Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Borderlands: Controversial Screenshot Gallery

By Alec Meer on April 30th, 2009 at 6:32 pm.

We got our first look at the internet-dividing redesign of Gearbox’s open-world shooty/drivey game a couple of weeks back, and now the venting’s mostly out of the way (because it is out of the way isn’t it, shouty men?), we can all enjoy a whole host of screens. Personally, I think it’s looking pretty bloody spectacular, and a blessed relief from what’s threatening to become a homogenous look for shooters. Also: LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT THING. Er, that thing beneath the cut, I mean.

It’s fascinating to compare it to the gallery of BL’s original look we ran about 18 months ago. Some of the character and monster designs are shared, but the old style looks so plain and generic against the hyper-stylisation of the new look. And a couple of these shots really nail the Mad Max vibe – a far punkier, spunkier take on post-apocalyptic than Fallout 3, no?

Prepare to be shot and punched in the face (someone else’s ridiculous line, not mine) by the high-res versions of these shots, simply by clicking on ‘em:

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93 Comments »

  1. Professor says:

    What is it about game designers and their desire to make monsters that look like giant vaginas?

    I mean, seriously, that thing has a CLITORIS.

  2. vordhosbn says:

    I’m really glad they decided to change the art style so radically, the original game seemed really underwhelming in every way. Now I’m carefully looking forward to this.

  3. Radiant says:

    And now Professor THAT’S ALL I SEE.

  4. CTD says:

    @Professor

    You say it as if it’s a bad thing. I, for one, welcome more vaginal monsters.

  5. AlottaFagina says:

    Didn’t see any vulva likes? That 4th one looks like a hormogaunt.

  6. Professor says:

    @CTD
    Yeah, seems a lot of people are taking inspiration from that C*nt game, eh?

  7. DigitalSignalX says:

    Damn, Those screens totally sell me on this game. Fallout meets lost planet and FUEL? SOLD.

  8. bergotronic says:

    The new visuals look great, hopefully the coop gameplay will be equal to the looks. I would LAN this game… HARD.

  9. DaFox says:

    When did Antlions grow armor?!

  10. spell says:

    I was looking forward to that game, but now…
    The celshading on these looks awfully bad.

  11. PrinceOfPersia says:

    Yeah, they’re totally harshing my style.

  12. elias says:

    It’s not the designers, it’s the artists. Maybe they are afraid of vaginas, so they use them as parts of their big scary monsters?

    Anyway I think the new style is awesome.

  13. RARGPHLAM says:

    I don’t know what you’re looking at spell, because the cel-shading looks fantastic. In motion I’d bet it’s spectacular.

  14. Jeremy says:

    Looks pretty good, loving the style.

  15. Dracko says:

    Professor, they do it just to equally intimidate and intrigue pre-teens who still giggle about sex.

    You should check out what Valve had in mind for Half-Life back in the day. Ooh, boy!

  16. Lack_26 says:

    I’m really looking forward to this game, I love the style (and the amount of guns).

  17. Yontan says:

    @Professor

    I struggled not to bust out in a horrific singular laugh when I read that. Being in the quiet section the library and reading RPS is dangerous….

    i need to get out more. :S

    Edit: Also on a more games related note, that is a nice looking game. I’d play it and enjoy pretty pictures if the gameplay was good enough. If all it has are pretty screens, then I’ll just wait thanks. Looking forward to some reviews.

  18. unclelou says:

    Looks fantastic.

  19. GabeNewell says:

    You should check out what Valve had in mind for Half-Life back in the day. Ooh, boy!

    You mean besides that thing with the giant nutsack?

  20. Heliocentric says:

    I’d hit it.

  21. DMJ says:

    Indeed, it looks fantastic in stills. Whether it looks that good in motion is the real question. It has the potential to look stylishly awesome, or alternatively it has the potential to look freaky.

    In a way, I like how the new look was added quite late in development. That way, at least there wasn’t this conversation at the first production meeting:

    Man 1: I got a great idea for a game!
    Man 2: What?
    Man 1: A cel-shaded game!
    Man 2: What sort of cel-shaded game?
    Man 1: I don’t understand the question. Cel-shading is awesome!
    Man 2: Sold. Go get some programmers and a year’s supply of whiskey.

