By Jim Rossignol on September 12th, 2009 at 2:59 pm.
The latest Borderlands trailer is turgid with game footage: terrain, buildings, vehicles, bad-dudes, ‘splosions. It also takes an opportunity to introduce the four characters, with the soldier seemingly being all about guns, the siren doing stealth and area-of-effect stuff (possibly?), the hunter doing headshots, and Brick having some bolt-encrusted fists. Four-player co-op is the new two-player co-op, it seems. And I’m firmly in the pro camp on that art style. I even wrote an article about it.
12/09/2009 at 15:03 CMaster says:
Now that one makes the game look pretty good.
12/09/2009 at 15:24 Professor says:
I gotta say, the graphics do look fantastic.
12/09/2009 at 15:28 aruwen says:
haha, looks fun enough to try in 4p coop.
And I first thought i heard the heavy from TF2 speaking in the beginning ;)
12/09/2009 at 15:35 pignoli says:
“If videogames want to be taken seriously as art, then they need to be art.”
This is absolutely spot-on, Jim. Fuck all these grey-brown occupants of uncanny valley constantly pushed upon us in some ludicrous drive to ape reality. Lets have more bravery in artistic direction. If games are art, they need to be created by the ‘artists’ not by way of taking said artists vision and twisting it into a game. The art should be the game itself, not merely a precursor to it. Let them have control and tell them to go nuts.
12/09/2009 at 15:39 wesley says:
The more I see of this, the more I gape and drool a bit.
And I don’t even play FPSes.
The art style, trailers and all-around personality of this title is a huge WIN. I hope they make bucketloads of cash.
12/09/2009 at 15:39 MunnyFan says:
What’s the deal with those censored-flags?
Are they just there because there’s no age verification at the beginning?
That would be kind of stupid, if the game is aimed at a mature audience, anyway.
12/09/2009 at 15:44 Schmung says:
This looks like a hoot.
12/09/2009 at 15:48 The Hammer says:
Oh wow. That was a pretty entertaining trailer. I DEFINITELY think I’ll be partaking in some of this, when it comes out. Looks love.
12/09/2009 at 15:51 Some Guy says:
i hope the cencor things are not in the game.
12/09/2009 at 15:53 Jim Rossignol says:
I’m pretty sure that’s just trailer silliness. It does seem to be super-imposed on the footage.
12/09/2009 at 15:53 Sonic Goo says:
“some ludicrous drive to ape reality.”
I wouldn’t mind a game set in ape reality. :)
12/09/2009 at 15:53 Knight Of Cydonia says:
Daddy like.
12/09/2009 at 16:03 Waneta says:
I’m working really hard not to get my expectations up for this game, everything I see (especially the Quentin Tarantino-ish trailer) makes it look awesome. My hope is it will be what Hellgate should have been. My fear is it will be what Hellgate ended up being.
12/09/2009 at 16:05 ChampionHyena says:
I can only be so skeptical in the face of so much unadulterated awesome.
12/09/2009 at 16:08 rei says:
I got some faint Firefly vibes from that. I enjoyed it.
12/09/2009 at 16:10 nine says:
any idea what’s the first song?
12/09/2009 at 16:23 Vinraith says:
Any word on whether, say, 2p co-op works out alright? If I’m going to play co-op to I HAVE to dredge up three other people with the game? Because that’s likely to be a problem.
12/09/2009 at 16:25 Jim Bob says:
the song is by cage the elephant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkvlRQ3Ce_U
12/09/2009 at 16:25 Jim Rossignol says:
As I understand it the campaign can be played single player, and other people simply join your campaign (up to three more) for increased carnage. I may be wrong. however.
12/09/2009 at 16:25 Griffinheart says:
That’s the first I’ve seen of the game that actually made me want it…
12/09/2009 at 16:28 Vinraith says:
@Jim Rossignol
And then it would presumably scale like Diablo? That’d be the ideal system from my perspective, so I hope you’re right.
12/09/2009 at 16:31 Jim Rossignol says:
Yes, the idea is FPS Diablo, I think. At least I hope it pans out like that.
12/09/2009 at 16:43 Vinraith says:
@Jim Rossignol
Me too. If it does it’s certainly going to be a fast purchase for me, possibly one of the few full-price buys I’ll make this fall.
You’ve been busy for a Saturday, btw. It’s nice to have some substantial reading on a weekend!
12/09/2009 at 16:51 Junior says:
I’m getting excited about this, I’ve been hankering for something to scratch that Diablo itch.
Lillith WON’T be allowed to join my game however unless she can start looking like she gives a damn, or she’s having fun, or anything other than botox face really.
