Gearbox have released the first in what purports to be a series of making-of clips for Borderlands, starring the comedy robot, Claptrap. In this opening skit it seems that Claptrap might be not-so-gently mocking the ill-tempered Christian Bale, while also revealing that monster stats in Borderlands will be procedurally generated, just like the guns. Go take a look…
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I want more Steve.
Steve better be in the game!
“Bloodlines, Deus Ex, System Shock 2, all outstanding games without ‘pin point accuracy, location-based damage and tight responsiveness’”
Deus Ex required accuracy, had location based damage, and certainly required fast responsiveness in some areas. If I were to compare Deus Ex to a pure FPS rather than a hybrid, I would place it close to Counter-strike, rather than Quake or UT.
Borderlands doesn’t tickle the fancy of people who are still hoping someone will make a worthy successor to Deus Ex (Bioshock had crap combat dynamics, but otherwise came close and was still a good game) because it has dumbed down both aspects of it. The RPG aspects have moved in the diablo direction, away from the D&D area (cRPG vs RPG), and the shooter aspects have moved from the tactical slow paced FPS closer to the fast paced bunny hopping spam of Quake 3.
People have moved on from Quake/UT. UT3 was great fun, but flopped because that style of game is no longer in demand, and I think a valid criticism of Borderlands is that it doesn’t look to have moved on like the rest of the industry.
The game looks moderately interesting, but I don’t think it’s going to hold the attention of many past the initial release.
Oh my god, that made my morning. SO MUCH WANT FOR THIS GAME.
Thanks Mesmertron – it’s juvenile, but it’s sharp and witty juvenile. And very stylishly done.
I didn’t get the Christian Bale reference. Presumably, that was the 90% of the video where the actor flipped out and acted like a complete dick?
So no, it wasn’t particularly funny, at least not after the Steve-in-front-of-greenscreen bit. I still am hopeful about the game though.
I’m guessing most people are annoyed by it because it’s yet another not-so-clever parody of the Christian Bale thing which is really old and played out by now.
@Woppin – you didn’t read what was said. Deus Ex did not require pin-point accuracy (and didn’t give it to you either due to the artificial, stats-based way the cone-of-fire system worked), it’s locational damage beyond YOUR character was limited to ‘head/everything else’ and we’re not talking about ‘rapid reactions’ when we say ‘tight responsiveness’. It was not pixel perfect, not even close, it was an FPSRPG and that’s the point so I don’t see any need to split hairs over the issue.
@Cvnk folks are annoyed because have ludicriously high expectations these days. It’s a sharp, well produced piece with high production values. Since it’s not the cutting edge of comedy however, we’d better dismiss it and pee on it in the process, lest we look ‘juvenile’.
HAYOOOO
It was pretty funny. I think the Boom Mic Routine was a bit overplayed. Actually, I think the dialog at the end, during the credits, was the best part of the video. El oh El; Christian Bale.
-Snuffles
I especially like the part where they’re using a greenscreen, but he actually kills the other actor. Good stuff.
I’d only ever heard about the Christian Bale thing second hand. I did go look it up on Youtube after watching this.
I think the humour stands on its own, without having been exposed (saturated?) with the object being parodied.
And to me that’s just another point in its favour – if the joke can still exist independently of the host organism, then yes – it is life, Jim, but not as we know it.
@sebmojo: I always think of Monty Python in situations like this. The Pythons were increadibly silly, sometimes childishly so, and yet they were all Oxbridge educated sophisticates. Chapman was an MD! Maturity does not necessitate frumpiness.
Immature games with adult content: Soldier of Fortune 3, Fallout 3, the ressurected Leisure Suit Larry games, Lula 3D.
Mature games with very silly content: World of Goo, Fallout 2, Call of Duty 4 (this is stretching it a bit, but come on, they quoted “Airplane!”).
It remains to be seen which camp Borderlands will fall into. All we know so far is that Borderlands is a bit camp. It’s still got my preorder either way.
@TotalBiscuit
You can make a point and not be hyperbolic in the process.
That being said I agree with a couple sane people above: Not funny. Just my opinion though. Still looking forward to this game. Hopefully future vids will be as humorous as I’ve seen in previous trailers and mentions in the press.
The delivery of the line “I like you N’ALL, but this is the last time we work together,” had just the right amount of venom to be funny.
The original Christian Bale version just made me fear for the lighting guy’s chances of making rent that month.
Wait…when did we all stop liking “Quake” style gameplay? I wasn’t informed of this. Guess I’ll have to delete unreal from my computer as well. And someone should let everyone know over at QuakeLive.
“Quake” style gameplay is still fun and has it’s place in gaming. Especially in a game like Borderlands.
Not me, I’m on Quake Live every week.
Yeah, what the Hell? Quake’s design still works a treat.
Not a fan of swearing, but that was funny. Borderlands looks good, so far.
Brilliant
Great. The comments thread is making me want a FPS where all the characters talk like PG Wodehouse characters.
Genuinely very funny.
I’ll go with mildly amusing. I don’t feel strongly one way or the other, but I don’t think it being “juvenile” has anything to do with it.
I hated Search For The Holy Grail, have you seen that crap?
