Alright, so I have never been a person into shooter games. However, this game changed all that.
Borderlands is a wonderful game made by Gearbox Software that combines first person shooting, elements of a RPG (role playing game), and a giant free roaming world to do all of your killing. And while the game is not perfect, it still provides hour after hour of entertainment.
You play as one of four characters with an objective of opening "The Vault", a fantastical location where alien technology is kept, and can only be opened once every 200 years. Your underlying mission is to collect the pieces of the vault key while also doing tasks for others.
The story progresses through the use of missions that are given to you by various NPCs, some of which you will start to grow an attachment to. All in all, there are a lot of missions which are usually relatively short, leading to a constant feeling of progression and achievement. Missions are also usually rewarded with experience points, a weapon, or some other kind of item.
Items are mostly limited to only a few varieties; weapons, shields, grenades, class mods, and healing. However, while this seems like it would lead to an overly simplistic management, you couldn't be more wrong. Most items are created by a random generator that forms different things based on characteristics. For instance, there are over 17 million guns possible, which can ultimately make it difficult to choose which ones you are going to keep and use. However, one usually figures out a system to make the process quicker.
The game does have some negative points. Firstly, some people do not appreciate the cell shaded art style, although that is mostly a personal preference, and not a flaw of the game. Secondly, the game can be buggy at times, but is not usually an issue, more than just some slight annoyance. Thirdly, my penultimate complaint is that the in-game goals are not always very reasonable to accomplish, such as having to kill 2500 of a certain type of enemy that is sparsely available. But alas, these goals are not required for the game to be fun. And finally, the "ending"; if you can call it that is so anticlimactic. No grandiose finale to wrap up your incredible journey. Instead, the game ends on a note of "was that the end?"
Overall, the game is a great one, and is truly worth playing if you are into the genre at all. And, even if you are not, it can possibly change that. As a game store owner, I recommend it to everyone because this is one game that I can say is truly worth every one of your valuable pennies.