5 RPGs that defined 2009

[VentilatorOfDoom]

<p>After their <a href="http://www.geardiary.com/2010/05/08/geargames-retrospective-50-pc-rpgs-that-defined-a-decade-introduction/" target="_blank">introduction</a> to their "50 PC RPGs That Defined A Decade" editorial Gear Diary <a href="http://www.geardiary.com/2010/06/14/geargames-retrospective-5-pc-rpg-games-that-shaped-the-year-2009/" target="_blank">now take a closer look</a> at the year 2009. The RPGs which apparently defined that year were Dragon Age, Drakensang, Risen, Avernum 6 and Borderlands.</p>
<p>Here are some excerpts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dragon Age:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Why it is on the list:</em> Dragon Age represents the &rsquo;state of the art&rsquo; in high-fantasy RPG as of 2009. As I said in my review, &ldquo;For me that is just the crowning glory of Dragon Age &ndash; not only do I love nearly every aspect of the game, I also love how after finishing it a couple of times I am thoroughly enjoying a new play-through as I contemplate my actions and consequences from the prior runs. I have often lamented the many ways I feel gaming has taken steps backwards in the quest to be more &lsquo;HD&rsquo; and &lsquo;cinematic&rsquo;, but games like Dragon Age show how classic gaming and modern gaming can work together to produce a tremendous game that is satisfying to folks raised on PC classics as well as those who are only familiar with controllers. And THAT is an epic achievement!&rdquo;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Avernum 6:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Also from my review, &ldquo;One of the best role-playing games of the last year the game can be learned in minutes, but allows depth of control that defies mastery. It pulls you into extended gaming sessions, yet the journal is clear enough that you can walk away for quite a while and then hop back into it effortlessly. It runs on just about any Mac or PC and is available as a small download, making it easy to try out. What Avernum 6 lacks in visual presentation, it makes up with immersive story-telling and engaging gameplay.&rdquo;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.rpgwatch.com/#15123">RPGWatch</a></p>

 

[Shannow]

RPGs released in 2009: four. Fuck, that's not a round number.

Come on boys, lets take Borderlands into the list. It's not as if any of those retards would notice.

--->

RPGs released in 2009: five. Now that's round. And of course they all defined the RPG-year of 2009.
LOLOLOLOLOLOL hurr durr, hurr DURRR!!!!!!! HEADEXPLOSHUN!!!!!!

 

[Clockwork Knight]

But if you are expecting anything remotely approaching the depth of a hardcore RPG, stay far away from this game – it isn’t remotely what Borderlands is about. Borderlands is meant to be an action-shooter with some lite RPG elements, and loads of weapons and skills to play around with, and that is what it delivers.

Seems ok to me.

edi: did you guys even read it?

 

[Darth Roxor]

Borderlands?

Like...

seriously?

 

[Konjad]

Borderlands is one of the best and most classic cRPGs, idk whats wrong with u guys

 

[Sceptic]

Seems ok to me.

edi: did you guys even read it?

The review itself is OK. Calling Borderlands one of the Defining RPGs of 2009? not so much.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

Holy crap that looks ugly. Is that xbawkxz graphics? I think I drew better pictures when I was 9.

 

[gothfox]

Borderlands is actually quite pretty if you like the stylized shaded look. Of course, if you are going to run it on an xbawks or a similarly-specced ancient PC you gonna get something ugly like that, yeah.

Also, it's a loot game which makes it somewhat close to the realm of RPGs, especially classic ones.

 

[Turjan]

Holy crap that looks ugly. Is that xbawkxz graphics? I think I drew better pictures when I was 9.

That's called "cel-shading" and is supposed to look like a hand-drawn cartoon. That has nothing to do with the technical capability of the X-box.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

I'm not talking about the shading, I'm speaking of the horrible texture resolution. It looks like the low res textures the unreal 3 engine displays for the first 1/2 second before it loads the high res textures.

 

[Jaedar]

Borderlands is Hellgate London done right. Decent for a hack and slasher, but I still prefer Diablo 2 for my loot and level grinding needs.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Borderlands is actually pretty fucking awesome (for what it is). Kinda like Diablo 2 with guns really.

I really liked the cell-shaded artwork too. At least it was different.

Edit: Ha, beaten to the punch.

 

[Turjan]

I'm not talking about the shading, I'm speaking of the horrible texture resolution. It looks like the low res textures the unreal 3 engine displays for the first 1/2 second before it loads the high res textures.

That still sounds as if you were talking about the cel-shading. The textures are supposed to look cartoony like that.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

I'm not talking about the shading, I'm speaking of the horrible texture resolution. It looks like the low res textures the unreal 3 engine displays for the first 1/2 second before it loads the high res textures.

That still sounds as if you were talking about the cel-shading. The textures are supposed to look cartoony like that.

