I was hesitant in picking up this game due to the fact that I absolutely loathe cell-shaded games. I don't know what it is, but something about it just makes the animation look so fake. After hearing a lot of buzz, however, I decided to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself completely immersed in this game within minutes of playing. The cell-shading bothered me at first, but after awhile I realized that it gives this game a very aesthetically pleasing picture of what would otherwise be another barren wasteland like in Fallout 3. Now, I'm not here to bash Fallout 3 or anything. Believe me, I actually spent more time playing that game than I probably ever will with this one. This game is hardly flawed, however. If you like running around, shooting and/or blowing stuff up, and reaping the rewards both from questing and looting...then this is your game.

A lot of people liken this to a RPG/FPS hybrid. I would have to agree for the most part. The questing and character customization is very similar to games such as World of Warcraft. You have 3 different skill trees to progress down depending on which character you use, and they all serve a different purpose. I was a little disappointed to see that some skills were similar between the characters, but for the most part everyone has their own unique use. The questing is also similar in that you typically have to retrieve items, kill enemies and/or bosses, or just run to a location and do the whole "flip a switch" kind of thing. My only other complaint from the RPG side of things is that each character only gets one activated skill. Everything else is passive or adds to that skill. I'm not saying this is bad, but I think this game would have prospered more with some added variety.

The shooter side of this encompasses just about every other aspect. There are different types of guns to choose from, and some may be better or worse in different ways. When they say this game has a bazillion guns, they are correct. But that's not to say that every single gun is completely different. It's more like saying that Diablo 2 has a ton of different items, but in the end they all have their similar counterparts. Aside from guns there is also melee attacking, however I found this almost pointless except in the case of the Berserker's skill. Pretty much if you've played any FPS before, you won't find anything new here. At least, with the exception that some guns come with elemental attacks that are kind of cool. Imagine wielding a shotgun that electrifies people, or a pistol that causes explosions. These guns are quite invaluable, and the Siren makes good use of them.

Now if I have to say anything bad about this game it's this: it's VERY repetitive. I know people tend to use that term very loosely nowadays, but the further I got into this game the more I felt that I was just an errand boy who wasn't receiving adequate payment for doing favors for people. At around level 25 I got incredibly bored and just decided to take the game back to Gamestop. I still would say it's a fun game though, and the ending isn't as anti-climactic as most would have you believe (I watched it on youtube). This game just takes a lot of time and patience...and since I just got Dragon Age, which has almost all my attention now, I just don't have time to run around doing meaningless quests and chores for people.

I would also note that I played this game on single player only. I'm very picky about what games I play online, so take my review as being from the point of someone who did it alone. And for first time players I would recommend being the soldier. I liked all the classes except the Siren, but it was the Hunter I went the distance with. If you pick this up I hope you have more fun with it than I did, because all things aside it really is a good game.

• from

This game is very fun to play online! I think the single player option is nice but not the true way the game was meant to play. Its easy to pick this game up and run through a couple quests in half an hour or even join on someone else's game. the action is great and if you minimize travel time between action can be rather short. cars are fun and the addition of challenges make for a fun addition to the game. The four classes are a nice idea but the ability to develop their skill trees differently give these classes more variability.

The mods for the grenades and class skills are excellently done. Also the ability to level up in weapon skills prevents any class from being limited in weapon choice. This game has many layers to it that keep it more fresh than other MMO-type games.

i would recommend it to anyone that liked Diablo/Diablo II's action/RPG elements. The First person shooter element of this game is great!

• from

I have played many great games for the ps3 such as MW2,Uncharted 2, Brutal Legends and many others and trust me if you love those games you are defiantly going to love this game! You may think theirs no way this game can have over 500 guns...trust me it probably has over 20 times that many guns! I have only picked up the same gun in this game once and I couldn't believe it! Theirs a choice of 4 characters/classes in the game and I have played them all and love each and every class. Each one brings something new and different to the game. The story is fairly long and the multiplayer is absolutely amazing! I have played this game online so much that playing single played is boring because you miss out on having all your friends join and quest with you. Even if you don't have access to ps3 online I still most definitely recommend getting this game! I am positive that you will love this game!

