I bought Borderlands on Steam when it was on sale for $7.50 for the Game of the Year edition (as I write this, the game is on similar sale) and have been enjoying it.
Borderlands is a FPS (First Person Shooter) that instead of trying (and failing) to be photo-realistic, it has a detailed cartoony look, which it pulls off really well. Just because things don’t look realistic doesn’t mean they can’t be scary.
In the game, you play one of 4 classes – I’m playing a soldier that likes his assault rifle, though other classes value stealth or brute force more. You can have several guns equipped at once, as well as a shield and a grenade mod. The amount of loot in the game is crazy – there is never enough inventory space to carry even the good stuff back to sell it.
Many of the fights are tough and shooting one enemy often makes many more pop up and attack you. Each class gets a special skill, and mine is to drop a turret that automatically shoots enemies for a little while.
Eventually, you get to drive armed buggies around and they are great fun. It’s great to run over enemies and hear them splat under your wheels!
The number of missions is amazing – I’m just out of the first area and have activated the fast-travel system, and I’ve done tons of missions and there are many more that await.
The only bummer about the game is the first person viewpoint – it is enough to nearly make me sick after playing for a while. The movement is smooth and fast on my new graphics card, so I need to take occasional breaks so I don’t lose my lunch.
If you have a good PC, pick up Borderlands – It’s great fun!