By John Walker on August 25th, 2009 at 11:51 am.
A montage of Borderlands footage has appeared at Games Trailers. It doesn’t look the most official of videos, but it contains excellent examples of the frenetic nature of the game, as well as showing off the concept art-style graphics at full speed. Borderlands is one of the games to brave the pre-Christmas storm, set to appear on the 23rd October, which is four days before my birthday and thus ideal. You can see the frantic action below.
You can read our interview with project lead Randy Pitchford here, and check out Alec’s hands on experiences with it here.
Looks fun, although some of the UI still looks pretty ugly. Also, no sign of the slightly sily guns there – all pretty conventional looking, so guess that is what you will be using most of the time.
Really hope there will be a demo.
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Did I say UI? I meant HUD, but having watched the HD version now, I don’t think it is so bad and it is at least pleasantly chrome-free.
On the other side, watching in HD means I now spotted the existence of “kill 5 rats” missions which is a little depressing.
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Seeing this game moving really does help a lot. The still pictures just don’t do it any favours at all really.
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It seems we share a birthday John, and a name also. What are the odds of that, hey?! erm, 365/1
What do I win?
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A vehicle that can drive through rocks! How pre-QA of them.
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@torchedEARTH: I spotted that as well.
I’m not interested in this game in the lightest now. It looks far too console for my liking, was that score I saw floating above peoples heads when you shot them?
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@jon – no, that was damage, in classic RPG style.
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Huh, same birthday for me too!
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Theres something beatifull of a group of players killing “rats” everyone with a different weapon. It works for L4D, it works for Killing Floor, and It may work for Borderlands, If It have some coop component…
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I have no real comment to add other than its project read will always be Randy PitchforK to me (after my initial misreading).
P.
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The numbers thing is odd. I think it will be compelling though. Sometimes bigger numbers is enough.
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This looks really lovely. The visuals really fit in well, reminds me of XIII.
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Having numbers pop up is a big deal (Scrolling combat text was a big mod before it was integrated into WoW) as it allows you to track your dps improvements in real time.
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27th October: Day of Kings.
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No one reminded of Serious Sam? This is just way too fast to be boring.
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@ Paul
Thank god I’m not the only one. I’ve always mis-think of him as Randy Pitchfork, ever since I first read interviews with him regarding BIA.
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What pre-Christmas storm? Isn’t every title announced for release this year been pushed to 2010?
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Any word on if this thing has any sort of story? Is it all grind quests, or will it go large with a epic story of aliens, outlaws and over-sized ordnance?
The earlier trailers, pre-style revamp, seemed to suggest something like this might be the case. Also, will it still have the big digger? So many unanswered questions! It’s almost like they have a team of people working to build interest and anticipation in this game!
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It’s definitely story led.
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@Jim (or John or Alec, or indeed anyone else who knows)
Is the coop full story/campaign, or is it more isolated?
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i am so excited about this i could pee.
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I’m bored as hell gaming wise right now. (playing through gta4 dating parts) talk about a dearth in games over the last year. Borderlands and Dragon Age like the only 2 games im looking forward too all year come out at nearly the same time.
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Great that it may be the constant number flashing when enemies take damage is just irritating. This ain’t a MMO we don’t care what damage we are doing as long as the bleeding thing we are shooting is dying! Add to that the the UI looks extremely OTT to the point where it looks like it’s having private rave.
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i do hate when the guy your using blocks like half the screen.
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I’m going to guess the numbers over head thing is optional, but as a post above points out, it’s a very simple way of telling the player that his gun is doing more or less damage than an alternative weapon, or if the enemy is vunerable to the type of damage being dealt. An interesting swipe from the MMO peeps.
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guy=gun
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There must be an FPS that has used numbers like that before. Or is my sense of familiarity just MMO-residue?
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I think you just use FRAPS too much.
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I’m confused by people deciding to skip the game based on this trailer – there’s nothing new here, is there? The UI looks okay, and the art style definitely holds up. Also, I’m thrilled to be reminded about the game’s iron sights. I get downright frustrated without iron sights these days; the halfass RMB “zoom” you get in games like Riddick just feels anemic even if it’s the same factor of magnification.
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That’s my birthday too! Yay, happy birthday!
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Looks awful, really really awful.
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@cheal “Looks awesome, really really awesome!” – fixed your unfortunate typos.
I’m glad my internetfriends aren’t as timid in their purchases as some those here. Can’t wait to zoom around in our buggy blowing sh*t up with 3 friends and collecting ridiculous 12 barrelled acid-shooting, missile shotguns.
