Borderlands

Review of Borderlands developed by Gearbox Software & 2K Games.

Borderlands is an action-packed, multiplayer, first person roleplaying game (FPS RPG) released in 2009 by Gearbox Software and 2K Games. It is the first game in the series followed by Borderlands 2 (2012), Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (2014) and a spin-off called Tales from the Borderlands that was released by Telltale Games in 2014. The announcement for Borderlands 3 was made in 2015 but with no detail regarding its publication date as of yet. For a title that is now 10 years old, unbelievably so, it should not be disregarded from your play list. The game’s largest trademark is its cartoon/comic book graphics which has inspired a complete new style for cosplayers and created a whole new hype for gamers in its time (I know I was).

The game is based on the mineral rich planet Pandora which is inhabited by bandits, scavengers, unique wildlife, various military groups and Hyperion soldiers/robots. The starting cinematic shows the arrival of four Vault Hunters, one of which you can choose to play, who have come to Pandora in search of the legendary Eridian vaults rumored to contain wealth and riches. Along your travels you will encounter various lovable and humorous NPC’s such as the annoying CL4P-TP robot aka Claptrap, Marcus (the gun merchant), Dr. Zed (the shady surgeon) and Scooter (the mechanic) among many others.

The game is set in an open-world allowing for a lot of free roaming and exploration which can be done from within a vehicle spawned from the Catch-A-Ride system created by the infamous Scooter. Killing enemies and completing storyline quests and side quests allows for the accumulation of experience points (XP), cash and a variety of guns, shields, class mods, grenade mods and relics whose rarity is classified according to a colour system with white been the most common and orange the most rare. Items and ammunition can also be purchased from vending machines scattered across Pandora. Once you have visited a location you can Fast Travel to that location in the future provided a Fast Travel Station is available in that zone.

Below you can meet the crew of characters that you can choose from to explore the secrets of the Borderlands. From left to right is Roland (Soldier), Lilith (Siren), Mordecai (Hunter) and Brick (Gunzerker).

Each character has a specific aptitude for various weapon types but are not limited to those weapons only – the character and weaponry you choose to play with is entirely up to your play style. Each character has a unique back story, action skill and skill trees which points can be allocated to after enough XP has been accumulated resulting in your character leveling up. Specific achievements/challenges can also be completed which will allow the player to accumulate Badass Ranks that can be assigned to improving various combat abilities, e.g.: gun damage, gun accuracy, critical strike chance, reloading speed, etc.

The game can be played either as single player or multiplayer and talent trees can be adjusted accordingly, i.e.: supportive / offensive. If your character should die in single player mode you are afforded the opportunity to resurrect yourself by obtaining Second Wind – this requires you to kill an enemy before the Second Wind timer expires. In multiplayer mode you can revive your squad mates. If you should die, your character will respawn at the New-U station which reconstructs your character for a small fee. The New-U station also allows you to customize the colour of your character’s hair and attire and reset your skill points if you so desire. Another cool co-op option in Borderlands is that there are various arenas around Pandora where you and your friends can battle one another. So if you’re into PvP then be sure to check out the arenas!

Borderlands is and always will be a game that is close to my heart having spent countless hours lanning the game with friends. It has provided me with endless entertainment ranging from the humorous dialogue, to the fast paced combat, unique graphics, a well-thought out storyline, hilarious quests and embedded references and lovable NPCs.

Choosing a favourite character would be a definite tie between Lilith and Mordecai – Lilith is a total sarcastic badass and her phasewalk ability allows for quick escapes and fast movement during combat. Sirens also have an improved aptitude for elemental weapons (as per their skill tree) which makes them elemental beasts. While Mordecai is a true sniper with a lovable companion, Bloodwing, which is his unique action skill. Mordecai can snipe enemies from afar and take out others from behind cover using his bestie Bloodwing. As I mentioned earlier: the character you choose and how you build that character is completely up to you and whether you are playing alone or in co-op. Either way the game is not so difficult that you will fail if you do not build your character perfectly – so long as you can aim, you will survive. Although, my personal favourite play style would have to be a shotgun and sniper rifle combo for close and far combat.

My favourite love-to-hate character would have to be Claptrap – he does not shut up and makes really annoying, yet humorous, remarks. In the first game you do not have a lot of interaction with Claptrap specifically but you do interact with many of his kind so you will get the idea. The funniest thing about Claptrap, which is only truly revealed in the second game, is that he is aware that he is highly annoying as he often passes remarks about the player surely wanting to kill him. If you do manage to find a way to get it right please let me know – I would like nothing more than to be able to soar him off of a cliff just to see his reaction! ^_^

I know the graphics of the game might not be everyone’s cup of tea but the storyline is definitely worth checking out. Borderlands has to be one of the best games that I have played – the combat, the characters, the story, the graphics and the complete personality of the game scores an easy five stars from me. For fans that are reading this I am psyched to announce that Lionsgate is creating a film adaptation of the series so that is something to look forward to! I hope that this has inspired you to play, or replay, this classic in anticipation for the release of Borderlands 3! As always, happy gaming 😎