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July 21, 2008 | 10:20 PM PST
E3 Disclaimer: Kombo's E3 previews are designed to inform you of what each game at E3 plays like, and what we think of what's shown. These previews are not reviews, and we reserve final judgment of each game until it is finished and released. These previews offer an honest opinion of what a publisher chose to demo at E3. So, without further ado, read on.
What's the Game About
Borderlands is a new IP from Gearbox Software, the same guys behind the Brothers in Arms franchise. No wait, come back! Borderlands is about as far away from the overplayed World War II setting as you can get! The game takes place on a rocky alien world where tribes of scavengers, bandits, and other nasty people ride around and kill each other for fun and profit. The game combines first-person shooting seamlessly with driving, a la Halo, but also adds decidedly Diablo-esque elements that allow players to develop their character's abilities, collect loot, and customize their gear. So, to sum up, it's like Mad Max meets Diablo in space. Go on, just try and pretend you're not interested…
What's Hot
If bigger means better, than Borderlands is the best. We only saw a small chunk of the world zipping past at 60mph, but what we could see stretched out to the horizon. Rolling hills, jagged rocks and otherwise uneven terrain bounced the buggy that two members of Gearbox Software were driving around violently as they careened over acre after acre of highly detailed in-game topography, with nary a load screen to interrupt the action. Why the rush? They were in the middle of a vehicular battle with another buggy, a common occurrence in the world of Borderlands. The Gearbox member manning the turret couldn't quite get a bead on their attacker and started venting his frustration by insulting his co-op buddy's driving. Eventually they both got so fed up with each other that they switched seats mid-ride. The enemy vehicle was a fiery wreck not long after, and the dynamic physics engine sent the chassis flying upwards while the wheels bounced forward alongside the Gearbox buggy. Mad Max fans that we are, we were begging to have the controller in our hands at this point.
The action transitioned from the vehicular variety to traditional on-foot shooting when the buggy arrived at a mining complex. The action from this point on was pretty standard FPS fare, with the two Gearbox staff members plowing their way through waves of enemies as they descended into the mine. Randy Pitchford, the CEO of Gearbox Software and announcer for this demo used up his lifetime quota for the word "cool" during this segment, piping in every time an enemy limb was blown off by shotgun blast or sniper shot. We admit it was pretty cool the first few times, Randy, but after the 50th enemy was maimed, we were starting to wonder if it was possible to kill something without watching body parts fly around. The added gore certainly helps the weapons feel meaty and powerful though, which for some reason has been a problem for these RPG/FPS hybrids going all the way back to System Shock 2. We weren't even playing the game, but the aural and visual feedback ensured we felt every burst of shrapnel slam into enemy flesh. Fans of first-person shooters that we are, we were demanding to have the controller in our hands at this point.
As the body count increased, so too did the bar at the bottom of the screen signifying one of the characters' experience. In distinctly RPG fashion, players select a class at the beginning of the game and build experience that can then be used to unlock each classes specific set of skills. The real treats were the weapons though, of which there are over 500,000. That's not a typo. Kills and chests gave way to a constant stream of new weapons and it became incredibly clear that in the world of Borderlands, guns were equivalent to loot. If you don't like what you find, take the guns to town, disassemble them and customize your weapons until you have something you like. Best of all, the drop in, drop out co-op system automatically transfers any weapons and experience that players pick up in a friends game back to their own. Say you have a great gun and find something even better – hand off your old, still awesome gun to your buddy and he can bring it back to his game to unleash holy hell in single-player. Diablo fans that we are, we were threatening to hurt people if we didn't get time with the controller.
We were ejected soon after but the demo was wrapping up anyway.
What's Not
We weren't kidding when we said we could look all the way to the horizon in the world of Borderlands…unfortunately, at this point there's really not much worth looking for. All of the area we saw was the same rocky terrain with smatterings of mud and grass. Once we headed down into the mine it was essentially more of the same, only with less grass and mud, more jagged rocks and a few thrown together bandit camps. Now, granted, what we saw was only a small chunk of the game world and a chunk located in proximity to a mine at that, but the backstory Pitchford described as the demo opened didn't make us too hopeful. For example, wood is very valuable on this planet because trees can't grow here. So that pretty much kills any hope for expansive forests and the pitched dunebuggy battles that could take place amidst the trees. Large open world, limited vegetation…what do you think the bulk of this planet looks like? Hopefully there will be some large, colorful colonies to break up the monotony.
The enemy AI on display wasn't particularly great, although the two Gearbox employees playing through the game did their best to disguise it by calling out enemy positions and orders to each other. We didn't miss the enemies standing around waiting for their grenades to land though, nor did we fail to notice the frequency with which enemy combatants rushed madly at the two players regardless of their positions of the weapons they were carrying. Despite the enclosed nature of the mine being fought through, there was still more than enough room and opportunity for the enemies to flank around, but instead they chose to continue to attack head on, which never worked out too well for them. The game still has some time to go before release though, so there's a good chance that the enemy AI will improve at least somewhat.
