Cool cover art - sadly that's how I sometimes feel when I'm playing Borderlands. BL was pulling big punches as an FPS / RPG hybride, a sweet 4 player co-op title, and just a massive title in general. Then came the drastic art style change in the middle of development. This wasn't a small change by no means, this completely altered the look of the game. A look that, honestly, I was not a fan of when first seeing but has slowly grown on me as a standout style. Overall I'm not disappointed with Borderlands I'm still logging in hours but after getting over the bazillion guns, art style, co-op and FPS/RPG mix, I'm left with a feeling of something is missing to making this post-apocalyptic/Mad Max title perfect....
I think what lies at the pit of that feeling stems from the RPG side of this title. At first the combo of FPS and RPG sounds awesome and, although, this is definitely not the first title to explore that, it fails to execute with the RPG style missions. A problem alot of these "hybride" games run into - side missions are cool and great to extend a games' playable hours but if they play no part in the actual story in some way - what is the point? InFamous is a perfect example and Assassin's Creed I - repetitious missions that while build on a character - it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Prototype is another that could fall into that category but at least with Prototype you need to build your character or else you pay for it later. Blowing up fish in ponds in a section of town doesn't cut it. Why am I doing this? To open up other missions of equal uselessness? This is really the only thing that, for me, holds this game back from being a 'classic'.
Visually the game does standout and is very cool. I'm happy that the change in style didn't distract or ruin the game. The building of your character is great and I think maybe at the core the story is good, but honestly I have no idea what is going on. There is something called the vault and I'm looking for it - I guess, but honestly I don't care. The only reason I keep logging on is for the co-op. Playing 5 hour sessions with a friend who lives across town makes it worth while because we have more fun - making fun of the stupid missions were on than actually playing.
Sadly there isn't much more to Borderlands. Gameplay is fine. The bazillions of guns is cool but after awhile you just end up with some recycled version of something else. Mission difficulty is based upon what level your character is. So a mission could be at a level 27 and you're a level 25 - it's going to be tough. But in my case my friend and I have done every mission so we end up being a level or two higher than the core story missions. Making it kind of easy or at least not that challenging so we just cruise through missions with no sense of what is really going on or even caring.
I've definitely just took a shit on this game. I don't mean to because overall it is fun - it's just lacking in it's ability to maintain the story. Well, thank God for the co-op element or I probably would have traded it in already.
I think what lies at the pit of that feeling stems from the RPG side of this title. At first the combo of FPS and RPG sounds awesome and, although, this is definitely not the first title to explore that, it fails to execute with the RPG style missions. A problem alot of these "hybride" games run into - side missions are cool and great to extend a games' playable hours but if they play no part in the actual story in some way - what is the point? InFamous is a perfect example and Assassin's Creed I - repetitious missions that while build on a character - it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Prototype is another that could fall into that category but at least with Prototype you need to build your character or else you pay for it later. Blowing up fish in ponds in a section of town doesn't cut it. Why am I doing this? To open up other missions of equal uselessness? This is really the only thing that, for me, holds this game back from being a 'classic'.
Visually the game does standout and is very cool. I'm happy that the change in style didn't distract or ruin the game. The building of your character is great and I think maybe at the core the story is good, but honestly I have no idea what is going on. There is something called the vault and I'm looking for it - I guess, but honestly I don't care. The only reason I keep logging on is for the co-op. Playing 5 hour sessions with a friend who lives across town makes it worth while because we have more fun - making fun of the stupid missions were on than actually playing.
Sadly there isn't much more to Borderlands. Gameplay is fine. The bazillions of guns is cool but after awhile you just end up with some recycled version of something else. Mission difficulty is based upon what level your character is. So a mission could be at a level 27 and you're a level 25 - it's going to be tough. But in my case my friend and I have done every mission so we end up being a level or two higher than the core story missions. Making it kind of easy or at least not that challenging so we just cruise through missions with no sense of what is really going on or even caring.
I've definitely just took a shit on this game. I don't mean to because overall it is fun - it's just lacking in it's ability to maintain the story. Well, thank God for the co-op element or I probably would have traded it in already.
