By “Borderlands” I mean the first game. I posted about Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands just after it was announced, and since I was already working on a playthrough of Borderlands, it helped motivate me to finish it sooner rather than later. Here’s the thing though, I actually beat it. And it was good, really good. Except for one thing.
Why Did I Wait Until 2021 to Play Borderlands?
Finishing a video game isn’t something I do often. Gaming for me usually means buying a game, putting 5-20 hours into it before switching to something else or losing interest. I’ve never been a completionist unless I truly, truly enjoy the game. First Person Shooters (FPSs) have never been that interesting to me. Role-Playing Games (RPGs) and JRPGs (Japanese RPGs) are more my thing. Action games, fighting games, and puzzle games hold my attention better, so me finishing Borderlands is really saying something.
I know the mixture of RPG elements and FPS gameplay was a new concept back when Borderlands first landed in 2009, and I would have gotten around to it sooner if wasn’t unable to play any video games between November 2009 and November 2011. Even in 2017 when I first started the game, I barely had a grasp of two-stick aiming. My future wife and a friend of mine played about 75% of Borderlands 1 on PS3 in LAN sessions, but as time went on, wrangling up the consoles, controllers and TVs got more difficult. We never finished it.
But through a 2K humble bundle years ago, I got Borderlands Game of the Year Edition (GOTY), Borderlands 2 and Borderlands Pre-Sequel. Although I was worse with keyboard and mouse controls than I was at two-stick aiming, I gave it a try until I got too frustrated. If 2K hadn’t given everyone with Borderlands GOTY a copy of Borderlands GOTY Enhanced on steam, I wouldn’t have tried again.
Borderlands GOTY Enhanced: Reviewed
Although I started with keyboard and mouse on my PC, I ended up hooking up a PS4 controller and playing through 90% of the game that way. Screen tearing was way less of a problem with the Enhanced edition. Since I played as Brick and Roland before, I tried Lilith this time. The game was definitely more difficult in the first few levels.
Graphics
Knowing I was playing an enhanced version of the original, I could still remember how it looked on PS3. Cel shading is a beautiful way to make a game, and Borderlands paired it up with thick, black lines and an art style that complimented the gameplay perfectly. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I thought the graphics were great.
Gameplay
It took me longer than I would like to admit to really get a hold of how the game was meant to be played. Picking weapon types for certain challenges took more practice than I thought, and it would slip my mind which weapons my character was skilled at. That being said, I had an easier time with a controller than keyboard and mouse. It let me focus on how I was using my weapons, and when to switch out to grenades or abilities, even at the tradeoff of clumsier aiming.
The only flaw I can point to with this game as a whole is how much the limited weapon storage slowed me down. It did make storage deck upgrades that much more exciting to get. But the way I play, I was not satisfied to turn in a quest until I picked up and sold every extra weapon I could. Sure, I could have just ignored them after a certain point, but the beginning of the game has you so strapped for cash, it feels like you’re supposed to be stingy.
Difficulty
If you ask me, at least while playing as Lilith, the hardest part of the game is when you are between levels 3-8. It gets tightest when you have to defeat Bonehead, and that’s still really early in Fyrestone. As soon as I got elemental weapons and space to hold 3 and eventually 4 weapons in quick swap, the game got easier. The challenge really didn’t come around until the wrap up with the Crimson Lance takeover and the final battle. Does that make it a bad game? No, but it does feel weird.
Voice Acting & Script
I haven’t played much of the other Borderlands games, but it’s obvious that the other games put way more emphasis on voice acting and characterization through dialogue. There was space for self-insertion, but I don’t think that’s how Borderlands should be. The writing team on the other games know comedy and wrote some incredibly creative dialogue. I wish more of it could have been in the first game.
Conclusion
Again, I’m not an FPS player, so my perceptions are skewed. Borderlands is an incredible game. More than ten years after its release, I understand why it won game of the year. FPS fans might know of FPS games they like more (and I might like 2016 Doom more based on how much I’ve played so far) but Borderlands knocked my socks off. Even if the ending wasn’t what I hoped, the game is fun from beginning to end. Uneven difficulty and weapon hoarding/selling may be low points, but they can’t drag down everything else.
I rate Borderlands GOTY Enhanced for PC a 9/10.
The Phyronian Chronicle 