Borderlands

Borderlands is one of my recent favourite games, and for good reason. It's a game that doesn't take itself too seriously. I think I've mentioned this before, how random bits and pieces of pop references to bad ass movie characters crop up here and there.

The gameplay was really fun. Think Doom/Quake Strafing crossed with Diablo's RPG elements. You shoot the living crap out of everything, dodging what you can of what they shoot back, and then you pick up random shit that you either sell or use for yourself. And out of the gear, there's a variety of different guns you can use, and hundreds of variations thereof, and then each weapon you pick up may (and most likely) will be slightly different to another one you have of the same design and setup, whether it's more damage, less accuracy, slower rate of fire or a bigger clip, or how effective it's elemental effect is, or whether it has a Scope and how good the scope is.

Oh, and you get missions which you go back and forth for regularly. That's probably the most monotonous part, that you get to see a particular sign post several times that you start to recognise the scrawlings that say “hi there” and you begin to say Hi back because it would be rude to ignore your best friends greeting.

Then there's the story. You're a Vault hunter, a seeker of the unlimited treasure of the trash planet of Pandora. You've been guided by the “Guardian Angel” to go seeking the fortune of The Vault and you throw yourself up against some interesting foes that will keep trying to kill you with poor manners and a big gun. Although Baron Flynt is as hospitable as possible, and you should feel terrible for shooting the crap out of the residents of his mansion (if you can call a giant digger a mansion).

Eventually you reach the end with an interesting plot twist, but sadly not a very good execution. Up until that point was exciting though! Shooting everything out of your way while trying to dodge everything the enemies have to hit you with. And then, because you hadn't reached maximum level yet, you can run through it all again with higher level enemies to face!

Now this sounds cool at first, but after you've conquered pandora a few times around, found the best gear you could find, and earned as many achievements you could achieve, you lose a bit of interest. But that's where Gearbox have got you covered with Downloadable Content. A fairly small price for a few new levels of fun.

To start was “Zombie Island of Dr Ned”, where you solve the problem of an island infested with Zombies by shooting their heads and collecting their brains. Told you they don't take themselves too seriously. I ran through this with a very high level character using a Rider BB Gun. That was good fun.

You met some funny enemies, found some hilarious references (I like the Scooby Doo one), and you got even more gear out of it! If it was your first playthrough, it could be played directly from that level!

The scenery for Zombie Island was very different from the usual Borderlands Style, which was desert wasteland with various trash piles everywhere. Instead they got a trashed up haunted forest, and I swear I saw a pair of shoes tied together at the laces, and thrown over a high branch.

I wonder if there's a name for that?

Then there was their second DLC, one that I'm not too fussed on: Mad Moxxi's Underdome. Moxxi is a sexy woman who controls an arena called the Underdome. You, the players, get to run around shooting the living shit out of enemies you've encountered before, along with bosses, and earn new gear and money.

Now right now, I'd like to point out that money is no object. Actually, it looks like bundles of american cash on the ground, with a thin yellow light coming out for those who want to find their dosh, but you collect enough of it and sell enough trash to the vendors that you literally clock the cash meter at $99 999 999, which completes the in-game challenge of "how much for the world?". You may need to add another 9. But yes, the meter stops there but the amount of money you accumulate continues to climb. So you could buy as many guns and shields and class mods and grenade mods as you like, but you'll still end up with $99,999,999. Best way to drop it down is to kill yourself and respawn at the New-U station!

But yes, the Underdome isn't one of my particular favourites but that's just because it's an Arena and the new feature of a Bank, where you can store your favourite items. Signature or alternative weapons, alternative Class Mods, maybe even equipment you want to sell to your mate another time. It's all good.

Lastly there was a third, and less silly, expansion to Borderlands: The Secret Armoury of General Knoxx. Put simply, you're thrown into another part of Pandora because you've been hired to do a little sumthin' sumthin'. In turn, your character gets thrown up against the Crimson Lance and the rather depressed General Knoxx, who eventually quits the Crimson Lance because his superior is a 6 year old. Okay so it's a little silly, but there's nothing wrong with that.

Eventually you get to the Armoury and you blow up Knoxx's entire base stealing as many guns as you can possibly carry so you can either get something good out of them or get a whole heap of trash you can sell. Either way is good, unless you've got $99,999,999, then you're just searching for something better in the 5 minutes before it blows.

Now the fourth expansion is soon to be released: Claptraps New Robot Revolution. This will be sweet. CL4P-TP is a signature cute character and will annoy the living crap out of you as you hear his repeated lines through the game, but one thing for certain is that these funny little robots that sound like RC cars when they roll around the place, is that they will be menacing. And it will be fun.