Top 5 Reasons Why Borderlands Will Be Better Than KillZone 2
By William Usher: 2008-09-29 12:44:12
Blend Games’ Borderlands Blend started and ended with little fanfare, but proved to inform the gaming community about a relatively downplayed game. Recently, our Day 5 news – which ended the week long hype for Borderlands – upset gamers throughout the community because of statements made about Borderlands being better than KillZone 2.
Well, if you have yet to read any of the articles throughout the prior week – which showcased Borderlands’ many features – then it’s easy to understand why people would scratch their heads at an article that may have come through a feed that only tags KillZone news. Many gamers who did not read our Borderlands Blend articles were baffled at the comparison, and that’s completely understandable. So for the sake of everyone who doesn’t know anything about Borderlands, you can check out Blend Games Top 5 Reasons why Borderlands will be better than KillZone 2. Two games, I might add, that are scheduled to release relatively close to each other in 2009.
No. 5: Open-ended environments
While KillZone 2 opts for fairly large stages, it does not contain the kind of massive, free-roaming environments featured in Borderlands. Yes, fanboys will stand by KZ2's cramped and dingy single-player levels as being “ultimate firefight zones”. But Borderlands takes things to the next level by allowing gamers to freely drive or walk through a host of different scenic and original environments. And for those of you who want to clamber through claustrophobic caves, those are also present in Borderlands. But like any standard RPG, the game encourages travel and exploration through various settlements and dangerous terrain.
No. 4: New Maps Per Game
If free-roaming environments don’t have you won over, there are multiple cities, towns or settlements to adventure to, which are placed within randomly generated pathways and planes. So every time players start a new game, anything outside the major towns could be a different place. This ensures a high level of replayability, especially if you enjoy venturing to different places in different ways. Yes, gamers will stand by KillZone 2's “Hollywood realism” and say that the same levels can be favored levels since they don't change, and that makes the game better. However, Borderlands’ will contain many replayable level scenarios, it’s just that the placement of these levels may randomize. Regardless, the experience of the gameplay can always be renewed with Borderlands.
No. 3: More Vehicles And More Parts
While both KillZone 2 and Borderlands have useable vehicles present within them, Borderlands already offers far more vehicles and far more parts. Thousands of available customizable features are presented for the vehicles in Borderlands, and ensures that gamers won’t be getting bored with their vehicle anytime soon after the game is released. Added to this, there are special vehicular combat animations, AI instructions and scenarios setup, which offers gamers a completely different take on the vehicular gameplay. Not only that, all the vehicles have been optimized for multiple players, given Borderlands’ four-player co-op online and offline modes.
No. 2: Items And Upgrades
Weapons aside, there are over 600,000 items present in Borderlands. This means that no matter what armor set or relics players have acquired, such items can still be upgraded. More accurately, there’s enough items, upgrades and loot to equal out to an experience you would find in an MMO. So if you get tired of driving or shooting all the time, well there’s plenty of items and adventuring to uncover. And 600,000 items will ensure that players will always have something to find.
No. 1: Guns, Guns, Guns
With over 500,000 guns you obviously can’t even compare shooting mechanics or gunplay with these two games. KillZone 2 may have close to 30 different weapons, but it really won’t matter. Any gun from any shooter can pretty much be replicated in Borderlands. And if you can’t find it, it could be possible to make the gun with the available parts and items offered throughout the game. And for anyone worried that you might find one uber-gun and never have to switch, you have to mind that different enemies may require different weapons or strategies, so one uber-gun won’t be the end-all weapon for the entire game.
Hands-down, though, Gearbox is not just making a game, but it appears they are aiming to create a pinnacle in the mixed genres of RPGs and shooter games. Remember, no one is saying that KillZone 2 won’t be good, but take into account that Borderlands is being shaped into the king of RPG-shooters, the same way Crysis broke ground as an amazing shooter-hybrid of mixed genres. Now if this list wasn’t enough to convince you, refer to any of our past articles on Borderlands that distinctly clarifies why this game deserves to be showcased as the true next-generation of gaming, or visit Shacknews to check out exclusive in-game footage of Borderlands.