Outlook
Borderlands looks like it will have something for everybody. If you like vehicular combat, it's in there. If you like first-person shooting, the game's got that too. If you like Diablo-style dungeon crawling, loot collection and character customization, you'd better believe Gearbox has you covered. If you love all three and Mad Max, this is your dream game.
What's the Game About
Borderlands is a new IP from Gearbox Software, the same guys behind the Brothers in Arms franchise. No wait, come back! Borderlands is about as far away from the overplayed World War II setting as you can get! The game takes place on a rocky alien world where tribes of scavengers, bandits, and other nasty people ride around and kill each other for fun and profit. The game combines first-person shooting seamlessly with driving, a la Halo, but also adds decidedly Diablo-esque elements that allow players to develop their character's abilities, collect loot, and customize their gear. So, to sum up, it's like Mad Max meets Diablo in space. Go on, just try and pretend you're not interested…
What's Hot
If bigger means better, than Borderlands is the best. We only saw a small chunk of the world zipping past at 60mph, but what we could see stretched out to the horizon. Rolling hills, jagged rocks and otherwise uneven terrain bounced the buggy that two members of Gearbox Software were driving around violently as they careened over acre after acre of highly detailed in-game topography, with nary a load screen to interrupt the action. Why the rush? They were in the middle of a vehicular battle with another buggy, a common occurrence in the world of Borderlands. The Gearbox member manning the turret couldn't quite get a bead on their attacker and started venting his frustration by insulting his co-op buddy's driving. Eventually they both got so fed up with each other that they switched seats mid-ride. The enemy vehicle was a fiery wreck not long after, and the dynamic physics engine sent the chassis flying upwards while the wheels bounced forward alongside the Gearbox buggy. Mad Max fans that we are, we were begging to have the controller in our hands at this point.
The action transitioned from the vehicular variety to traditional on-foot shooting when the buggy arrived at a mining complex. The action from this point on was pretty standard FPS fare, with the two Gearbox staff members plowing their way through waves of enemies as they descended into the mine. Randy Pitchford, the CEO of Gearbox Software and announcer for this demo used up his lifetime quota for the word "cool" during this segment, piping in every time an enemy limb was blown off by shotgun blast or sniper shot. We admit it was pretty cool the first few times, Randy, but after the 50th enemy was maimed, we were starting to wonder if it was possible to kill something without watching body parts fly around. The added gore certainly helps the weapons feel meaty and powerful though, which for some reason has been a problem for these RPG/FPS hybrids going all the way back to System Shock 2. We weren't even playing the game, but the aural and visual feedback ensured we felt every burst of shrapnel slam into enemy flesh. Fans of first-person shooters that we are, we were demanding to have the controller in our hands at this point.
As the body count increased, so too did the bar at the bottom of the screen signifying one of the characters' experience. In distinctly RPG fashion, players select a class at the beginning of the game and build experience that can then be used to unlock each classes specific set of skills. The real treats were the weapons though, of which there are over 500,000. That's not a typo. Kills and chests gave way to a constant stream of new weapons and it became incredibly clear that in the world of Borderlands, guns were equivalent to loot. If you don't like what you find, take the guns to town, disassemble them and customize your weapons until you have something you like. Best of all, the drop in, drop out co-op system automatically transfers any weapons and experience that players pick up in a friends game back to their own. Say you have a great gun and find something even better – hand off your old, still awesome gun to your buddy and he can bring it back to his game to unleash holy hell in single-player. Diablo fans that we are, we were threatening to hurt people if we didn't get time with the controller.
We were ejected soon after but the demo was wrapping up anyway.
What's Not
We weren't kidding when we said we could look all the way to the horizon in the world of Borderlands…unfortunately, at this point there's really not much worth looking for. All of the area we saw was the same rocky terrain with smatterings of mud and grass. Once we headed down into the mine it was essentially more of the same, only with less grass and mud, more jagged rocks and a few thrown together bandit camps. Now, granted, what we saw was only a small chunk of the game world and a chunk located in proximity to a mine at that, but the backstory Pitchford described as the demo opened didn't make us too hopeful. For example, wood is very valuable on this planet because trees can't grow here. So that pretty much kills any hope for expansive forests and the pitched dunebuggy battles that could take place amidst the trees. Large open world, limited vegetation…what do you think the bulk of this planet looks like? Hopefully there will be some large, colorful colonies to break up the monotony.
The enemy AI on display wasn't particularly great, although the two Gearbox employees playing through the game did their best to disguise it by calling out enemy positions and orders to each other. We didn't miss the enemies standing around waiting for their grenades to land though, nor did we fail to notice the frequency with which enemy combatants rushed madly at the two players regardless of their positions of the weapons they were carrying. Despite the enclosed nature of the mine being fought through, there was still more than enough room and opportunity for the enemies to flank around, but instead they chose to continue to attack head on, which never worked out too well for them. The game still has some time to go before release though, so there's a good chance that the enemy AI will improve at least somewhat.
Outlook
Borderlands looks like it will have something for everybody. If you like vehicular combat, it's in there. If you like first-person shooting, the game's got that too. If you like Diablo-style dungeon crawling, loot collection and character customization, you'd better believe Gearbox has you covered. If you love all three and Mad Max, this is your dream game.
February 8, 2010
