Has it really been so many years since the first Borderlands was released? Well yes, it has and to celebrate that and also help build up hype for Borderlands 3. The good folks at Gearbox have re-released Borderlands Game of the Year Edition on current-gen consoles and it is the best way to experience the original game.
How to Download Borderlands
You can download the game from a variety of sources, depending on the platform of your choice (Windows, Xbox, PlayStation. Click on the Download button.
The Game Review
The Graphics
Let’s start with the visuals. Borderlands has a kind of cell-shaded hand-drawn look to it and that tends to age quite well. The visuals as a result of this are not groundbreakingly better, but they are bit sharper. It is the more the impressive frame rate that you will really notice as there is no slowdown and the game moves at a blistering pace.
The Gameplay
Borderlands Game of the Year Edition contains the original campaign and it is just as much fun to play now as it was back in 2009. Each of the four Vault Hunters are fantastic as are the villains and my main robot homie, Clap Trap! The campaign has a great story and plenty of side missions to keep you busy as well.
Borderlands as the Loot Shooter Genre Precursor
The concept of a loot-based shooter is nothing spectacular now, but this is really the game that made it popular. Thankfully, Borderlands has aged like a fine wine and as well as the improved frame rate some other modern benefits have been added to the game. A mini-map always on screen and an easier inventory system make playing the game more streamlined and fun.
The Vault Hunters have new heads to select which is fun. You can also play four-player split-screen co-op whereas the original was only two. This does reduce the frame rate, but it is a fair trade-off in my opinion. If you have the Borderlands Handsome Collection, you are rewarded with some nice perks such as weapons and keys.
The New Edition
As this is the game of the year edition, all of the previously released DLC is included. This adds even more replay value to the game and gives you a ton more stuff to play with and also do. I always find Borderlands to be one of those games that an intended 20-minute session turns into a couple of hours.
In all honesty, as much as I love this, Gearbox did not add a ton of content over the previous version that was released on PS3 and Xbox 360. In fairness, there really was not a lot that they had to do. I feel that the inclusion of the mini-map along with the smoother frame rate makes this the best way to experience the original Borderlands. My only “gripe” I would have to say is the price. They could have released this at 20 bucks and I think that would have been fair.
Should I Play the First Borderlands?
Borderlands Game of the Year Edition is a fantastic return to Pandora and one that I enjoyed way more than I thought I would. It is great to be able to have the full Borderlands saga on one console now. It does make me wonder if next year we will get some kind of full collection that will contain a Borderlands 3 Game of the Year Edition as well as this and the Handsome Collection?
