Borderlands

[MJ12]

^Exactly. I have come to terms that it will be mostly, a mindless shooting game. The reason I stopped caring about that was because I was interested in the co-op (Same reason I was interested in L4D essentially)

However, I still can't get over the fact of how bad the AI looks. One could argue that it's "early in the game" npcs, but I will be very surprised if the AI actually gets better as you progress. I'm sure it just means they take more damage and cause more damage.

 

[Krynn72]

One could argue that it's "early in the game" npcs

Considering that Joystik co-op video was just posted today and the game comes out in 2 weeks, I dont think anyone could make that argument.

Edit, whoops, I took your post to mean "early in the development." Either way, their AI looks like its going to be awful, because no game has AI that improves significantly as you play the game, and I've heard nothing from the developers to make me think it will be any different.

 

[Shakermaker]

Either way, their AI looks like its going to be awful, because no game has AI that improves significantly as you play the game, and I've heard nothing from the developers to make me think it will be any different.

A little ole game like Half-life for example had AI that got progressively better once you got further on in the game. And AI wise I don't really settle my hopes on what devs have said about Borderlands, because they exaggerate most of the time anyway. I do know that I have played most BiA games and Gearbox did a pretty good job with the AI in those games. They are a studio that almost exclusively makes shooters and reasonably good ones at that, so I don't expect them to cock-up in the gunplay department.

 

[the cow says moo]

Here's an article about each of the characters. It talks about the skill trees for each character and what they're good for.

 

[Shakermaker]

Here's an article about each of the characters. It talks about the skill trees for each character and what they're good for.

That attack parrot looks awesome.

 

[the cow says moo]

Anyone know what the 9 creatures are?

 

[taviow]

No it looks abysmal because the enemies just stand there shooting you while you just stand there shooting them. No video I have seen shows anything else, other than people standing or maybe strafing each other and shooting. It looks like there is no point in trying to avoid taking damage, no point in doing anything other than holding your mouse button down, and no point to the entire god damn game because all it looks like its going to be is a pen and paper RPG. And a poor one at that, because even pen and paper RPGs have you do more than stand still and shoot.

Gearbox has only shown the noob areas of the game so far. I'm assuming the AI will get better over time. Read this article that mentions the Crimson Lance: http://www.giantbomb.com/news/borderlands-big-baddies-the-crimson-lance/1704/

 

[MJ12]

As I felt this way before, and after reading that I feel it's confirmed, the siren will be the most unique character to play. Playing as her looks like a lot of fun.
So does Brick though. Hard to decide.

As of right now, rating of interest would be-

Siren
Brick
Hunter
Soldier

Since you don't pick up armor in the game

What? I remember them talking a lot about armor? Or am I thinking shields? I remember it was either armor or shields they mentioned you could pick up, and you would find unique ones that could recharge/inflict damage when hurt, etc.


Also, only 9 creatures is disappointing.

 

[taviow]

What? I remember them talking a lot about armor? Or am I thinking shields? I remember it was either armor or shields they mentioned you could pick up, and you would find unique ones that could recharge/inflict damage when hurt, etc.

I believe there's shields, but there's no armor because you can't see your character in the game. You can customize colors though, I think.

 

[Shakermaker]

Just shields and artifacts.

This is pretty cool btw: http://87bazillion.com/skillcalculator/

Also, only 9 creatures is disappointing.

Just found out that there are 9 species of animals in the game, but that they come in various subgroups. So it's not just the same set of textures. More here.

 

[MJ12]

Mmm, that is quite cool, both the links.

Seeing some of the AI/gameplay in the character videos gave me a bit of hope. We'll see.

 

[jimbo118]

zombie banned? wut.

 

[Barnz]

you're next

 

[Shamrock]

custom soundtracks FTW! for Fallout 3 I got sick and tired of hearing the same songs from the early-mid 1940s I downloaded some more music from the 1920-40s and a wider variety and it changed the game for me. More songs=more fun. like in Amped 1 and 2, there were over 100 songs and it had a lot of variety. I'm sick of games that put like 8 songs into the game. Come on people can't you try a little bit harder?

I totally agree. When I played FO3 on my 360, I was so damn annoyed by the radio that I streamed music to my console just for the fact that I didn't have to listen to any other dull music they had in there.

I don't want to set the world on fireeeeeeeeeee, can only be listened to SO MANY DAMN TIMES.

God. It's incinerated into my head that I can even hear it when I sleep.

 

[Shakermaker]

This isn't exactly new although it is news to me. Did you know that there are about 10.000 different parts to customize your car with? I didn't and I find it very awesome.

