‘borderlands’

‘borderlands’

(2K Games) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

Grade: B

Like most video gamers, I’ve wielded enough virtual weapons to equip a small army. We all have favorites, from the classic BFG-9000 in “Doom” to the chainsaw-equipped assault rifle in “Gears of War” to the RYNO (“Rip You a New One”) in “Ratchet & Clank.”

“Borderlands” ($59.99) is dedicated to aficionados of fantastic weaponry. Developer Gearbox Software says the game has “bazillions” of guns, thanks to a random content generator that mixes and matches parts, ammunition and enhancements, such as bullets that also set their targets on fire.

Whether you find all bazillion (actually, more than 17 million at last estimate), guns are everywhere in “Borderlands.” You have pistols, revolvers, shotguns, machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers and even some exotic alien ordnance. And you will need all of it on the desolate planet of Pandora, home of the galaxy’s deadliest beasts, bandits and mutants.

“Borderlands” feels like a sci-fi version of the classic fantasy role-playing game “Diablo.” Their goals are the same: Kill everything, steal their weapons and loot, upgrade your weapons and kill bigger things. The major difference is that this is a first-person shooter, so you get a little “Halo” mixed into your “Diablo.” It’s an addictive formula, one that keeps nudging you to explore new areas and discover new powers.

It’s also reminiscent of last year’s “Fallout 3,” which also took place in a blasted, lawless, mutant-filled landscape. But “Fallout 3” thrived on a brilliant story, filled with memorable encounters with distinctive characters. The story in “Borderlands” is so thin, you often forget it’s there, and the only interesting characters are the ones you meet in the introductory movie.

You play as one of those characters. There’s Brick, a brawler who’s good with his fists; Roland, a heavy weapons expert; Mordecai, a marksman; and Lilith, who specializes in incendiary, shock and corrosive weapons. Each character also has a special power — Lilith, for example, can become invisible.

You’ll probably concentrate on beefing up one character if you’re playing solo, but the real fun starts in cooperative action, when you can get all four mercenaries fighting at once. The large-scale battle zones become much more manageable with three friends helping.

The eye-catching, cel-shaded graphics in “Borderlands” give it a more cartoonish look than most first-person shooters. And the soundtrack has a slight country twang reminiscent of the sci-fi TV series “Firefly.”

The team at Gearbox has done a fine job of merging shooter and role-playing mechanics, and fans of both genres will enjoy the ride. Even people who are spooked by guns will be drawn into the search for new tools of destruction.

—Lou Kesten, Associated Press