Borderlands: Early Impressions
Posted by Lance on 22nd October , 2009
I finally got to play a little Borderlands last night. I’m very pleased with the game, and Gearbox has delivered on the hype. The game is not perfect, but has attained that nebulous plateau of polish, charm, and great gameplay that earns it the title of Good Game (TM).
Gameplay-wise, Borderlands is a fairly straightforward shooter – even a little retro, a la Quake and its ilk. However, the engaging setting and art design, coupled with copious gun porn and fantastic co-op play, seal the deal.
Visually, the oft-mentioned “concept art” presentation absolutely must be seen in person. Screenshots and preview videos simply don’t do it justice. Gearbox has crafted a living, breathing, interactive comic book – and my Samsung big screen is all the happier for it.
I’m only 10 levels in (currently playing the Soldier class, although I’m Siren-curious), so I’m not yet going to expound and rate. Suffice it to say the game is as fun as promised.
However, I can’t sign off without mentioning the one factor that is getting under my skin. Out of context, there is some really goofy, illogical stuff going on regarding the class powers:
- Soldiers can heal teammates by shooting them. With bullets. Wait, what??
- The Siren can do corrosive damage with her melee attacks. Well, um, how? Is there acid continuously dripping from her palms, or what? Wouldn’t that rust her guns? Not to mention put a damper on dating…
- Soldiers have a power where, after dispatching an enemy, their rate of fire increases for a period of time. Sooo, their guns get all cheered up and enthusiastic for a while? I don’t get it.
Yes, yes, I know. Just shut up and enjoy the game, Lance. Of course, you’re right – it’s all in fun, and lots of it. It’s still friggin’ goofy though…
I started out with a Siren but I feel as though I’m not really a defined class.. The phaseshift is ok and all but it feels slightly out of place. I can see some of the spec lines in her tree treat her more like an assassin but I think that kind of style doesn’t really fit in with all the gun-play fast paced action. Also, I’m not sure exactly what guns are geared to Sirens so it makes it all that more awkward when something drops and everyone else has a specialty.
Agreed on all fronts. I like playing stealthy characters, but it didn’t seem right for this type of shooter.
And again – the crazy, random powers. “When I shoot someone, I burst into flame and do damage to all the enemies around me.” Well, OK – I guess that’s really useful in a place like Pandora, but it’s just weirdly random. I’m guessing the Siren was included to appeal to the anime crowd. The powers all seem like something from a Final Fantasy game, but just seem incongruous with an otherwise seemingly magic-free setting.
Yeah, I think that Siren = crazy random stuff. Her talent tree includes all kinds of random powers, but that actually appeals to me as it allows me to build things out as I please. I haven’t focused too much on the gun talents (ok, I haven’t done that at all) but I like that I can give her elemental and insta-kill style boosts. That said, I haven’t figured out the phasing powers at all; most of the time they just seem like a good way to get myself killed.