Borderlands

Borderlands
Borderlands is a first-person shooter with role-playing elements, that was developed by Gearbox Software for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It was first revealed in the September 2007 issue of Game Informer magazine. [9]  The console versions of the game were released in North America on October 20, 2009, and were released in PAL countries on October 23. The console version release for the Japanese market was made available on February 10, 2010. The Windows version was released on October 26 for North America and then on October 29 internationally. [5] <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> The Mac OS X version of the game was released on December 3, 2010 by Feral Interactive<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;">. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1em;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">[10] <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> A sequel Borderlands 2<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;">, was released on September 18, 2012 in the U.S. and on September 21 in other countries.

[edit] Setting
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">Borderlands is set on the planet of Pandora. Lured by its apparent vast deposits of minerals, several colonization ships sponsored by the Dahl Corporation (one of several diversified mega-corporations that appear to control and govern entire planets) journey to the planet and build settlements there. The mining operations are cost-effectively manned by large amounts of convict labor brought to the planet by Dahl.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">Prior to the events of the game, one of the other mega-corporations, the Atlas Corporation, found an ancient vault on nearby planet Prometheus, filled with advanced alien weapons technology that allowed them to rapidly overtake their competitors. The presence of similar alien ruins scattered across Pandora spurred Atlas to settle the planet in hopes of finding more alien technology. However Atlas failed to realize that Pandora was in its Winter cycle, and the arrival of summer unleashes hordes of dangerous alien wildlife coming out of hibernation. Unable to find any alien technology Atlas abandoned the planet. The Dahl Corporation then settled on Pandora, starting massive industrial mining operations while undertaking their own search for a vault, headed by Patricia Tannis, a respected xeno-archeologist. Despite all of her colleagues being killed by the planet's wildlife, and being driven partially insane herself, Tannis managed to find proof of a vault on Pandora. News of her discovery reached Atlas, who sent their private military force the Crimson Lance to capture Tannis and get the vault's location from her.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">Faced with an invasion, those who are rich and important enough leave the planet, with Dahl abandoning the rest of the population to scavenge for their living in isolated settlements in the barren wastelands and industrial trash heaps across the planet. To make matters worse, the Dahl Corporation simply opened the gates of the prison labor camps during their departure, and gangs of bandits terrorize the populace. Despite Dahl's failure to find it, "The Vault" lives on in legends, attracting mercenary "Vault Hunters" to the planet.

[edit] Plot
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">Borderlands begins some time after the Dahl Corporation's abandonment of the planet Pandora as several fortune seekers, including the player's character, arrive in search of the fabled Vault. After discovering the town of Fyrestone, the player begins to receive instructions from an image of a mysterious woman known as the "Guardian Angel." The player meets a "Claptrap" robot and a man named Dr. Zed who help the player establish a reputation by killing several bandit leaders, eventually leading to the collection of the first alien artifact needed to open the Vault. This causes Patricia Tannis, Dahl's former archeologist still in residence on the planet, to contact the player, revealing that the Vault can only be accessed once every 200 years and that the time of the next opening is approaching. Tannis also explains that three more artifacts are needed to complete the Vault Key. Meanwhile, Commandant Steele of the Crimson Lance (a well-outfitted mercenary force hired by the Atlas Corporation) threatens to declare martial law and demands the Vault Key pieces.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">The player secures the second and third pieces by following Tannis' instructions, but the final piece turns out not to be where expected. Steele contacts the player to reveal that there are in fact only three pieces and that Tannis has betrayed and misled the player. Steele then disables the planet's ECHO network, preventing further communication with the Guardian Angel and anyone else. The player infiltrates the Crimson Lance's headquarters and finds Tannis imprisoned. She claims she was forced into betrayal and urges the player to restart the ECHO network and to stop Steele and the Crimson Lance before they reach the Vault. After restoring the network, the Guardian Angel directs the player toward Steele's location. During the final approach to the Vault, the player encounters Crimson Lance forces already locked in combat with the Vault's alien Guardians. The player finally arrives at the Vault only moments too late to stop Steele from using the Key. When the Vault opens, a giant monster emerges and wipes out Steele and the rest of her troops. The Guardian Angel explains that the monster is called "the Destroyer" and was imprisoned in the Vault long ago by the alien Eridians in order to prevent the destruction of the universe, and that the Guardians were posted to prevent anyone from opening it. Although the player defeats the monster, the Vault is re-sealed for another 200 years. The Guardian Angel is revealed to be transmitting her signals through a Hyperion satellite in orbit high above Pandora. The game ends with the satellite sending a signal to a claptrap robot on the planet, changing it into an "Interplanetary Ninja Assassin" (continued in the plot of the DLC "Claptrap's New Robot Revolution").

