Product Details
 | Borderlands |
| List Price: | $19.99 |
| Price: | $18.16 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
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Product Description
Gearbox Software has developed revolutionary new technology to create Borderlands’ incredible layers of gameplay depth. Borderlands features a groundbreaking content generation system allowing for near-endless variety in missions, environments, enemies, weapons, item drops and character customization.Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #2279 in Video Games
- Brand: 2K Games
- Model: 313300
- Released on: 2009-10-26
- ESRB Rating: Mature
- Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows 2000, Windows XP
- Format: DVD-ROM
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .0 pounds
Features
- Borderlands supports 2-4 players via Games for Windows LIVE.
- Borderlands is built from the ground up to be an intuitive co-operative experience for up to four players that rewards players who work together and invest in co-op skills. Split screen is also supported.
- In this rpg shooter, choose one of four distinct characters, each with their own individual skill sets. As your character grows throughout this fast-paced FPS, you choose and customize your abilities to suit your style of play.
- Jump behind the wheel and engage in high-speed vehicle-to-vehicle combat, complete with spectacular explosions and road-killed enemies.
- Choose from literally hundreds of thousands of weapons, each with their own manufacturers, specifications, and advantages via a revolutionary content generation system.
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Customer Reviews
A lot of potential, but ...
I just picked up the game after following the development and I have
to say that I am somewhat disappointed. There are lots of good things
about the game, but a few major problems just keep it from becoming a
Great game.
First, the Good things. The game itself looks great. I know many
people have been thrown off by the cell shaded graphics and some people
may have called it "cartoonish" but I like it. It adds color to an
otherwise dreary world and it probably makes it so that lower end video
cards can run the game at a descent frame rate.
And the world itself looks big. And I mean really big. I haven't
explored all of the areas just yet, but it looks like just exploring the
world itself will take a while.
The gameplay itself is pretty good. I like the innovation of having
a level up system and assigning point to skills (like Diablo 2) merging
with a First Person Shooter. I think the skills themselves could use a
bit more polishing, but all in all, it works for me.
The guns are a bit bland at first, but once you start collecting
guns that deal extra damage (like acid or flame) it starts to get a
whole lot better. In fact, one gun I found in the first hour didn't
look like much where the stats were concerned, but I changed my mind
very quickly when I tried it out and enemies started erupting in flames
with every hit.
Now some of the bad things. The game is buggy. VERY buggy. In the
first hour of playing alone on my better-than-average system, I
received 2 "general protection fault" errors and one unexplained crash
to the desktop. After a few more hours of playing, the errors increased
to about 7 and I got one Blue Screen of Death on Windows XP Pro SP3.
The save system flat out stinks. It is a save point system that
simply does not belong in a PC game. You save by passing certain points
in the game; however they never make it clear to you in the manual
where those points are. Many times I had to backtrack because of a
crash and I found I had lost over 20 minutes of game time. That might
be fine for a console system like the XBox, but not for the PC.
The advertisements say "87 bazillion guns", which for me was
something that might have worked out to be a plus, but in the game it's a
little more complicated. With the exception of the special weapons I
mentioned above, many of the "bazillions" of guns are the same gun with
only minor differences in accuracy or fire rate. Many of them even have
very similar names, which makes it difficult to keep track of which
guns are better and which ones you can sell.
And last, but certainly not least: SecuRom. I didn't know the game
had it until after I had picked it up. If I had known that the game had
SecuRom, I would have waited for the price to come down or pick it up
from the bargain bin to get it. I will not continue the debate here,
but in my opinion, having such controversial DRM is a big negative. If
you don't know what SecuRom is, please look it up and decide for
yourself whether or not you want to have that type of program on your
system.
I really wanted to rate the game higher, but with the SecuRom
knocking off one whole star and a bunch of bugs crashing the game at
random intervals, I just couldn't. If they come out with a patch that
solves those bugs, I might revise my rating, but for now I stand by my 3
stars for what could have been a 5 star game.
Borderlands...Single Person OKish, but
terrible on-line gaming.
"Borderlands" for PC has finally arrived. This game is playable as a
single person, or as a 2-4 person multi-player, which includes 4
player co-op.
About the game:
The game has a very cartoonish quality to it; very obvious at first
but you quickly become use to it, to the point of not even noticing it.
In fact it really seems to add to the mood for the setting of this game.
This is first and foremost a FPS but has RPG like upgrades (now
termed a RPS or role playing shooter) to the different skills of the 4
different characters. Like traditional RPG you have story driven goals
as well as many side quests; quests that present your characters for
possible significant rewards in the form of money, weapons, upgrade
points etc, but at the risk of greater danger.
