Video Game Review: Borderlands

The minute you set foot in Borderlands, you'll generally see what you're in for.  There's nothing clean or slick about this game; it's a raw, dirty world of psycho bandits, bloodthirsty outlaws, gnarly animals, greedy corporations, ridiculous levels of gun violence, crazy robots, and so much more.

The game is a pretty breezy shooter game with a lot of wide-open locations and a lot to do.  It's not quite as open and expansive as Fallout 3, but it's a similar form of gameplay, combining FPS and RPG elements.  As you explore new towns and territories, you have the option to follow the story or play though oodles of sidequests.  There are always bad guys to kill, loot to find, and challenges to complete.  As you level up, you not only get stronger, but you also get to use a special action skill, depending on which character you play.  The game's biggest rewards, however, come in the form of guns! There are a gajillion different types of guns you can find throughout the game to match your playing style:  big ones, little ones, pretty ones, ugly ones, common ones, rare ones, ones that deal elemental damage, ones that fire explosive bullets...you can't go two feet in this game without tripping over a new gun, it's crazy.  With whatever arsenal you acquire, the game moves as a smooth, even pace that's not too slow and not too erratic, and it offers just enough of a challenge to keep it from becoming monotonous.  The game even boasts some decent co-op support, allowing players to work together on quests (that is, when they aren't dueling each other or trying to murder each other in an arena).

The story is as simple as it can be; you're basically a treasure hunter on an alien planet.  The four characters you get to choose from show plenty of color, but rarely say much, and aren't really explored in detail.  With the encouragement of a mysterious character named Angel, you're led from one area to another toward the inevitable boss fight, and that's pretty much it.  It's not really much of a story or narrative involved, outside of figuring out how to open the Vault.  What matters the most is the overall game design; the world of planet Pandora is a brutal place that perfectly blends aspects of science fiction with classic westerns, and the plot is what you'd get if The Good The Bad and the Ugly took place in space, more or less.  It's best remembered for its quirky world of vicious skags, hilarious claptraps, and perpetually insane bandits.

Much like XIII, the game is rendered in a kind of cartoony cel-animated style.  Textures and details are purposefully simple and quite colorful.  The environments can be a bit of a pain to run through at times, but they are well-designed, with a plethora of great settings, characters, props, costumes, weapons, and more.  Sound, voices, and music are all pretty decent.  Controls work great.

It's a nutty game that offers hours of smooth and addictive gameplay.  While there's nothing much to the story, exploring the world of Pandora was still a blast.  Recommended.

4/5 (Entertainment:  Perfect | Story:  Average | Game:  Very Good)