12/09/2009 at 17:27 Matt says:
I see 0 emotion in the characters faces, looks a little amateurish from that perspective
12/09/2009 at 17:27 TotalBiscuit says:
Fuck yes.
12/09/2009 at 17:28 TotalBiscuit says:
@Matt why the hell would you ever be looking at the character’s face? This isn’t Second Life.
12/09/2009 at 17:47 Tei says:
OH NOES, It seems I have to pre-order this :-( :-) :-/ :-I :-D
12/09/2009 at 18:09 Heliosicle says:
I WANT SNIPER MAN.
and this game.
12/09/2009 at 18:26 suibhne says:
“Lillith WON’T be allowed to join my game however unless she can start looking like she gives a damn, or she’s having fun, or anything other than botox face really.”
Yeah, her face definitely looks a lot more…drugged-out or even catatonic than the others. I hope they each have some ‘tude, honestly. Part of L4D’s appeal is the personalities of the four characters, even if they’re pretty limited, and it would be nice to get a similar connection here. Otoh, I’m pretty sure Pitchford said in a past interview that these four are only archetypes, and that we’ll be able to choose to customize those archetypes a bit for our own gameplay. Seems like they might be an odd mixture of “characters” and “classes”, so I’m interested to see how this ends up.
12/09/2009 at 18:30 Bobsy says:
Hmmm. Thing is, my interest vu-meter wobbles precariously the more unsure I get about character customisation. I’ve been working under the assumption that you can pretty much make your character your own, but am plagued with doubts by the media Gearbox have been releasing, which all feature the exact same characters over and over.
12/09/2009 at 18:34 Nick says:
Hey guys if anybody wants to join a team email me your xbox live account name to XxTeamBorderlandsxX@yahoo.com and you will be added to our team list. You’ll be given all the teams live accounts and be introduced to many players. Its free and anybody can join. And yes I gotta say the art style is pretty F*n amazing. This game is like the perfect game that I’ve always wanted. Thanks for reading hope to see you soon and happy gaming.. Peace.
12/09/2009 at 18:36 Nick says:
Hey guys if anybody wants to join a team email me your xbox live account name to XxTeamBorderlandsxX@yahoo.com and you will be added to our team list. You’ll be given all the teams live accounts and be introduced to many players. Its free and anybody can join. And yes I gotta say the art style is pretty amazing. This game is like the perfect game that I’ve always wanted. Thanks for reading hope to see you soon and happy gaming.. Peace.
12/09/2009 at 18:37 TheJimTimMan says:
I seem to remember there being a claim that the co-op would be cross-platform. Any word on this still being the case, or such been dropped for the final version?
12/09/2009 at 18:41 Vinraith says:
Xbox/PC cross platform? Uh oh, does that mean this is a “Games for Windows Live” title?
12/09/2009 at 18:45 Jim Rossignol says:
Probably.
12/09/2009 at 18:50 Nick says:
Gosh darn it.
12/09/2009 at 18:50 Quine says:
Any word on split-screen co-op? Is it in? Does it work?
Might have to try and wire a couple of PS3s together somehow for some 3-4 player action if that’s possible. Can you do local crosslink stuff or would it be via a central server?
12/09/2009 at 18:52 Quine says:
Sorry- forgot this was a PC-centric place for a moment there.
As you were…
12/09/2009 at 18:52 Gabanski83 says:
Dunno why, but the article image up there at the top made me think of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLKvponqV4Q
I love my brick.
12/09/2009 at 18:53 Vinraith says:
A GfWL label means this goes from a day one purchase to something I pick up when it drops to 50% MSRP or below. Damn.
12/09/2009 at 19:04 Guy says:
Filthy pelvic thrusts are awesome.
12/09/2009 at 19:06 Nick says:
Yeah.. all games need a pelvic thrust button.
12/09/2009 at 19:23 Michael Hughes says:
Yo Jim, it is not a Games for Windows title, thankfully. This was confirmed by one Brad Shoemaker of giantbomb.com fame on the Giant Bombcast a few weeks ago, as well as in this write-up: http://www.giantbomb.com/news/fine-im-playing-borderlands-on-a-pc/1671/
12/09/2009 at 19:36 Wooly says:
TotalBiscuit says:
“@Matt why the hell would you ever be looking at the character’s face?”
And in the game, too!
12/09/2009 at 19:36 Low Quality Beard says:
I’ve heard this game has no character customization and all the item drops are weapons, not armor or accessories, is this true?
