An ambitious game with dozens of great Bosses,Tons of weapons and addictive gameplay.A FPS-RPG at its Finest.
Storyline & Playable Characters: The story is more or less about you trying to find "The Vault" at Pandora where a so called treasure may or may not lie.So you take the role of one of four Playable characters.We have the Hunter-Mordecai,who is a crack shot with Snipers and Revolvers,He also has a pet called Bloodwing that he can cast into the battle to help him out.We also have a Soldier-Roland,a guy who is great with rifles,shotguns and has a turret.The Siren-Lilith is great with using Shock,incendiary and corrosive guns,And then we have Brick who is a Brawler/Fighter who likes to use his fists above anything else but does seem to like Explosive weapons.
The Story brings you throughout the world of Pandora and puting you up against dozens of great bosses and enemies on your quest to find the secret behind the Treasure that lies in Pandora and in The Vault.There is no doubt in anyones mind that the story is rather weak due to the lack of cut-scenes and backstory on what is going down,most info is brought to you via quests and narrative none of which can be held as a good source.The Story could be improved but the game is more about the adventure of getting to the Vault rather than whats in the Vault or what the story is really about.
FPRPG Aspect: This is a First Person Shooter Role Playing Game which means that it holds features from two great gaming genres.It is usually called FPRPG and is seen upon as something interesting and very unique that is not that common on any modern day console.The First Person Shooter is self explanatory in a way that the game is in a First Person view and uses the same mechanics as many other FPS games.
The Role Playing part of it is what makes this game Unique,In this game you are able to collect items by searching through Creature puke,opening up toilet seats and even opening chests to find new weapons,money,ammo and other items.Thats not all,You are also able to Level up and you start from Level 1 like any other RPG and slowly make your way up to the top as the level cap is currently at Level 50.You will also recieve skill-points you can use to add points to your characters special list of attributes/skills.And another big part of a RPG is being able to have a menu system where you can see your items you have picked up,a characters body screen where you can add weapons and armor and all of that is in the game as you are able to see all of the loot you picked up,your money count,your weapons and you can equip different ones as you will be able to have 4 slots for 4 weapons.You can use which types of grenades you use and even your characters shield which needs to be depleted before taking damage to your health bar.There is an in-game map,RPG quests system and a Free-Roam world for you to explore!
Gameplay: The gameplay is solid and good,The weapons look Great and have different features,Some weapons are able to shoot incendiary shots and some are able to shoot shots with Corrosive damage.Weapons can have scopes on them,there are different companies for different weapons and all,the same goes for Grenade types and shields.There are definetly over a thousand different weapons in this game,whether the change be the way they look,shoot,the damage or something else but it is very rare to happen upon the same weapon twice.
The Gameplay is very fun and addictive,you have the classical quest system that RPGs use where you go and pick up quests,finish them and leave them back for rewards.There are a couple of cut scenes in the game but most is up to you and the narrative that goes on in the game.The open world of Pandora is very fun to explore and you will be able to meet over 50 different types of opponents.The Game works very well in co-op(Offline) with some minor lag issues from time to time but the Singleplayer can be a bit of a problem.If you are looking for a great storyline and direct action,you wont find it here as this game is more about the RPG aspect of it,going through quests and leveling up and really is hard to stay on only the main story as it is very weak and not that exciting so I definetly suggest everybody to play this game with a friend.There isnt much more to say about the gameplay as it is solid and works well with the mechanics it has been put together by,The weapon strengths alter and so does the feel of them,you dont really get attached to your character you choose as you dont get any back story and they rarely speak,only when in battle.You are also able to use teleports to summon yourself in another part of the world or you can use vehicles that you can get for free in the game with attached machine guns or grenade launchers.You will be doing all of your buying and selling through Weapons,Health and Ammo vending machines.Overall the gameplay feels solid,there are not problems with shooting,throwing grenades or fighting enemies,everything is well balanced.There are no alternate costumes.It will take you about 12-18 hours to fully finish the game.
Graphics & Audio: The Graphics system is something totally new to the modern day consoles and the only game that has similar graphics and the same graphics system is Prince of Persia for the PS3.The visuals are a bit irritating on the eyes after 3-4 hours of play but the games visuals are great.They have been able to use the graphics to make a different world,a sort of an Urban Wasteland and make it look spectacular due to the graphics,this games graphics are definetly what sets it a part from other FPS.The Audio and music are also good,The music changes if you are on a different part in Pandora and even your opponents talk to you and say clever things such:"Rip The Flesh! Salt The WOUNDS!" and "Time to Play,TIME TO PLAY!".There is no doubt on my mind that Gearbox and 2K did a great job with the graphics and the audio as it is different in a good way.
Online & Arenas: There is also an Online feature which allows you to team up with up to 3 other people online to do quests together or just roam around Pandora wreaking Havock.There are some lag issues but the game is quick to fix them without any big complications.The choice is yours whether you want to play it offline or on as the game features a great Online experience.This game also includes an Arena Match mode which you will be able to participate online and offline as in the Arena Matches you will be testing your stuff against other human players.
Total Score:
Storyline: 6/10
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Graphics: 9/10
Audio: 10/10
Online: 9.0/10
Overall Score: 8.5/10
OVERALL VERDICT: The game is definetly worth the full price and will give you hours and hours of gameplay and indefinet fun.The Games storyline isnt interesting but the Gameplay will keep you hooked on it.Online mode is great so you will be able to play with friends around the world and the Graphics and Audio are the Phenomenal icing on the cake that make this game Great.An Amazing Game and definetly one of the best games of 2009.