Borderlands

 Xbox 360
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 850 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 661 out of 850
  2. Mixed: 124 out of 850
  3. Negative: 65 out of 850
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  1. Jaha3535
    Aug 28, 2012
    3
    Easily one of the most over-rated games I have ever played. A Fallout clone meets uninspired WoW RPG interface that lacks serious polish. I didn't mind the cell shading but question it's effectiveness in a post apocalyptic-like setting. Everything is just brown and bland including the enemies.

    The clunky and erratic aiming controls on the console make over-powered general mobs    Easily one of the most over-rated games I have ever played. A Fallout clone meets uninspired WoW RPG interface that lacks serious polish. I didn't mind the cell shading but question it's effectiveness in a post apocalyptic-like setting. Everything is just brown and bland including the enemies.

    The clunky and erratic aiming controls on the console make over-powered general mobs incredibly frustrating. Enemy AI seems to exploit these poor controls by straffing and sprinting all over while they posses near perfect aim. Axe wielding mobs are insanely ridiculous as they can heave axes from miles away with dead on accuracy (even over huge boulders or cover) all while you struggle with the aim of a sniper rifle.

    As an FPS this game is pretty weak compared to other offerings out there. Even with sensitivity turned way up the aim is always poor. Weapons have erratic aim. Some shots will land crits while other perfectly aimed shots miss or register next to no damage. Explosives can go off at enemy or even your own feet dealing little to no damage then a grenade 10 feet away can kill you or a mob. Weapons are also pretty bland with just different stats.

    As an RPG this game is a joke. Leveling your toon takes forever and the WoW inspired talent tree offers no real character enhancement. Just small health or shield regen boosts. Too many skills are aimed at improving your limited specialty weapon, the turret which has a very small time limit to use and a long cooldown. Also the games emphasis is huge on Co-op which explains why so many pro critics loved this title. As a single player game this is a frustrating experience and major time suck. Leveling your character is almost worthless as it's all about getting more powerful guns. Healing is a drag. Your inventory is extremely limited. Only a dozen slots at first and increases slowly. Health packs are small heal over time boosts so you really have to go with shields that offer health regen. These rates are terribly slow. By early lvl 20's you will have 450-500 health and if you get banged up in a fight it can take 10 minutes to regen all health. If you opt to avoid health regen shields you have to carry a lot of health packs which is hard to do and prohibits you from picking up weapons to sell. because ammo is limited you also have to carry a lot of different styles of guns to get by. Paying for health is also expensive. Several hundred just for small amounts of heal. If you die forget it. The game punishes you big time by charging you thousands of dollars to respawn. In the early 20's I had to shell out over 8,000 for one death. Thats more money than you may gain in one dungeon crawl which essentially sets you way back. Beyond healing and respawning though money is pretty useless. The guns at the vending machines never are better than what you find. Still though the game has you open thousands of small boxes with tiny amounts of cash. 10 bucks here, 20 bucks there. Adding to the frustration is that enemy respawn rates are way too fast. Almost as soon as you leave an area all the enemies return. This is a pain in dungeons because you may want to return to the vending machines to sell off loot to free up your pack or recharge health. You often have to fight your way back there wasting more ammo and then when you return you have to fight back to your last point often rendering the trip worthless. Insult to injury is that ammo you uncover in areas but don't pick up because you are full will disappear after a short time even though the enemies return.

