Borderlands, other wise known as "Role Playing Shooter Game of Jesus"

[BIG OLAF]

I really hope they do a bit of re balancing, 'cause Hunters are just way too good at the moment.

All the classes are extremely good in their own way, I've found. Every character has a few skills that make them virtually unstoppable towards endgame (and paired with the no-doubt ultimate weapons you're bound to find, each of the four characters has the potential to become a force).

[UnderscoreX]

What's the ratio of fighting wild creatures to actual people ? With Uncharted 2 and Modern Warfare 2 coming out soon I don't really need another shooting people game, and it's the hunting all the creatures that actually made me interested in this game. It looked like a first person PSO with actual shooting mechanics when I first saw it, but the more I see the more it looks like just your standard shooter with RPG stuff tacted on - which I don't want.

[BIG OLAF]

Well, in my opinion, Borderlands is much more fun than Uncharted 2. I don't know about Modern Warfare 2 (since I won't be picking it up, anyway. I don't really enjoy those games). But, Borderlands is basically what you described as "not wanting": an FPS with light RPG elements. So, I suppose this game would be a "pass" for you.

To answer your initial question: I'd say the native creature to bandit ratio is about 10:1 (roughly. I'm not mathematician).

[Tetsaru]

My friend got this game yesterday, and it looks pretty cool, from what little of it I've seen him play. I'm just wary that, if I start playing it myself, it'll become the PSU experience for me in terms of gameplay: start new mission, kill everything, get rewards and new items, rinse/repeat; and I agree - desert/wasteland/junkyard environments are just depressing unless they're done properly and have some significant scenery or architecture involved so the player sees more than just dirt and rocks all the time. Are there any puzzle elements involved, or other elements besides shoot everything in sight?? Do you get any melee weapons, or tools to help you explore areas better?? Is there any PVP online play, or is it just co-op?? Only 4 different characters to start out with, seems kinda shallow... sure you can customize their abilities as you level, which is awesome, but what about your appearance?? And a lot of those guns HAVE to be reskins if there's that many of them, or else they're just bell-and-whistle customizations to something you already have... I dunno, but that sounds a HELLUVA lot like PSU's gameplay to me. Maybe if I watch my friend play some more, he'll prove me wrong, but I'm still kinda skeptical at this point. =/

[BIG OLAF]

I, personally, think that Borderland's environment looks great. Not too many repeated textures and/or areas.

There are light puzzle elements, no "brain busters", though.

Why would there be melee weapons in a game that boasts "87 bazillion" different kinds of firearms? Well, there are guns with bayonets, and Brick's special ability uses his fists to attack, so I guess, yes, there are melee weapons.

By "tools" I suppose you mean vehicles? If so, then yes.

There is PvP play, but it needs re balancing. If someone has a godly gun, then you lose. No questions asked. Most people I've talked to say that PvP matches are over in about two seconds, due to being one-shotted.

Can't change a characters physical appearance; only their color scheme (such as hair color, clothing color, etc.). It isn't like Fallout, where there's visible armor equipped on your character. But, that doesn't bother me.

Finally: Yes, a lot of guns are re-skins, but there are plenty that are unique looking, as well. No two guns are the same, however. They all have their own unique attributes, color, manufacturer, special effects, etc. (and there's literally millions of different guns/stat combos).

So, there's your answers. As I said before, I'm in love with this game, and will be playing it for a long time to come. Hopefully the "Zombie Island of Dr. Ned" DLC will come out soon, so I can have even more to do. I didn't pull any punches, and told the truth about every aspect. If Borderlands isn't your taste, that's perfectly fine.

[Java378]

I'll get this in like 9 months. Xbox360 charges for online play, which ruins things.

[Tetsaru]

Any good FPS game should have at least SOME melee weapons. There are going to be instances where enemies will rush you and get in your face, and you can't always run around or take cover, so you need some form of hand-to-hand or melee combat, because unless you've got some sort of explosive or other AoE weapon, you usually have to pick off enemies one at a time. I saw my friend constantly fighting these... forgot what they were called, four-legged beast things that had split jaws and chased after you. Running around with a handgun or rifle isn't always enough to fend off packs of those things, especially considering how this was THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME, so I'm sure there are more hellatious enemies out there that'll want to maul your ass.

