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Borderlands

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8.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 30 critic reviews
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Based on 176 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: 2K Games

Developer: Gearbox Software

Genre(s): First-Person Shooter, Action, Role-Playing Game

Players: 4

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: October 26, 2009

Summary

As the first title in an all-new sci-fi action franchise, Borderlands combines the best elements of Gearbox Software's first-person action titles with player customization and vehicular combat. Borderlands features a unique content generation system allowing for near-endless variety in missions, environments, enemies, weapons, item drops and character customization. Borderlands is a cooperative experience, allowing for multiple players to share the same game experience simultaneously online. Players can freely join or leave each other’s games at anytime, or choose to play in the full single-player mode. Borderlands features life-like character animations, impressive real-time physics, and customizable vehicles. More details to follow. [2K Games/Gearbox Software]

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

FiringSquad

Fast, fun, and unapologetically crass, this is the best game I’ve played in a long time, and is truly deserving of the moniker “role-playing shooter.”

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AtomicGamer

I think you'll agree that when you've got guns blazing from four players at once and loot is flying everywhere, Borderlands easily makes up for any perceived shortcomings.

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Total PC Gaming

An excellent FPS/MMO hybrid with great combat and the most multiplayer fun we've had in ages. [Issue#26, p.40]

IGN

It's something action role-playing game fans looking for an experience more up-close and brutal than genre entries of the third-person variety should have a blast with, and one of the more memorable products of 2009.

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2404.org

Borderlands has more weaknesses than strengths, but the few strengths it has absolutely overwhelm most of the problems the game has.

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PC Gamer UK

A good FPS and a good RPG come together to make an excellent game. Or FPSRPG if you're being fancy. [Dec 2009, p.86]

Vandal Online

Original, visually attractive and unique, Borderlands won't leave anyone indifferent and will be a treasure for those who enjoy its innovative style.

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Destructoid

With tons of weapons to find, a great co-op system, fantastic art, and a whole bunch of exploding bodies, Borderlands is worth your money. Even when I feel that the game is starting to get repetitive, there's something about it that keeps me playing.

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GameSpot

Fun combat and a steady flow of rewards make this journey a massively enjoyable one, especially with some fellow mercenaries along for the ride.

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Gameplanet

After wave upon wave of bad console to PC ports recently, it's nice to see Gearbox have taken their time with Borderlands. It's a highly capable title that lends itself well to mouse & keyboard control, and has enough depth to keep players keen for months.

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3DJuegos

Borderlands is a pretty brilliant example of the power of genre mixtures. RPG, Shooter, Sandbox… all of them quite simple but assembling a brilliant and addictive videogame.

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PC Games (Germany)

The Shoot and Loot that Hellgate should have been. The lousy story and the flawed RPG-System do not spoil the fun you will have when frantically mashing through waves of enemies, collecting all kinds of cool weapons!

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GameShark

Packed with so much stuff to see and kill, Borderlands offers plenty of things to aim your spiffy new weapons at, all the while providing one of the best co-op experiences of the year.

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SpazioGames

Borderlands has been a great game. First of all we have to reward the willingness of developers to propose something different, that we dare to define original. The RPG-FPS hybrid gameplay works perfectly and playing the co-op mode online, the title takes off, ensuring many hours of fun. Combine this with its excellent graphics, in its way kind of unique too, and you'll understand the value of a fresh product, suitable for all those who love to spend their time online.

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PC Gamer

Addictive action and loot collection make it worth putting up with constant irritation from nearly all other aspects of this uniquely beautiful shooter. [Holiday 2009, p.61]

Gameplayer Sweden

There's blood on the asphalt. Well, the cell-shaded asphalt that is. Borderlands is without one of the biggest co-op happenings this year, and for those who love extensive loot tables with guns, guns, guns and guns in absurdum, this is the shit. It's a well balanced action adventure with a well balanced leveling system that only suffers a little from lack of variation. It is a perfect LAN-game however.

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Gamervision

While it lacks certain elements that would have made it more memorable, the sleek gameplay and beautiful graphics represent a stellar example of genres melting together, something which too often fails in execution. After completing the game, a second play though is opened, turning up the difficulty and starting the story anew, something that many gamers will likely end up taking advantage of.

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Telegraph

Its unusual, offbeat approach to the tropes of both its genres gives the blend that extra dash of flavour it needs, but the base ingredients are just as tasty and fulfilling. And then there’s those guns, those wonderful, wonderful guns.

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RealGamer

Borderlands maybe a relatively simple mix of shooter action and RPG elements, however, it will mainly appeal to shooter fans rather than those looking for an immersive roleplaying experience.

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GameDaily

Borderlands surprised us. We went into the experience expecting a pulse-pounding shooter with fancy cut scenes and lots of drama (no surprise, since we play more FPS on consoles than RPGs), and instead found a slower-moving and tough (but immensely rewarding) slog through a beautiful fantasy world populated by imaginative monsters and more weapons than we know what to do with.

