Here’s what I liked:

The game was fun to play. The graphics had a cartoonized edge that helped with the humour in the game. The non-serious environment really made it a delight to play the game, despite its flaws.

However, this is a game exclusively about its weapons. Most FPS games have, possibly, a dozen weapons, maybe you’ll get a thirty or so and a handful of mods thrown in if you’re lucky. The last I heard, Borderlands has over 17 million unique weapons, and likely counting with DLC. My favourite pistol in the game, for instance, managed a quad-shot. It may sound somewhat pointless to some that the game features so many weapons, or why people would care. However, it’s sort of like Pokemon, where the last iteration I played (Diamond) had almost five-hundred.

Now what I disliked:

I’m a man who when he says no, he means no. Borderlands however has no ability to understand the ‘no’ button included in its mission selection menus. When you get prompted with a new story mission, you have the option of choosing to take it or refusing, however if you refuse it you’re given the mission anyway. Not only is this frustrating, but it also introduces all the mission orientated bad guys to the level, most of which are way overpowered.

The games inability to recognize no only enhances another problem, which is that every boss is wholly overpowered. By the time side missions are introduced you’re fighting tooth and nail to win a fight. One mission I had to climb a rock where the enemy couldn’t reach me, jump up and down so their snipers couldn’t target me and pick them off. I was a sniper-orientated character, with the best sniper available and a damage bonus and I had to hit my opponents with several head shots to kill.

This wouldn’t have been such a problem if you could say no to the story and take some of the side missions. However you can’t, you have the choice of superpowered story bad guys running amok, or story bad guys and side-mission bad guys.

It seriously hurts the games experience when you can’t beat a single mission without retrying it a half-dozen times to whittle down the enemies, because thankfully most of your opponents don’t respawn. Most.

Overall: 7/10

This game had major potential, and as an avid gamer I can play it. However, most people won’t be able to play this game past the 10th mission without hitting the frustration wall. I’m a Strategy and RPG fan, the frustration wall is usually so far behind me when playing a game that I’ve ceased noticing it. However, I can’t in all good faith recommend a game that’s bat-shit crazy and takes no’s as yes’ so it can pit you against demonic bosses with ridiculous health, shields and a superior weapon. It also seriously doesn’t help that the grenades aren’t particularly useful compared to other games.

The good can outweigh the bad, however when you have so many noticeable flaws it might be worth reconsidering some parts. I’m unsure if Borderlands had some publisher pressure to release or what, but someone dropped the ball and released a game with great potential marred by so many flaws.

Judgement: Rent it, if you must.

©2012 Nik Gregory. All Rights Reserved.