Borderlands - Review @ GameSpy

[Dhruin]

GameSpy weighs in on Borderlands with their "concensus" review. I haven't noticed this format at GameSpy before, which includes their own commentary and then consolidates comments from IGN and GameSpot. Here's the intro:

Though Borderlands impressed me when I saw it in the past, I never thought I'd enjoy it as much as I did when I finally got to play through the whole thing. It started off a little slow -- the first five levels or so were essentially a lengthy tutorial -- but it quickly became addictive, tapping into the same part of my psyche that gets looped into quest after quest in an MMORPG. But though I had a great time playing through Borderlands, that MMO-loving part of me felt a little disappointed about the relatively basic RPG elements involved in character customization. But despite the game's failure to push my min-maxing tendencies to their fullest, it stands as a fantastic achievement -- a lengthy, fun game with robust cooperative play, a large, developed world to explore, and a comparatively small amount of inhibitive quirks.

More information.

 

[Santos]

Huh, yesterday's Borderlands threads wouldn't load for me. Anyway, I told people that I'd report back after playing. Do not buy this game if you are after a solid RPG experience. This does feel like a RPG at times, but there is a lot of shooting in between those vibes. I'm going to sound like everyone else in the world here, but if you like Diablo 2, with more quests, and more humor, and you like First Person Shooters (I don't play them often, but this one seems solid), then this is the game for you. Every class seems unique, and, while the game play is very similar between classes, the special abilities (and their buffs) force you to tackle each fight slightly different. In one situation my soldier easily mops up a boss, but has trouble in another situation that my Hunter finished with ease (but had a very rough time with said boss). Throw in a bit of WoW (but, mostly, not the bad parts) and I think that I'll be playing this for a while. Single disk LAN play cinched the deal.

 

[guenthar]

This game seems like Stalker to me so far except that you level and there are far fewer non-hostile npcs. It is an alright game but like other Diablo style games this won't keep my interest for long. I do like that it is almost impossible to hit an enemy without using the scope on my sniper rifle unless they are really close. The hunter works well since the game is really hard if you don't use both pistols and sniper rifles.

 

[Anderson]

It's not holding my interest much either, and I think it'll be on the trading block fairly soon. It feels pretty much like a shooter to me, with some RPG elements tacked on. Trouble is, the RPG elements are the least appealing to me -- the game lacks any story, motivation, personalities, interaction, real choice, world reactivity, exploration, variety in the landscapes, etc. etc. It's just a loot fest, which boils down to the search for a better gun and shield. I play for an hour, here and there, and then I'm done. Co-op is ok but not the hoot I hoped for. Once DA is out, I doubt I'll bother with this game anymore.

 

[bemushroomed]

This game seems like Stalker to me so far except that you level and there are far fewer non-hostile npcs. It is an alright game but like other Diablo style games

Mentioning STALKER and Diablo-styled games in the same sentence is blasphemy

The game is nothing like Stalker (which is a deep, highly atmospheric FPS/RPG). The focus of this game has absolutely not been atmosphere or creative level/map layouts or interaction with others, like in Stalker.

I'd say this is Serious Sam mixed with WoW quests and leveling up, but with much much more restricted ways of building your character and a far more uninteresting map. I'd rate it something like 3/5, its not bad but not very good either.

 

[LuckyCarbon]

I'm about 6 hours in ( Level 17 ) and I think I prefer this to Stalker or Diablo 2. The story is about on par with both, that's to say incredibly weak and you forget why you're doing what you're doing. It's not all bad though, there have been moments I've actually been interested in the story, the tape collection quest really drew me in. But no, it's not The Witcher in the story department.

Complaining the setting doesn't change much and then comparing the games to Stalker and Diablo 2 makes me laugh. Neither of those games had any change in setting. Ok Diablo 2 changed it's art palette but it had zero affect on the game.

The game is nothing like Stalker (which is a deep, highly atmospheric FPS/RPG).

Stalker had RPG elements? I must have missed them. I'd certainly not use the word "deep".

I think Borderlands does a good job with atmosphere and humor. They do a nice job tying it all together, the art style is perfect for the game it's trying to be.

Borderlands is a FPS Diablo 2, that uses humor to build atmosphere instead of creepy music.

 

[Santos]

I find that I sometimes just like to shoot peple (perhaps it's from reading too much about politics ), and it's been a long time since I had a fun game to do that with. I don't ask BL for more than that, so it didn't let me down.

 

[falafel]

After about ten hours, I have decided that Borderlands is Hellgate London Lite. It ditched third person view and more enemies/skills/classes for improved first person view and passable gunplay. Basically the same level of mediocrity as far as quests go, but its an action rpg and expected to be this way unfortunately. I will say that this game has some style to it, and a lot more potential than HGL ever had if it could be modded a bit.

I would like this game a lot to be honest, but I cannot stand the way damage works. It really hit me when I did a quest to kill a level 11 enemy when I was level 7. Because he is higher level than me, I do very little damage, like near impossible to kill him insignificant. I have no problem taking down his shield, but after that I do nearly nothing until I run out of sniper bullets. I dont mind this, what bugs me is that it's not for any reason that makes sense. It's just because he is higher level than me and for some reason gets huge damage resistance. The same gun can shoot him for full damage when fired by a level 11 character, but because the trigger Is being pulled by a level 7 finger, it magically does 1/10 the damage or thereabouts.

The inverse is also true, and bugs me even more. By gaining a couple levels, enemies that could kill me in 3-4 hits are now little more than an annoyance because of this huge damage resistance I have. Nothing is different about my character except for maybe 30 more hp, and it never comes into play because they cant even get past my shield after a half dozen hits.

For me this is a game breaker, especially when all there is to this game is phat lute and combat.

Also, Borderlands is nothing near Stalker quality as far as gameplay, the ballistics work more like Unreal Tournament. Wasn't expecting much in that department since it has to work on a gameplad first and keybaord/mouse second.

 

[bemushroomed]

LuckyCarbon, i never said it has deep rpg elements, learn to read. It's a deep FPS/RPG game, the deepness is not in skill points or leveling, it goes far beyond that, which i wish more "RPG" games did.

 

[JDR13]

I've got it, and played about an hour so far. I don't understand the STALKER comparisons, I don't feel any connection there at all, and I think it's an insult to STALKER to compare the two.