Borderlands review

Bordelands
Overall 9.3
Graphics – 9.0
Gameplay – 9.5
Value - $50
Achievements – Very easy (Almost all are easily attainable)
Pros
Quick and fun gameplay, different classes make game enjoyable, co-op and multiplayer are a good time
Cons –
Some achievements are bugged, bad guys respawn behind you during missions (see below)
Note: I have played this game only for a day and about 8 hours. I will modify my comments and numbers above if need be.
Full Review
I was concerned about Borderlands turning out to be some over the top game with too much descriptive violence, cussing, and immaturity. I am glad to be wrong on this. I have heard very little cussing, and the depicted violence matches your actions, that is, you shoot a guy in the head and his head explodes.

The M rating is for the above mentioned violence and the environments of the bandits you encounter, along with some of their dialogue. For example, fighting a bandit in his lair might lead to him antagonizing you with “Do you have any last words before we cook ya?” They don’t drop MF bombs or anything like that. I honestly am not sure they cuss at all, but I could have the volume turned down too low. Update - They definitely cuss. Maybe as they get stronger their cursing vocabulary increases. :-) Also, the game is more of a mix of Fallout 3 and Diablo than WOW.

The game is a first person shooter with a mix of World of Warcraft type spawn with very limited RPG elements in leveling up your characters. It is an absolute blast to play.
Missions are from simple scavenger hunt style to assassinations. They are a standard variety of them, but they vary enough to make the game fun.

There are 4 classes of characters that fit standard stereotypes. Bruisers, snipers, front line gun nuts, and “magic users.” The magic user isn’t really that, but it’s hard to explain her story.
There are a large quantity of guns, but that can be misleading.

While it is very enjoyable to have this large variety of guns, they really break down into a few categories, stats, and bonuses. You might find a shotgun labeled “Rusty Shotgun” that does 10 damage and has a bonus to the spread, and another labeled “Rusty Shotgun” that does 11 damage and has no bonus to the spread radius. The guns appear the same, but have different stats and manufacturers.

That being said, the guns are an absolute blast and do have noticeable quality improvements as you get better guns. They are also generally color coded with their special ability. A gun that catches your target on fire is red, while one that does electricity damage is a cool blue color, corrosive damage are green, etc.

Leveling up not only consists of leveling your character and choosing various traits, but also you become more proficient with the weapons each time you use them. You like combat rifles? As you use them you gain bonuses to accuracy, damage, and faster reloads.

My main complaint thus far is the spawning system needs tweaked. Many times I would be heading into an underground lair, or some larger area and behind me monsters would spawn within just a few minutes of clearing it out. This is frustrating as it does not allow you to take your time, or the ability to find ammo and equipment from a vendor that was at the start of the level. Thought you had enough ammo to make it through, but you don’t? Too bad, if you run the way you came in, all 50 enemies you killed are back on the board after 10 minutes. Fortunately with the variety of weapons and different ammo types this isn’t too much of a pain. If you run out of ammo on your fiery pistol, use your shotgun or combat rifle.

Update - The multiplayer portion is fun, but terribly difficult to implement. All participants must be at the exact same part in the story or they can not play together. This means that bad ass 30th level hunter you have can't play with another 30th level character unless he is in the same part of the overall campaign that you are. Bad deal here.

It has been awhile since a game sucked me into its clutches like Bordelands has. I strongly recommend it for a fast paced action filled game. Kind of like a hyperspeed fallout that is definitely worth the price of admission.