Borderlands

Voices of: Marcus M. Mauldin, Julio Caesar Cedillo, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Bruce DeBose, Britanni Angel, Lani Minella,
Developer: Gearbox
Directed by: Matthew Armstrong
Rating: M
Genre: First Person Shooter
System: Xbox 360
2009

Times Completed:
Tim: 1

Summary: Four Vault Hunters travel to the distant planet of Pandora to search for the legendary Vault, which is supposed to contain incredibly advanced alien technology.

Review:
Tim: I had a ton of fun stepping into the Borderlands world for the first time. There's so much to love about this zany, mature, violent game. It's a long game, especially with the DLC, but it's always entertaining, challenging, and fun.

The visuals were incredible. You have this wonderful combination of violence and bloodshed, combined with these cartoon graphics that are incredible. The game is stunning to look at. The rendered detail, the color schemes- this game is absolutely stunning to see. I love how the visuals were so polished and beautiful, combined with the violence and mature themes throughout. It makes for a wild, original viewing experience. I don't often marvel this much at video game visuals, but this one was special. It felt like nothing else out there.

The story is really cool, too. You pick one of these Vault Hunters who traverse a planet, looking for a legendary Vault, filled with technology and treasures beyond your wildest dreams. There are many competitors looking for this, too, so you must take them out with brutal force. The game feels quite massive. I finished all 126 Story Missions (that is so many!), plus 88 out of the 90 DLC Missions. I didn't finish You.Will.Die. or Prove Yourself. I played this game solo and I really needed some help on those missions. Honestly, I started to get burned out and fatigued with this game at this point. There's just so many missions to complete. It's fun, but the game requires a massive investment of time.

Not knowing anything about this game, I played as Brick. I got to a Level 47 Titan. I collected 2,945,711 experience. My shield was 1418. My life was 1643. I ended the game with $686,922. My Weapon Proficiency was as follows- Pistol 3, SMG 5, Shotgun 22, Combat Rifle 13, Sniper Rifle 11, Launcher 8, Eridian Weapon 0. I wasn't all that interested in the Challenges, but I did complete 70/117 Challenges. Again, I didn't do everything in this game, but I completed a total of 214 missions! That is so many. Now, as impressive as that is, I have to admit the game gets repetitive. While there vast number of missions is so fun, eventually you feel like you're just doing more of the same. I loved the main game, but I really felt the tediousness with the DLC. Some of the DLC is brilliant, some of it is beyond aggravating. The Underdome arena fights were incredibly frustrating at times. While I thoroughly enjoyed this game, there's also an argument to be made that it's too big. The game loses some effectiveness because you eventually do things over and over and over and it does tend to be exhausting in the latter stages of the game. I'd have felt differently if there wasn't so much DLC (and it being quite uneven).

I loved the irreverent humor throughout this game. The dialogue the characters utter is often ridiculous and funny. It definitely plays a comedy, combined with the action components of the game. I also loved the character of Claptrap- he brings such frenetic energy to the game, delivers some very funny lines, and generally serves as a great mascot for the game.

I really loved my time playing Borderlands. You don't often see this hybrid of role-playing games and action, first-person shooters. The stunning visuals, the humor, the extensive mission list- the game gives you hours and hours of play value. I loved working through the different stories and missions, collecting different weapons, and then so much killing. The story was interesting and held your attention and the final level and ultimate boss were a blast to play. This is a game that transports you to a bizarre, deadly, unexpected planet and allows you to interact with so many different characters, explore different terrains, kill various people and monsters. The best games transport you away from your normal world and help you step into another- that's exactly what Borderlands does. This is an incredible game and I loved my time with it.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Game, We Recommend: Borderlands 2, Bioshock, Portal, Portal 2