Before Borderlands 2 had even been officially announced, I had already downloaded the original from Games on Demand, and started on my adventure again. Then came the announcement of the long-awaited sequel. The one thing myself, and the people I play with have debated in great detail, as well as one of the hottest gaming topics online, is that the game was broken and the second needed to be fixed. I agree to a certain extent, but in my opinion, not much needs to be done at all.
Anyone who was sucked in by Gearbox’s 2009 smash-hit knows that there are all sorts of ways to hack, mod, and right out cheat the game, doing things that the devs may not have intended. But as a fan of the game I tell you that these little details are one of the main reasons that Borderlands had such a broad appeal — freedom. Everything from item duplication, to loot farming, Borderlands had about every cheap ass way to gain whatever you could possibly want, whether it be legitimately, or illegitimately. But you see the difference between this game, and any other seeming standard RPG is simple, and can be summed up in one, memorable word: LOOT!
After your initial playthrough and then your definite second, you’ve come far enough to realize that looting is one of the awesomest things that Borderlands has to offer, and it is unending. With some of it is some of the rarest, and most intriguing weapons and items I’ve seen in any game of this calibre.
Part of the replay value for me, is going back and trying to find your perfect, rare weapon, and wielding it until the next. When you get one that is, and these weapons come few and far between. Borderlands’ rare items are exactly that, really rare, and it’s nice to have the choice and progression throughout. The immense amount of items you’ll knowingly, and unknowingly pick-up will often lead to you disregarding weapons that are actually top-notch. By accident sale something, giving it away, or just plain dropping it. Yes, the act of weapon farming Crawmerax occasionally generates rare weapons that may be a bit too broken. All the things I just mentioned make the game broken for some, but I have spent multiple hours enjoying it with LIVE friends just for the sheer fun and hilarity, just to see what we could find. Or sometimes power-leveling a friend, yet another ‘broken’ feature that just adds to the overall experience.
I realize hat you maybe thinking to yourself: “that Eric’s a lousy cheater!”, but I’m really not. I loath people who cheat, ruining a game experience for self satisfaction. But one of the charming things about Borderlands, is that you share everything, with everyone. Gold, XP, and weapon drops are shared with all, so in theory it doesn’t ruin the game for anyone, since everyone is equal, and in the process it lets you have the edge when playing with someone of a higher level. Yes, Gearbox could put a curve on all of this trickery somehow, but to take it all out would be insane. Think about it the now classic experience, all the crazy broken things in the game, the replay value; everything would be completely diluted, and the ability of constantly finding some way to better the original, and the fun feeling you get of over-the top treasure hunting is all gone; would this game really even be Borderlands anymore?