Players can drop by the garage to select from wheels, chassis, turrets and everything else in between. Hardcore gamers can mold and shape their play experience with lots of different customizable parts for their vehicle(s).

[Via Blend]


EDIT Hmmmm, did some further reading and it seems this has been dropped. While you still can customize your car, it isn't as extensive as Gearbox was planning to last year.

AG:... can you upgrade them [vehicles] like you can your weapons?

Randy: Yeah, but the upgrades are free - we make that really easy. You can choose what weapons you wanna load your vehicle out with, you can choose your paint job but we don't really vary that stuff. The gameplay is more about exploring your character and about completing the missions and levelling up and finding loot. Cars are fun, they're in the world, they're great and there are plenty of Road Warrior style moments and areas but racing is a totally different genre - cars are in Borderlands like Warthogs are in Halo, you know what I mean.

 

[Kadayi]

Tempting as the pre-order offer is. I'm already down with Alpha Protocol as my months purchase (it should be out on the same day). I'll wait to see what peoples reactions are to Borderlands before committing to it.

 

[Gunner]

Weapon types from character sheet:

 

[the cow says moo]

Weapon types from character sheet:

Lilith is also a different color in this picture which shows some of the customizability of your characters.

 

[Shakermaker]

Lilith is also a different color in this picture which shows some of the customizability of your characters.

There are three colours you can chose from when you start if I remember correctly. Mike Neumann from Gearbox also said that it will be possible to change your appearance at U-Stations (I think they're called), but I am not sure if he meant different stuff or just those three base colours.

 

[Warbie]

I don't understand the lack of character customisation - surely it wouldn't be difficult to implement. A few spiky shoulders and haircuts would make all the difference.

 

[PriNcE oF SpAcE]

still not sold on this...I wonder if there will be a demo?

 

[Barnz]

There will be a demo.

 

[Shakermaker]

There will be a demo.

Hasn't been confirmed. Gearbox may release a demo after the game has hit retail, but this isn't sure.

 

[Acepilotf14]

It looks terrible. Cell-shading for what could have been a 'darker' game(although that's arguable), 'thousands' of the same twenty guns(in the same vein that x-fantasy game has millions of swords because you can slightly change magic effects).

Plus they're viral marketing like no one has viral marketed before.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=borderlands+excited&aq=f&aqi=&oq=&fp=2cca7b2e99206b9c


Better of getting Demon's Souls.

 

[Shakermaker]

Plus they're viral marketing like no one has viral marketed before.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=borderlands+excited&aq=f&aqi=&oq=&fp=2cca7b2e99206b9c

Do elaborate.

 

[Acepilotf14]

Quite a lot of forum posts from people with low-count numbers. I'll work on isolating cases later.

 

[Shakermaker]

Quite a lot of forum posts from people with low-count numbers. I'll work on isolating cases later.

You do that. And while you are at it, also have a look at these 'viral campaigns':
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=off&q="Uncharted+2"+excited
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=off&q="MW2"+excited
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=off&q="Dragon+Age"+excited

 

[Kadayi]

I'm fearing this is not going to live up to the hype principally because bazillions of guns and fancy Cel graphics aside, the game is stupidly long (as discussed earlier) and there's only a limited number of enemy types, and as with all AI opponents once you know there weakness then they are easy to defeat. Even with 4 player, co-op whose dedicated enough to play through a 100 hour game religiously with their mates?

 

[Warbie]

I'm not bothered if it never gets finished. 10-20 hours fun and it's money well spent. If Borderlands proves compelling enough to reach the end, then that's a bonus.

 

[Shakermaker]

Fair (and non-hyped) preview: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/video/ (you can scroll to the specific segment on the right; it is a pretty good game show though). Complaints: too many skags and you have to look down for loot a lot. They also didn't like how the tank plays. Melee is clunky. Besides that they pretty much liked the game it seems.

Even with 4 player co-op, who is dedicated enough to play through a 100 hour game religiously with their mates?

The player base of Diablo or WoW to name just a couple of million people. This game is clearly aimed at gamers that don't mind grinding or even farming areas to collect phat lootz, and prefer to do that in a group. I know people that ran Scholomance over 200 times to get the Death Charger. Whether Borderlands will be a hit or a dud ultimately depends on the gameplay. If that is fun enough to not discourage grinding, Gearbox will have hit the sweet spot and you will get a lot of addicted people. If they fail though it will be just another Hellgate. It might satisfy a niche audience, but the masses will simply jump on the next multiplayer bandwagon (i.e. CoD:MW2).

