Borderlands (video game)
| Borderlands | |
|---|---|
| File:Borderlands(cover).jpg North American cover for Borderlands | |
| Developer(s) | Gearbox Software |
| Publisher(s) | 2K Games |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 3 |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter, game[1], role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Singleplayer, multiplayer |
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Borderlands is an upcoming science fiction first-person shooter with RPG elements that is currently in development by Gearbox Software for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was revealed in the September 2007 issue of Game Informer magazine.[2] The game is the first in a planned franchise. The game has a planned October 2009 release date.[3]
Story
In the distant future, several colonization ships head to Pandora, a planet on the edge of the galaxy. The colonists are drawn there in search of a better life as well as vast mineral resources said to be on the planet, free for anyone's taking, akin to a futuristic gold rush. Some time after settling, the colonists discover that there is little the planet offers, aside from some decrepit alien ruins. Those who have money leave, and the remaining population devolves into chaos and lawlessness. Some of the settlers seek to get rich quickly by discovering alien technology. Most others are just trying to survive. After seven earth years, the planet's slow orbit brings a transition from winter to spring, and many horrifying creatures emerge from hibernation.
A beacon of hope for the remaining colonists emerges in the form of a mysterious vault carved in the side of a mountain. This vault is said to contain vast stores of alien technology and secrets. The only problem is that the people who discovered the vault were completely wiped out by some sort of protective force. The only evidence of their discovery is a scattered radio transmission, proclaiming the vault's majesty, but not its location.[2]
Playable characters
There will be four playable characters in the game, all with unique skills, abilities, and back stories. As these characters level up, the player can increase basic stats for them such as health totals, ammo capacity, and accuracy. Each character also has three unique focus skill trees to develop making each and every character different even if they start the same. There is also an accessory item type specific to each character.[2]
Mordecai
Mordecai came to Pandora in search of a man from his past named Demosthenes. Upon learning that Demosthenes has died, Mordecai sets off to learn how he died and what he was carrying. Mordecai's play style is that of a lone ranger, preferring to snipe enemies from afar. Some of his special abilities can augment the party's damage from headshots or give accuracy boosts and is a hunter class. Later in the game, he will befriend an alien creature that will assist in combat.[2]
Roland
Roland is a former soldier of the Crimson Lance, a sort of highly trained private military that disregards law and order. A decade-old vendetta is rekindled when Roland learns that the leader of the Brigadiers has a suspiciously similar name to a man he has sworn to kill. Some of Roland's abilities are meant to supplement and support the party. His Leadership skill can boost the party's experience gains, while his Medical skill will increase health regeneration, and Support will increase weapon damage or regenerate ammunition for the party, Roland is a soldier class and the only class that doesn't have to worry about ammo as a special backpack produces an infinite supply.[2]
Lilith
Once a human, Lilith at one point was turned into a siren. One of only six Sirens, they are a group of people with unbelievable powers, but no way to control them. She comes to Pandora in search of another Siren, in an effort to find out more about herself. Lilith is essentially the mage of the group, using her Siren powers to support the group and attack the enemy. Some of her powers include the ability to increase the group's rate of fire, as well as the power to create temporal bubbles, which she can manipulate to slow down enemies and hostile projectiles or speed up allies.[2]
Brick
A massive specimen of a man who likes to use his fists to smash the enemy above all else. He wears a necklace around his neck adorned with the paw of his beloved deceased dog. He fills in the tank niche and can take quite a beating as well having the ability to chug berserker-state inducing pills for short bursts of power.
Gameplay
Little is currently known about gameplay, other than the game will feature four player cooperative play along with other singleplayer and multiplayer modes. In addition, players have access to customizable vehicles for "vehicular combat" and will also be able to customize their character. Deceased enemies will drop their equipment, which is available for you to pick up. You will be able to choose from 4 different playable characters, who each have their own unique abilities.[2] It is inspired by the Mad Max film series, World of Warcraft and Diablo by Blizzard.[2]
Like traditional RPGs, much of the player's time will be taken up by quests. There will be 160 quests of varying length and complexity, 30 of theese being part of the story and the other 130 as side quests. Many of these quests will not be mutually exclusive, and can be completed together. Gearbox wants to encourage the player to push themselves just a bit further to complete the next quest on their list. Each quest carries its own rewards, such as new weapons, or perhaps revealing a new piece of the story.[2]
Randomization
The game will also have a unique feature similar to Diablo's random level generation system. This new system will generate more than little to no different guns as well as at least 5? different item and armor variations, according to the preview of the game in Game Informer magazine,
"We saw a ridiculous amount of guns, but perhaps the strangest was a revolver that fired shotgun shells. Gearbox is constantly surprised with what the system comes up with. They've seen rifles shoot everything from homing darts to rockets. 'One of the guns tracks onto something and locks, and after three seconds, [the target] suddenly explodes,' director Matthew Armstrong says."
According to a more recent interview by 1up.com with CEO and president of Gearbox Software, Randy Pitchford, the game's astounding arsenal will feature over 650,000 weapons. An addition of 150,000 new weapons came from the inclusion of alien technology.[4]
The features of the maps will also be randomly generated. While towns, and the general paths connecting them will remain the same, Borderlands features a system that randomly instances the surrounding landscape, with randomly placed things such as bunkers, towers, caves, enemies, and exploding cacti. All of this is done without a loading screen. Gearbox plans that the player will not see a loading screen after they boot up the game.[2]
It was also shown at E3 2009 that even the monsters would have a randomization system. One example shown was a spider that leaped around and would jump onto players' faces, while another variant rolled up into a ball and attacked people.[5] A Gamespot interview at E3 2009 explained that they hold "millions" of guns and had lost count.
References
- ^ "Borderlands Page". GamePro. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nick Ahrens (2007-08-14). "Game Informer September Cover Revealed!". Game Informer. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ Chris Faylor (2009-6-8). "Borderlands Slated for October". Shacknews. Retrieved 2009-06-9.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|year=(help)CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ [ http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3170527]
- ^ [1]