IAHGames was kind enough to host a few Xbox 360 demo sets to let visitors try out a pre-release build of Borderlands at their booth during GCA ‘09. I decided to try it out, and before I knew it, I had spent the entire of my day there.
Prior to playing it, I had only heard of Borderlands, and the fact that it’s supposed to be a FPS/RPG hybrid game, so all I had in mind was “something like Hellgate: London or Fallout 3”.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m neither a fanboy nor a hater of either game. To me, Hellgate: London was pretty fun (especially since I didn’t give a damn about multi-player), and Fallout 3 looked pretty decent (not that I actually played it myself). I was aching for another decent FPS/RPG hybrid to play, and Borderlands appeared just in time.
Cue trailer!
Upon playing it, I realised it did resemble Hellgate: London in some ways. Humanoid mobs out to kill you? Check. Creature mobs out to kill you too? Check. Weapons with coloured names to represent rarity? Check. Separate skill trees for each class? Check.
Though Borderlands resembles H:L, it lacks the more complicated stuff such as a “realistic” inventory (remember those days where you had to painstakingly make sure everything fit just nicely in your inventory window?), weapon upgrades and lots of skills. In fact, each class has only one active skill (referred to as their personal “action skill”), and their (relatively simple) skill trees can upgrade this active skill. Otherwise, all you really have are your guns. Your aim does affect your damage though; shooting humanoids in the head causes critical damage, as does shooting Skrags (wild quadrupeds you’ll meet early in the game) in the mouth.
Borderlands features 4 character classes, each with his/her own name and backstory, as well as playing style. I chose Roland, an all-rounder supporting fighter who’s able to deploy a turret with a shield that can provide cover. Fariz Asuka chose Lilith, whose active skill is Wind Walk Phasewalk, basically turning invisible and being able to run really fast. Also, entering or leaving Phasewalk creates a shockwave that causes damage.
Technicalities aside, the game is otherwise fun. The game starts off with a little introduction to basic controls before forcing you into a firefight with some bandits. I noticed that most of the people who tried the game died/ran out of ammo/get lost at this point, so either the game is too hard or everyone except me (and Fariz Asuka) really sucked at FPSes.
The difficulty curve may turn off some players as they progress though; in the beginning we were easily taking down foes, but eventually later in the game we had to repeatedly backtrack to the shops to restock on health and ammunition, especially when enemies came in large swarms. There’s no mention of any easy mode either, though if you actually need that you should probably consider getting a different game.
The artificial intelligence isn’t much to look at though; it’s pretty much what you’d expect. Enemies simply advance towards you (or duck into cover if they’re humanoid), and tend to flee upon seeing a grenade tossed their way. Enemies can only outpower you with sheer numbers and firepower, not outsmart you.
The game does feature split-screen multiplayer, and from the looks of it, you can load an existing saved character instead of starting over (though the demo machine had no storage for me to test this). Split screen pretty much worked the same way, even to the point that each player had their own inventory screen. The problem was, though, that the developers did not bother to optimise the screens for a thinner half-a-screen, instead opting to allow the player to pan his inventory screen using his right thumbstick. A strange direction in my opinion, and I’m sure not many will like it. Then again, most Xbox 360 gamers I know don’t even play split-screen anyway.
True to Diablo fashion, more players in a game (up to 4) means stronger enemies and better loot. PvP combat is also possible, initiated (and accepted) by melee-ing each other or entering arena maps. There appears to be no way to trade though, apart from simply dropping items on the floor. This also meant you can’t trade ammunition with one another, which is a real waste since it’s pretty much impossible for anyone to be using all ammo types at any one time. Xbox Live and regular split-screen multiplayer should work the same way, though (again) I couldn’t exactly test online play at GCA, now, could I? XD
The pre-release build was definitely not complete, since we actually played up to a point in which we could no longer advance any further, and by then we both had approximately Level 14 characters. Yes we were that addicted to the game. >.>
Courtesy of GameAxis
Photo just to prove we were there the entire day. It’s not that hard to spot us. Really. :3
Should you buy this game? Well, I can’t say anything about the PS3 or PC versions, but the Xbox 360 version is at best a solid FPS/RPG hybrid. While it isn’t as in-depth as H:L was in terms of customization, that may be viewed as a plus point for those that don’t want their action hampered by spending time making their character the “perfect killing machine”.
Me? Maybe. Just maybe.
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