And by tools, I meant more like grappling hooks, rope, etc... something to enhance the platforming aspects of the game to make it feel more three-dimensional. Uncharted 2 did an excellent job with that sort of thing, and made you study your environment more to get to where you needed to go, and I really liked that kind of game design.

Boo at the limited character customization and unbalanced PVP. =/

[DreXxiN]

Man, I'm really looking forward to this game, but I am SO SICK OF DESERT ENVIRONMENTS.

First I played Aion this month, and it got depressing after the 20th level because of HOW MUCH DESERT WAS INVOLVED (Though the Abyss is AMAZING.)

Then, I got on BB to hunt v101 and Centurion/Abilities...and Lee on the server I shall not speak of decided to enormously decrease the drop rates on ep4 (at least from what I've been told, sooo, CRATER FEST!). It'd be a really nice change of pace if this at least had some promising environments ._.


Oddly enough, one desert climate (well, LEVEL) I should say that I absolutely ADORED was the stage in Killzone 2 in the campaign. Holy crap, that looked awesome.

[Kent]

Any good FPS game should have at least SOME melee weapons. There are going to be instances where enemies will rush you and get in your face, and you can't always run around or take cover, so you need some form of hand-to-hand or melee combat, because unless you've got some sort of explosive or other AoE weapon, you usually have to pick off enemies one at a time. I saw my friend constantly fighting these... forgot what they were called, four-legged beast things that had split jaws and chased after you. Running around with a handgun or rifle isn't always enough to fend off packs of those things, especially considering how this was THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME, so I'm sure there are more hellatious enemies out there that'll want to maul your ass.

And by tools, I meant more like grappling hooks, rope, etc... something to enhance the platforming aspects of the game to make it feel more three-dimensional. Uncharted 2 did an excellent job with that sort of thing, and made you study your environment more to get to where you needed to go, and I really liked that kind of game design.

Boo at the limited character customization and unbalanced PVP. =/

I think you're misinterpreting the lack of melee weapons. You can melee enemies, and each character does have a specific "melee weapon" they use, but it's not like you're finding new and shiny swords and daggers and whatnot. Berserker gets a lead pipe (fists if using his special), Soldier gets a combat knife, Hunter gets a sword, and Siren gets Space Kung-Fu. Unless, of course, you're using a weapon with some sort of bladed attachment, in which case you'll use that as your melee (these weapons specifically increase melee damage).

As for the skags at the beginning... Yeah, there are adequate means of dealing with them. Rifles and machineguns and whatnot are good for shooting them directly, or you can take the shotgun approach, or you can try using grenades and rockets or whatnot... Did I mention it's a shooter? Yeah, it's not some hack-and-slash fare, though it does have the relative progression of one.

Also, it's specifically not a platformer - it's very much not intended to be one, and thusly, there's no silly ropes and grappling hooks to obfuscate gameplay. Sure, there are a few platforming elements, like having to jump across a few things to get to a weapons locker, but that's about it.

The character customization is a moot point, to be honest. Lets count how many times you're actually looking at your character from a view other than first-person... It's pretty much only when looking at your skill levels in the menu, and when you're in a vehicle. The color customization is actually more than I was expecting the game to have. It works nicely for what it is, it doesn't really need to be more than that.

That, and it's specifically not a PvP game. All of the characters are really good in their own right in PvE, though with relatively-minor imbalances, but the PvP stuff is pretty much irrelevant here.

It's worth noting that "shoot everything in sight" isn't necessarily the only means of progression, but it's usually required to, you know, not get killed out there. Especially in the second difficulty.

Again though: It's very much a first-person shooter. If you don't like FPS, you won't like this game. The RPG elements are about as prevalent as they were in PSO or Diablo - you do quests to advance the story and unlock new areas, but it always takes a back seat to the action, itself. There's a lot of exploration on your first run through, and it's really fun when paired with the action and the excitement of finding random new equipment.

[amtalx]

@Tetsaru: What are you looking for exactly? Boderlands is loot grinder. Plain and simple. In any game like that, you are going to have an accept quest/talk to someone/kill something/cash out structure. Whether its Borderlands, Diablo, or PSU, you are never going to escape that mission architecture for a majority of the missions.

Last thing...I don't see where a grappling hook or rope would fit in this game anywhere. There's no platforming, and there shouldn't be. Platforming in a FPS game is a terrible idea.