Borderlands GamesCom 2009 Preview
Borderlands has been through some interesting changes during its development, especially in the art department. Up until recently, Gearbox Studios upcoming shooter was a game that looked graphically like many other titles. However, there was a change of heart within the studio and a new art style was decided upon. It's one of the things that really helps to define Borderlands, as it gives it an identity; something that is essential when looking to succeed in this genre.
During GamesCom, Gaming Union was fortunate enough to be given a demonstration of Borderlands' 4-player co-operative mode. Set on the planet of Pandora in a desert environment, the demonstration featured Lilith, Brick, Mordecai and Roland. These four characters help to show off the classes that appear in the game, which are: Soldier, Siren, Heavy and Sniper. This array of classes offers a nice selection, but they aren't overly restricted.
While Borderlands is a first-person shooter, there is also a role-playing system included with the game. Players will gain experience for killing enemies, and completing objectives and upon doing so, they will be able to upgrade their characters. There is also a skill tree, which means that certain characters can be geared towards certain things, and when playing with friends this will be the optimum way to achieve success. If playing alone, it's likely that players will focus on completely different skill sets.
Each of the levels are procedurally generated, so there will be lots of drops that don't appear in the same places each time. Another element is that if a player is downed, that doesn't necessarily mean they are out. They will have a brief period of time where they will be able to save themselves by downing an enemy. If this is achieved, they will get straight back into the action, ready to take down more enemies. Continuing on the trend of small things that are nice additions, the next is the ability to challenge other players to PvP. If someone is really annoying you, and constantly shooting you, it's possible to challenge them to PvP during a mission. The two players then square off and may the best man win. It's things like these, that will really help Borderlands to distance itself from the generic modern day first-person shooter.
On the way to objectives, there are numerous random encounters with local bandits. These look like they might be a slight annoyance, but they can probably be avoided quite easily, as travel usually takes place while inside a vehicle, which can be customised. The actual gameplay looks solid though. Due to the nature of the game, there are a ton of special abilities, and the action looks quite frantic, especially when playing co-operatively. The array of weapons is also quite impressive, and thanks to the art style they look great.
Graphically the game looks great, the gameplay looks solid and the hybrid genre is definitely one that will appeal to many fans. There are not many games that have first-person shooter elements tied in with a fully complimentary role-playing system. Borderlands has all of this, and it's definitely a game that deserves to stand out from the crowd. Hopefully it can do that this holiday season when it's released towards the end of October on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
