Topic: Borderlands

[Dirk Temporo]

Wow, comes out tomorrow and no thread yet! Better get one up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSIkVak4otY

I've been itching for this game ever since I first heard about it in Game Informer a couple years back. The bazillion guns is a big selling point, but my main attraction to the game is that it's basically Diablo with guns, and it looks to be doing it much much better than Hellgate: London did.

Anybody else picking this game up? I probably won't get it until later this week or next week, but I'll be looking for people to play with (better loot woooo). My XBL name is Shralla.

[KDR_11k]

I've got it preordered for the Steam definition of preorder (i.e. bought but not unlocked yet). Got together with a few other people and bought a 4 pack with each person paying his share, came out at less than 50% of the retail price for me (4 pack costs as much as 3 games so 25% off, preorders get another 10% off and since we had an American buy it the whole thing was another ~30% cheaper). The game's not getting released until the 26th in Europe though.

[S-U-P-E-R]

Is it just me or does it seem kind of arbitrary/forced to have an XP system? Bleaough

This vid made me lol though:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmUJrKGN3C0&feature=autofb

[KDR_11k]

Doesn't it try to be a cross between an FPS and Diablo, like Hellgate London?

[GoldenPhoenix]

I have it preordered, IGN PC's team seems high on it so I'm intrigued. Though I have a feeling when Dragon Age comes out it will be shoved to the back.

[Dirk Temporo]

Is it just me or does it seem kind of arbitrary/forced to have an XP system?

Only if you consider all XP systems to be arbitrary and forced. You level up your characters skills, get more HP, and the ability to use higher level weapons. It's pretty standard.

[S-U-P-E-R]

I guess I hate every XP system in every game. But I mean, putting it in an FPS does seem pretty forced. At least Fallout was an RPG first...

I'm kind of interested in the game but at the same time it seems really off-putting. Can I get a grind-free fun experience? Is it fun at all before hitting the level cap?

[Dirk Temporo]

Did you like Diablo? If yes, you'll probably like this game.

[broodwars]

How would you compare to this game to something like Fallout 3, which it seems to have a lot of similarities to?

[Dirk Temporo]

If by "a lot" you mean the setting and the fact that you play in first-person, then sure. The similarities end there, unless you consider RPG elements in a shooting game to be similar to shooting elements in an RPG. It's all personal skill-based shooting, nothing to do with your character's stats. You level up, but that's mostly so you can use better guns and put points in your skills.

[broodwars]

If by "a lot" you mean the setting and the fact that you play in first-person, then sure. The similarities end there, unless you consider RPG elements in a shooting game to be similar to shooting elements in an RPG. It's all personal skill-based shooting, nothing to do with your character's stats. You level up, but that's mostly so you can use better guns and put points in your skills.

Well, both games are also heavily loot-intensive and have sizeable quest-based progression.  That's also what I was referring to.  Anyway, this game sounds pretty interesting, but it'll have to wait a while as it's pretty far back on the list right now.

[Dirk Temporo]

I sort of see what you mean, but Borderlands is pretty much literally all about the loot. Quests are a vehicle for you to kill more stuff so you can get more badass guns (and occasionally shields or artifacts).

[KDR_11k]

Sounds like HGL.

The 360 version is in stores already but I haven't seen the PC version and Steam won't unlock it until the 26th.

[Dirk Temporo]

It doesn't come out until the 26th.

I actually changed my mind. I'm pre-ordering it on Steam, and I'll get it later for 360. If anybody's interested in going in on the four pack ($33.74 for a copy!) with me, hit me up on Steam. My name is Shralla

[broodwars]

Well, Dirk, be happy: I caved in and bought the game (PS3 version).  Only worked through the first few quests so far, but I like the game.  Could do without the game automatically swapping out my hot-keyed weapons every time I grab a new weapon, though.  The game does have a great amount of "character" to it.

[Dirk Temporo]

Could do without the game automatically swapping out my hot-keyed weapons every time I grab a new weapon, though.

If you just push the button, it will put it straight into your backpack. Holding the button makes it switch out with your currently held weapon (also picks up clusters of ammo/money on the ground instead of one at a time).

I already sank almost fifteen hours into the game this weekend playing splitscreen at a friend's house. We're both level 22, and man am I liking the game a lot. It can be kind of a pain in the ass at points, but then it feels pretty good once you get past those parts, especially if there's fat loot in it for you.

[broodwars]

Could do without the game automatically swapping out my hot-keyed weapons every time I grab a new weapon, though.

I already sank almost fifteen hours into the game this weekend playing splitscreen at a friend's house. We're both level 22, and man am I liking the game a lot. It can be kind of a pain in the ass at points, but then it feels pretty good once you get past those parts, especially if there's fat loot in it for you.

