In terms of basic structure, gamers will immediately recognize similarities between Borderlands and Fallout 3. Strangely, when playing, these similarities are barely noticeable.  This is because Borderlands looks, feels and plays unlike any other FPS/RPG hybrid released to date.

The sheer delight that one will experience with the shooter component alone is enough for Borderlands to stand proudly next to dedicated FPS titles such as Call of Duty 4. Guns feel heavy, and the movement interface is light and swift without lacking gravity. The physics for the most part are excellent and animations fluid. Making headshots is as satisfying, if not more so, than any dedicated FPS could hope to achieve.

What Gearbox has done is develop a very solid FPS engine, and build an RPG around it, and it works brilliantly.

Small colorfully rendered numbers will explode out of enemies when they are shot, indicating how much damage players are doing per shot. This makes for an incredibly satisfying experience, which is only compounded when players hit their enemies weak spot resulting in massive damage being dealt and red ‘critical hit’ text bouncing from the wounded enemy.

Upon completing each kill text will appear from the fallen foe indicating how much XP was earned. More powerful enemies result in players receiving more XP. XP is also earned from completing side quests as well as story quests. When players accumulate enough XP they level up, thus increasing their overall stats and giving them a point to spend on one of the many abilities available to each class.

Each class can choose to specialize in one of three fields. Players can share out skill points as they please, but more focused concentration in a particular field results in players gaining access to higher level abilities. It’s a system that has been used in countless RPGs, and it works very well.

Guns guns guns!

Apart from earning experience from quests, players also receive cash and sometimes items or weapons. Cash can be used to purchase weapons, ammo, health packs, armor and other special items at vending machines which are scattered around Pandora. All items and weapons have a class requirement. Thus, a level 12 assault rifle requires a level 12 character, and will typically be more powerful than a level 7 assault rifle.

Weapons are divided into different quality classes which are denoted by the colour of the text which labels them. In ascending order, weapons are categorized as follows; white, green, blue, purple and orange. Orange weapons are the rarest, and are generally the most valuable and powerful weapons in the game, relative to their level of course.

Weapons are also divided by type. Players can use pistols, revolvers, SMGs, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles and rocket launchers. There is also alien hardware which is exceedingly powerful and only starts appearing later into the game. The more the player uses a particular weapon, the more their proficiency with said weapon increases, and the more damage they will deal.

Statistics reflecting a weapon’s damage, accuracy, rate of fire, reload speed and cartridge size vary from weapon to weapon, and of course different weapon types will be better suited to different situations. Some weapons also have special abilities, such as doing extra corrosion damage.

The scope of variety of weaponry is impressive. Within the aforementioned parameters, the possibilities are virtually endless, and Gearbox has implemented a procedurally operated weapon randomizer. This means that every weapon in the game will look different, and have different statistics. This is an important feature, and the joy of finding an ‘orange class’ sniper rifle to replace your aging peashooter is rarely matched in gaming.

Or is it RPG in my FPS?

While Gearbox has implemented an accessible RPG component, some enthusiasts may not be completely satisfied with the depth of the character customization. While this criticism may be unfair, considering that Borderlands is a hybrid, one can’t help but imagine how great the game would have been if, for example, there had been more depth in the item selection. Dedicated RPG’s like WoW and Oblivion allow players to handpick individual items such as boots, belts, breast plates and even trinkets. Borderlands has simplified this to a single item; a shield generator. There are special items which improve characters abilities, but there is not nearly the item depth on offer as in WoW for example.

Character stats and abilities have also been watered down. While some may agree with this criticism, others will feel that Borderlands makes a worthwhile sacrifice by toning down the RPG elements to make something that is so immediately accessible.

Apart from being a lot of fun, Borderlands is also a technical delight. A unique artistic direction which is realized with sharp and detailed textures, excellent animation and solid physics, makes Borderlands one of the most visually memorable games of recent times.

The sound is also top notch. Guns echo powerfully with sharp and varied conviction, while the voice work is fittingly amusing and offbeat. Subtle and sparsely scattered desert themed guitar tones twang out, again reminding one of western themed Mad-max meets Tarantino escapade.

In terms of value for money, it is difficult to fault Borderlands. The first play through can easily run past 30 hours of game time, and Gearbox quote fifty hours if one takes on all the side missions. Then there is the option to replay the game using one of the three alternative characters, all of which offer a different gameplay experience. Coupled with this, is the multiplayer component, which allows players to jump into each other’s games. Doing so makes enemies tougher, but results in better items being dropped. Unfortunately, it is not possible for players to play their own missions while in a friend’s game. They will however take all the XP, loot and cash back to their own campaign.

Conclusion

Borderlands is easily one of the best games released in 2009. Its unique take on the RPG/FPS hybrid coupled with a highly enjoyable addictive quality makes it a must play, and gamers are likely to sink countless hours into it before the charm begins to wear off.

Played on Xbox 360

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