12/09/2009 at 19:43 Vinraith says:
@Michael Hughes
That’s very good to hear, thanks for the information!
@Low Quality Beard
IIRC there are shield pick-ups and other “enhancements” though I don’t know details. I have no idea about character customization, though suibhne’s post above seems to indicate that there will at least be a little.
12/09/2009 at 19:45 Arca says:
@Vinraith:
Well it’s already over half way there (28~29% off) on Amazon and Play.com! :P
12/09/2009 at 19:48 Vinraith says:
@Arca
Fortunately it’s apparently not GfWL after all, so my statement no longer applies. That said, discounts are always welcome! I might pre-order off Amazon once the release gets a bit closer.
12/09/2009 at 19:53 l1ddl3monkey says:
WANT.
12/09/2009 at 20:22 Optimaximal says:
Possibly not… It might be an option, just like it is in Brutal Legend (violence can be turned off, instead replaced with music-style ‘parental advisory’ notices which cover up the gore)
12/09/2009 at 20:49 autogunner says:
dont be put off by the lack of facial animation – its a fast paced fps so I doubt you will spend much time staring at other characters
12/09/2009 at 21:04 jameskond says:
Wait, so where is the poll RPS? ;D
Anyway I would go Soldier, cause damn turrets are awesome ^^
12/09/2009 at 21:20 JadedGamer says:
How did they do that comic style dark outline around shapes and objects? That looks amazing to me.
Also how is the healing role handled in this game? Is it TF 2 Medic style or do you dispense medkits?
12/09/2009 at 21:24 FinDude says:
Potential hipthrust detected.
Proceed for immediate purchase.
12/09/2009 at 21:25 Corbeau says:
Having seen the game at PAX, I can assure you that those censorship icons are not ingame. ;)
12/09/2009 at 21:37 BadPixel says:
Wow, it looks phenomenal in terms of style, it’s like a ‘grown up’ tf2. To me it looks like a kind of Vampire The Masquerade bred with Fallout and possibly Quake. I’m going to be keeping a keen eye on this, keen, like a fox.
12/09/2009 at 22:05 Torgen says:
Hope I can add this to Steam so we can use the RPS group there to get cop-op games going.
12/09/2009 at 22:05 DarkNoghri says:
That music (at least at the beginning) reminds me of Cowboy Bebop. This is NOT a bad thing.
I also heard the heavy screaming early on. And at the end. “MOOORRREEEE.” Probably not him, but similar.
Interest level going up.
12/09/2009 at 22:08 Persus-9 says:
@ Bobsy: I recall reading or hearing Pitchford (I think) saying that character wise the 3D models are restricted to just those four and there’s no customisable armour or anything of that nature but you’ll be able to customise the skins so you can change the colour of your Brick’s cloths and such like so if you’re playing with three other Brick’s you will be able to tell who is who. I found that a little disappointing but not a deal breaker for me.
@ JadedGamer: I know there are some guns with healing bullets because they featured in a video presentation I saw a while back. You can also heal people by standing next to them and selecting to heal them in something like L4D style but I’m not sure if that requires a skill or a medkit or both or what, it was just something else that featured in a video but they didn’t explain exactly how it worked. I believe that Lilith can also do area of effect healing spells but don’t quote me on that.
12/09/2009 at 23:21 RyePunk says:
So we won’t be healing by bathing in the blood of the hordes of enemies that die at our feet?
Disappointing.
Still high on list of things to buy in october.
12/09/2009 at 23:55 Anfhann says:
I’ve watched this trailer 13 times. That is all.
13/09/2009 at 00:04 Tei says:
I will not buy the game if have the Microsoft game browser.
If theres a dev here, please NOT destroy your game with that horrible cumbersome totally embeded on the OS software. Please. If you wany my money, please. I want to buy your game, but IF I see the stupid Microsoft logo, I will not do it.
13/09/2009 at 01:22 ZomBuster says:
Haven´t noticed Mordecai´s knife he hold on his back before.
Some good ol’ chop-chop is always nice.
13/09/2009 at 04:59 AnticipationOfANewLoversArrival says:
Pretty sure there will be two purchases at my house, as it fulfills both my wife’s requirements for MP games as well as mine. She can play a girl, I can play a hulking menace and it has full coop campaign goodness for both of us.
@Jadedgamer: It’s a variation on cel-shading and is implemented with a post-process pixel shader. Generally it replaces color-data per pixel using a filter. The post-process creates the tracing line around mesh edge vertices.
The nVidia shaderlibrary has examples of both, look for “toonshadow” for the color effect and the “scene linedraw” shader for the edge tracing post-effect.
