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E3 Impressions - Borderlands

Gearbox’s Borderlands is a game that easily made my priority list at E3 this year. I’m a sucker for the narrative of apocalyptic operas - the symphony of decay that allows the fantasy of a videogame to take a twisted freak show detour with the environments and characters running free through an expanding world. But open world games rarely get an easy pass from me, the genre becoming devalued by the sheer volume of entries aiming to cash in on the success of other titles and cranking out games with deceptive scope – games that seemingly offer expanding gameplay options that fizzle out and lose any sense of direction before the experience reaches a natural end. But I went into E3 expecting more from Gearbox, and I wasn’t disappointed.

That Max Max inspired theme might setup the game initially, but it’s the options that begin to separate Borderlands. There was an emphasis on a new content generation system for good reason - the game allows for what we were told were thousands of weapon variations. And while sniper bullets that set enemies on fire grabbed my attention, many weapons seem to offer more subtle differences - reloading times, power, and efficiency for example. I was reminded of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and a sword I only managed to ever find once no matter how many times I re-played the game - except multiply that by the thousands in this case. I asked about the ability to save weapons, and was told that in addition to a backpack there would also be a safe system in towns where the player could store those firearms they grow particularly attached to. I’m already certain I’ll get a lot of use out of the safe, given the ridiculous amount of weapons I saw within only 15 minutes of gameplay.

My obsession with the weapons is owing to the equally wide variety of creatures and psychotic post-apocalyptic enemies that were on display, including the only weapon wielding midgets I happened to see in a game at E3 this year. There’s every reason to believe that Gearbox took a great deal of joy in allowing their imaginations to run wild with the characters and animals that inhabit this world - the designs coming across as crazy and disarrayed in the best possible way. Simply put, the game goes against the grain of that setting, refusing to take itself too seriously and offering the player a game that allows me to use the word “fun” in describing it.

And from what we’ve seen so far, the game does look earnestly fun. Jump into a vehicle and score some roadkill points to really test that claim out. The mission based gameplay roots itself in an RPG system that offers players four unique characters to choose from as they gain experience to upgrade and augment abilities. Aside from single-player mode, the game also allows for multiple players to join in on each other’s games with online co-op mode – with the ability to join or leave each other’s games at anytime.

The real surprise I had was in sensing that the change in visual style made the team nervous about potential reactions. As they said, Borderlands looks quite different from the last time it was seen. But the style, which many are calling cel-shaded for lack of a better word, is probably the most essential decision Gearbox could have made in helping this title stand out from everything else on the shelf when it releases. Reflecting on just how many times we’ve experienced the dark, crumbling and increasingly bland wastelands of apocalypse games, Borderlands absolutely pops with a style that assures the player that this title is as promising as I’m suggesting. Buildings, characters, beasts and vehicles stand off the backdrop of the world with a level of detail that merits more attention and highlights the nuances that might have otherwise been lost beneath the action of the game – both elements now achieving a more harmonious co-existence.

It wasn’t just a matter of this shift in style proving a smart decision, but that it really was the most important change in ensuring that the game isn’t lost in a sea of titles. This distinct look is exactly what is needed to draw players into a world where they’ll find gameplay options that keep them there, blasting a path through a world that now has no easily comparable example. It’s a fresh look at an often revisited scenario, and I’m willing to believe that the final product will only strengthen the appeal.

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Posted in E3, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |