Borderlands now on my top 10 all time games list

Last October when Gearbox's Borderlands game came out I of coursed added it to my Q4 list games to play. I know some people in the studio (even worked with them indirectly in years past) and have had a lot of respect for Randy's operation ever since Half-Life: Opposing Force, which today I think is the best expansion pack ever. I really liked Borderlands but I had so many games on my list to play over the holidays it fell off my radar after I got to about level 17 or 18. The single player campaign is definitely much longer than most FPS, and since this was a true FPS/RPG hybrid in an MMO style looting/XP points setting, there was all most too much gameplay.

So for almost a year I kept telling myself to go back and finish it. When the GOTY edition came out, I grabbed it since it at all 4 DLC packs included.

Today I just finished the game over lunch. While I never once played it in the much lauded coop mode (online or splitscreen) it has pretty much earned a spot in my top 10 games of all time. This is up there with Half-Life, Quake, Star Wars Tie Fighter, Mercenaries (the first one on Xbox/PS2), World of Warcraft, the first Call of Duty and I'm not sure what else. I'm pretty biased for shooter games....and my full top 10 list is not exactly clear to me.

Still, Borderlands' pseudo-cell shaded art style is just so refreshing, and combined with the huge number of weapons, excellent sound design, combat ballistics...it really is something unique. And let's not forget the humorous slant on all the writing. The story isn't the deepest thing in the world and I actually like it that way. The experience just felt so right. Anyone into shooters at all must play this game.

UPDATE:

As for the humorous slant, lots of video games try to work in comedic elements. The old LucasArts adventure games like Full Throttle and Escape From Monkey Island were masters of it. The new LEGO games, though kid focused, have humorous bits in them all over. Mercenaries was another game that I thought got the humor just right. Borderlands gets the humor, but it's not just in comedic lines or jokes. Here's what I mean: In the game I found the

claptraps a bit off at first, as I felt they were Gearbox's attempt at forcing me to laugh. But then something funny happened

after a few levels into the game. I actually laughed at a claptrap. I think it was the first time in Fyrestone I noticed the claptrap dancing. By then I was into the gameplay and art design enough such that everything about the game was growing on me. So what clicked?

What clicked was that even though neither the story nor the characters were particularly deep, the characters had attitude. Lots of attitude. This includes the claptrap. They were exceptionally voiced (for a video game anyway) and their writing was totally ace. For example, a downed claptrap that could offer you a side quest to fetch it a repair kit for a reward would whimper and say things like "I'm leaking oil" in a way that was simultaneously pathetic and endearing. I found my self wanting a plush claptrap toy for my daughter like the way my friend at EA has a plush weighted companion cube from Portal.

I have more to say about Borderlands, but Mikey at Gearbox just outed me for not ever having tried co-op, so now I have to try that. More to come on this...