13/09/2009 at 06:59 Arnulf says:
Regarding G4FW Live criticisms.
The worst thing about it is its name. I’ve got two Windows Live titles, and it is not intrusive at all. If you wish you can pull the icon onto the desktop and ignore the browser or the in-game overlay completely.
If Gearbox wants to distribute downloadable content it’s probably the easiest route to take.
If you don’t want to see it at all, then get it for the ps3. The last I heard was that the thing dropped in price.
13/09/2009 at 08:19 -Spooky- says:
@Jim
FPS Diablo like Hellgate: London? *pff* I hope Gearbox will go a better way withhin the community.
13/09/2009 at 08:42 Tei says:
@Arnulf: lol.
13/09/2009 at 09:24 Davie says:
Hell. Yes.
I’ve always wanted a game like this, a sci-fi story in a desert environment with a sort of Western feel…
This should be amazing.
13/09/2009 at 11:11 Jad says:
Again, when it comes to custom characterization: when you hear about the next Half-Life game, will you be greatly disappointed if you can’t change Gordon Freeman’s appearance or clothes during gameplay? No? Good. Then don’t complain about this game.
Seriously, I think that FPS crossed with a bit of Diablo is the correct approach to take here. In Diablo, you could change you character’s items, you could change your character’s skills, in a very broad way, but true RPG/MMO customization, no way. And that was fine. That wasn’t what you expected.
So don’t get crazy disappointed if this game has customization somewhere in between Gordon Freeman and Diablo. Any more than that and consider it a bonus.
13/09/2009 at 12:43 drewski says:
I had no interest in this title but dammit, you’ve convinced me.
13/09/2009 at 13:08 DMJ says:
I can’t get enough of that art style. Someone took a risk and it’s paying off.
13/09/2009 at 13:12 Casimir's Blake says:
The newest posted vid of Borderlands seems to be this “making-of sketch”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK4SJHK6eXE
Looks like Gearbox have been taking lessons from Valve (e.g. Meet The Spy)… shock horror, a dev studio trying to inject some humour and personality into their game… and succeeding?
Bethesda, stop suing people and GET A HINT.
13/09/2009 at 15:05 lePooch says:
@Waneta
Thanks, your mention of Hellgate just ruined my day for me. Now all I can think of is how that went from a brilliant concept to a megagrind to a “bye now, no refunds” situation.
And of course, comparisons to Borderlands mean that I will probably wait and see before buying this. Especially when you read articles about a supposedly broken trade interface(the GiantBomb article linked above). Fool me once and all that claptrap.
13/09/2009 at 19:15 A Delicate Balance says:
Oh dear. And I had thought DiRT2, Beatles Rock Band and L4D2 would be my only gaming purchases in the remains of this year. Now I have to sell a kidney.
13/09/2009 at 20:57 Bunny says:
Aye, it’s a damn shame about Siren’s face. At least Brick’s perpetually-frozen face looks appropriate for the setting. I mean, he looks like he’s about to eat someones face off. She looks like she got bored waiting for her Myspace pics to load.
That said, I LOVE the art style overall, and this game looks SO MUCH fun. I’ll definitely be playing Brick, though.
13/09/2009 at 21:10 inanimotion says:
Love that song. Nice trailer, though it did remind me a bit of TF2
14/09/2009 at 02:05 luminosity says:
The explosions / lightning effects seemed a little out of place given the (wonderful) art style. Didn’t really seem to fit in. Is that just me?
14/09/2009 at 03:03 Stromko says:
Waneta says: “I’m working really hard not to get my expectations up for this game, everything I see (especially the Quentin Tarantino-ish trailer) makes it look awesome. My hope is it will be what Hellgate should have been. My fear is it will be what Hellgate ended up being.”
Quoted for truth. That’s exactly how I feel about Borderlands, so I’m just gonna steal your nice, concise description instead of writing eight paragraphs about it. Again.
14/09/2009 at 11:28 Choca says:
The Siren is actually a Stealth specialist (well she was last time I played the game anyway)n the “blue thingy power” she does makes her invisible and really fast for a while and IIRC she stunned everyone in a radius when the things was turned off.
14/09/2009 at 11:31 Jim Rossignol says:
@ -spooky- I hope so too!
22/10/2009 at 20:57 suibhne says:
I wanted to show off this trailer to a clanmate, and it looks like the video no longer exists. Just, you know, fyi.
And yes, the ad plays fine, so the problem is probably not on my end. ;)
22/10/2009 at 21:00 Jim Rossignol says:
Odd, works fine for me.