 

[Kadayi]

The player base of Diablo or WoW to name just a couple of million people. This game is clearly aimed at gamers that don't mind grinding or even farming areas to collect phat lootz, and prefer to do that in a group. I know people that ran Scholomance over 200 times to get the Death Charger. Whether Borderlands will be a hit or a dud ultimately depends on the gameplay. If that is fun enough to not discourage grinding, Gearbox will have hit the sweet spot and you will get a lot of addicted people. If they fail though it will be just another Hellgate. It might satisfy a niche audience, but the masses will simply jump on the next multiplayer bandwagon (i.e. CoD:MW2).

There are 9 sorts of mob total. That's just not a lot of variation Vs what Diablo or WoW delivers. In order to draw people in it's got to be compelling and I'm honestly not sure whether that's remotely enough. As regards co-op. I prefer casual hook ups on an evening with people on my friends list rather than 'have to be there' time (because my work hours are erratic in terms of finishing) , which pretty much makes carrying out an extended campaign a no no.

 

[Stigmata]

Mobs are mix-and-matched in the same way that weapons are, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Shakermaker]

Mobs are mix-and-matched in the same way that weapons are, if I'm not mistaken.

Yup, there are nine species of mobs.

 

[MultiVaC]

There are 9 sorts of mob total. That's just not a lot of variation Vs what Diablo or WoW delivers. In order to draw people in it's got to be compelling and I'm honestly not sure whether that's remotely enough. As regards co-op. I prefer casual hook ups on an evening with people on my friends list rather than 'have to be there' time (because my work hours are erratic in terms of finishing) , which pretty much makes carrying out an extended campaign a no no.

There's drop in/out co-op, so you can just join a game with someone, raid a dungeon or two and leave afterward with all the loot you've found. I don't think you're expected to play the entire campaign with someone like a 100 hour L4D campaign. I'm still waiting for some reviews, but I'm really looking forward to this one.

 

[Gunner]

I'm fearing this is not going to live up to the hype principally because bazillions of guns and fancy Cel graphics aside, the game is stupidly long (as discussed earlier) and there's only a limited number of enemy types, and as with all AI opponents once you know there weakness then they are easy to defeat. Even with 4 player, co-op whose dedicated enough to play through a 100 hour game religiously with their mates?

I understand where you're coming from, I've tried convincing a few of my friends who still play video games to buy this but they're all skeptical. Personally, this is exactly the type of game I need right now. An FPS game with a persistent character and loot. It's something that satiates my MMO addiction without it actually being an MMO.

 

[Nibwoddle]

Mobs are mix-and-matched in the same way that weapons are, if I'm not mistaken.

Not only mobs, but also item locations, caves, pretty much everything besides the map/landscape is procedurally generated.
Regarding how good the game looks, I'm going to have to disagree with the haters as it does look very refreshing compared to everything coming out around the same time (MW2, Assassin's Creed 2, L4D2). There isn't really anything else this year which looks quite as good besides L4D2, and due to my location I'm not sure I will be able to get that. The art style is brilliant, with many of the textures hand-drawn and looking at hi res screenshots it makes me imagine how awesome it will look in motion.
So yes, I am pumped for Borderlands.

 

[Stigmata]

Agreed. People can go on and on about how the cel-shaded concept-art style "isn't really an art style" simply because it's easy to deconstruct it, or how the game will be simple and shallow because the weapons and enemies can be similarly deconstructed, but it looks like one of the most original shooters coming out in the near future. The most refreshing thing about it is that it's not trying to pretend to be anything it isn't. The gameplay, trailers, and developers are very forward about what it is - a loot-centric over-the-top flashy co-op shooter with neat features. If it's fun to play, that's all it needs to be.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Agreed. People can go on and on about how the cel-shaded concept-art style "isn't really an art style" simply because it's easy to deconstruct it, or how the game will be simple and shallow because the weapons and enemies can be similarly deconstructed, but it looks like one of the most original shooters coming out in the near future. The most refreshing thing about it is that it's not trying to pretend to be anything it isn't. The gameplay, trailers, and developers are very forward about what it is - a loot-centric over-the-top flashy co-op shooter with neat features. If it's fun to play, that's all it needs to be.

Please buy/rent this mang we haven't played anything since Bad Company. Four player co-op with you, Derek, and Alex would be the shiiiiiiit.

 

[Shamrock]

Please buy/rent this mang we haven't played anything since Bad Company. Four player co-op with you, Derek, and Alex would be the shiiiiiiit.

I'm surprised you added me into that.

 

[taviow]

hey, buy it for PC! **** I don't want to be alone!