Borderlands Review

(Xbox, PS3; $59.99; Rated M for Blood/Gore/Intense Violence/Mature Humor/Strong Language; www.borderlandsthegame.com)
(four and a half stars)

Many shooter-fans have waited in anxious anticipation for "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's" release this week.  The juggernaut of a game is sure to garner record-breaking sales, and those who have only the budget for one or two games this season will likely focus their attention on the latest in the "Call of Duty" series.

Which is a shame because many will have passed up the charm, cooperative fun, and compelling action of October's "Borderlands."

Take the run-and-gun of "Call of Duty" and "Halo," add the loot-hoarding of "Diablo," sprinkle the RPG and co-op of "World of Warcraft," and bake in a "Mad Max" landscape, and you have "Borderlands" - a First-Person Shooting, Role-Playing Game that delivers everything shooter fans wanted from last year's role-playing, but not-quite-an-FPS, "Fallout 3."

The paper-thin plot allows up to four players to control four different classes of characters- from heavy gun-toters to stealthy saboteurs- and blast through main and side quests in pursuit of "The Vault," a hidden treasure-trove of alien technology.  The real reason players will sink 30+ hours into this game, however, is the unending amount of weapons and loot found throughout the world.  Touting a "bazillion" different weapons, "Borderland's" random gun generator means that no two guns are alike: from a scoped shotgun that fires acid bullets, to a combat rifle that actually regenerates its own ammunition, the only real problem players will have is finding enough time to experiment with whatever they find.

The tongue-in-cheek nature of the characters and the cel-shaded visuals of the game mean that in a sea of all-too-serious shooters, "Borderlands" embraces its quirkiness; the drop-in, drop-out nature of its multiplayer gives it an almost party-like quality to the game.  Like the obsessive questing of "World of Warcraft" players, jumping into "Borderlands" with three other friends is the perfect way to melt away a long holiday weekend together.

Developer, Gearbox Software should be proud of the experience they created.  While the sheep are blindly playing "Modern Warfare 2" over Thanksgiving, reward Gearbox's good effort by getting a party going in "Borderlands" and never regret a moment.