• from

So I pre ordered this game because it looked just plain awesome, forget the naysayers out there, the cartoon like look gives the game something that stands out, not to mention that it's one of the few RPS's out there, the only one besides Fallout3 that i play anyways. But i got this in the mail and put it in right away. For a breif second I thought that i was going to be able to make my own character as i read through the book but realised that it was just a modification change.....those sly [...], getting my hopes up only to crush them, and then pick them right back up again with an amazing game. Anyway for the first 10 minutes i was looking for a spot to turn up the difficulty forgetting the RPG aspect where there isn't a difficulty, and was let down that the game was going to be too easy, well i was happily mistaken.....don't hear that too often now do ya....to find out that even a lowly skag that is 2 levels higher than you is retardedly hard, but in a good way, i fought to of these beasts to the bitter end almost dying and was happily satisfied with killing them only to be confronted with a badass skag minutes later that completley destroyed me, YEAH RESPAWN!!!! but after another hour of play and 1 or 2 levels i found myself destroying these creatures almost as if i was eating chips, i just couldnt stop it tasted so good....i guess that's a good analogy.......And then came the vehicles, at first the controls seemed a little odd because they were new but i eventually got the hang out it and took an entire raider outpost with my rocket launcher and machine gun, although i still press triangle to get in and out of the vehichle, thats the only control that seems bass ackwards, thank you halo, i have the PS3 version by the way, but im writing this review on the 360 as well, because this game deserves that much credit, The waypoint's for the quest is great too, it keeps the player focused on something so they don't just go around killing creatures, although, i suppose you could do that, but you wont keep gaining XP, its a good thing i guess, but the waypoint still leaves that free open world idea, I'm looking forward to the online play, wich i have a feeling is going to be awesome, and after i finish up with the first town, wich im asuming thats what the first area is from reading previews, im looking forward to the randomly generated open space between the towns, if they still have that feature, either way this game still gets 5 of 5

• from

This is the review from my website [...]

I heard a little bit about this game in the last few months, but not too much, and after seeing pictures of the game and its unique art style I was a little put-off by it. However the thought of a first person shooter / role-playing action game you can play with up to 4 players online with a million different weapons to find has kept me interested. I did pick up Uncharted 2 last week but that game has been hijacked by my cousin so with a gift card I had for Bestbuy I figured what the Hell and picked this up yesterday.

I got home around 3:00pm and didn't stop playing until it was time for dinner around 7:00pm and even then I did not want to put down the controller. As far as the graphics go the pictures online do not do them justice, when you are playing in this world full of machines, broken down towns, and creatures it looks beautiful. Their hasn't been much of a story so far as far as I can tell you are on some fictional planet where their are stories about a treasure full of alien weaponry and wealth beyond your dreams this place is called the Vault and countless mercenaries are on a quest to find it including you. The quests are your usual go here collect certain amount of items, return them, then go somewhere else kill certain enemy, return, however it's a blast doing them and I haven't got tired of it yet. I played online with two other players I did not know, but they did have headsets and were very mature and helpful, together we did a few quests and earned some cash to upgrade our gear and refill ammo and such via vending machines in the town, which is how you do your shopping. I would best compare this game to a Diablo meets Call of Duty meets Mad Max, you gain levels through XP and can upgrade your characters abilities through a tree like system similar to Diablo, and their is tons of loot that drops which is color coded based on rarity, and the game plays like your modern first person shooter.

This review is for the PS3 version, however at its core I'm sure the Xbox 360 version is pretty much the same thing, I only got it for the PS3 becasue most of the people I know in my life have that system at this time. I am going to give this game a 5 out of 5 as it is truly a fun game and I can see it holding my attention for a long time with it's loot and leveling system and enemies that adjust in difficulty with the more you play, plus the whole co-op play. I hope this game does well, so maybe they will update it with more content over time as well, if you haven't heard of this game and are into either the first person or role-playing action genre you owe it to yourself to check it out.

MY RATING FOR THIS GAME: 5 out of 5

• from

Borderlands is a great game. It is actually what I wanted Fallout 3 to be. Its an FPS but has the mission structure and length of a full blown RPG.

Hours and hours of co-op or single player fun. You can do either and the game just scales based on how many players are playing at once.

The art style is great and really sets this game apart from the crowd. It is colorful and vibrant. There is a twisted humor underlying the entire game which helps give it a great atmosphere.

