Can somebody please shoot that robot?

User Rating: 7 | Borderlands PC
By doctari_nl | Review Date:
I really tried to like this game, I really did. And in all honesty, it is fairly enjoyable most of the time. But it bests enjoyed in short bursts since for everything the game does right, there is also something that will horribly frustrate the crap out of you if you play it for too long.

At the core of Borderlands is a solid cross between Diablo and Fallout 3: you go about a post-apocalyptic wasteland, completing quests and shooting everything that moves. Contrary to Fallout, there is no roleplaying or exploration to speak of; everything consists of straightforward fetch quests and the emphasis is on lots and lots of gunplay.

Fortunately, the core mechanics hold up pretty well. The weapons a are satisfying to use and the gunplay is fast and smooth. On top of this, there is a fair variety of enemy types which all have different strength and weaknesses. Together with all the different guns with different attributes this adds just enough depth to the gunplay, and the constant stream of new loot will keep you busy as well.

On the down side, the game could have used a bit more variation. Everything, from the quests to the enemies and area layouts, uses the same templates over and over again. It is OK in shorts bursts but it all gets old really quickly.

I can forgive the game for being a bit bland though, I have a bit more trouble forgiving it for some horrible design decisions. First of all, vehicle combat is plain awful. It's the same from start to finish, it requires next to no skill, and the AI is horrible and gets stuck everywhere. Next, the save system is horrible as well. The game auto-saves in one slot without asking, leading to unnecessarily frustrating deaths and loss of money.

There are other problems as well; both on foot and in vehicle combat, you are subject to cheap deaths, getting shot by enemies that are miles away and have no realistic chance to shoot you. Next, there's the pointless respawns that are on far too short of a timer and only serve to bog you down.

And finally: can somebody please shoot that annoying robot? He's everywhere, he wasn't funny at the start of the game and he gets more annoying every time you meet him.

At the most basic level, Borderlands does deliver: it gives fast and mostly satisfying gunplay with tons of rewards. But it does serve from a lack of variety and can get boring and/or frustrating pretty fast. Best enjoyed in short bursts

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