    Basically I never felt like I was progressing in this game. Most RPGs allow players to reach a point where they develop their stats enough to manipulate the game engine and make playthrough either easier or more enjoyable. Borderlands always has the player feeling like he is horribly underpowered and no amount of leveling really matters. It's all luck based on which weapons you find. The sotry is kind of vague and most quests are just random fetch quests or bounty missions. I never really had a full understanding of what I was doing. I gather the single player story is short but after 8 hours of just monotonous grinding I won't be finishing this title. There are way better games to play and the release of Borderlands 2 will not be seeing me as a customer. Even as a budget title I would give this a miss.    … Expand
  2. WillB
    Dec 7, 2009
    3
    I've never been more disappointed by a game. Glitchy (misplaced markers, corrupted my savegame on xbox) annoying (millions of weapons, but they're all the same and you can only carry so many) no replay (quests aren't repeatable) and the ending is a flat-out disappointment after which you're left with no reason to do anything but throw down the controller. I want to I've never been more disappointed by a game. Glitchy (misplaced markers, corrupted my savegame on xbox) annoying (millions of weapons, but they're all the same and you can only carry so many) no replay (quests aren't repeatable) and the ending is a flat-out disappointment after which you're left with no reason to do anything but throw down the controller. I want to like Borderlands, but my deleted character and complete lack of reward make the rest of the fun I had feel not worth it.… Expand
  3. TimH
    Dec 6, 2009
    4
    While this game is touted as a high quality game, I strongly disagree. The visuals are pretty poor (cell-shading is very last-generation), their "bazillions of guns" is limited to a few types of guns with modifiers ("cheap", "simple", etc. to denote the stats), and sadly it relies on "go here and get that" or "kill this repeatedly" missions that climax at a weak (or excessively difficult) While this game is touted as a high quality game, I strongly disagree. The visuals are pretty poor (cell-shading is very last-generation), their "bazillions of guns" is limited to a few types of guns with modifiers ("cheap", "simple", etc. to denote the stats), and sadly it relies on "go here and get that" or "kill this repeatedly" missions that climax at a weak (or excessively difficult) boss battle. This game misses the mark in a realm with such heavy hitters as Fallout 3 and Oblivion on the sales floor. I don't recommend this game to anyone, to be honest. I'd say go for a much more interesting game like Oblivion or Fallout 3, or if you're looking for more of a shooter, go for a Halo or Call of Duty game.… Expand
  4. dangerclose
    Jan 18, 2012
    2
    I tried to like this game. I really did. In fact, I wasted 8 hours of my life playing this game in hopes of playing some fun out of it. But no. In the end, I found myself having more fun watching the grass grow. The game gave me an overwhelming sense of pointlessness. During those 8 hours, I did not care at all for what I was doing, or why I was doing it. I just sat there in a trance,I tried to like this game. I really did. In fact, I wasted 8 hours of my life playing this game in hopes of playing some fun out of it. But no. In the end, I found myself having more fun watching the grass grow. The game gave me an overwhelming sense of pointlessness. During those 8 hours, I did not care at all for what I was doing, or why I was doing it. I just sat there in a trance, going through the motions, almost dozing off, while my friend (who is a fan of Borderlands) enthusiastically lead me all over the map, from checkpoint to checkpoint. I might have had more fun if the combat system was better. I understand it's an RPG, and it's mostly about leveling up and getting certain items and weapons. But all the combat sections felt like a back and forth of trading blows and bullets. There was no sense of tactics or urgency. After all, if your life gets depleted, you can still "fight for your life" where if you kill someone during this phase, you get brought back to life. But even if you die, all you do is lose alittle bit of money and get respawned about 10 yards back from where you died. So I ask again folks....WHAT'S THE POINT? If you like RPG games such as this, I recommend Dead Island. I had much more fun with this game. When I played Dead Island, I felt a sense of purpose and a sense of urgency. During combat, I was able to use tactics. I could dodge. I could time the attacks. I could take cover. Most of all, I cared. So I say again. You want an RPG first person game? Get Dead Island.… Expand
  5. JohnH.
    Oct 23, 2009
    2
    Seems fun at first, but the lesser enemies start to get annoying to the point whaere i don't even want to play it anymore. I also had trouble with gunshots not affecting creatures like they were lagging.
  6. M3ta
    Nov 16, 2011
    4
    From what I've played, this game is incredibly tedious, looks pretty damn ugly, and isn't any fun at all. It has NONE of the finesse, story, or range of interesting NPCs that Fallout has, and it doesn't look nearly as good.

    You basically run around and kill various enemies, some of whom turn out to have more armour than others. There are a bunch of animals called "skags" which are    From what I've played, this game is incredibly tedious, looks pretty damn ugly, and isn't any fun at all. It has NONE of the finesse, story, or range of interesting NPCs that Fallout has, and it doesn't look nearly as good.

    You basically run around and kill various enemies, some of whom turn out to have more armour than others. There are a bunch of animals called "skags" which are essentially wild pigs that you keep coming across; fighting them seems to make up at least 50% of the start of the game, and consists of holding down the trigger whilst running backwards, until the seemingly infinite horde of them is dead. Rinse, repeat. I killed a "Boss" bandit as part of a mission; later, I went back to the area for another mission, and he had just gone and MAGICALLY respawned. Oh hello again, I'm fairly sure I killed you, having emptied at least 100 bullets into your sponge-like armour. Whats that, the game has decided you're just going to respawn? Oh ok then. Another time, I fought my way through a very well guarded hideout, to recover a particular item. The fight was long and tedious, and I was glad it was over. I turned around to go out back the way I came, and lo and behold, a whole multitude of enemies is shooting at me. Where exactly did they come from... I killed everyone on my way in. But thats the type of game this is... it just generates enemies for you to shoot at, without rhyme or reason, and calls it gameplay.

    Oh, and did I mention the plot is non-existent, the characters you talk to are all ridiculous (I have no idea why they haven't been killed by all the people and animals who seem intent on killing me) and are less than one-dimensional.

