Borderlands 1

This one’s a classic. A game that pioneered the “looter shooter” genre, and left a lasting legacy on the gaming market. A defiled, disgusting legacy – but a legacy nonetheless.

Borderlands 1 was released in 2009 by the developers Gearbox Software. A time when gaming was arguably still about having fun, and innovation in the field felt more common than it does now. Is it nostalgia speaking? Most likely, but I digress. Borderlands has you choose one out of four characters before you set off on your bounty hunter journey. A big dumb guy, a disciplined soldier, a hippie with a bird or a cute manipulative woman. All of which play differently from each other, and provide a unique experience to the player.

The game has you run around (or drive) in a depressing landscape, meeting weird NPC’s who you’d complete sidequests for, while slowly working through the story. The shooting is arcadey but satisfying, the movement floaty but fun and the writing is witty (albeit a bit corny). The only real downside that I felt playing this game was the bleak and dusty areas you ran around in. A lot of the zones felt the same, and after many hours you’d eventually grow tired of the asthma inducing dust particles that you’d see everywhere. This didn’t make the game bad though. The gameplay was – and still is – extremely fun, borrowing a lot from typical ARPG’s like Diablo. You’d have guns spill out of enemies, giving you a chance to find some unique weapon to feel proud of, and the coop experience is solid through and through. Completing quests and finding secrets was an absolute joy for me and my brother as kids.

Sadly, as mentioned in the beginning, the sequels to Borderlands have all been disappointing. Playing through the first game was enough, and with each installment they’ve simply made “more of the same” but with shittier writing and no innovation. Borderlands 2 was great fun, but it’s a series that simply refused to die with pride. They milked the cow into extinction.

Playing either the first or second game will provide you with enough to know all the series has to offer, but they’re both worth giving a shot. Especially coop with some friends. Playing solo I’d give the game a solid 8/10, but coop it’s a secure 9!