14 DAY TRIAL // Enticed by the “trexican dominatrix” joke in the intro, I decided to start my adventure with Borderlands as Mordecai. The sniper wielding, pistol drawer seemed like it would offer some nice gameplay, but I felt let down a little pretty quickly. Things start pretty easy for him, with the sniper as an excellent pest killer and the revolver as a classy touch to the wasteland. But things started becoming a bit of a “point and click” adventure and I left my character at level 8 before prospecting new possibilities. If the joke did it for Mordecai, my next choice was one picked for efficiency.
Roland, the soldier, was labeled as the class that didn't need to worry about ammunition and, along with the promise of assault rifle specialization, he became my second choice. I really expected him to have unlimited ammunition for his weapons, but that's not nearly the case. Apparently, all he gets is some additional ammo drops from monsters and stockpiles and two skills for ammo replenishment. The first is pretty infective and can only be used with your special feature, but the second is the last skill in the Support tab, so I really hope it will be more useful.
In spite of this, I quickly fell in love with the soldier class and ended up turning him from my alt into my main character. At the beginning, my first rifle made me feel like a dog barking at the wrong tree. If Mordecai has a really easy life right from the start, the soldier has his hands full. In the end, my first three levels were made with my pistol. But, as soon as I got my hands on a decent assault rifle and shotgun, things really picked up.
The weapon system is really great, and not just in the design. The differences each weapon has, their stats and abilities, make pretty much every weapon a decent choice. Some weapons are ideal against shielded targets, while others have a bigger impact on the flesh. It's quality over quantity, range over firing rate, and accuracy over a bullet-fest.
The bottom line is that I was hooked, and in no time at all was I running everywhere to search for new weapons. You have a limited inventory, and, at first, only two weapon slots to use at once, so you have to carefully choose your gear. The one thing the game doesn't have, which is strange for a part-RPG title, is actual armor. All you get is a shield slot that can, like all items, feature a wide array of bonus stats.
The one habit my soldier seemed to pick up, unfortunately, was getting over his head. I chose the quests that sounded to be more fun, without any regard for the level they were designed for, and the “no ammo” problem that the class was supposed to be free of became a painful sting. Outnumbered by a superior force that could take but also dish out more damage, the game turned into a frantic firefight, but that's a soldier's life and I welcomed it. So, all in all, up until now, for me at least, Gearbox did a great job with the game. The two things it most certainly has for its own are that it's incredibly fun and very addictive.