With its release in 2009, the original Borderlands laid the foundation for a game I have repeatedly played through cooperatively and honestly enjoyed every single time I booted it on my PS3 and PC. Now, after a decade since, the first installment in the Borderlands franchise is remastered and re-released for the current generation of consoles and PC, with improved graphics, new loot and skins, revamped boss fights and some quality-of-life improvements. Enter the Borderlands, again or for the first time, and relive the classic game that sparked the psychotic madness that is Borderlands.
The OG remastered
Borderlands is, as I’m sure most will know, a first-person shooter, loot-focused RPG, that takes place on Pandora, a planet on the edges of civilization, where the mad and broken gather to make their home. After having chosen one of the four classes to play with, you venture out on Pandora, alone or with up to three friends, in search of the Vault, a mythical place packed full of treasure. As you shoot your way through the many different enemies and missions on Pandora, your character will level up and gain access to different skills in the three talent trees available to your class.
Traveling across Pandora, you meet a bunch of interesting characters to interact with, which give you new quests to complete. Even after a decade, the original Borderlands, while not as great as the second installment, still plays and feels relevant in today’s gaming market. While some bosses are still bullet sponges, which Gearbox said they would fix, the gameplay, story, and Claptrap’s silly personality still grab me and do not let go. Throwing a bunch of epic loot at me also helps.
What’s new, pussycat
Now, what exactly is new in this remaster? The graphics received an update, which now support 4K on consoles, but sadly not on PC. I do not own a 4k television, so it is hard to judge whether or not that that is a massive improvement. Yet, on 1080p, the difference between the previous-gen graphics and the current-gen is difficult to see, almost non-existent. This is due to the cartoony, cel shaded graphics Borderlands uses, which still look good even without the upgrade. Sure, some of the finer details in the game look better, but it is a small improvement over the original.
Then, what is truly new? Gearbox added some needed quality-of-life improvements to the remaster, the major improvement being the addition of a Borderlands 2-style minimap. No longer just reliant on the terrible compass to navigate your way across Pandora and find your mission objectives, the minimap is a welcome improvement. Traveling is no longer a hassle, as you can just check the map in the top-right of your screen, and no longer have to constantly open your menu to check the full map. The game plays a lot smoother with this change, since the gameplay is no longer abruptly interrupted because you had to check the map.
Another thing they added from the second Borderlands is the possibility for 4-player split screen co-op on the same console, not on PC unfortunately, for the full Borderlands experience: an amazingly fun game that only becomes even better when played with friends. To keep things somewhat fresh for veteran Borderlands players, Gearbox has added some new high-end weaponry and new skins to unlock in the possible many playthroughs.
Unfortunately, the game is not free of bugs. I’ve been stuck a few times: between rocks, a staircase and the ground, with the only way to free myself is to toss a grenade beneath me. The UI also bugs out at times, mostly when experience is gained. The amount of experience you’ve earned will stay in the middle of the screen until you enter and leave the menu. None of the bugs are game-breaking or ruin the experience, but for a decade old game, it’s unfortunate that these bugs are present.
Nonetheless, Borderlands: Game of The Year Edition brings a classic to the current generation of consoles, with the upgrade being free on PC if you own the original. It still plays like a timeless classic and it most likely will be for quite some time. If you’ve already played the game on last-gen, I can understand there is little reason to buy it again. But if you’ve never enjoyed the madness that is Borderlands, I can only recommend you pick it up, get some friends and enter Pandora. Major fun guaranteed.
4/5
Reviewed for PlayStation 4
