Borderlands

[poroboszcz]

Hi,

I haven't been here for a while, but today I thought I log in just to recommend this game to people who are looking for something to play while waiting for D3. I've been playing it for last few days and I'm really impressed (and usually I'm not easily impressed). Why I thought you may be interested is that it has some kind of Diablo 2 feeling in it, even though it's quite different game.

It's an FPS/aRPG mix with loads of loot, quests, skill trees and multiplayer. It has similar kind of atmosphere to Diablo or Fallout 3 (I actually think it's better then Fallout), great music, original graphics and a lot of addictiveness. If you love Diablo (I think most of people on this site do) then you should at least give it a go. If in addition you like FPS games, then you should definitely check it out.

Here's a short review and a trailer:

http://www.pwnordie.com/2009/10/22/borderlands-review/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3ZWbpce_Os

[MCPWTB]

I have been so stuck on Borderlands, it's such a fun game.

It's just so much fun and somehow it keeps my so engrossed, but not on any kind of intellectual level of course. It's a good distraction from work, women, and life.

ps It's fun.

[ThomasJ]

Great game, lots of fun to be had there.

[Srikandi]

Yup, I tried this too, with some skepticism because I don't normally go for shooters, and I like it It has some flaws IMO... mainly in the interface of the PC version, which is clearly console-derived and badly converted (ESC to confirm, rather than cancel, a click? :( ). There are only four classes, with no customization of each character beyond clothing color.

The environments are very Fallout-y, but more colorful, and the game story is light and quick with no moral dilemmas to leave you scratching your head; the quests are simple affairs, and there's only a handful of NPCs, with most typical NPC functions handled by machines (vending machines rather than shops and a job board instead of a lot of questgivers). This is what makes the game play very differently from Fallout; I like both styles of game, personally. They motivate the player in different ways though for sure.

The gameworld is not as open as Fallout 3's, but more open than most shooters, giving you fairly sizable explorable areas. You'll have to complete your tasks in each area before the next one opens up. Pretty much like D3 is, actually, from what I've been able to tell, including the use of a checkpoint save system, but without the random dungeons.

The aspect Diablo players will love is the loot... it's random and there's a LOT of it. Mostly guns and ammo (the game has no armor), but you'll always be looking for the item that's perfect for your build. It also has an RPG-style skill system... really closest to WoW's, actually, with three trees per class and with each tier of skills requiring investment in earlier skills in the same tree. With only two skills per tier, you'll find yourself taking some skills you don't really want to get to the skills you do, but at least the system supports diverse builds even within a class.

Overall though the pacing is good and the game is fun to play I'd recommend it.

[Twoflower]

My opinion on Borderlands :

It has some flaws IMO... mainly in the interface of the PC version, which is clearly console-derived and badly converted (ESC to confirm, rather than cancel, a click?

The interface is realy terrible. No flow.

In a clever designed game interface, you get a feeling with time and can ( for example ) talk to a Npc, turn in a quest, take a new quest and leave within seconds by just hitting enter 4 times in a row or something like that. Not in Borderlands.

the game story is light and quick with no moral dilemmas to leave you scratching your head; the quests are simple affairs, and there's only a handful of NPCs, with most typical NPC functions handled by machines (vending machines rather than shops and a job board instead of a lot of questgivers)

Story ? What story ? Realy, if you want to read the quest text, the game is not for you...

The aspect Diablo players will love is the loot... it's random and there's a LOT of it. Mostly guns and ammo (the game has no armor), but you'll always be looking for the item that's perfect for your build. It also has an RPG-style skill system... really closest to WoW's, actually, with three trees per class and with each tier of skills requiring investment in earlier skills in the same tree. With only two skills per tier, you'll find yourself taking some skills you don't really want to get to the skills you do, but at least the system supports diverse builds even within a class.

Loot : There are only guns. Yes, lots of them. But since you can only use two at once, you will be selling 99 % of the guns you find.

And the skills are nowhere near WoW complexity, and IMO WoW is allready very simple in skills. Borderlands realy wins no price for this.

Overall though the pacing is good

IMO it is too slow paced. It should be as fast as Serious Sam to come close to the diablo feeling, but it is far away from that.

[Blue Lion]

I'm playing on xbox 360 and coop splitscreen is awesome.

As for the flowing interface, it's good on the xbox. Get to the guy, press X, then spam A and your done.

What I don't like about this game is that you're stuck with ONE skill per class... That's just terrible imo, usually I just don't use any "talents" that buff it and I barely use it.

[poroboszcz]

My opinion on Borderlands :

The interface is realy terrible. No flow.

In a clever designed game interface, you get a feeling with time and can ( for example ) talk to a Npc, turn in a quest, take a new quest and leave within seconds by just hitting enter 4 times in a row or something like that. Not in Borderlands.

So that's exactly how it works in Borderlands - 3 or 4 enters to do exactly that. To sell items you just hover your mouse over the items you want to sell and press enter twice. Same with buying ammo and stuff. Couldn't be much simpler.

Loot : There are only guns. Yes, lots of them. But since you can only use two at once, you will be selling 99 % of the guns you find.

So have you even played the game? You can carry more guns later in the game as you get mods that allow you this. Plus you can access any items you carry in your backpack pretty quick. Backpack size also grows with mods. And besides guns you also have: class mods which add to your skills, shields which add to your defense and sometimes add some kind of attack and grenade mods which affect the way how grenades work.

IMO it is too slow paced. It should be as fast as Serious Sam to come close to the diablo feeling, but it is far away from that.

It's paced just fine. Fallout 3 was slow paced. Also the Diablo feeling doesn't actually come from how it's paced. It's just there somehow and I got it after just few hours into the game and before reading any reviews that stated it's Diablo-like.

[Twoflower]

It's paced just fine. Fallout 3 was slow paced. Also the Diablo feeling doesn't actually come from how it's paced. It's just there somehow and I got it after just few hours into the game and before reading any reviews that stated it's Diablo-like.

Well, i would never play Fallout 3

As for the feeling : That is probably a matter of taste. What i love about D2 is the huge AoE damage you can generate and mow trough dozends of mobs per minute Did i mention that i like the Serious Sam series ?

But you are right, i have not advanced far trough the game yet. I am excited about what's ahead ^^ ( I play with a mate and we rarely find more than 30 minutes to play together :( )

[StrikexForce]

The game is fun, I have a level 50 soldier.

As soon as I hit level 50 however the game lost all its fun to me, I was going to trade it in already but im keeping it for the upcoming zombie DLC.

[ThomasJ]

Seems alot of people love Borderlands.

http://www.destructoid.com/cliffy-b-...n-154387.phtml