Gamescom Live: Borderlands Impressions
Thu, 20 Aug 2009, 2:03 pm
by Ryan Peter, Do Gaming journalist
Tags: Gamescom, 2K Games, Gearbox Software, Borderlands, FPS RPG hybrids, first person shooter role playing game, Randy Pitchford
At Gamescom, 2K Games and Gearbox Software gave a closed presentation of Borderlands, a game that quite a few have been eager to see.
Borderlands is another cross-genre game, mixing it up between the first-person shooter (FPS) and role-playing game (RPG) genres, says Randy Pitchford, Gearbox Software president.
“Unlike other FPS-RPG hybrids, Borderlands comes more from the shooter perspective,” says Pitchford. “It's a shooter first, which makes it a lot more action filled than the other titles like Mass Effect, which are RPG's first. It is also the first co-op FPS-RPG game produced.”
At the presentation four of the Gearbox developers on the game showed the media the co operative play mode in Borderlands, which appears to be its strongest focus. Gamers can play every mission as single player or in co-operative play, with up to four players. Console versions of the game will also allow for a split-screen mode.
“You can invite players into a game, create an open game, or browse for open games,” says Pitchford. “The missions become more challenging as more players hop in for co-op play, but so do the rewards,” he adds.
One of the unique RPG elements of Borderlands is that the player's character is persistent regardless of how gamers play. In other words, gamers' character's experience points get built up if gamers play single-player or co-operative play. No matter how or when they play, the experience gained counts towards the character.
“You can also build as many characters as you like,” Pitchford adds. “Gamers' characters can specialise in many different classes.”
Impressions
From a graphical perspective, Borderlands is immediately striking. It basically looks like a comic book, reminding a little of the artistic style in Prince of Persia. Those that opt for more realism in games may not like this at first, but the choice of graphical style is a good one. It sets it apart from a normal shooter, and also helps to build a post-apocalyptic world and mood in a good way, reminding one very much of the cult movie Mad Max.
The game does certainly have a lot of fast action. What is noticeable, from the outset, is that there appears to be a stack of weapons available to gamers. Pitchford acknowledges this, saying that there are over 16 000 weapons and modifications in the game.
“There are also over a hundred optional side-quest missions in the game,” he adds. Vehicles in the game also allow for customisation, but the main focus of the game is on-the-ground shooting.
Different versions and downloadable content (DLC)
Pitchford says that the final release of Borderlands will take advantage of the platform it is released for in different ways.
“The Xbox version will use the LIVE service, the PlayStation 3 version will allow for gamers to easily invite friends on the network, as examples,” he says.
Gearbox Software says that there will probably be DLC for the game, and that gamers will be quite surprised at how large and how quickly the DLC will become available.
“We're really excited about DLC, for Borderlands. The world we've built is really large and we're looking forward to hearing what people think about the game,” Pitchford says.
All in all, Borderlands looks like a title that FPS gamers with an RPG slant should be looking at, especially if they enjoy fast-paced action shooting and co-operative play. For those that like player vs player, the game also allows for gamers to challenge each other for a quick duel in the middle of a co-op mission, or set up a PvP match at the Arena in the game (similar to the Arena in Mad Max). It will be interesting to see the kind of audience Borderlands will no doubt attract amongst gamers that prefer team-based competitive play.
To sum it up, gamers should watch this space.
Borderlands is releasing on October 23 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. |