Dear Gamer: Borderlands
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Genre
PC/Xbox 360/ PlayStation 3
Borderlands is an open world First Person Shooter
Story
On the planet desolate planet of Pandora mercenaries come from all over the system to partake in the search of the legendary Vault, which is said to hold treasures and technologies beyond your wildest dreams.
Mechanics
Borderlands has a gun and quest system similar to that of a game like World of Warcraft. When the player kills an enemy he/she has a chance to get a weapon. These weapons vary in different abilities, such as range, damage, and fire rate.
Each of these weapons also has a chance to come with and “elemental” ability, which means it could have a burn effect on enemies if it hits. Another fun mechanic is the attack cars.
Once the player gets to a certain part of the game they will have the ability to spawn a car with a machine gun or a rocket launcher attached. They are very fun to ride around in it; they are also the fastest form of transportation.
The quest system if very similar to that of the World of Warcraft quests, you get a quest from one person and it leads into another line of quests for another, and another, and another. It isn’t as bad as WoW but it can be absorbing.
Music/Graphics
The music is well-chosen for this game. The intro song is “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” and it fits the scene beautifully.
The music throughout the game also melds really well with the scenery and doesn’t break the atmosphere.
The graphics are more of a cartoon-y style. The facial scars and wrinkles look like they were drawn on by markers. It is actually rather funny-looking. The blood and gore in the game are also cartoon-y, but, alas, it still is blood and gore.
Morals/Appropriateness
Borderlands is a good, but violent, game. The bandits you fight usually have bodies hanging in their camps and there is also a lot of blood splatter and limbs flying off. Stick that with some rather morbid story progression, and I would not recommend this game for anyone younger than 18-years-old.
As for morals, this game has next to none. If you need a comparison, if you would let your child go see a movie like 300 or Saving Private Ryan then I would say you would be fine with this game.
Community/Multiplayer
The community is a wiki community, HOWEVER the multiplayer is really fun. I recommend playing with friends, though. I didn’t find multiplayer enjoyable when I played with strangers.
Addiction Danger
This game has an absorbing quest system, and the weapon collection can suck you in a little bit. All in all this game gets a LEVEL 3 Addiction rating. Be careful on how much time you give this game.
Problems/Ending Comments
I found no problems with the game itself. It is gory, but it was designed to be so. I enjoyed this game, but it is for an older audience.
ESRB Rating: Mature
ESRB Link
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Copyright 2012 Michael/a.k.a. Lasersniper