You get to choose between (and keep) one of 4 characters; you then
proceed to develop that player's skills; skills that are kept over from
one game to the next, even in CO-OP. The carry-over also applies to any
weapons, shields, armor etc. found within the game. Nice!
The four characters that are available to play are:
1.) Lilith, who specializes in incendiary, shock and corrosive
attacks. Her unique skill is 'Phasewalk'.(invisibility).
2.) Mordecai, who specializes in sniper rifles and revolvers. His
unique skill is 'Bloodwing' in which he can send out 'birds' to attack
enemies for him.
3.) Roland, who specializes in combat rifles and shotguns. His
unique skill is 'Scorpio Turret'; a portable machine gun turret with
shield. Roland is also the 'medic' for the group.
4.) Brick, who specializes in explosives and fist. His unique skill
in 'Berserk'.
Of course all the above 'unique' skills are time limited and require
a cool-down period before reuse can occur.
In addition all players earn points to increase their skill tree
(which tend to automatically level up somewhat as player level
increase). This includes, to mention a few, such things as in damage
inflicted, resistance to damage, health regeneration, increasing rate of
fire, reload time and weapon ammo capacity and many more; some skill
tree enhancements are related to the particular individual and his/her
'unique' skill.
As well there is a significant vehicular component to this game,
giving you the opportunity to show your driving prowess, either alone or
as either driver/weapon user.
GAME PLAY: SINGLE PLAYER...
Initially, I was very disappointed with the game; the cartoonish
quality, the very irritating and repetitive dialogue from the robot
(Claptrap), the fighting, etc. The overall effect was less that I
imagined, considering all the hype.
However, once I got to level 5 and started to earn XP points that I
could apply to my skills, thing improved significantly. I started to
meet some better opponents and also began to find some very interesting
and powerful weapons.
Also, seeing the hit points fly off enemies as you hit them with gun
fire and watching their life bar disappear is a real rush. Making it to
the next level and getting points to increase your 'skills' was also a
very rewarding part of the game. These were the aspects that made this
game a very good FPS with RPG qualities.
Almost no two weapons are the same; most have some benefit and
drawback,(increase damage but slow reload time) etc. BUT there are some
weapons out there that real gems; having almost all strong positive
attributes and few or no drawbacks. And that is what, along with the XP
upgrades, make the game SO interesting.
Shops, random chests and hidden caches can, at times, provide
exceedingly rare and powerful weapons and add-on modules.
Another nice bonus is the fact that you can RESET your skill points
(with some minor costs) allowing you to 'respend' your XPs, if you've
chosen unwisely the first time. This is a great feature.
Negatives for Single Player
1.)Game becomes quite repetitious as you go along, especially as you
advance in skills/weapons.
2.)Respawns are from the same place, with the same 'enemies' every
time.
GAME PLAY: CO-OP (ON-LINE):
From a team orientated co-op point of view, well in a
word...disappointing!
Through GAMESPY...initially I had difficulty just trying to get
connected but lately I've been able to join on-line games fairly easily,
however these are with random players...these games were basically
undisciplined and chaotic. There was little or no concept of 'team'
play, nor did I have any control over choice of missions, where we
traveled to, etc.
I was NEVER able to set up a private game with my friends. And I now
understand this is because I didn't have the correct 'ports' open on my
computer to allow people to join a game I hosted...you'd have thought
there would have been some explanation or instructions regarding
this...but no, nothing!
Through LAN...have never been able to connect with anyone.
SUGGESTION REGARDING ON-LINE PLAY:
HOWEVER, on-line is a great way to met tougher opponents and level
up more quickly. Do this by HOSTING an on-line game, (name it whatever
you like and then save it, so then you'll be able to play this game
on-line whenever you want). If you have the right 'ports' open you may
get other players to join you...if not, then just play like you would
single person, but reap the rewards of better loot, XPs etc. While
'hosting' you control where and what missions to accept, where to travel
etc.
COMMENTS:
I'm really liking the Single player game a lot more than I thought I
would; after play co-op L4D for months I didn't think I every say that
again about single person.
With regard to on-line co-op play: well it's too bad they didn't use
'Steam'. The on-line play through STEAM is so well set up; easy to
connect and simple to invite 'friends' to a private game.
