Borderlands lovingly rips off of Fallout with a great and fun shooter RPG that never takes itself too serious.
At the start of the game the player can select a character. There are four different characters to choose from, each with unique stats and abilities. Although each of them can wield any weapon in the game, their different abilities will allow for different playing styles. Lilith for instance has a unique ability called "Phasewalk" where she becomes invisible and can sneak around to attack an enemy from behind or to escape from the fray. Roland can call a turret with special abilities to assist him. Aside from these unique powers the characters also have different talents that increase shields, accuracy, health or increase the effectiveness of their special abilities. Building the character throughout the game will change the way the game is played. So building your character matters. Leveling up is slow at first, but with each level your character is shaped more and more the way you want it.
Borderlands boasts about having billions of different weapons. Borderlands has a few basic weapons a player can use. A shotgun, a sniper, a pistol and so on, but also shields and grenades. When an enemy drops equipment it can be any of these, but its stats and properties are generated at spawn time. The wide range of stats and properties a piece of equipment can have is level based, but effectively gives the player a nearly unlimited variety of weaponry. This might be unnerving, but it also means that you will adapt your playing style to what you find on the battlefield. This, in combination with your character setup, will make each play-through unique.
Gearbox doesn't hide the fact that they used Fallout as a template for its premise and story. There are numerous references to this game to be found. "The Vault", the bobble heads, the claptrap design in the player menu, the desolate world with mercs and bandits, the Lance, the list goes on. Never however does the game feel ripped off in a bad way. Gearbox has taken several elements from other games and made it their own. The world feels fresh and the characters within alive. The humor is similar in the games, which is great.
Gameplay consists of running missions and generally shooting anything that moves. If looking at it from an objective angle its a very repetitive game. Subjectively however Borderlands never gets boring. The missions have a wide variety of objectives. From shooting poop off of windmills to shooting a particularly nasty beast, you can be sure you'll have a great time doing even trivial and menial tasks. Traveling starts off with walking, but as you progress you'll gain access to vehicles and even instant translocation so you wont have to spend hours and hours just traveling back to that one place just to pick up an item or shoot a newly spawned bad guy.
Graphically the game boasts a comic style look, which is really cool. Characters and environment look like they come straight from a comic book. Textures and animation is top notch. Even though the game reuses the same material and sprites for each place you visit it manages to give a unique feel to every area.
Not everything is great about the game however. At its start your backpack is limited in the amount of items you can carry and although stores are plentiful, backtracking to sell stuff because you've reached your carrying limit is no fun in any game. The game also uses the same places for numerous quests. This means that if you didn't accept all quests for one particular area you'll find yourself walking into the same places with the same respawned enemies far too many times. A tip: check out all missions and accept them before venturing off. A claptrap will announce if new missions are available. Make use of this info and go accept them as soon as possible. Experience gained is based on your level and the level of your enemies. This means that shooting a level 20 enemy while you're level 40 will net you 1 experience point. This can be a drag when you're venturing into a place with low level enemies to do a side quest. You still need to shoot them since they can still kill you, but its far too time consuming when looking at the spoils.
Story-wise the game also disappoints. The buildup is great, but the ending is pretty much a smack in the face and thanks for playing. Its hard to say if this was done deliberately to tell the player "just wait for our second game.", or if its just Gearbox saying "we just have nothing more to say."
The game can be played with several people, which is great. There are several abilities and pieces of equipment that have team bonuses and working together to lure or trap enemies is a welcome addition to an already great game. Even in single player the game is fun if a bit lonely, but with a friend in couch co-op its double the fun. Playing co-op will increase the length of your game. When playing with more people enemies become tougher and you'll be waiting for your friends to restock or sell. Since it is an RPG it also means that each decision is made by all players. Gamespots review states that the single player experience is slower paced, but in my experience it is exactly the opposite. I have played the game by myself and with other people. By myself I can finish the game in almost half the time it takes two people to finish it, even if both players have already played the game once. Remember, the length of the game is determined by the slowest player plus overhead time for the individual aspects and points for discussion.
The game also introduces Playthrough 2 and 3 in which a player can use a character that completed the game to play a second time with tougher enemies. This allows the player to use higher level equipment with more punch and develop the character further. Level, equipment and such are carried over.
In the end Borderlands is a fun and even unique shooter that fuses the genre with RPG elements to remove the linear feel so many shooters suffer from. If you've played and enjoyed Fallout, you'll definitely enjoy this one as well. Get ready to set foot in a world with tons of action and a hilarious way of presenting impending doom and destruction.