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I do finally have a real comment to add now that I watched the video; I really do hope the game’s options including a “Minimised HUD” checkbox, as ALL THOSE CONSTANT NUMBERS are really distracting.
P.
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Still looks great to me, though the vehicle combat looks a bit weak.
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hmm, i cant see most of the action because the stupid iron sights mode is blocking most of the screen
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the weapons take a lot of screen when they are in normal mode too, why would they hide the action like this ? just to show off their procedural weapons ? meh
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I am pretty sure that the numbers above enemies thing was mentioned in the RPS article that was written when Borderlands changed the art-style into what it is now. I have definitely read it on this very site before.
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worst advertisment campaign I’ve seen so far imo. you don’t have any impression of what the game is about. is there story ? can you interact with NPCs beside shoot them ? is everything random generated meaning boring repetetive outdoors for 80% of the game and some mission-hubs with proper maps ? If my weapons are important for damage and everything is rpg-stat driven underneath, should it then NOT have a “super easy arcade” mode like Bayonetta will get. hold a button and the character shoots for ya, it’s only stats in the background aint they ? I predict even more shallowness than Wolfenstein or the worst and most misleading advertisement ever.
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mmm… preordered =D
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@Jim
Not an FPS as such (FPSRPG seems so cimbersome though) but Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines also did this.
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My enthusiasm for the game is lessened with this trailer. The lack of color differentiation in the actual gameplay footage makes it very hard to tell who is who and what is what. In order words, LESS GRAY PLEASE.
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Liked it, hope you can turn the numbers off though.
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Re: HUD
The HUD seems designed to work with old and cheap Low Definition TV’s, these old TV’s with round corners that don’t show all the lines. Is a artifact of very old, ugly and lame console technology. I hope for the PC version the gui items are moved to the corners, since in a monitor, we don’t lost lines. Monitor != very bad old TV’s.
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@ Jim, not exactly an FPS again, but Tabula Rasa had the floaty head numbers.
As for the game, something about this video makes me worry a little.
Doesn’t look terrible, just gives me bad Tabula Rasa messy-combat vibes. Looks a little like the early L4D videos from 2006, before they cleaned the whole thing up a bit.
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the numbers
aggghhkkk!
/cancels pre-order
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im pretty sure theyll add an option to hide feedback, some ppl are just scared of rpgs and prefer not to see them
but yeah, i think the game really needs UI tweak options, between numbers, the weapon taking 1/4 of the screen (1/2 if you zoom in) and the stylized graphics you can barelly see anything
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@hahaha: I remenber Serius Sam. I remneber it too late to add it to my other comment (the send button was already pressed).. I have some sessions with other 3 friends doing SS in coop.
Anyway, is coop confirmed for Borderlands?
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I really hope I didn’t just see the car go straight through those rocks at about 30 seconds…
Yep. I did.
Sigh.
Ah well, I’m sure it’ll have it’s merits as a Game That You Play At Two In The Morning With Some Drunk Friends.
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@Mike
You too? That was the first thing I thought of when I watched the trailer, and I thought I’d never see another cel-shaded shooter.
I find lately I’m leaning more and more toward the colourful, stylistic art approaches, as I’m just finding them more appealing. Champions Online has some of the most amazing visuals I’ve seen in years and seeing that there are other games — like Borderlands — which use an incredibly similar style, I see hope in the future of the PC mainstream.
In my opinion, realistic just fails compared to this stylistic, outlined look, and that’s why Borderlands dropped it. Now if only we could have more incredibly colourful, stylised, outlined games.
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Who knew floating numbers could be so controversial?
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Can’t bloody wait.
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Everytime I see a trailer for this, I keep thinking “That looks just like Warsow…” But looking at how many people seem to think the art is innovative, I feel like I’m the only person who ever played it.
That’s not saying I don’t like the art; I love it. The cartoony style really makes it easier to spot enemies quickly, and you aren’t left shooting at a brown blob hiding behind a slightly darker brown blob.
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@Paul Moloney
“I do finally have a real comment to add now that I watched the video; I really do hope the game’s options including a “Minimised HUD” checkbox, as ALL THOSE CONSTANT NUMBERS are really distracting.”
Yup, I agree with that…
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Seems too much addressed to console action-retards.
Those(like this TotalBiscuit there) who play videogames to “blow shit up”.
Frustrated anger, i’d say.
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I don’t like the black outlines and the DX:IW style HUD. I do like the numbers, though, probably because of some oldschool SNES action-adventure flashbacks.
Meh?