There is a difference between cartoony and lowres/ugly. If I still had borderlands installed I would show you a screenshot that looked 2x as good, but in its place here is a screenshot from the PC version:

Notice how the textures actually have detail rather then looking like a single flat color with a bit of noise applied.

So either the reviewer specifically took a screenshot of ugly borderlands on PC just for the lulz, or the xbawkxz version actually looks that bad, which is ridiculously funny.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

That one on the review must be on ultra-low settings, here's better ones

http://www.firingsquad.com/media/hirez. ... ges/07.jpg

http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/132/ ... 231131.png

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2 ... ighRes.png

edit: OM beat me to it

 

[gothfox]

I'm not talking about the shading, I'm speaking of the horrible texture resolution

 

[Turjan]

There is a difference between cartoony and lowres/ugly. If I still had borderlands installed I would show you a screenshot that looked 2x as good, but in its place here is a screenshot from the PC version:

Notice how the textures actually have detail rather then looking like a single flat color with a bit of noise applied.

So either the reviewer specifically took a screenshot of ugly borderlands on PC just for the lulz, or the xbawkxz version actually looks that bad, which is ridiculously funny.

I see what you mean. It's a bit too sharp for being a photograph of the screen, I guess. Do night scenes look fuzzier?

 

[ghostdog]

^another console game that hasn't heard about Anti-Aliasing.


So, since this thread is now about Borderlands, and since someone brought it to me as a present, should I give it a try, or should I sell it ? (It's still unopened). Mostly I want to know if the Single Player campaign is any good, I don't care about multiplayer.

Also, for the record, the only Hack'n'Slash I've liked is Divine Divinity, I didn't care much for Diablo1 (Diablo2 I haven't tried).

 

[gothfox]

This thread is now about Borderlands.

Ed: Fuck, too late.

^another console game that hasn't heard about Anti-Aliasing.

It's an engine limitation of UE3 which (unfortunately) was the main workhorse engine this generation.

Mostly I want to know if the Single Player campaign is any good, I don't care about multiplayer.

There really isn't any campaign worth mentioning. You kill shit and inspect loot that falls out, that's about it. It's great fun in co-op and great to play in single-player if loot games and shooters are your thing.

Some voice memos are quite funny, Patricia Tannis' in particular.

 

[FeelTheRads]

It's an engine limitation of UE3

What's up with this? I keep hearing about it. You're telling me that a ZOMG NEXTGENZ ENJUN can't handle anti-aliasing?

 

[Shannow]

edi: did you guys even read it?

Read it?!? When the very premise is so utterly moronic it beats average GD posts? Fuck, no. I can waste my time in more interesting ways.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

^another console game that hasn't heard about Anti-Aliasing.

I always turn it of antyway, great performance boost in exchange for a few serrated edges I stop noticing after 3 minutes.

As for single player Borderlands, I think you need that autistic drive for loot.You're constantly getting new stuff, the weapons are different from each other, and the humour is very nice.

Cons: No real story to speak of, you're a bounty hunter looking for this legendary vault, and the local bandits / soldiers / guardians of the vault have pieces of the key, so you have to collect them.

You might also be pissed with the enemies levels (if they are above your level, they're really hard, if not unkillable). I wasn't, but I did every quest so I was usually at their level or above.

Some quests just throw you around the place for no real reason,like money rewards, but only a few are required to progress the story.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

AA 2x is pretty much required as far as I'm concerned, but going beyond that is really just meaningless techwanking. Yes, you will notice the difference between 2x and 4x if you look at side by side still photographs. You will not notice shit ingame.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

AA 2x is pretty much required as far as I'm concerned,

no

graffix whore

 

[ricolikesrice]

Borderlands is Hellgate London done right.

no, just no. Hellgate:London may have had tons of flaws but it had an interesting bare bone for a hack n slash. interesting skills, classes and especially itemization second only to D2. and unlike borderlands it could actually be challenging and required some skill to play in the proper modes.

borderlands has neither interesting classes, skills and itemization is restricted to mostly guns.

the only redeeming quality as even most of its fans admit is playing it coop with friends, but same goes for any coop game.

borderlands is a prime example how shit can be sold as gold via the proper marketing where bad marketing (hey guys, want a 150 $ lifetime subscription ?) will ruin much better (well ok, concerning HG:L this "much better" only counts in comparisision to Borderlands^^) products.

 

[gothfox]

It's an engine limitation of UE3

What's up with this? I keep hearing about it. You're telling me that a ZOMG NEXTGENZ ENJUN can't handle anti-aliasing?

Yep. It's an architectural limitation of UE3 related to the way it does deferred rendering. UE3 has a lot more suck in it too, it can't do hair worth shit, has serious texture pop-in problems, has problems with big environments, etc. It is, unfortunately, very widely used.