"Childhood Nostalgia Revisited"
"Borderlands" was an absolute classic for me as a kid, and I spent many hours looting, shooting, and goofing around with friends back when voice chat on consoles still felt like a novelty. I'm not even that old, yet the fact that this game is nearly 14 years old now certainly makes me feel like the same adults that used to reminisce on the novelty of the OG "Quake" battles that used to dominate their mindscapes in the late 90's. I had taken a long break from playing this and had completed a solo playthrough in 2018 or 2019, but I recently completed it again with my go-to co-op partner - my girlfriend. Ah, have times changed...
The game still has a simple but interesting premise - explore a chaotic wasteland of a world dominated by corporate greed, reckless roided-out bandits, and lots and lots of rusted steel and gun smoke. The cell shaded visuals have certainly aged a bit, but man were they something that I found fresh as a kid. It was also one of my earliest endeavors into the world of RPGs, or in this game's case, the "ARPG-lite". A sprinkle of perk progression here, some random loot there, and tons of repetitive tasks - breaths in - nothing better to sooth the mind of a ten-year-old kid.
Enough with the nostalgia, because now I'm a (jaded) adult. Once you look past the novelties...the game is really simple. It was definitely a flash in the pan, and the original game doesn't hold a candle to its sequel in pretty much every way. Yet it held such a place in my heart and mind for over a decade, mainly because it has a style that was abandoned from future games in the series. There's a sense of loneliness to your adventure that just doesn't really exist in the sequels, and that helped it feel like you were entering uncharted territory, not "well-observed but rarely ventured" territory - those two things are WAY different in practice.
The shooting is also really awkward at times. It sort of feels like you shoot in the vicinity of enemies rather than "at" them, and entire gun classes feel worse because of this (see the Sniper Rifles and Shotguns). Models either have poor hitboxes, or the guns themselves are glitchy. Either way, it made shooting feel choppy, stunted, and ultimately less satisfying than my childhood brain could recognize.
The audio is still solid, though it cut out a bit here and there. This is likely due to me playing it co-op split screen on my PC...which you're likely wondering about since that doesn't "officially" exist. I used a pretty janky program (won't name drop in case it ends up screwing up someone's PC, but if you look up a guide, you'll absolutely come across it), and this thing just made things so much more difficult than they had to be. There were crashes, some occasional glitches (visual and audio), and it always made me worried about malware. Yet, unlike Gearbox themselves, it allowed me to play co-op without goading someone into buying themselves a gaming PC, buying the game, and setting up the awkward party feature in the game itself. Thanks Gearbox, for once again you prove to be a player-friendly company...
The glitches may have also been an aspect of the version I played, this being the "Enhanced" GOTY edition. The game did look a bit sharper, but seeing comparisons proved that this was a sloppy remaster. Shadow work is not as good, and the additional weapons are cool until you realize they are WAY more powerful than any others you come across - something which ruins the game flow of "loot, compare, sell" with weaponry.
At least this version still includes the DLC, and having played them all again, I definitely think they are worse than "Borderlands 2". They're pretty cheaply made, and even though they can be worth a playthrough (except for Moxie's, since it's crap), the quests and themes never felt fully "realized". The main game has the best curve of "discovery of Pandora" along with "gameplay mechanic introduction" of the bunch, so much so that the main campaign is still "great" in my books.
But since this is a remaster as well as a DLC collection, the "value" increases while the experience drops in quality. The whole "Borderlands 1" package is weaker than the sum of its parts, since many of the DLC's are just "extra whipped cream " rather than "extra dessert".
Still, the game is fun and is worth at least one playthrough (including the DLC's...except Moxie's) for anyone new to the franchise. Hell, check it out if you've played the sequels/spin-offs and want to see where it all started. I can Recommend it for sure. Just don't expect it all to be as funny, addicting, or properly supported as the future titles - Gearbox has always smelled the money when it became available, and thus poured assets into capitalizing that first and foremost. Maybe one day we'll get a return to a more "isolated" or "exploratory" title like this one from them. At least this one will always be a solid memory for me, even if that memory grows a bit dimmer every day.