    So please, you can like this game if you want, just stop comparing it to Fallout... its like comparing a bowel movement to a 5-course meal.    … Expand
  7. Ludvig
    Apr 11, 2012
    1
    Borderlands is one of the worst games I've played. Extremely repetitive lifeless world with no story or characters except a robot with lame humour. Yes you get thousands of guns and only one of them is useful. Indeed of the worst games i have played on this gen.
  8. WagnerPaiva
    Oct 2, 2012
    0
    An awful sad, boring to the teeth game. Even worst than the ridiculous first installment, this train wreck of a game is dull, predictable and generic to the extreme. Same old same old mediocre FPS game disguised as a very bad written RPG. Avoid at all costs.
  9. Bobsignathus
    Sep 5, 2012
    3
    I bought this game because of the thick black cartoon like art style, and the idea that I would be doing more than wandering around a desolate wasteland. I got the art style, and the wandering around. The majority of what you will be doing in Borderlands is fighting off waves of repetitive enemies, finding a gun, fighting more enemies, wander around and find another gun, and fight off moreI bought this game because of the thick black cartoon like art style, and the idea that I would be doing more than wandering around a desolate wasteland. I got the art style, and the wandering around. The majority of what you will be doing in Borderlands is fighting off waves of repetitive enemies, finding a gun, fighting more enemies, wander around and find another gun, and fight off more enemies. Not to mention the fact that they only have 8 different types of guns, Gearbox just gave them a different name and damage rating. I got it for $20 dollars on amazon.com. Only worth $15 which is what probably what I'll get for it when I sell it.… Expand
  10. athalon020
    Jan 17, 2013
    1
    Unless you like a seemingly story-free, monotonous, overly repetitive display of how many different guns a developer can put on one disk, don't waste your money.
  11. MichaeI
    Jan 9, 2014
    1
    I don't ever buy games that have bad ratings on here but I liked the sound of the premise of this game and the rating is pretty good so I bought it, Never have I regretted something more. There is no plot, it is just an awful attempt at a plot. The gameplay basically comprises of FAR too many of the same enemies being spammed at you in pretty annoying large areas. There seems to be a lackI don't ever buy games that have bad ratings on here but I liked the sound of the premise of this game and the rating is pretty good so I bought it, Never have I regretted something more. There is no plot, it is just an awful attempt at a plot. The gameplay basically comprises of FAR too many of the same enemies being spammed at you in pretty annoying large areas. There seems to be a lack of purpose with this game. I spent around an hour trying to fight my way through about 1000 enemies just to collect cans of food. Ridiculous. The vehicle combat is some of the worst gameplay I've ever had the misfortune to play as well. Awful AWFUL game. Would not inflict on anyone.… Expand
  12. Harumpel
    Nov 27, 2012
    4
    I played this game for 8 hours and completely lost interest. I am a big fan of RPG and 3D-shooters, I love Fallout 3 & Counterstrike. Borderlands is actually much worse. It is very repetitive, you have to kill the same enemies again and again - they respawn like crazy. And they have less artificial intelligence than the enemies in 1992 Wolfenstein. Just running towards you. It is no fun atI played this game for 8 hours and completely lost interest. I am a big fan of RPG and 3D-shooters, I love Fallout 3 & Counterstrike. Borderlands is actually much worse. It is very repetitive, you have to kill the same enemies again and again - they respawn like crazy. And they have less artificial intelligence than the enemies in 1992 Wolfenstein. Just running towards you. It is no fun at all. This is about the shooter part. The RPG part is even worse. There is almost no interaction, story or character development. Its even less than Diablo 1. Go there kill them or collect that. The good thing about this game are the visuals and the animations. I also liked the weapons. But this is just not enough.… Expand
  13. Hecatone
    Mar 4, 2014
    4
    It's basically World of Warcraft but a shooter. You travel really far, you grind a lot, you hope for a good drop. The game was much worst than mediocre.
  14. Chowda
    Nov 16, 2015
    4
    Loved the artwork and world. Fast paced and fun game.

    This game was amazing until the end....no spoilers........

    After the ending I felt like I had wasted 20 hours of my life.

Awards & Rankings

28
#28 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2009
5
#5 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2009
8
#8 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 83 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 80 out of 83
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 83
  3. Negative: 0 out of 83
  1. RPG Fan
    87
    In short, Borderlands is a top-quality shooter and grind-fest.
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  2. X-ONE Magazine UK
    90
    A furiously successful RPG and FPS combination that doesn't fall short on either front. [Issue#52, p.86]
  3. Gamer Limit
    90
    When a game has such vicious combat, an intriguing skill system, and full co-op capability, a mediocre story can be overlooked. Borderlands is a necessity for any fan of the FPS and RPG genres, or just down-right looting fun.
    Read full review
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