Borderlands makes Co-Op fun!

Oh boy, oh boy! I was lucky enough to have a friend gift me a copy of the the RPGFPS game Borderlands, while it was on sale last week on Steam. Steam has become a great place to get games and an even better place to keep them neatly packed away and accessible. I have had an account there since the service first opened up and they have really expanded their library. But, this isn't about Steam, it's about Borderlands.

The game is simple enough to grasp. It is a shooter with RPG elements. There will be levels and some of the cool stuff that you find throughout the game is going to require you to adhere to

these elements. It doesn't act like a normal shooter, though. Accuracy and the type of damage you are capable of is based on the weapon and modifications that are available to you. You also have skill trees for each character that allow the same "class" to play in different ways. This seems very cool, but most "classes" have an optimal tree or skill-set that allows them to min/max. There are four classes available and the playstyle of each is only really different based on the skills and, most importantly, the main action skill. You action skills is the innate ability that you MUST purchase before spending any other points in your skill trees. Every Soldier will have a Turret, but not all turrets will be the same. You can customize your action skill via other skills or with items that you pick up along the way that change the type of damage that it does.

What the game lacks in proper FPS form, it makes up with in style. The game looks gorgeous. The cell-shaded world is stunning when you turn on all of the lighting and shadow effects. It runs pretty well even on my low end system (which I'd rather not discuss, it just hurts my feelings). I don't have everything cranked up, but I still have my settings high enough that I can appreciate the detail and still maintain playability. Some of the landscapes, at least in the early game, seem like they are reused over and over. You get bored of some of the enemies and scenario very quickly, though you get to shuffle off into another area and you quickly forget about the game and focus

on the action. This game has plenty of action, too. By playing with other players in the co-op mode you really make the game shine. The difficulty is ramped up based on how many people you bring along and it helps facilitate the need for a challenge in the game. Impossible odds and near death experiences become commonplace and it just adds to the fun factor. Nothing like fragging away with your buddies in scary desert filled with sandworm-dogs.

The game does seem to have some connection issues. I spend about 90 minutes with a friend today just trying to play with them. We opened up ports, created static IPs for ourselves and even resorted to another third-party launcher application (Steam is a platform, but GameSpy does all of the connection for online play). We failed over and over again, luckily another friend showed up and saved the day by hosting the server and allowing us to all play together. I then spent another hour trying to get connected to the second friend after the first went on to bed. We eventually gave up. After the fight that my Comodo firewall put up with Left4Dead I had hoped to be over this. I guess not. We checked several forums and this seems to just be a common issue with the game.

It's fast, it's fun and it has diverted my attention away from Dragon Age, at the moment. Team Fortress 2 did come out with a new patch today, which may steal some time away from Borderlands. Though I may give it time to settle down. I am please so far with Borderlands and I look forward to playing it more with my buddies and having a good time. It has been a long time since I really wanted to stay up super late and game, and it feels good. I am exhausted and have a busy day ahead of me, but I'll probably make it through just because I know I'll get to blow more shit up tonight.