Final Verdict: 7/10 (Good)
"Borderlands" was an absolute classic for me as a kid, and I spent many hours looting, shooting, and goofing around with friends back when voice chat on consoles still felt like a novelty. I'm not even that old, yet the fact that this game is nearly 14 years old now certainly makes me feel like the same adults that used to reminisce on the novelty of the OG "Quake" battles that used to dominate their mindscapes in the late 90's. I had taken a long break from playing this and had completed a solo playthrough in 2018 or 2019, but I recently completed it again with my go-to co-op partner - my girlfriend. Ah, have times changed...
The game still has a simple but interesting premise - explore a chaotic wasteland of a world dominated by corporate greed, reckless roided-out bandits, and lots and lots of rusted steel and gun smoke. The cell shaded visuals have certainly aged a bit, but man were they something that I found fresh as a kid. It was also one of my earliest endeavors into the world of RPGs, or in this game's case, the "ARPG-lite". A sprinkle of perk progression here, some random loot there, and tons of repetitive tasks - breaths in - nothing better to sooth the mind of a ten-year-old kid.
Enough with the nostalgia, because now I'm a (jaded) adult. Once you look past the novelties...the game is really simple. It was definitely a flash in the pan, and the original game doesn't hold a candle to its sequel in pretty much every way. Yet it held such a place in my heart and mind for over a decade, mainly because it has a style that was abandoned from future games in the series. There's a sense of loneliness to your adventure that just doesn't really exist in the sequels, and that helped it feel like you were entering uncharted territory, not "well-observed but rarely ventured" territory - those two things are WAY different in practice.
The shooting is also really awkward at times. It sort of feels like you shoot in the vicinity of enemies rather than "at" them, and entire gun classes feel worse because of this (see the Sniper Rifles and Shotguns). Models either have poor hitboxes, or the guns themselves are glitchy. Either way, it made shooting feel choppy, stunted, and ultimately less satisfying than my childhood brain could recognize.
The audio is still solid, though it cut out a bit here and there. This is likely due to me playing it co-op split screen on my PC...which you're likely wondering about since that doesn't "officially" exist. I used a pretty janky program (won't name drop in case it ends up screwing up someone's PC, but if you look up a guide, you'll absolutely come across it), and this thing just made things so much more difficult than they had to be. There were crashes, some occasional glitches (visual and audio), and it always made me worried about malware. Yet, unlike Gearbox themselves, it allowed me to play co-op without goading someone into buying themselves a gaming PC, buying the game, and setting up the awkward party feature in the game itself. Thanks Gearbox, for once again you prove to be a player-friendly company...
The glitches may have also been an aspect of the version I played, this being the "Enhanced" GOTY edition. The game did look a bit sharper, but seeing comparisons proved that this was a sloppy remaster. Shadow work is not as good, and the additional weapons are cool until you realize they are WAY more powerful than any others you come across - something which ruins the game flow of "loot, compare, sell" with weaponry.
At least this version still includes the DLC, and having played them all again, I definitely think they are worse than "Borderlands 2". They're pretty cheaply made, and even though they can be worth a playthrough (except for Moxie's, since it's crap), the quests and themes never felt fully "realized". The main game has the best curve of "discovery of Pandora" along with "gameplay mechanic introduction" of the bunch, so much so that the main campaign is still "great" in my books.
But since this is a remaster as well as a DLC collection, the "value" increases while the experience drops in quality. The whole "Borderlands 1" package is weaker than the sum of its parts, since many of the DLC's are just "extra whipped cream " rather than "extra dessert".
Still, the game is fun and is worth at least one playthrough (including the DLC's...except Moxie's) for anyone new to the franchise. Hell, check it out if you've played the sequels/spin-offs and want to see where it all started. I can Recommend it for sure. Just don't expect it all to be as funny, addicting, or properly supported as the future titles - Gearbox has always smelled the money when it became available, and thus poured assets into capitalizing that first and foremost. Maybe one day we'll get a return to a more "isolated" or "exploratory" title like this one from them. At least this one will always be a solid memory for me, even if that memory grows a bit dimmer every day.
Final Verdict: 7/10 (Good)