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Borderlands! Whuh!!
16 years ago
I guess I was overly negative with my last journal. That seems to be a theme with reviews of this game.
My complaints earlier were fairly minor, but they're the kind of things that can mar a mediocre game. And that's the thing ... Borderlands IS mediocre, at least at first. THAT has to be my main complaint, now that I've played it more. I can overlook all (most) of its quibbling faults now, because it eventually turns from a mediocre game to a fantastic game ... it just takes a very, very long time to do so.
I'm a level 29 soldier, I've been playing for two days, and I feel that I've only recently begun to feel in tune with the way the game plays. I think this is partly the fault of the weapons system. It's not until the early 20s that you start encountering the really interesting guns ... elemental effects, accurate scopes, bizarre variants, etc.
It could also be in part due to my personal skill as a player. I didn't realize until just recently that most of the guns don't use hitscan hit detection. Different weapons have different projectile speeds, and need to be led accordingly. Once you realize this, you can begin to craft your weapon loadout to prepare for different situations. For instance, I have an accurate assault rifle with a scope and a small clip that fires in bursts to attack enemies from a distance. Its bullets travel slowly but pack a punch, so it's good for sniping before enemies notice you. If I'm being chased, I switch to another assault rifle that features a large clip, high rate of fire and fast projectile speed.
But yeah, overall, I'd say the game's main problem is that it just takes things too slow. It doles out features at a snails pace. You don't get skill points until level 5, you don't get class mods until you get through all of Fyrestone, you don't get the ability to fast travel until etc etc.
I've heard you can eventually start picking up parts to customize your vehicles, but I've yet to come across a quest that enables it. It's a little staggering to think that I've been playing this game for two solid days and there are still gameplay elements I don't have access to yet. I'd hate to start a new character and have to go through everything again just to get to the good parts.
But uhm. It's a really terribly awesome game. Really.
My complaints earlier were fairly minor, but they're the kind of things that can mar a mediocre game. And that's the thing ... Borderlands IS mediocre, at least at first. THAT has to be my main complaint, now that I've played it more. I can overlook all (most) of its quibbling faults now, because it eventually turns from a mediocre game to a fantastic game ... it just takes a very, very long time to do so.
I'm a level 29 soldier, I've been playing for two days, and I feel that I've only recently begun to feel in tune with the way the game plays. I think this is partly the fault of the weapons system. It's not until the early 20s that you start encountering the really interesting guns ... elemental effects, accurate scopes, bizarre variants, etc.
It could also be in part due to my personal skill as a player. I didn't realize until just recently that most of the guns don't use hitscan hit detection. Different weapons have different projectile speeds, and need to be led accordingly. Once you realize this, you can begin to craft your weapon loadout to prepare for different situations. For instance, I have an accurate assault rifle with a scope and a small clip that fires in bursts to attack enemies from a distance. Its bullets travel slowly but pack a punch, so it's good for sniping before enemies notice you. If I'm being chased, I switch to another assault rifle that features a large clip, high rate of fire and fast projectile speed.
But yeah, overall, I'd say the game's main problem is that it just takes things too slow. It doles out features at a snails pace. You don't get skill points until level 5, you don't get class mods until you get through all of Fyrestone, you don't get the ability to fast travel until etc etc.
I've heard you can eventually start picking up parts to customize your vehicles, but I've yet to come across a quest that enables it. It's a little staggering to think that I've been playing this game for two solid days and there are still gameplay elements I don't have access to yet. I'd hate to start a new character and have to go through everything again just to get to the good parts.
But uhm. It's a really terribly awesome game. Really.
And the only things in the game I really found irritating was having to wait level five for the skill points, the idiot move of copying the vehicle controls from Halo *shudder*, and the utter lack of Iridean weapons. Seriously, I played the game at least 40 hours before I beat it, and did EVERY quest, and I still got two Iridean weapons, one of which (spoiler) you get from a main quest boss battle NO MATTER WHAT.
And the second playthrough with all the items and stuff promised more Iridean weapons. I just got to New Haven in it, and guess how many I've gotten? Zero. Which is a real letdown, because the two I got were awesome.
But I have to say I thought it was a good move to have the fast travel available so late, because the game world is big, but not THAT big. It takes you maybe 5 minutes to go across the entire map before New Haven (with Lucky's in it...can't remember the name offhand), so it really isn't even necessary to HAVE fast travel. It's nice, sure, but for me I sometimes prefer to run/drive my way across maps to kill enemies and to just take in the awesome scenery. That and you miss a LOT of loot if you just fast-travel.
I'm level 50, just about to finish the second playthrough, and I just found my fourth Eridian weapon ... a sniper rifle. Just like the sniper rifle I found on the FIRST playthrough, only stronger. I went through the Crimson Lance areas blasting everyone I could find with it just to level up my Eridian proficiency, but it doesn't look like it's gonna get much use, heh. I've heard there's an Eridian shotgun out there somewhere too, but I've never found it.
And seriously, if they're going to put a separate weapon skill for Eridian weapons, they could at least have them common enough to make it worthwhile. Two Eridian weapons per playthrough is crazy.
Also, it's hard not to like a gun that has "Glorious Massacre" in the name. I don't care if it's bright yellow and looks like it's made of plastic. It makes things die.
The rocket launchers are fun too! I have one that shoots three in a little spiral. On the other hand, the revolver shotgun felt a bit... contrived, perhaps.
but yeah, slow start but after that a wonderful game.
But yeah, I finally realized that it's less about FPS mechanics and more about just being unreasonably bad-ass. It is <3
Now that I've gotten over that, it's a bit frustrating to be eager to experience the other things that I know are in the game, such as alien weapons, higher-level class mods, customizable vehicle stuff, a larger inventory, a 4th weapon slot, etc.
But still, it's brilliant fun D:
Just about every outdoor area in the game is open and has a few roads to drive around in. Areas like bandit camps and whatnot usually have entrances too narrow for cars to get through, so you'll need to get to them on foot.
And yeah, two people can fit into each car, one driver and one manning the mounted weapon.
And of course there's a few areas where bandit vehicles regularly spawn, which is always fun.
Brick is my favorite so far. Half his skills are of minimal use but nothing can compare to the face crushing berserker rage for pure fun.
Though my two shot explosvie revolver for the win