    I’m looking at you, XIII.

  22. Dominic White says:

    Vehicles, huge swarms of little flying/crawling monsters, and bosses the size of houses? So far, so Lost Planet. And that’s a formula I like.

    Here’s hoping there’s more subtlety to the bigger fights than holding down the fire-button while kiting/circle-strafing.

    @DMJ – They shaded it that way because XIII is based on a long line of French graphic novels, which also look that way.

  23. Meat Circus says:

    SEXY screenshot gallery.

    Mmm, giant vagina beast.

  24. Muzman says:

    Where was this shoutiness I apparently missed?

    Anyway; does anyone think the outlines are heaps more obvious in some shots than others (the first one vs.. the rest really)? I wonder if you can adjust it.
    Anyway 2: The problem I find with some of this stuff is you just get an outline around things which is a trifle odd. I guess they can do whatever they like (it’s obviously not a comic book after all) but I think Street Fighter took a better road (several). They made it so the “line work” included details and folds in the fabric etc which made for more comfortable viewing.

  25. Dracko says:

    Yes, Gabe. Apart from the giant walking nutsack.

    Like Mr. Friendly.

  26. Rep says:

    Where do you guys find girls who have vagina’s like that? Just so i know where to avoid.

    And by avoid, i mean hunt.

  27. PleasingFungus says:

    I’m… kinda uncertain as to how to feel about this. (Though I really like the creatures in the first screenshot.) Will wait until I can see it in motion to RENDER JUDGEMENT.

  28. Noc says:

    Hah! I get it, it’s a ‘Render Judgment’ because you’re judging the rendering!

    Oh, man.

  29. DavidDuchovny says:

    @DMJ:

    You forgot to mention my talented voicework in that game.

  30. Clockwork Harlequin says:

    Professor: Compare this apparent vaginosity with recent discussions here on RPS about breasts. Games are aimed at people who love breasts but fear vaginas. The conspiracy becomes clear. . .

  31. Jetsetlemming says:

    I like the comic book render for the characters, but not so much the wold, and definitely not the explosions. C’mon, go all the way with that shit! I want to see comic special effects, especially on stuff like the elemental damage weapons.

  32. JamesSunderland says:

    I don’t know about you guys, but those monsters in Silent Hill turned me on.

  33. Mort says:

    Also, remember that one of the the final bosses in half life was a giant testicle with legs (though it´s not as scary as a vagina with teeth)

    Anyway, I hope gameplay is as dynamic as the screenies seem to indicate.

  34. Sajad says:

    TOOOOOOOOOO GGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDD

  35. Morti-Mer says:

    Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttt !!!!!!!

  36. Jetsetlemming says:

    @JamesSunderland
    Ahahaha

  37. Marcin says:

    I think I’ll skip Fallout 3 and go straight for this, if it plays as fun as it looks.

  38. ...hmm... says:

    looking beautiful; i just hope they tone down the fallout 3 lookalike baddies: see the raiders in fallout 3 and their armor style etc. some of them in the shots above i feel like i know personally.

    there i go again being the stupid armchair critic. it still looks more lovely than fallout 3 in many regards though; and i totally would in regards to that giant beast.

  39. bantros says:

    Looks bloody amazing

  40. Rath says:

    My immediate thoughts are “GorkaMorka” and that two-part episode of Farscape with the dune buggys that had weaponry attached to them*. This game looks awesome.

    * 3×14 and 3×15. Go look.

  41. Aldaris says:

    When I saw the pics, I thought they had seen 3 things and blended them together into those mosters, being, in order of popping into my mind:
    1: Alien Planet (The movie, anyway, I never read the book.)
    2: The zerg. (Mutalisks, anyone?)
    3: Not so sure… Ah, right, Half Life (2).

    Some of those things look like they were straight out ripped form alien planet, but in an awesome way. I’m still looking forward to this.

  42. MrBejeebus says:

    sold!

    the previous art style wasvery underwhelming imo

    and lol @ the vagina face monster…

  43. DeliriumWartner says:

    DMJ made me lol. Also, I think I’m in love. This is (after COD, um, MW2) my most anticipated game of the year so far. When can I have it?!

