Borderlands is a fun co-operative loot fest. The game is simple: do quest, earn experience, find weapons. The fun comes from seeing your character progress and unlocking new abilities and weapons. It may sound unassuming, but Borderlands' playful and energetic nature makes it more enjoyable than one would expect. The story is straightforward, find the vault, but it only exists to create more opportunities to find better weapons and further power up your character. There is co-operative modes for 4 people online or 2 player split screen, and the real fun is in playing through this game with a friend.
Borderlands is a shooter/RPG hybrid. The shooting controls exactly like Call of Duty and should be very approachable to anyone who's spent time with the Xbox 360. The RPG portion is equally simple and the game does a great job of explaining all the unique details. Within minutes of starting the game, players will be fully familiar with the basics and enjoying leveling their chosen character ****
There are 4 ****s to choose from in the game. Each has their own special abilities that make them better in certain functions. Still, no character ****is restricted from using any of the weapons effectively. With the exception of ****mods, the only restriction for equipment is level. So, if you want to use a sniper with your Berserker, or Rocket with your hunter, then the game doesn't restrict you from doing so. However the bonuses available to each ****will make some weapons more useful than others. Also, while each team member will have abilities that aid a team in different ways, when working with friends online, any combination of ****s work.
Overall the game is not very difficult or very long. On the difficulty, if you die you'll be given an opportunity to revive yourself by taking out a single enemy within a small time limit (your team-mates can also revive you). If you fail to be revived you'll just warp back to the closest New-U station and be charged a percentage of your money. With persistence, there really is no challenge out of reach. On the length, the main portion of the game is not very long. You will probably need to level some though and there are a substantial number of side-quests to complete. If you complete them all, you adventure could easily stretch over 30 hours. The game is highly replayable though. In fact, by completing it once, you unlock the 2nd playthrough option, which increases the difficulty level and number of enemies in the game. Then there is still the option on playing the game as one of the other ****s.
Overall, Borderlands is a blast to play. You level up fast and are constantly getting new more powerful weapons to use. And, since you'll normally have a friend with you, you can easily show off your new abilities. In that, the game creates a fun way of propelling the player. The biggest downside to the game is the ending. Once you've completed the story missions you might find yourself disappointed there aren't more to do. The upside though is that you can play through it all again on the playthrough 2 mode... and then playthrough 3 if you finish that.
I strongly recommend Borderlands to anyone looking for a game to play with their friends. It might not be the most ambitious game ever made, but it is fun and funny. There is some dark humor and constant gore, but the game still manages to feel playful and light through it all. If you are looking for something to spend hours on by yourself, this game still could scratch the itch, but you wouldn't get the satisfaction of asking excitedly asking your friend, "Did you just see that?!" every few minutes.
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