Yeah, I'm about as far in time-wise, though my Siren Miriya is only Level 19 and I'm just about to fight what seems to be the first major boss in Sledge.  While I like this game (especially the gunplay), man Gearbox made absolutely no attempt to balance this game for singleplayer.  I'm really starting to dread walking by Skag spawning pits now, because it usually means I'm going to be there a while fighting a never-ending barrage of spawning Skags.  I was doing the Electric Crystal quest in the Lost Cave, and there was literally a period where I had to spend 15 minutes just constantly fighting two Alpha Skags at once in front of two chests.  Every time I'd kill one, another would spawn, and I couldn't do inventory management and loot the chests while they were still there.  It can get really tedious, though at least when I'm on the "overworld" I can just run over the damn things with my Runner.  Thank god for Phasewalk, though.  Not only is it a good offense, but it's absolutely essential when you suddenly get overwhelmed by one of those Badass Skags and just need to run the hell away.

You definitely have to do the quests, though.  I don't know how I'd have gotten so far without my lovely Burning Sniper and Crimson Cobra.

And whoever decided to map the Run command to L3 needs to be shot.

[Dirk Temporo]

What infuriates me on the 360 is that the melee attack is R3, and B is crouch. I would much rather it be the other way around.

[broodwars]

What infuriates me on the 360 is that the melee attack is R3, and B is crouch. I would much rather it be the other way around.

Yeah, you're right.  We have Crouch mapped to Circle, and that would have been a fine place to put the Melee button in the PS3 version.  Being a Siren, I haven't had to use Melee much, but it is useful as a means to end Phasewalking.

Actually, my Level 29 Siren hasn't had any problems staying alive in quite a long time, at least ever since I maxed-out Inner Glow so every time I jump into Phasewalk I get my health completely regenerated and most of my shields.  I'm actually developing her along the Assassin path, but Diva and Inner Glow are too useful to not put points into.  I'm working my way through Kroms Canyon right now for Vault Key Piece #2, and so far my only major obstacle since the earlier parts of the game was the battle with Mad Mel.  That fight is so completely not tuned for singleplayer it's not even funny, as it's impossible to best him with vehicles when you can't keep moving.  I had to resort to just blasting him from outside the arena till he died, which kind of destroyed the whole idea of that fight.

[KDR_11k]

It's delayed until the 30th on Steam here (the retail release date)...

[rbtr]

That's probably for the better KDR.

There's a slew of connection errors on the PC version.  People are forwarding ports and having to jump through hoops getting it to work.  People are even using tunneling programs.

My and my roommate LAN'd up though, and had a good time with it.  I found this awesome SMG that shoots bullets out in a swirl and they ricochet when they hit walls.

[broodwars]

Beat the game.  Lame non-ending that explains nothing, with an especially lame (and derivative) final boss that could have been plucked from just about any Sci-Fi game.

[Dirk Temporo]

I did hear the ending was pretty awful, but I couldn't really bring myself to care on account of I'm only in it for the loot. The story's sort of "Okay cool let me shoot stuff now"

I hope the PC stuff gets resolved soon. Port forwarding seems to work with some regularity. My friend did and and we were able to play.

[Ymeegod]

Just rented it last night and I'm level 19 8 hours in and at the mission where you have to kill Sledge.  I also ran into that problem with Alpha slags instant respawn glitch too (killed 9 of them in a row and they kept on coming)--what I did was drop my SG turret so the slags played with it while I raided the chests--not worth it anyhow I think I got one crappy rifle and a scratter gun . 

And the game really isn't so much diablo as it is Too Human.  The tech tree is somewhat a joke since each character only has one special move with the rest more or less adding a few points of stats or regen ability. 

Same for the weapons--you really don't get the 1+ million selection like they stated and the Build selection is totally not there?  A year or so ago they stated you're be finding components which I assumed would be for building you're own custom weapon but saddly  as someone stated you'll just get sidemissions where you collect pre-set pieces--kinda a shame.

Still even with it's laughable plot I find myself continuing down the dusty road looking for a SG that doesn't suck (been using the same one from the freaking begining of the game 9/22 damage with a 50% acc rating and a 1.4 scope). 

[Dirk Temporo]

The tech tree is somewhat a joke since each character only has one special move with the rest more or less adding a few points of stats or regen ability.

It's a shooter, not an RPG. If you were expecting a hotbar, you're playing the wrong game to begin with. Managing a bunch of different skills would not be a fun or welcome addition in the middle of hectic firefights, which the vast majority of the game is.

you really don't get the 1+ million selection like they stated

You get it in exactly the same way as you get a bunch of different weapons in Diablo. Just because they don't all look completely unique doesn't mean they're the same. And if you were REALLY expecting millions of completely unique guns, you didn't pay any attention to the previews.

A year or so ago they stated you're be finding components which I assumed would be for building you're own custom weapon

They never said that. They said that each weapons is constructed out of a variety of different components. Build a weapon was never on the features list, just on peoples' wish lists.

Also, Too Human sucks. This doesn't.