  44. Schmung says:

    This is superbly pretty. Interestingly, looking at ye olde screenshots it doesn’t look like they’ve deviated massively from where they were previously, it’s just that rather splendid comic book shader thing they’ve got going on. I think the original Far Cry had a similar (albeit far cruder) bit of shadery goodness tucked away in it accessible via a cheat mode.

  45. Dan K says:

    Looks bloody gorgeous. The art style change made me want this game, I previuosly dismissed it a bit because it was a tad bland looking, but now I can’t wait for it.

  46. Tom says:

    Looks awesome.
    I love the fact devs are starting to experiment with art styles more. Guess we’ve got PoP to thank for that.
    It never fails to amaze what some poeple will moan about.

  47. Tim says:

    I have to say, I’m now interested in this game on the strength of this new style alone. I just hope it’ll be a decent game in its own right. Though to be honest, so long as it’s mediocre or better I might well give it a whirl.

  48. Cooper says:

    The screenshots, the SIZE OF THAT THING! and vaginas reminded me of this:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjS-xlCcoF0

  49. Theory says:

    Oh, yes. That works. I’m still not convinced of the treatments they’re giving to characters/monsters, but the world itself is sublime!

  50. ZIGS says:

    This reminds me of Hellgate London, and that’s not a bad thing at all

  51. suibhne says:

    In the future, everyone will be bulemic.

  52. Binho says:

    I think the rendering style looks amazing as well….

    BUT…

    While everything looks good, I’m not a fan of the art style for the worlds, characters, and to a lesser extent the monsters. It might just be a personal thing, but it’s too ‘punk’ and too generic.

    And can we for once have something which isn’t a post-apocalyptic, barren wasteland? k, thanx

  53. Quests says:

    How i wish this excitement was caused by breakthrough innovations in storytelling and plot variables on choices & consequences.

    will the time ever come that programmers instead of showing off shades and engines pop up into news articles yelling “look! We discovered new ways to twist drama combined with interaction! How cool are we?”

  54. Tei says:

    GREAT art here guys. Hope the game is also fun.

  55. Zyrxil says:

    I really love the look overall, but I really dislike the black borders on everything. I don’t think that’s at all necessary for a stylized cell-shaded look.

  56. The Fanciest of Pants says:

    Was going to be buying this for the awesome non-linearness + co-op + vehicles + all that guff. Now it looks damn funky too. They so have my money.

  57. Wedge says:

    Sooooo… it looks like Crackdown. Functionally anyways.

  58. pilouuuu says:

    It looks like Fallout 3 meets Zeno Clash meets Gears of Wars

  59. DigitalSignalX says:

    Great vid Cooper, way back when I saw ‘Troopers (only once) the connection was never made. Hilarious.

  60. Resin says:

    This looks really cool, the art at least.

  61. Monkeybreadman says:

    Anyone else thinking of Another World? I’ll take Flashback too.

    And a cartoon, can’t remember what it was called, something like Phantom 2050

  62. Jazmeister says:

    I don’t mind seeing the odd vagina in a game. Make a change from all the phallic majesty.

  63. Andrew Wills says:

    Yep, this has totally sold the game to me. Before now, the concept was vaguely interesting, but it hadn’t really made me think “I want this.”… But now… I want this!!

  64. Subject 706 says:

    Fallout 3 should have looked like this.

  65. Freelancepolice says:

    Looks superb. Hope the gameplay systems they detailed can live up to the look of the game.

  66. phuzz says:

    Giant vagina faced monster?
    So’s your mum.

  67. Rei Onryou says:

    The old screens look aged and withered. The new ones are fresh and exciting. If they were larger, I’d have some new wallpaper for my PC. Can’t wait for this game.

    So we’ve had giant testicle monsters and vagina faced monsters. What’s next?

  68. catmorbid says:

    bah, the cell-shading cartoon effect ruins it all. Sure it was nice for prince of persia, but… I would’ve expected a more realistic style with this one, oh well… It might still be a good game, but *shrugs*.

