Genre: First Person Shooter
Year: 2009
Developed by: Gearbox Software
Published by: 2K
Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, XBOX 360, XBOX One, OS X, Switch
#178
Feeling Like: ‘Aint no rest for the wicked.
Borderlands came at the right time. It was just so easy to play, and I don’t mean the difficulty level or mastering the mechanics, though they aren’t complicated either. I mean it was local and online co-op, which meant I could do levels with Dave and Chris on the East Coast, and then with JP and Kyla literally sitting right next to me. It’s an action RPG but also a First Person Shooter. Neat, I hadn’t played too many of those before. The sense of humor, in 2009, was very referential and seemed to be one of the first games to acknowledge internet humor. At the time, that was intriguing. Irreverence and devil-may-care attitude aside, there was a ton of content to get through on a system that didn’t seem fully equipped to handle it, but I couldn’t wait to give it a try. I would end up giving it a lot more than that.
I got a major Diablo vibe when I got to the game’s very first town, Fyrestone. Even the accompanying music feels right out of a Tristram juke box . It feels lonely and dusty. It’s compelling you to go forward, but also giving you a warning – everything on Pandora wants to kill you.
If you’ve played an RPG, you’ll be immediately at home. JP and I picked our starting classes and off to work we went – it’s not complicated. Find people, or Claptrap the robot, and acquire quests. Grab guns, go shoot anything that moves, get new guns and go back to the people/Claptrap. With a few bells and whistles in-between, that’s the gameplay loop.
For me, it worked. It was a few steps above mindless, but it wasn’t too far from it either. The real appeal was in the skill trees and building your character in your own special way. My guy, Roland, could pop down a turret and let it do the yeoman’s work while I frantically dashed around trying not to get shot in the face. Automated, friendly weapons have much better aim than me, so this worked out quite well. Playing co-operatively will naturally put you both into very specific roles; Kyla went with the sniper (she always does) and her job was either to shoot something from a mile away, or come revive me since I have no self-preservation instincts. Hey, that’s why you never wander out into a bandit-infested wasteland alone!
The cel-shaded graphics at the time turned some heads, but it was undoubtedly a good design choice. The graphics have aged pretty well, and has given each Borderlands game a signature look. Some guns look realistic, but you can still go bonkers and have guns that scream as you shoot, or bullets that freeze enemies. While at a glance the alien landscape could double for Arizona or Siberia, it’s best to just lean into the insanity and remember you’re playing an RPG.
The amount of loot is incalculable, you better not get too attached to any gun because you’ll be getting a better one every twenty minutes or so. Some of the best parts of Borderlands are experimenting with various weapons in combination with your ever growing arsenal of powers. I always leaned towards assault rifles and pistols, although the game gives you four weapon slots so you shouldn’t have a hard time selecting an instrument of death in the middle of an intense firefight.
It probably went on too long, but for whatever reason, I played through the game THREE times. I never do that! What the hell was up with 2011 Henry? Sure, he had a good paying job and had a lot of time on his hands and…oh, I guess that tracks. But I really couldn’t get enough – I’d do a playthrough solo, with JP, with Kyla, all with different characters to test out the various ways to deal damage or escape enemy attacks. The three skill trees per character ensure that you’ll find a playstyle that suits your wants, even if it’s not necessarily one that will be the best choice for the team.
The formula and sales were strong enough for this to be the birth of a franchise. The sequels would be even better, with Gearbox improving the weaker enemy variety here and finding their landing gameplay-wise, but the original was an obvious hit with me right from the start. There was enough mystery about Pandora (just what is in that vault?) and fresh twist on a classic formula to keep me shooting, reloading and looting my way through thousands of enemies, encampments, ramshackle towns and horrifying monsters for dozens of hours.
The 500 