[edit] Characters
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">There are four playable characters in the game; though each is given the character's official name by default, the player may change their character name or the colors of various parts of their outfits at "New-U" stations throughout the game.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">Brick is a Berserker, a tank-style character who is strong in melee combat. Brick's preferred weapons are explosives and rocket launchers. Brick has the special ability to temporarily enter a berserker rage mode during which he cannot wield guns, instead using his massive fists to rapidly pound his enemies to death, and rapidly regenerates health. Besides being a melee expert, Brick can use explosive damage more efficiently than the other classes.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">Lilith is one of only six known Sirens, along with Maya and Commandant Steele, in the galaxy, beings with superhuman power. Lilith's Phasewalk ability allows her to temporarily enter another dimension, which renders her invisible to enemies, makes her move faster and she is unable to take damage from enemies (and only give damage when exiting Phasewalk). Her Phasewalk causes a powerful shock-wave blast that can damage nearby enemies whenever she enters and exits Phasewalk. Lilith's preferred guns are fire, acid, electrical, or explosive elemental tech weapons and some of her skills focus on improving her "damage over time" with elements.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">Mordecai, a Hunter, specializes in using Sniper Rifles and Revolvers and is aided by his pet Bloodwing, an alien bird resembling a hawk, which can be used to assist in his long-range attack skills and scavenging for loot.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">Roland, a former member of the Atlas Corporation's private Crimson Lance army, is described by the game as a "Soldier" and is able to deploy an automated gun turret that can be upgraded with a wide range of offensive and defensive abilities, along with a support role for his teammates. Roland is a good freewheeler and prefers shotguns and combat rifles.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">Accompanying the standard weapons, all characters also have a melee attack, and some weapons have an added blade for more melee damage.

Borderlands 2
Borderlands 2<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> is a space western<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> first-person<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> role-playing<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> shooter<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> video game<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> that was developed by Gearbox Software<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> and published by 2K Games<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;">. It is the sequel to 2009's Borderlands<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> and was released for the Microsoft Windows<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;">, PlayStation 3<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> and Xbox 360<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;text-align:start;"> platforms.

[edit] Setting
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">Five years have passed since the events of Borderlands, when four Vault Hunters, Roland, Lilith, Mordecai, and Brick were guided by a mysterious entity known as "The Guardian Angel" to the Vault and confronted an alien abomination known as "The Destroyer". After defeating The Destroyer, a valuable mineral called "Eridium" started flourishing through Pandora's crust. Handsome Jack, a member of the Hyperion Corporation, secures this new resource and makes use of it to take over the corporation. Now, Handsome Jack rules over the inhabitants of Pandora with an iron fist from his massive satellite built in the shape of an "H", always visible in the sky in front of Pandora's moon. Meanwhile, rumors of an even larger Vault hidden on Pandora spread across the universe, drawing a new group of Vault Hunters to the planet in search for it.

