Borderlands MMOMFG Review – Xbox 360

Borderlands

A unique look, plenty of guns, and more headshots than you could ever want, Borderlands is a game that tries to seamlessly blend the action of a first-person shooter and the leveling system of a role-playing game.  A game that looks to offer a lot in terms of action and game time also carries with it a few (but big) caveats.

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What’s Good

I like a dash of RPG with my FPS – I’m a huge FPS fan. I’ve grown up playing Counter-Strike, all of the Call of Duty titles, Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, and so on.  I’m also a big RPG fan, as we’ve talked about ad nauseum here at MMOMFG.  It’s always been very tough to blend the two styles together but Borderlands does a great job of it.  The stats don’t get complicated, they’re easy to understand and explained in good detail.  Critical hits, armor, shields, elemental damage are all calculated during the hectic firefights but (for the most part) they take a backseat to the FPS action.

Two heads are better than one – Borderlands is a game that should be experienced with friends.  Joining a game is as easy as sending an XBOX Live invite and players can hop in and out whenever they’d like.  The more people that join the more experience you get, the harder the enemies become and the overall fun is increased.  There are times when grinding does become apparent so you might find yourself getting a little bored.  With friends, those times don’t sting quite so bad.

My what nice guns you have – Borderland’s weapon diversity was marketed heavily pre-launch, and for good reason.  Borderlands has more guns you can shake a stick at.  Often times you might stick to a Sniper Rifle or Pistol, or maybe a Shotgun and SMG as your main gun types, but you’ll always be swapping out new guns for old ones.  Different elemental damage types, a shotgun that shoots rockets, a sniper rifle that electrocutes people, an SMG that spits acid, they’re all both creative and useful.  It seems like every few hours I was getting a new gun and getting that “oh, ah MINE!” feeling.

Like MMOs? Get Borderlands – This game has everything a MMO player loves: missions, loot, multiplayer, stats and skills. Borderlands is structured so that anyone who’s played World of Warcraft, or a similar title, will be able to hop right in. You can grab quests from NPCs, complete them, then turn them in.  Though you might not be hunting for boar meat, you’ll definitely get your share of “kill x amount of y then come back”.

A beefy title – Though some of the missions I would consider fluff, Borderlands will have you playing for quite some time.  The added DLC that’s been announced shouldn’t hurt either.  Again, if you can find some friends to pal around with everyone will realize that there’s not a whole lot of games that offer as much quality time in front of the TV as Borderlands does.

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What’s Bad

The interface makes me sad – It takes awhile to get used to the inventory screen.  Swapping weapons out is easy enough once you begin sorting by gun type, but with so much statistical information being thrown around along with the plethora of guns you have, it can be a little nerve racking at times.  It would have been nice to be able to toggle a small map as I was constantly looking where to go.  There’s also a problem with text plopping onto the screen at the exact time you go to grab a weapon.  This little problem prevents you from reading the weapon’s stats.

Claptrap is my new worst enemy – He starts out as the typical comedic robot but turns into a broken record of annoyance.  I don’t need to know who has missions for me, I don’t care, if I did I would visit them.  His constant venom spitting reminders make me hate him more and more.  It wasn’t so much a problem in the beginning as I figured the game would ease me in and included fewer missions.  By level 15, I figured out who to talk to for quests and where to go.  On top of it, he seems to have these outbursts every time you switch a zone!

Pandora sure is dull – While I praise the art direction of Borderlands I have to say I’m pretty disappointed with the world.  This might come off as strange since the Pandora is supposed to be barren and dull but everything looks the same.  There’s no really interesting landmarks, no scenic views.  Just blah on top of brown rubble.  It’s tough to tell one zone from the next.  After awhile the look really becomes uninspiring.  The environmental explosions are a nice touch and that’s about the only time you see colors other than brown.  There were quite of a few frame rate issues and blurry textures running a muck as well.

Hate MMOs? Stay away – There’s always two sides to every coin and this time is no exception.  Playing Borderlands alone can be boring and downright hard.  Not having someone to revive you or watch your back can get extremely frustrating.  Grinding by yourself is not recommended and you might begin to think suicidal thoughts.  Missions can get uninspiring and lethargic.  The first time I realized I wouldn’t be able to progress until I leveled up, a little piece of me died on the inside.  This is a very tough game to complete by yourself from start to finish.

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Worth Remembering

Taking out the first boss with a friend is reminiscent of doing your first group quest in an MMO.  You feel like you really accomplished something.

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Worth Forgetting

Trying to take out the second boss alone and realizing that solo play just isn’t going to cut it.

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The enjoyment of Borderlands really hinges on whether you can stomach the long trek by yourself or if you can grab a few people to quest alongside.  It’s a game where cooperative play makes it 10x better as later on the difficulty and grinding become a bit too much for one person alone. If you and a few friends pick this up together you’ll no doubt enjoy the experience.

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