Borderlands Impressions

Sometime around the middle of last week, the somewhat dangerous habit I've tried to quell known as 'impulsive game buying' reared its ugly head and convinced me to pre-purchase Borderlands on Steam. I'd been following the game for some time, prior to its major artistic change from more realistic to 'Concept Art', but considering that I will soon be attempting to guide the lives of three little children, the thought of actually consuming the game had been banished. Unfortunately (for my wallet) the impulse to have the shiny new toy and be able to relate with all the media buzz that has been generated by its release got the better of me, and here we are. As background, the following impressions come from a total playtime, over the past two evenings, of approximately 3-1/2 hours, while my character (a soldier) stands at level 10, and beginning the quests that will allow him to leave the starting town.

It has to be said that the tutorial section of this game was done with some character. The little robot that greets you as you get off the bus, Claptrap, possesses a charm that makes me smile whenever I see him (although I could do with a few less repetitions of his standard 'I'm standing next to the Bounty Board and need to sing and dance every time the character comes near' animations and voice). The game lays out the basic controls and mechanics in a way that feels relatively natural, while using it to lay the groundwork for some of the early quests. So far, the nameless woman who appears in your character's 'mind', giving you advice and talking about Pandora doesn't grab me. There must have been a different way to tell the story, rather than this.

Overall, the aiming and shooting mechanic feel crisp and responsive, although I have been frustrated at times when I miss a target that clearly is in the middle of my sights. It's moments like these that underline the fact that while it looks like a first person shooter, sounds like a first person shooter and may even smell like a first person shooter, at it's core the game is an RPG with better than average FPS mechanics grafted on top. This fact apparently hasn't bothered too many people, but to me it occasionally feels like Fallout 3 without the option of its VATS mode. Ever so frustrating are the times when an enemy is running toward you, your crosshairs are dead center on the target and you can see bullets ricocheting all around them, with the occasional hit. I've emptied entire clips trying to take down a charging skag, with an approximate 50% hit rate while the target never left my targeting reticle. It is a fault I am willing to forgive for a while, knowing that eventually my RPG skills will come into line with my meager FPS skills and everything will feel more natural again.

The RPG underpinnings of the game seem to be (from the short time I've interacted with them) fairly satisfying. Skill trees allow for some customization of your base character to better suit your playstyle, while the weapon proficiencies increase the more you use that particular style of weapon. Basically, in a manner similar to the Ratchet & Clank series, the more stuff you shoot with a particular class of weapon, the better you get with that weapon. Because I haven't had that much time with the game, I don't think I have the full feel for what all of the skills do, nor have I settled into a playstyle yet. Even though I chose the soldier class, the way I've been approaching battles leans more toward the hunter class. It may not be long before I start again and give Mordecai a chance, to see if his strengths fit more into line with my playing habits.

I won't waste time on the graphical presentation as it has been discussed and dissected ad nauseum. The overall visual effect makes me happy, as it does give a comic book feel to a game that could have been yet another muddy, depressing world in the vein of Fallout 3.

Oh, the guns! Even with my relatively meager experience in the world, the loot-whoring side of me has reveled in the amount of guns that are dropped. The system to procedurally generate the individual stats and bonuses allow for a nearly infinite variety of weapons, which makes picking up the loot that's dropped a lot of fun, because you never know when the gun with just the right bonuses is going to appear and make your character the talk of the wasteland.

Overall, my initial impressions of the game are pretty positive. I hope to spend a bit more quality time with the game, before my free time is reduced. I'd like to check back in later with some more advanced discussion after some time to really understand the mechanics and game better. If you have any thoughts, feel free to leave a comment.