SUMMARY: So you want a First-Person-Shooter with RPG elements? You want stylized textures with smooth frame rates? You want a kickass experience while playing a game for 100+ hours? With Borderlands, you got all that and more.
Storyline: Well, there is a lot to talk about right here. You start off as a nobody on his way to a backwards town on Pandora, a planet on which exists The Vault. The Vault is a mysterious place that opens every 2000 years or so. You are a mercenary who is on his way to finding and opening The Vault, which you are led to believe contains a shit load of money. You go from place to place performing actions and taking out bosses in the traditional style of an RPG. The story changes and weaves in through all the sidelines, but it isn't anything to shake a stick at. It keeps the flow of the game and is leaps and bounds ahead of other RPG's, but it is still meh.
8/10
Gameplay: This game is very very intuitive. It's basically a First Person Shooter. There are definitely more to it, but at it's core, that is how you fight enemies. There are almost an unlimited amount of guns, but most of the differences are slight. There are just basic gun types with many many different variations. The controls are very smooth, which is a great thing, considering it is an FPS. There is also Driving. The driving is mediocre, which is bad, because that is how you get around. You will spend a lot of time driving, but there is vehicle combat, so you will have some fun getting around. Basically, it's a fun FPS and the RPG elements are few enough to not bother you, but good enough to be worth an RPG fan's time.
9/10
Presentation: The game has a really different style. It's cel-shaded but still looks really good. The game can be a bit pixelated if you get to close to the environment, but other than that, it looks really good, and runs really good. The voice-acting, however, is sub-par. It isn't that bad, but it really could've been much better, seeing as how your character doesn't talk. The only good character is the
tr4p. He's awesome. Not much else can be said about the presentation, besides maybe the pacing of the game; it's really good.8/10
Conclusively, I am going to say this, this game is awesome. Unfortunately it's fills a specific niche that not everyone might enjoy. Some FPS-enthusiasts might complain about the RPG elements and vice-versa. However I love both genres, so I loved this game. What it was set out to do, it did in leaps and bounds, and despite the okay graphics and some voice-acting troubles this game outperforms the other games that came out this year.
Final Verdict: 9/10
