Pogo – Sent to die? No matter what others may think, Borderlands is with us and it’s alive and kicking. A post-apocalyptic FPS adventure game with more than a few elements of an RPG, it allows players to select a create character and grow them into a specialist in one area of combat. The game’s trump card is its ability to allow up to four players to co-operatively cavort throughout its baron world. Today’s Pause For Thought explores how far we’ve got thus far. And are we having fun?
BIGsheep – If you consider its size, I can’t say I’ve gotten overly far into Borderlands. I think on my Soldier class I’ve only got a play clock of about eight hours but currently I can’t say I’m blown away with what I’ve seen. For one, it took an age to get started; after the initial battle to clear the town of bandits, the game had me hunting their equivalent of wild boar for the next two hours, with the odd interjection to raid the local bandit’s camp. As I mentioned last week, first impressions count for a lot and Borderlands, away from the visual style and humorous robot, did not stack up well.
It hasn’t really progressed from there, either. More bandits and boars, level design, mission structure and set pieces all do little to lift the game above being just an average shooter. Although saying that, I am impressed with the bandit AI – that does lead to some tactical give and take as you’re both popping in and out from cover.
Pogo – Interesting, but did you start initially on your own? I’ve gotten up to level 10 with my Siren character by adventuring around with a partner. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed it so far. I do agree, you spend most of the time just hunting skags, but we’ve found the injection of newer, bigger, stronger skags has been on an almost perfect curve with our characters evolution. I see your point, it can be a little tedious, but opening up the vehicle section then just makes you realise how epic this world could be. I was a little concerned also about the level 50 cap. I’m not sure how long it’ll take us to get to this, but I’m dubious it wont be too far away.
BIGsheep – Yes, I started on my own, but my Berserker has been created and played through in four-player co-op. Even then I’m feeling a little hollow as with the four very archetypal classes it sets itself up as almost like an MMO but falls short.
You have the Soldier class that can heal his team mates by shooting them; there’s the Siren who can stealth and attempt to backstab; a Berserker who is shaped up to play a tank role, running into enemies to take the flak away from his team; and the Hunter who specialises in long range weaponry and has a pet. Although they are all shaped like classic MMO classes, they miss out some of the core skills that make them so useful, for instance the tank has no ability to pull the aggro (attention of enemies) away from others. That means that even if the Hunter tries to pick off a skag and misses it will charge straight past the tank and onto the far weaker Hunter and there’s nothing the Berserker can do. It just almost seems half-hearted character specialisation.
Pogo – I see. I haven’t really played too much with the other classes in all fairness. My partner is playing as the Hunter, and I myself the Siren. So couldn’t the tank effectively block skags from getting to the weaker units? Or is he just too slow?
I like the skills set in the sense it gives you enough diversity to focus your skills into different fields. I also like the way you could pay to reset these skills at a later date and apply them to a different skill tree.
BIGsheep – Unfortunately blocking won’t help, you have to be out in front to begin with so they notice you first, and that’s about it. The varying skill tress are nice and they come into their own when you are playing co-op where you can either help your fellow man or concentrate on yourself a little more if you are soloing it.
I suppose I was just hoping for a little more when it came to the team interaction, as for the majority of the quests our group of four just swan around with little to no organisation and it doesn’t seem to impact us in the slightest. At the moment it all seems to hinge around the soldier and the turret he drops as a special ability. Whilst the Siren can go invisible and the Hunter release his bird of prey, the Solider is the only one that can pull the group together. With the turret taking on multiple roles as a secondary gun, a healing totem and a source of ammunition; it’s almost the linchpin in large missions.
Maybe abilities from others will show in time but it seems to lack the cohesiveness of a World of Warcraft group or the co-operation required to survive in something like Left 4 Dead.
Pogo – Have you found any super cool guns yet though? That’s the magic stuff!
BIGsheep – Yeah, the guns are so far the stars of the show. They’ve done a nice job of being able to create weaponry on the fly, all from a set of random variables meaning a very interesting arsenal can be tucked away in your backpack. I’ve had pistols that can pack the punch of a shotgun, shotguns that have a 3% accuracy rating but send anyone they touch into convulsive spasm, snipers that fire incendiary rounds and grenades that will teleport to their target.
Pogo – grenades that teleport to their target? Awesome! Yes the guns have been fantastic, and to be honest, one of the primary motivations for playing. I like the way the art style distinguishes each weapon clearly. Its when you catch a view of some ones flaming red gun and think “I want one! What does that do?” The customisation is really its lifeline.