  69. it looks bad says:

    it looks bad. This is starting to become the next homogeneous look in games.

    I think only valve got the stylized graphics part right

  70. Alex says:

    Yeah- so these screens just sold me the game. Looks awesome.

  71. Snuffles says:

    It looks fine, great even. Every single time a developer pulls out a little bit of stylization, or a little bit of cel-shading, the artistically-challenged 18-35 year olds start complaining because it’s too “cartoony” and there aren’t enough shades of brown and grey. Not bland enough for your taste? Take a hike. I for one like the new direction they’ve decided to take.

  72. Oak says:

    Did you read any of the previous comments? The response was overwhelmingly positive.

  73. Andy says:

    It does look fantastic – Kind of reminds me of something Square-Enix would do but…not quite?
    Uhm, Anyway I’d love to see some new video footage appear soon!

  74. scorchedMIRTH says:

    At least it’s not all brown now…and the game-play sounds delicious. Put me down for a copy.

  75. Ian says:

    @ Rei: The next logical step would be a bum-monster or a booby-monster*.

    * Old school Lara Croft with her knife-edge Boobage-O’-Doom doesn’t count.

  76. Sunjammer says:

    Fuck photorealism in games. That is all.

  77. Quests says:

    YEah i like me some shades of brown and grey, there IS such a thing in art as what’s too clean and glossy, good concept artists know how to begrime their works, make ‘em look coarse, maybe add some kind of aging film to the screen. But agreed, only mature people appreciate that, kids like shiny teletubbie colors.

    And naturally realism can be too glossy too. Take Bolivion and Fallout, too flat, soulless, boring, too preoccupied to be fancy and hardware demanding to look nice.

  78. Spd from Russia says:

    Sunjammer says:

    Fuck photorealism in games. That is all.

    I beg to differ, stalker`s photorealism is awesome and not boring at all.

  79. Chaz says:

    It’s got a bit of a Crackdown look about it now, but it still looks bloody nice.

    BTW is this the one with the 60 billion weapon configurations or is that a different game?

  80. Barky says:

    I like how all the objects (Humans, monsters, guns, vehiches etc) contrast against the rather plain background. It’s like someone poured skittles on a pavement.

  81. ybfelix says:

    What I love is the blue sky and the shades of bright colors… Too many games have shit-tastic yellow/brown.

  82. James T says:

    Ouch! This role-playing shooter has both shot and punched my face!

    What I love is the blue sky and the shades of bright colors… Too many games have shit-tastic yellow/brown.

    ? I’ll give you the sky, but apart from that, it’s not exactly Matisse.

    I wouldn’t go so far as to say ‘hyper-stylised’, ‘much less generic’ etc etc, either; maybe the cel-shader thing sticks out more when the game’s in motion, but from the images I’d say it’s the old gear with some outlines around it. Not that I especially care either way, but this isn’t exactly a TF2-sized stylistic jump (or, y’know, half that).

    In any case, those are some nice models, it’ll be pretty impressive if they move well. If the talk of RPG elements at least mean a breadth of strategy and a story that’s not shit, then I’m interested.

  83. apnea says:

    Alec Meer haz shouty men insides is hed.

    Apart from that, really impressed with the new stylistic turn, especially compared with the old screens (almost forgot where I’d heard about this game before – Hint: RPS).

  84. Resin says:

    I like it.

  85. Hulk Hogan says:

    It looks like someone made a cel shading mod for Fallout 3.

    HULKAMANIA!!!

  86. jeff says:

    i dont like it at all. they should change it back

  87. Jeppe says:

    Oh sh#t. why change everything into candyland. where is the Madmax feel of the Pandora…

    I couldn’t play Crackdown either ‘cos the candylike graphics… It had nice setup and gameplay, but the everythinglikecandy color was just too much.

  88. mitchel says:

    it looks like they drew a cartoon and made it a video game. it ruins the look of the in depth detail of the monsters and the thrill of the numerous amount weponary.

  89. Crispy says:

    It’s a symptom of the times we live in. Decimated society calls for decimated worlds in which to escape. It’s been a similar trend with the zombification of games (and entertainment in general).

  90. Crispy says:

    That was ain response to Binho, btw.

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