First Thirty: Borderlands (PC)

By Joe Haygood | November 9, 2009

I had watched Borderlands with some curiosity, but did not delve in at launch, due to some of the mainstream press giving the game a “already been there” feel.  So I sat on it for a few weeks, and I started to hear the word of mouth on this game, and it was golden.  Everyone that was talking about this game, was giving it a big thumbs up, talking about all the fun that could be had in this sandbox that is Borderlands.  So, with all of that, I went out and bought Borderlands on the PC, and I am having a hard time turning it off.  This First Thirty could have been a First 120 if I had not stopped myself.

Starting up Borderlands, I was presented wtih a long intro trailer that explained the four characters I could play as, and some of their strengths when it came to weapons and powers.  I went with the Hunter, because I am all about sniping guys from afar.  To plant the seeds of the story, I get a flashing image across my screen that tells me to look for a robot, and that I will be responsible for saving Pandora, the world that we reside on.  Well, its good to see that we are not having too much pressure put on us.

I found the little robot, nicknamed ClapTrap, and proceeded to playthrough some of the intro missions, which gradually ease you into how to play the game.  You run across some low life bandits and some wolf like animals, all of which are easy enough to kill.  I was also attacked by some exploding miniture dwarves.  Was someone playing Myth before they put this game together.

The gunplay is fast and furious, and it seems like enemies are always popping up in the world.  I only got to scratch the surface of loot gathering, as most of it is just ammo drops and money drops in the intro missions.  I did get far enough to get a weapons shop to open, which helped me gain access to some better weapons, but I  never got any crazy sniper shotguns or anything of that nature.

So far, I have had a ton of fun with Borderlands.  It is completely over the top, while still keeping a semblence of a serious tone.  The cartoony graphical look actually makes the game look tremendous, and it runs fantastic on my computer.  I had everything cranked up to the highest level on a GTX275 Nvidia card and a Quad Core !6600 and it roared.  As a matter of fact, I had to work with my mouse sensitivity to get myself where I was not oversteering the aiming recticle.

Look for more on Borderlands, with a full review coming as soon as I can pull myself away from the game.