The Apocalyptic takeover by Fhant: a review of Borderlands.

Hello? Is anyone here? Nick?!
Hello?! Hmm… comfy chair…

Oh, hello! My name is Fhant. I’m a blogger just like Nick. But since he’s not showing himself…

Time for some anarchy with a semi-new First person RPG that’s called: Borderlands.

Name: Borderlands

Devoloper: Gearbox software

Year: 2009
Platform: PC, PS3, XBOX360 and MacOSX.
Genre: RPG/FPS.

So what’s in store?

You play a fortune hunter (One of four classes, we get to that later) who is searching for the Vault on Pandora. An alien planet that is pretty much desolate and filled with critters and people who are up to no good.  You as a fortune seeker needs to complete quests in order to get closer to the Vault.

Classes.

The fortune hunters are pretty much based on 4 classes. Tank, Rogue, Hunter and Heavy damage.

At the start of the game, players select one of four characters, each with a unique special skill and with proficiencies with certain weapons. The four characters are: Roland the Soldier(Heavy damage), Mordecai the Hunter, Lilith the Siren(Rogue), and Brick (a Berserker) "as himself".

Brick has the most HP and his special ability is the Beserker fury. He can punch the lights out of anyone in this mode and kick ass and take names in this mode.

Lilith can “Phasewalk” as a rogues stealth ability. This makes it very easy to bypass people or even lead them in a ambush.

Mordecai has his pet Bloodwing (A hawk-like creature) he can send in to kill people.

Roland has a turret with shield he can hide behind to deal more damage from the front.

Style.

The game is cell-shaded and is a First person Shooter. This means you do not get to clearly see your character. However, in multiplayer, other people can see your character that has a other color scheme.  You can upgrade your character with certain trees such as a Medic Tree for Roland and a Assassin tree for Lilith.

Gameplay.

Since I only played it on the PC, the controls are simple.  Aim with mouse, click to shoot.

But this game throws in something special. Upgrades! Not just any upgrades, Elemental upgrades. You got Fire, Explosive, Shock and Poison bullets for the gun you use.  Other than that, the game has a rating system in gray/white, green, blue, purple and orange to mark the value of the guns (Grey being the most common and orange the most uncommon).

Also you do not gain any stats with a level up but after level 5 you have access to a special skill tree for your class to play with. Here you have 3 options that differ between the Fortune Seekers.

Of course you are being guided in the game by a quirky little Robot called CL4P-TR4P. Yes, Cl4p-tr4p. At the start he will help you out and inform you on things, like where to get ammo and weapons and where to heal up. After that you follow a Voice. It is unknown who she is, but all she can tell you is that she will help you.

Final verdict.

You could see this as a game that had a head-on crash with Science fiction with Steam-punk elements in the tail. But is has some funny jokes and a smooth gameplay. Even the 4 DLC’s that are out now, are pretty enjoyable.

If you are interested in this game for the PC, it’s obtainable via Steam for €29,99!!

Oh, I hear him coming!! Err… Bye!! And don’t tell him I sat in his chair okay?