We nominated seven of the best games from the Penny Arcade Expo's show floor and let our community pick the best one of the bunch. Their pick? Gearbox Software's Borderlands. The upcoming PS3, Xbox 360 and PC title just edged out both Valve's Left for Dead 2 and Blizzard's Diablo III as the fan favorite, pushing ahead of Uncharted 2, God of War III, Mass Effect 2, and The Misadventures of of P. B. Winterbottom.
We had a lot of good things to say about the cell-shaded team-based first-person shooter/RPG this earlier summer in our preview, and many members of Destructoid's community echoed that after their hands-on sessions at PAX this past weekend. Words like "fresh" and "addicting" were thrown about heavily when talking about the game play and its twists on standard FPS, and just about everyone appreciated its funky cell-shaded visual style. PAX attendees were buzzing about the game the entire weekend, and the game's demo stations were always packed with lines. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing about Borderlands, so we weren't too surprised to see them take the prize. Congrats, Gearbox.
Borderlands will be released on October 20th.
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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Contest:
5:20 PM on 09.08.2009
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Not that the other nominated games don't look great, they're all awesome.
Somehow they've managed to make a game that feels like a complete action-RPG and a complete shooter-ass-shooter at the same time. It's fast, intense, and damn slick. The shooting and movement is as solid as I've ever played on a console and there are a million (or maybe 97 bazillion?) little things that they're doing that show how much these guys know their business. I was particularly impressed with the split-screen implementation. Somehow they managed to make a vertical split view not feel constricted on the sides and the way they have you slide the inventory screen with the right stick instead of trying to shrink all that information down to fit is really smart. Plus Randy confirmed individual player saves and trophies on PS3, making him my new personal hero!
That's before you even get to the guns. Most really good shooters have maybe 2 or 3 moments where you get a new gun and go "OMFG I HAVE TO SHOOT THIS MOTHER-FUCKER *RIGHT NOW*!!!", and it's usually like some crazy ass bazooka or gatling gun. But while playing Borderlands I got that feeling every time a weapon dropped, so basically every 20 seconds or so.
It's absolutely stunning, and it looks fantastic, too. I'd almost go as far as to say that the HD trailer they released a few weeks back actually does the game a disservice. It's probably the depth of field stuff, which I didn't notice in the videos. You don't even really get a feel for how cool it is while watching someone else play.
I was looking forward to Borderlands before but it's now the game to beat for 2009. By a very wide margin.
Plus, Randy Pitchford, Mikey Neumann, and the rest of the guys from Gearbox were really nice and absolutely great about answering a million questions and talking about the game. They not only seemed to have answers about every detail I could think to ask about (sorry, no mid-game sex changes, Saints Row fans) but the kind of answers people have when they know how to do a thing right and are implementing on that knowledge.
The only positive about the game is the art style. I have no interest for this game until I see it for $20.
Sold! I'll pre-order it with Brutal Legend tomorrow!
Yes I am in fact THAT easy a sell.
I mean Gearbox has never done an AAA title, even when they were handling Halo and Half Life!
This is just a shooter with guns that are thrown together randomly. No thanks.
I'm buying this.
After I get MW 2.
Can't wait to get my hands on this. Also Uncharted 2.
Booth babes of the show.
guess you can fool a lot of people into thinking something's good if you put pretty graphics on top.
I dunno, maybe some of you just don't seem to understand that Gearbox has never made a AAA game, and messed up the aliens license, a game that should be easy to make.
Wow, the results of your totally scientific and fact-based study have astonished me! I'm amazed that you were able to state conclusively why "a lot of people" are now interested in this game, when "no one" wanted it before! I have no doubt that you are completely, 100% right, and your FACTS have led me to realize that I am interested in this game only because of the "cartoon graphics".
This game was on the cover of Game Informer and was talked about well before the graphics were changed. Also, did you ever think that the anticipation of this game going up also coincided with the increased amount of news coming out about it once we got closer to its release? It's hard to highly anticipate something that has few details available and which is 2 years from releasing. But hey, don't let me stop you from telling US why we are interested in a game.
I mean game of the show from a B list, solid but nonetheless b list developer?
REALLY? Because you can generate random weapons?
Guess it doesn't take much to impress some people.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderlands_(video_game)
"wow...before the cartoon graphics no one gave a crap."
Speak for yourself. I'm in love with it since the first teaser a long time ago.
"I dunno, maybe some of you just don't seem to understand that Gearbox has never made a AAA game"
Which doesn't mean jack shit. But OK, if you want to be that narrow minded it's cool with me. But don't spam your ridiculous comments all over this website. Maybe YOU just don't seem to understand that not all your games have to be AAA in order to create a kick-ass game. I really wonder what you think is a AAA game anyway.
"and messed up the aliens license, a game that should be easy to make"
Well then be my guest. Also read more interviews. You would've known what the deal was with Aliens.
I'm curious because the gameplay looks excellent, but I stopped playing Diablo after I beat the Butcher guy, who I think was the first boss. Games that are about the random drops just aren't for me and I'd hate to miss out on this game.
The Obvious Troll is being obvious.