Borderlands Review

17,750,000 Different Guns. Literally.

I had incredibly high hopes for this game, I pre-ordered it about 6 months before it actually came out. The concept of combining my two favorite styles of gaming was very appealing to me, and luckily, this game did not let me down one bit.

The basic story of this game is you traveled to the planet of Pandora with 3 friends (for more info on the characters, visit the Borderlands website) in search of a vault filled with alien technology so you can become rich. That is basically the entire plot line, you just adventure through the lands following a voice in your head that tells you who to kill and where to go to get closer to the vault. If you aren't familiar with the RPG genre, you start at level 1, and in this game the level cap is 50, so you can keep killing things and completing quests to gain experience to level up to 50. Every time you level up past level 5 you get a talent point that contributes to either your special ability, your shield, or your guns.

Right from the opening cut-scene I knew this game was going to be good. I played as Lilith, the Siren, and ran through the game in about 3 days with a total of 22 hours to complete every quest the game had to offer, coming across hundreds of the seemingly endless amounts of guns. After I beat the game I began my second play-through, where all of your enemies are larger and tougher, and in turn the loot is better as well.

I have to say that the game is nowhere near as incredible if you are playing by yourself though, you get less experience so the leveling goes slower, and the bosses are more difficult to defeat when you don't have your comrade close by to revive you when things go bad. But regardless of whether you are playing it by yourself, or with 2 or 3 friends, this game is well worth the money.

With 17,750,000 (literally) guns, you're never grinding to find a specific weapon. The more you play, the better weapons you will find. Some weapons actually do some incredible, and unique stuff. Like a shotgun that shoots a wave as bullets, or a rocket launcher that shoots 3 rockets consecutively. You'll never find the exact same gun twice.

If you just head out on the main story line, I believe you could take this game out in about 10-15 hours playtime if you're power-housing through it with a friend or two.

I must say that the ending to this game is a little disappointing and the storyline is rather weak at parts, but when you're finding a new gun every 5 minutes and constantly upgrading your skills and abilities, the storyline is the last of your concerns, if just gives you a reason to go out and kill things.

I also ran across a few minor glitches in the game, mostly while driving the vehicle, but nothing big enough for me to desire to score this game lower.

The Scores (out of 10, 10 being the highest)

Playability: 9.5

This game is very easy to understand and control, whether you are an RPG veteran or completely new to the style.The FPS and critical strike (getting headshots) system work very well, and suit this game wonderfully.

Graphics: 9

A very unique style of graphics, and is VERY well done. I did not give it a 10 because sometimes the environment blends together when I feel like it isn't supposed to, (example:) giving the illusion that you can jump over something when you really cant.

Plot: 7

Without the epic ending I was anticipating, the game lacks a purpose. Also, I feel like as time goes on the plot matters less and less. The first few quest-givers you meet are real people that you feel like you're helping, but further down the road in the game it just becomes mindless killing (which, in this game is TONS of fun, so the plot was not a major factor for me). Moral of the story: Don't buy this game because you think the story is going to be great. (Buy it because you like getting head shots and owning psycho midgets)

Replay Value: 8.5

This game does have a second play-through option which makes the loot better and the enemies bigger and with different names. However, it's still the same plot line, so it may struggle to grip your attention long enough to do it all again.

OVERALL SCORE

8.75

Although the plot won't quite reel you in, the immense amount of weapons, incredible co-op feature, and endless amounts of headshots and enemies to kill sure will.

For more video game reviews, movie reviews, political thoughts, and philosophical discussions, visit my website: http://www.theroyreview.com/

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.