Seriously, although I’m not comparing the two now, let’s actually do that.
All Monty Python films are based on two types of humour: Situational, and bathroom humour. The amount of fart jokes ALONE must absolutely DESTROY you people.
Why the fuck can you not just have fun for fun’s sake? They made a joke about a viral video that went around – fucking hang them! Having a tiny robot freak out, while a guy in the background shouts “HIYOOOO!” and shoots people – won’t someone think of the children?
If you want some kind of mind blowing humour, go watch Fox News. If you want to play a game that is BIZARRELY focused on amusing the player through over-the-top everything, check out borderlands.
If you want to be a total snobbish dick who couldn’t find humour without a laughtrack from Frasier, then more power to you. Just don’t claim it’s ‘juvenile’ because we don’t discover the inner meaning of happiness.
Jesus Christ…
GARFIELD IS NOT FUNNY!!
Another encouraging point of data in a long, long pile-up of encouraging things. Decently funny, too.
You know whose humor was pretty much all gutter mouthed sex joke?
Shakespeare. That’s who.
On the other hand, Doug Adams said most of his jokes were crappy.
Different strokes for different folks. Can’t say I laughed out loud, but I did enjoy it, lots of fun little touches like the blood smear not being completely wiped off the camera lens, etc. All enjoyable silly fun imho.
I’d say roughly the same about the monkey island games as well, yet there’d be folks who’d hang you for daring to say that Monkey Island series is amusing instead of laugh out loud funny.
The locals in the office all enjoyed this for what it was meant to be: a good laugh at a parody with a nice shout-out to the procedurally generated content. A little too much hyperbole going on in the comments, sadly.
Looking forward to Borderlands, and I’ll play the hell out of it when it gets here.
~I
I’ll bet Toni is just the life of the party. You’re a funny guy! All the bitterness and hyperanalysis must be a joke right? Maybe you should kick it up a notch and write a column called “The Angriest Man in Holloway.” Or Austin, or wherever. I hope you know the popcultural hint or you simply cannot enjoy this joke.
I love the idea of high-concept video games too, like Phillip Glass and Andy Warhol will settle down for a nice round of Team Fortress 2 and have a good chuckle, but Borderlands is just _gauche_. Say, Julian Schnabel, would you care to play some Braid with us?
I kind of agree about the comedy here: the timing is off and the punchlines fall flat. Could do better.
As for the game: can’t wait.
<3 Steve
HAIYOO!
Gearbox have got their tongues firmly in their cheeks and are having fun with their creation… Whether you find the particular humour funny or not is down to you, personally. Comedy is a highly subjective thing, you can’t expect them to appeal to everyone’s unique funny bone.
What they are showing, as a company, is that they even have a sense of humour, period. That’s an increasingly rare thing in the gaming world these days; you wouldn’t even get this kind of idea to an initial discussion in companies like EA or SCE, – the marketing and legal folk would bitchsmack it straight out of the room with you not too far behind.
Did I find it funny? Not particularly; I didn’t laugh, though I cracked a smile when I realised just how seriously it wasn’t taking itself. I am encouraged by it, if only for being a tiny fragment of insight into how Gearbox operate internally. That has a huge effect on the calibre of employees it can attract and keep – that includes the developers, writers, designers, artists and testers that are so crucial in making a good idea into a great game, and a great idea into gaming legend.
Sure, that doesn’t necessarily mean this particular game is destined for greatness. It may not even be any even good. But in an industry whose core revolves around providing enjoyment and entertainment, it certainly never does any harm to have a playful side…
I cannot fucking wait for this game. Usually randomizing game elements and mechanics is a huge turnoff for me because that’s usually preceded by general blandness and non-uniqueness. This on the other hand, seems to be oozing with originality and using random generation to acheive things that wouldn’t be possible any other way. This is what making fucking games is all about. Pushing the envelope.
Whether it works or not in action remains to be seen.
holy grail is shite. yeah I said it.
this game is on preorder as of now.
Shalrath : I actually find Frasier to be very funny . . .
I like the Monty Python type humor, to be honest I like pretty much ANY type of humor other than that uncomfortable kind you get from creepy people where they make semi-sexual jokes where you’re not really sure if they’re being serious or not. Other than that I can laugh at almost anything .( I watch some witty British shows on KET from time to time like “Keeping up Appearances” and often find myself laughing my arse off)
I finally got to watch the trailer now that I’m home from work and I have to say it was VERY funny, not sure what everyone is talking about.
Jim: Maybe it’s a cultural thing? I’m a former colonial, so I’ve got a very hybrid sense of humor these days. If i stay here much longer, I may even learn to enjoy puns…
And for the record – I watched the trailer again from home last night, and the comedy value is starting to wear off. (smiles instead of chuckles now), but I can’t wait for the next one. Or for the game.
NO STARS
I actually laughed more the second time I watched it because I noticed the robot seemed to say “He’s eatting my cervix”
The two youtube videos from the PAX presentation were far more interesting. They somehow vindicated that I preordered a copy already. Even if the game falls flat on its face I think Gearbox should be rewarded for taking a risk.
Now I need to somehow to dampen my excitement until I can actually play it…