How's Borderlands?

[ManBearPig]

Impressions? How long is it? Is it a really dark game (the environments)?

The other borderlands threads are miscellaneous and so old.

Thanks!

 

[zerocool84]

It's fun for a while but got boring for me. Missions are all basically the same and storyline is pretty much nonexistent.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Outstanding for co-op. Not so great for single player. I actually didn't mind it but I think the best way to describe it is it's basically first person Diablo II with guns. If you can't stand the thought of playing D2 by yourself, then you won't like Borderlands in single player either.

Length is decent, you get 2 playthroughs (2.5 actually), but like zerocool said, a lot of the quests are very repetitive. Lots of "go here and kill X" or "collect 20 of some item." Not much story but if you're playing with friends it doesn't really matter.

It isn't dark at all, even in caves or at night. The art style is cartoony and colorful with thick black outlines of everything, giving it that cel shaded look.

Again, if you just think of it as Diablo II with guns it makes sense. Lots of random loot drops, occasionally you get something good, you have character classes and skill trees, enemies are basically all the same, but it's still fun.

 

[ManBearPig]

Hmm can I play the campaign online?

Outstanding for co-op. Not so great for single player. I actually didn't mind it but I think the best way to describe it is it's basically first person Diablo II with guns. If you can't stand the thought of playing D2 by yourself, then you won't like Borderlands in single player either.

Length is decent, you get 2 playthroughs (2.5 actually), but like zerocool said, a lot of the quests are very repetitive. Lots of "go here and kill X" or "collect 20 of some item." Not much story but if you're playing with friends it doesn't really matter.

It isn't dark at all, even in caves or at night. The art style is cartoony and colorful with thick black outlines of everything, giving it that cel shaded look.

Again, if you just think of it as Diablo II with guns it makes sense. Lots of random loot drops, occasionally you get something good, you have character classes and skill trees, enemies are basically all the same, but it's still fun.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Hmm can I play the campaign online?

Yes. In fact, the single player game is really just a non public multiplayer game. You can invite a friend to drop in without having to start a new session. There are restrictions on who can quest if you're not close to the same level though.

 

[I4AT]

I tried to play with a friend on two different occasions, each time starting fresh, and we never got more than 10 hours into it. Honestly I'd rather play Diablo 2, Borderlands was just too slow paced for me.

 

[Malak]

You can play D2 solo, you can't play Borderlands solo. Borderlands implicitly requires multiple people.

 

[Macamus Prime]

Great game, bad personal experience for me.

I started a random game from level 1. I get a high level player who is some sort of 11 year old screaming about how awesome his Hunter is. So, I figured I would just snag the achievement and ditch; it was the complete X amount of quests in online CO-OP.

I got really tired of his yelling and stopped responding with my canned "Wow, bro. That's a powerful weapon."

We got up to 9 Toes and he started going off about the boss' 3rd testical. I was none responsive. He stopped yelling and asked in a disappointed voice; ",... why are you so quiet?" I still did not respond.

Once the achievement popped, I left.

 

[gorcorps]

You can play D2 solo, you can't play Borderlands solo. Borderlands implicitly requires multiple people.

Not sure what you mean by this, as you can most definitely play through vanilla Borderlands solo. Some of the DLC requires multiplayer but not all. And the base game can be done solo as well. It's just funner and you get better loot with people, especially if you know them.

 

[Aikouka]

You can play D2 solo, you can't play Borderlands solo. Borderlands implicitly requires multiple people.

I've only ever played Borderlands solo....

 

[AstroManLuca]

Yes. In fact, the single player game is really just a non public multiplayer game. You can invite a friend to drop in without having to start a new session. There are restrictions on who can quest if you're not close to the same level though.

The leveling system is probably the biggest annoyance for me. Enemies more than 3 levels above you are virtually impossible to kill, whereas ones anywhere below your level are worthless. It forces you into a specific order for doing quests, especially in the early parts of the game. Luckily the quests all say what their recommended level is so you can avoid the ones that are too high or too low.

It also makes it difficult to do co-op with people unless you just happen to each have a character at almost the same level. More than 2-3 levels difference and it just won't work out too well.

 

[PimpJuice]

I thought it was a great game and spent loads of time on it.

I went through it with friends though, I'm not sure if I would have spent the same amount of time solo.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

You can play D2 solo, you can't play Borderlands solo. Borderlands implicitly requires multiple people.

YMMV, but I found Borderlands to be a perfectly cromulent single-player experience and completed the first playthrough on two classes running solo.

It is a lot more entertaining with friends, though. Even split-screen.

 

[Malak]

Well unless it's different on console, I found Borderlands on PC entirely pointless and more difficult solo.

 

[gorcorps]

Well unless it's different on console, I found Borderlands on PC entirely pointless and more difficult solo.

There's a huge difference between "it's less fun" and "you can't do it". The way you posted it before made it sound impossible. IMO both D2 and Borderlands are pretty boring solo, but that's just me. Both shine with online co-op.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Yeah, I never had difficulty playing Borderlands solo. Tedium, maybe, but not difficulty. Enemies get tougher the more people in the game just like in Diablo 2.

I guess I'm still more likely to enjoy Diablo 2 in single player, but not because it's better for SP, just because the MP is less frustrating. In D2, multiplayer games are really annoying because there's more stuff to distract people.

 

[trmiv]

Fun game, but it gets repetitive after awhile. I got about 75% through single player and gave it up. I'm not much of a multiplayer person, so I didn't even try it. I didn't pay much for it, so I feel I got out what I paid for it.