14 DAY TRIAL // Gearbox Software, in an unusual move, has confirmed that it plans to release its newest shooter, called Borderlands, sometime in October 2009. The game has been in development for quite some and it was initially announced in September 2007.
Since then, the company has made some interesting and sweeping changes to Borderlands and it's good to see that it finally has a release window, even if it does not have a clear date yet.
Borderlands was shown at this year’s E3 that took place last week in Los Angeles. Gearbox demoed the wide array of weapons that players would be able to use and showed how they are color coded in order for gamers to easily see which ones are disposable and which ones (hint: purple) are unique.
All the weapons in Borderlands are said to be procedurally generated, allowing for a wide variety and for a lot of playing styles to be implemented. Gearbox is saying that there are 650,000 weapons that a player can use.
The setting of the game is decidedly post apocalyptic, but the planet is not Earth. Still, the quest is to get to a cache of technology while taking out other humanoids and the ravenous wild life of the planet. The first person shooting element of Borderlands is mixed with a lot of loot collection and some role playing elements.
The biggest change the game has undergone in the last months has been in the graphical department. Some reports indicated that the graphics were not cell shaded but Gearbox is saying that it has only made the game look more like the initial concept art on which it was based. Now, the game has a cartoon edge to it but it manages to be well suited to the bloody action it comes with.