[edit] Plot
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">The game begins with a new team of Vault Hunters lured into a trap by Handsome Jack aboard a booby-trapped train and left for dead amid a snowy, frozen landscape, only to be rescued by a Claptrap robot, the last of his kind, who guides them to safety. Soon after, the Vault Hunters start receiving messages from the Guardian Angel who instructs them to help the Claptrap recover its lost vessel, and use it to travel to the city of Sanctuary and meet the members of a resistance movement opposing Handsome Jack's tyranny, led by Roland. Upon arriving at Sanctuary, the Vault Hunters learn that Roland is captured, and journey into bandit territory to recover him from a mass murderer known as the Firehawk. It is revealed that the Firehawk is actually Lilith, a Siren and one of the original Vault Hunters. She informs the players that he has been captured by the Bloodshot, a local group of bandits. The new Vault Hunters break into the Bloodshot base and rescue Roland, who reveals that the second Vault contains a powerful creature called the Warrior, who according to legend it will obey the commands of whoever awakens it, and Handsome Jack intends to obtain it by making use of the same Vault Key of the first game, now in his possession.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">With assistance from demolitions expert Tiny Tina and Mordecai, the Vault Hunters ambush a train supposedly carrying the Vault Key. However, the train is a trap, containing the Hyperion Corporation's flagship robot, Wilhelm. Successfully defeating the robot, a unique power core is found in its wreckage, which could potentially power Sanctuary's shields for an extended period of time. After inserting the power core, Handsome Jack reveals that the Guardian Angel was working with him all this time, and has her shut down the shields, allowing him to bombard Sanctuary with mortars from his lunar base. The starship that the city was built upon is reactivated and lifts off, and Lilith uses her powers to teleport Sanctuary outside the lunar base's firing range, inadvertently leaving the Vault Hunters behind in the process. After raiding a Hyperion base for a lunar drop beacon, the Vault Hunters are able to fast travel back to Sanctuary, now floating in the sky. The Guardian Angel contacts the heroes again, revealing that she is not willing to follow his orders anymore and reveals that the Vault Key is being kept in a Hyperion base along with herself, with the best Hyperion security, weapons, and soldiers guarding them.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">After obtaining the means to invade the base, the Vault Hunters successfully take over the base and reach the room where Angel is kept, just to find that she a Siren like Lilith and Maya whom Jack has been pumping full of Eridium to charge the Vault Key in a shorter amount of time than its normal 200-year charging cycle. It is also revealed that Angel is Handsome Jack's daughter. By Angel's request, the heroes destroy the machine where she is being held with Roland and Lilith's help. Soon after, Angel dies, but just before retrieving the Vault Key, an enraged Jack appears and kills Roland, before restraining Lilith, who uses her powers to teleport the other Vault Hunters back to Sanctuary, where they reconvene with Mordecai and Brick. After recovering information pertaining to the location of the Warrior, the Vault Hunters set out to end the conflict once and for all.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">The Vault Hunters fight through one last massive Hyperion base to reach the new Vault, there they meet Lilith, forced to use her powers to charge the Key against her will, and Handsome Jack. Jack attacks the Vault Hunters, wanting revenge for the death of his daughter, but is overpowered by them. At that moment, the Key finishes charging, and Jack unlocks the Vault, summoning the Warrior, a massive dragon-like creature that appears to be made of lava and rock. The Vault Hunters fight and destroy the Warrior and Handsome Jack is ultimately killed. Lilith goes to remove the Vault Key from its slot in the ground, when suddenly it displays a map, showing the location of hundreds of other vaults across the galaxy.

[edit] Characters
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">There are four new playable characters in the game.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">The first new character is a "gunzerker" named Salvador, who resembles Brick from the first game in abilities, but instead of using massive melee power to decimate enemies, Salvador can dual-wield any combination of guns.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Gamescom_2011:_Borderlands_2_First-Look_Preview_2-4" style="line-height:1em;">[3] His skills can be upgraded so that he can throw multiple grenades at once, regenerate massive amounts of health and ammunition, or attract the attention of enemies with a double middle finger taunt.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">The second character, a siren named Maya, has an ability called Phaselock which suspends and immobilizes enemies in midair and resembles Lilith from the first game in abilities. Her abilities revolve around the game's elements (fire, electricity, corrosion, explosions, and slag.) Her Phaselock can be upgraded to explode upon expiration or even convert enemies into temporary allies.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">The third character, Axton, is a commando character who relies on turrets to decimate his enemies and resembles Roland in abilities. While most of his abilities are geared towards upgrading his turret, they are quite potent. Axton's turret can be armed with additional gun barrels, can detonate upon deployment, or stick to walls and ceilings. One particular skill tree allows two of the turrets to be deployed at once.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">The final character, Zer0, is an assassin capable of creating a decoy of himself and becoming invisible for a short time. At the end of this process, he is then able to unleash a critical hit on an enemy with his sword or gun. He is skilled with sniper rifles and pistols, and is similar to Mordecai, one of the playable characters from the original Borderlands. His skills can be upgraded with emphasis on sniping or using his Deception ability as a primary method of damage-dealing.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">The four player characters from the first game, Roland, Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai, all return in the form of NPCs that the new characters will encounter on Pandora, or in various missions.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-More_information_about_Borderlands_2_revealed_1-3" style="line-height:1em;">[2] Non-playable characters like the Guardian Angel and Claptrap return to aid the player during quests. Characters from the first game such as Scooter the mechanic, Dr. Zed, and the insane archaeologist Patricia Tannis join new faces such as the cyborg Sir Hammerlock and Scooter's sister Ellie as quest giving characters.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;text-align:start;">A fifth playable character was revealed at PAX East by Gearbox referred to as the "Mechromancer."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="line-height:1em;">[5] The character, who is named Gaige, a red-headed cyborg that can summon a D374-TP ("Deathtrap" – a hulking, floating machine made of scrap parts), is currently in concept stage and Randy Pitchford stated that they would begin to work on her some time after the main game is completed "in a couple months." She will be released on October 16 and will be free to those who preordered the game from certain retailers, granting them access to the Premiere Club.

Credits
Borderlands Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderlands_(video_game)

Borderlands 2 Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderlands_2

Borderlands Wikia: http://borderlands.wikia.com/wiki/Borderlands_Wiki

All information, citation, and reference can be found on these Wiki's.