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GameSpy

The accessible nature of Borderlands -- with its relatively non-punitive deaths, constant checkpoints, and convenient fast-travel systems -- makes it a fantastic game for introducing FPS fans to some basic RPG tropes. And, most importantly, the killing and looting never ceases to be fun.

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InsideGamer.nl

Borderlands gives the lonely gamer a kind of monotonous experience, but it is great when you invite some friends. The story is really thin and the world is kind of lifeless at some points. But tons of weapons, quests and the urge to level to the next stage makes the game entertaining. A solid game for those who like to play together, instead of against each other.

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Eurogamer Italy

A good union between FPS and RPG, Borderlands is both deep and entertaining, with a perfect multiplayer option. The RPG elements are well implemented in a classic FPS action, and everything works in a very good way. The huge world could be boring after 30 hours, and the character design is not the most balanced in the world, anyway Borderlands will be the game of the year for a huge number of gamers.

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Eurogamer

Borderlands is unusual, playable, and an artfully violent step in an interesting direction for Gearbox. The story aspect of the game could have been better - I'd love to have seen the role-playing influence extend beyond stats, levels and loot - and the ending is a disappointment. Even so, this should be a favourite game of the year for a huge number of people, since it plugs into gamer impulses at such a fundamental level.

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Gamers.at

Borderlands is undoubtedly a unique experience - but one that comes with many flaws like being quite repetitive and somewhat boring, if you are not absolute into looting, grinding and playing Co-op. If you are though: This might be your sole past-time-activity for the coming months.

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PC Format

We wanted to love it, but Borderlands doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from thew current slew of desert games. [Dec 2009, p.84]

GameStar

Gearbox mixed a first person shooter with a role playing game and slightly missed the mark. After 20 levels you've basically seen everything, the story is very thin and still you keep playing to collect more items. The setting and the good graphics deserved more than that.

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Digital Chumps

The game is unique, imaginative and entertaining but I can't just put past the flaws of the PC version.

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Gamer Limit

If you can get past all the problems that plague the PC version, you'll discover an extremely fun and addicting FPS that sprinkles in some RPG elements, and a "bazillion" guns, to create a unique experience unlike anything else.

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PC PowerPlay

A deeply flawed yet passably entertaining co-op genre mash-up. [Christmas 2009, p.52]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 176 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Shanghaied gave it a9:
For a first attempt at this type of genre Gearbox did a very, very good job. Cries about the PC version being a port, problems with the UI, menus, and video customization are all well taken, as they cut corners here and it's obvious. Using gamespy for multiplayer support was absolutely misguided; there was simply no excuse for this and it really hurts this title. The gameplay however, is phenomenal. Borderlands as a new IP is off to a great start. The loot system is better than I expected and addicting. The actual shooter gameplay is very, very robust and well executed. Happy with my purchase, just hoping for some multiplayer polish from a future patch.

Andrew A gave it an8:
The coop fps/rpg of the game is very fun with friends. The random gun drops system is very deep. Art direction is unique and the game looks great. But you can tell that the console releases were the main focus. From things like not even exposing options to turn off the auto-detect voice chat in the settings, to mouse smoothing being on by default and also not exposed in settings, to the very limited number of abilities/actions per class (for a PC game), more could have been done to make this game shine on PC as much as possible. Gamespy is a sub-par choice for helping me get in games with my friends or pugs online, even just going with Steamworks for this would have been preferable. Characters being stored locally means a very hackable game for those concerned with everyone online playing fair. If you just play with friends this may not be a concern. Hopefully a patch for the PC version is released soon that fixes some of these issues and some bugs that can be fairly bad.

Steven H gave it an8:
Completely absurd/awful story, barely functional multiplayer interface, poor enemy balance, but underneath it is a fairly addictive game and interesting concept. Leveling up is very satisfying.

Graydon A gave it a9:
A good RPG/FPS hybrid that is fun to play and has an awesome art style. Playing co-op with friends online is fun, and collecting loot is a blast. It doesn't deserve a perfect score either as there are a few small bugs that keep it from a 10.

Mad L gave it a10:
Bloody brilliant game, loads of content (guns, upgrades, quests, enemies), single player lasts long, which is good as the game is fun. The game also has 4 player online also, which is very fun once again and i love the overall design of the game and the humor. A game i would wholeheartedly suggest to a friend.

Moo Man gave it a9:
If you like RPGs, this game is for you. If you like FPS, this game is for you. Although this game was made for x-box, they did a fairly decent job making it usable for PC although it "reeks" of x-box. This game deserves a 8 but i like it so much i'll give it a 9. Most of the "ba zillion guns" are crap white.

Haqeem A gave it a10:
Borderlands is incredible, really distract my attention from Modern Warfare 2 and Left 4 Dead 2. Featured with cool and smooth graphic and "outline" styling (artwork ftw!) just like Prince of Persia, up to 4 player in multiplayer mode (more epic than those zombies shooting title) this product is worth every penny! I can't write more about this game cause this too awesome!

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