BIGsheep – Very Diablo, I think by their own admittance. They’ve spent a lot of time on that, creating all the brands and the different characteristics of them. As with most of these types of games, though, a lot of the variety can be lost as most guns you find are dross. I’m not saying that all should be insanely good, but the very nature of loot based games means many people will dismiss many, many highly crafted weapons because they don’t have enough green arrows next to them indicating how awesome they are.
Pogo – There does seem to be a lot of stuff dotted on the floor which I’d be none the wiser to if it was any good or not. I’ve got to get out of the mindset that just because its on the floor, doesn’t mean its rubbish. I think as long as you take your time though, that shouldn’t become too much of an issue. So Borderlands, what’s your 7outof10 score?
BIGsheep – I don’t think I’ve played throw enough of the content to score it yet as I’m still in the first region, but on gut feeling it’s not going to be very high. Part of this is because most of the components that go together to form Borderlands are borrowed from elsewhere. Something like GTA is more than the sum of its parts, whereas Borderlands to me is not. Everywhere I turn in Borderlands I see a very accomplished product that I still want to play as I feel it has potential but nothing is truly inspiring. I think this is compounded by the storylines which, when compared to other sprawling adventures likes of Fable and Fallout 3 are almost non-existent.
Pogo – You’ve rained on my Borderlands parade. I think it’s solid. Maybe that’s just my naivety in never really being involved in a MMO game but the combat isn’t bad, the graphical style is unique and so far for me, there’s been a perfect difficulty curve to reflect my characters progression.
BIGsheep – That’s the beauty of opinions, Pogo; everyone can have them and they don’t all have to be the same. I’ll agree with you that the shooting is solid and the mission structure cleverly pitched to see you through but the magic just isn’t there for me and I can only see it as a just-above-average shooter. There’s excellent ground work here and it may just be that I was simply expecting a little too much from it.
I make my living as a programmer at a British games developer. In my spare time I try and spread myself between writing, gaming, drumming, goalkeeping, rolling dice and keeping my hair blue. Somewhere around that my wife fits in.
Disclaimer: the views expressed are my own and do not neccessarily reflect those of my employer. "
8 Comments
After reading the last paragraph mapoo turns to BIGsheep handbag clutched closely too him, slowly he raises it to his chin uttering the words….”ooooooooooOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo bitchy!!”
I am yet to play this…. but i’m not exactly rushing to get into it. I have never really seen the appeal. I will give it a go one day, but it is pretty far down my list as the moment. If this had of come out in the Summer, I would have played it on launch. It seems well made and polished, but i’m enjoying Forza 3 far too much at the moment!
Forza does seem to be dominating the playlists at the moment, and rightly so. I havent played it but im sure it’s top notch. As for borderlands, i think the magic really does lie in co-op. I’ve found the strangest addiction to it though. Its very small but frequent rewards keep luring me back. I find myself constantly hungry for the next weapon box. Just so Stevie and I can stand over it going “oooooooh! Mine mine mine!”
After reading the last paragraph mapoo turns to BIGsheep handbag clutched closely too him, slowly he raises it to his chin uttering the words….”ooooooooooOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo bitchy!!”
I can see why Bigsheep would be a little apprehensive about Borderlands similarities to an MMo. However, having played through a large chunk of the game, it is more than just WOW-lite. The humour is fantastic, the journal quests are of particular mention as you listen to a former treasure hunter slowly drifting into madness about how she was glad her colleague had died so she could have his comfy chair! Although he weaponry does tend to be sold to vendors, the feeling of getting an amazing bit of kit is pretty amazing, and there are DEFINATELY more variety of creatures than boars. I know it’s easy to get disheartened Sheep, but get to level 15 with me and Pogo and we’ll show you how to do it properly. =)
Bit of an interesting one this isn’t it? I need to dig in further than the first hour and see how it goes, but I have to say those initial quests really put me off. It did have more than its share of MMO qualities, but without any life in the world.
I love the art style though, so I’m hoping more substance will be forthcoming. It certainly sounds like it’ll open up in co-op. Any takers?
Jump on board Manuel! We’re always up for another looting brother to join our misadventures!
I’ve now completed it, did the bulk of it with two other gamer pals, so that’s what made it fun for me, collecting weapons is the funnest part. But the best review I can give it is that its forgettable at best, not going to stay in my Memory for very long. Oh How i miss Oblivion…. ney, Morrowind!