The 4 player co-op, may turn out to be a great game, if you can set
it up with your own team. And while the co-op game features harder
opponents, it also brings to light the crucial downfall of the
multiplayer game (and in fact, the single game as well), that being, THE
LACK OF RANDOM SPAWNING OF ENEMIES (a feature that has made L4D so
playable game after game). The same enemies spawn at the same spot,
every time through. If anything, this game has made me realize just how
unique and well constructed the L4D format of co-op gameplay really is.
The 'carryover' of improvements and skills from one game to the
next, it's easy to see a co-op team (with the same 4 players) could
very quickly became a formidable group.
And finally, some minor annoyances:
1.) There appears to be no way to get rid of (or by-pass) the half
dozen or so flash screens at the launch of the game,. Spacebar, enter,
or Esc. does nothing to abort this tedious repetition every time you
start up.
2.) The mapping system; when you turn on the map (and you'll use it
often as the layout is somewhat confusing) always start with a close up
shot of where you are. The problem is that your target (waypoint) is
usually off the map, requiring you to zoom-out to find it. This occurs
with EVERY visit to the map, even seconds apart.
CONCLUSIONS:
To me, there was that compelling quality to "Borderlands" style of
play initially for the SINGLE PLAYER game, however this was not enough
to prevent it from becoming quite repetitious and even boring towards
the end.
The on-line co-op game...so far unable to set up with friends to
have a team oriented game. Whether the co-op on-line play will prove
popular...well, I've some doubts! Only time will tell.
However playing on-line by hosting a game is a great why to speed up
your results.
STAR RATING5:
1.)Single player...2 1/2
2.)On-Line Co-op...1 1/2 Stars (maybe even less)
R. Nicholson (cujo)
P.S.
A MANUAL is now available on the STEAM web site.
Forty hours of fun...
...with a completely ridiculous (or rather, a complete lack of) end
payoff.
I won't touch on the DRM issue, as I bought my copy from Steam, and
experienced no problems.
The opening of the game sets a mood that is not carried out
throughout the game. Early on, the game treats you to small cutscenes
to introduce characters and bosses, but after the first few characters
you meet, it does away with this, and from then on you're simply
introduced to bosses with a small scene that shows their anem in big
letters. It's catchy, but it could've been a lot more.
The graphics are taste-dependent, but there were some issues that I
had, namely with what appeared to be screen tearing, especially while
using vending machines. Other than that, the graphics look amazing when
turned up high enough, and if comic book panels moved, this is what
they would look like.
The combat is very engaging and satisfying. The different weapons
(at last count, the developer said there were something like 17.5
million possible) are, of course, mostly crap and merchant-fodder.
However, every now and then, you find a REALLY nice gun. I found it
best to keep a couple different damage tyoes in my inventory: mainly
shock and corrosive (which is the best kind to use agaisnt late-game
enemies). While the weapon drops are randomly generated, bosses (who
respawn upon re-entering the area or game) will always drop the same
weapon. Keep in mind that their weapons are not necessarily better than
the ones you may already have. When fighting higher level or very
tough enemies, it's a good thing to know where their critical areas are.
Scoring a few crits can mean the difference between wasting a whole
magazine on an enemy, or just a few rounds, and therefore between death
and victory.
That brings me to the subject of death: I have never played a game
in which death is more exciting or satisfying when it doesn't happen.
Upon "dying" you fall to a knee and are able to continue fighting while a
health bar depletes. If it finishes, you respawn at a New-U station
(for an automatic fee) and any boss you were fighting is restored to
full health, which is simultaneously annoying and challenging, but both
in a very good way. If you score a kill, however, which egts harder to
do as your screen goes black, you get a Second Wind!, hop to your feet
at partial health and full shields, and continue fighting. You can also
remap your skills for a very small fee, and do it many times, which is
useful for testing new strategies and skill sets.
Missions are the average RPG fare--fetch this, kill this, kill he
who has that item you msut get to go on with the story...which brings me
to the most dissappointing part of this otherwise great game: the
ending.
I understand being set up for a sequel, but I don't think I would
buy this game's sequel, at least not at full price. For some, the
ending may break the whole experience--I'm not sorry I got this game,
but I won't be playing all the way through again.
Bottom line: if you like loot, esp. in the form of guns, and
frantic gunplay with varied and humorous enemies (shotgun-wielding
mutant midgets?, an enemy designation that's called "badas$", and
various pop-culture sci-fi references), and don't mind minimal story and
a poor ending, this game is for you. I really can't bring myself to
hate this game, it was VERY fun, literally until the very end. Wait
until it's $30 or so, and you won't go wrong.
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