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I really don’t mind the numbers, plus when you find an awesome randomly generated weapon that does shed loads of damage, you can be like “Whoah! Massive numbers!”
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Even if I somehow weren’t excited about this game, which is impossible for me, I would still buy it to support the push toward games developed with co-op in mind instead of as an after thought add-on. I say its impossible because with the exception of Diablo III, no other game has gotten me so amped up to play with my friends than this in a long time.
I think far too many people are focusing on the wrong things. This game is clearly meant to be fun and feed the addictions of those Diablo-spawned treasure hoarders, not to test your crazy skills, or push the boundaries of the FPS or the RPG.
I imagine this will take over my small-scale lan parties until D3 comes out. So I am pleased.
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I wonder if that clip’s from the console version, the FPS seems a bit low. It’s particularly noticable on the reloading animations.
Anyway, Howard’s right, the game looks worlds better in motion than it does in still frames. I was already interested conceptually, but was struggling a bit with the art style. I’m not struggling anymore, which is nice. I’m not sure WHEN I’ll buy this, but there’s no longer an “if” in there.
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Found the answer to my earlier question from the offical Borderlands forums.
Which sounds great. Provided it plays well, could definitley be me and my friend’s on vent game of choice for a bit.
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MEH
Looks like a regular fps
but i hope the rpg elements will make it better
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“I really hope I didn’t just see the car go straight through those rocks at about 30 seconds…
Yep. I did.
Sigh.”
Yeah, fuck this game, you can clip right through rocks!
What the fuck is wrong with you people?
I love the art myself, and the game looks like good shooty fun with 3 friends.
I swear to God this game could give you a free coke every day and people would bitch it wasn’t Pepsi.
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the UI looks NAAWSTY but still, I was undecided before, but now it looks GREAT.
Methinks I shall get it :P
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I hate Pepsi and wouldn’t drink it if it were free. I do anticipate this game and will play it even though I have to pay for it. Bless free enterprise!
I like the numbers, love the art, and would hope for some UI customization. Even if I can’t turn things I dislike off and move other things to where I want, I think I can still have a good bit of shooty fun with my friends. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Having fun in the game, the more friends around the merrier, unless we want to go it alone? This is, currently, the only must buy game I have for 4th quarter. DA:O is very close, though…
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Sorry, but that rock-clipping is actually pretty worrying. If they can’t get something like that right, which is pretty much expected in any contemporary release–just like bodies no longer being bisected by walls if a slain enemy happens to fall next to one–then I fret over what other ‘insignificant’ oversights they might have made. Also, what if players can walk through the same rock? What if they can crouch, hiding in the rock and snipe without being seen?
I don’t think anyone’s jumping to conclusions here. I understand that we’ll be lucky if the occasional (and hopefully unintentional) breaking of the continuity and believability of the environment, where other rocks or physical objects are solid, is the only problem the game has. If so, I’ll be delighted. But it’ll still bug me.
Doesn’t mean I’m canceling my pre-order. Only now I’m going to be going into the game with my expectations slightly lowered. Which, in the long run, might be a good thing.
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What the hell is all the crap on the screen? Is it what passes as a UI these days? Holy crap, it will feel like playing Quake while surfing the net!
Can we add RSS feeds in the game or something?
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@Shalrath: Who in their right mind prefers Pepsi?
Anyway, looks quite fun. Nothing too complicated, nothing too serious. I’m not sure how old this footage is and whether it’s from their latest build or not, but it’s certainly possible things will change somewhat.
Now I’m not one to deny people’s criticism on games, but this is just one trailer. It’s easy to point out what you don’t like but that doesn’t mean you’ll dislike the final product. Or am I just being too optimistic here? If not, then patience may be useful. News will come forth.
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@Jim Rossignol “There must be an FPS that has used numbers like that before. Or is my sense of familiarity just MMO-residue?”
Call of Duty 4 Arcade Mode? :P
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“Sorry, but that rock-clipping is actually pretty worrying. If they can’t get something like that right, which is pretty much expected in any contemporary release–just like bodies no longer being bisected by walls if a slain enemy happens to fall next to one–then I fret over what other ‘insignificant’ oversights they might have made.”
I am willing to put every penny I own down on the fact that there is no game with a world of approximately this size that does not have that problem. In fact, lets run through games I’ve played recently that do: Fallout 3? Check. Mass Effect? Check. Stalker? Check. WoW? Check. Section 8? Check.
Seriously, the idea that small, C/D class bugs somehow meaning there will be a tonne of A bugs is ridiculous.
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