If you like FPSs and or RPGs and are looking for something that will last you a while (like 50 hours) (even longer for multiple play throughs) this is a great deal.

Worth every penny! Get it!

• from

Borderlands starts out real slow and almost at the very point of being boring, the pace starts to pick up. You find yourself finding better loot, money and modifiers to make you one badass killer. The graphics are simply gorgeous and you feel no remorse when you blow a baddie's torso into 17 pieces. The reason is that the art style makes you feel as if you're killing in a comic book and it all isn't real.

It is also one of the most addictive game I have ever played. There are 50 levels to make you the ULTIMATE killer and when I'm in the office, thru meetings and discussions, all I can think about is leveling up the next time I hold the controller in my hands.

To further make it more enjoyable, jump into a 4 player co-op setting and you'll have 4 loonies killing and enjoying the experience. This game is a definite MUST BUY. It is a great stress reliever but the problem is the difficulty in quitting the game as it is extremely engaging. 4 hours playing Borderlands feels like 40 minutes.

Beware: this game is as addictive as crack just more economical.

• from

ok - small map but huge fun!!! - highly recommend!

One step beyond standard FPS, not a huge leap, but definitely in a direction I'd like to see more of.

• from

Awesome game! Be prepared to spend many fun hours on this one. Great replay value as well.

• from

PS3 owners should be aware of the current limitations of the PS3 version of Borderlands. I own a PS3, so pre-ordered this for PS3. It was my initial understanding that this game would support co-op split screen play, which it does. However, the only problem with this is that the ps3 version of Borderlands will not allow two PSN accounts to log-in simultaneously. This means that you will have to log-in to one account every time you want to play with a friend. This is not true for the XBOX360 version. The XBOX360 version is much more along the lines of free-play whereby you can jump in and play with friends with little or no hassle, everyone's level and experience progress is saved and you can play under your own individual accounts. Not so in the PS3 version. In the PS3 version you are essentially a "guest" to the PSN account currently logged in. Gearbox states that this is a limitation of the PlayStation 3 and not Gearbox's fault. This answer is not convincing though, especially when games such as Resistance 2 and Little Big Planet support co-op with individual PSN log-ins simultaneously. As far as the gameplay is concerned...it's fantastic but PS3 owners need to be aware that co-op in the ps3 version is not as enjoyable as the XBOX360 version. I'm very unhappy to say the least.

• from

But this game is addictive fun! As many people have mentioned, the guns is kinda what keeps you going, I'm on my second play through, and though the enemies haven't really changed, the challenge has increased tremendously. It does get a bit repetitive in terms of the missions, but that doesn't seem to matter: it's all about the character. More guns and more skills keeps it interesting, especially the ability to re-distribute the skills, which is actually an interesting twist from Diablo 2, as the usefulness of skills can change with various areas of the game. Level 43 and counting with my sniper, I can't wait to begin again with Lilith.

• from

This is a gift for both my sons for Christmas. They have played the game and love it.

• from

Great game, lots of weapons, haven't ran out tasks to do, as well as, assists in developing my gaming skills. Thanks Amazon, for the $20 coupon. Borderlands

• from

As an owner of a PS3 and the Wii I have purchased over 30 games this year. By far, this is my favorite game. Since receiving this for Christmas I have put over 50+ hours in and am still not close to being finished. (I started playing this after getting bored with the one-dimensional, most over-hyped game of all-time, MW2.)

You could read all the rest of the reviews for game specifics, but this game is PURE FUN. I am not a fan of RPG's but this game makes it very entertaining. There are missions upon missions to unlock and play. The amount of weapons is mind-boggling. (Although sometimes it gets annoying pressing square and pickign up the same low-level guns over and over again.) Enemy AI gets increasingly difficult but not to the level that you throw down the controller and give up. I am currently at Level 34 as a soldier. When I finish I plan on replaying it as one of the other characters. Haven't even touvhed online yet. Solid game all-around. Highly engaging. Can't wait for Borderlands 2. Let's get working on it 2K. I definately got my money's worth (or I should say my wife's) with this one. BUY IT!

• from

I don't have time to write a full review now, but in one word

"Unbelievable!". This will be an award winning game. I also predict that it will take the game of the year award. Stop whatever you are doing and go buy this game!

• from