E3 ‘09: Borderlands impressions
June 10, 2009 by Robin Parrish
Filed under Gaming
Gearbox Software has been working for years on Borderlands, its next big thing. Borderlands is a massive, open world RPG, set on a remote planet that doesn’t take itself entirely seriously. It’s been described as Mad Max meets Fallout 3, and the description isn’t far off.
Much has been said about the game’s controversial switch to cel-shaded graphics, but the only question that really matters is, Is it any fun?
Gearbox describes Borderlands as an “RPS” — a combination of RPG (role-playing game) and FPS (first-person shooter), aka a role-playing shooter. The buzz phrase is “unique experience,” as Borderlands has been built entirely to ensure that every gamer that plays has an experience different from anyone else. This is accomplished through the literally millions of combinations of gun loadouts and configurations, thousands of enemy types, and tons of vehicles, all of which are randomized in-game, so you never know what you’re going to get.
You’ll spend most of your time treasure hunting and looting, in an attempt to mine the planet for everything it’s got. Despite the huge focus on fighting over resources, there’s a huge value offered to those who take the time to explore, with near-infinite secrets scattered across the landscape. And you can play through the game singleplayer or in drop-in/drop-out co-op, and the game will automatically adjust its difficulty levels based on how many co-op players are working together.
Trading is expected to be a huge component to the game, as co-op players can freely trade weapons anytime they want. There are some super-powerful, super-rare weapons that Gearbox anticipates being the most sought after. Gearbox also plans tons of downloadable content, though everything about the game will be exactly the same whether you play on PC, PS3, or Xbox 360 — there are no platform exclusives planned.
About that art style, Gearbox claims it was changed to make the game “more beautiful,” but the widely-held suspicion is that it was done to avoid strong similarities with the similarly-post-apocalyptic Fallout 3.
Judge for yourself this October, when Borderlands arrives in stores.
Images: Copyright 2009 ©Gearbox Software.
