Borderlands just released last week has to be one of the best games I have played this year.  It is an RPG shooter along similar lines of Fallout 3 but with a unique cel-shaded cartoony look and a more comical side to it.  From the moment I started playing Borderlands I just knew it had something special about it.  It’s whole feel is very sarcastic and tongue in cheek and is a joy to play amongst the more serious games out there.

It started out as a game with more realistic graphics but over time the developer decided to scrap the realistic look and go for a cel-shaded cartoon look.  This does actually fit in very well with the games humour and sometimes it feels akin to a comic book.

The weapons system is quite unique and the developer wrote a program which randomised weapons and gives you a theoretical hundreds of thousands of guns, although when playing through the game it did actually feel like only 100 guns, this is because even though there may be a sniper rifle made lovingly of plywood, it has a number of them with different tweaks to make it seem like there are lots when really it is just the same gun.  There are still many guns you just only get to see a few types with lots of combinations.

The missions are quite repetitive but when playing them the game does not give that air of repetitiveness at all, each mission feels unique with it’s own personality but really deep down it is like 10 tins of beans made by the same company but with different labels, it does not feel that though and that is good game design.

I actually got hooked on this game and played it from start to finish in almost every available moment and I finished it at around level 34 in 36 hours.  I had so much fun it was such a shame when the game ended and I knew there were no missions left to play.

This game definitely gives great value for money.  It has a large world, tons of missions and has a funny storyline.  If you love RPG games and shooters then this is an excellent mix and I doubt anybody would regret buying it.  Lots of games being released this time of the year so if you cannot afford it now, do rent it or wait for it to drop in price because it is an excellent game.

It is rare, but I give it an EXCELLENT/10