In Part II of our impressions of Borderlands, we checked out the multiplayer action and how class synergies really do work together in this MOFPS/RPG.

If anyone's been keeping up with my various forays into the MMOFPS genre, then you may recall that, while I'm quite fond of this MMO style, I still have yet to see it fully implemented in a satisfactory way. The game that could possibly come closest to fulfilling my MMOFPS desires is, sadly enough, SOE's highly potential but largely ignored Planetside, and that game has not, unfortunately, aged well-especially given that it was released almost seven years ago and has not been updated within at least five of those years. One MMOFPS that I was fond of, but am ashamed to admit to (because it had the shallowness of a puddle), was Flagship Studio's Hellgate: London, and I suspect it mostly had to with the fact that I'm addicted to purple weapons, and I adore procedurally generated loot (which really just translates to lots of random chances at purple weapons).

Either way, enter Gearbox Software's Borderlands, an MOFPS (it's not quite 'massively' in its multiplayer content) that has probably done one of the best jobs thus far in blending the progressive gear-based nature of MMORPGs with the action-packed shooting style of first person shooters. A few days ago, Josh "Waxpaper" Bashara gave you a solid introduction to his first impressions with Borderlands as a game, so today I'll give you all a tour through the multiplayer aspects of Borderlands, as well as let you know why this game sets a pretty significant standard next to which aspiring MMOFPS developers can compare their in-development games..

To start off, I'd like to clarify a bit when I mentioned that Borderlands isn't so 'massively' in multiplayer content and this is because that there is a maximum of four players per multiplayer session. While the game doesn't restrict class crossovers (you can have four Hunter class characters if you so wish), the maximum is probably due to the fact that much of the game is designed to be tackled in two or three-person groups; there are a number of enclosed areas that start to feel entirely too cramped with four players running around.

In terms of class compositions themselves, one of the most troubling concepts has been the problem of how developers can try to establish "the holy trinity" of the MMORPG genre-that is, the concept of the healer, the tank and the damage dealer (support can be added in there). Well, in Borderlands while we did explain what the four classes do, it was pretty awesome to see that they meshed quite well. Roland, the Soldier, can best be termed as a support class, as his special Turret skill can be tweaked via skills to drop health and ammo. Super supportive players can even pick up the "Cauterize" skill, which allows them to heal their teammates by shooting them! I typically play through my sessions as either the Siren, Lillith, or as the Hunter, Mordercai. They both have some fantastic damage dealing abilities that allow them to snipe things from afar (in the case of Mordecai) or up close with SMGs while stealthing around (in the case of Lilith). My partner in crime (Hi Dave!) decidedly went with Brick, the Tank, and this may be the first time I've ever seen a "tank" class so well created. Much of Brick's 'tankiness' really relies on his ability to go Berserk and beat one opponent to death; thereafter, Brick can reduce the damage he takes while punching his way through even the hardiest of enemies.

A lot of the fun of Borderlands really does stem from the great team synergies that can be created by playing with friends. In most FPS games, while individual "classes" do dictate a certain play style, many players simply try to get as many kills as possible with their favourite class (anybody who has played Team Fortress Classic with "combat infection" medics who refuse to heal teammates will know what I'm talking about). Borderlands, on the other hand, manages to make the player roles fun while also giving a great deal of breathing room for experimenting. For example, in my co-op games, I use my Lilith more as a support sniper with SMGs to help if she gets cornered (and Stealth to get by Turrets), as my Brick partner does well against closer enemies, but someone needs to pick off baddies who are further away. In another game I play with other friends, our Lilith plays as an aggressive tank with SMGs and Shotguns, while I snipe from afar as Mordecai.

Unfortunately, as with any game, regardless of how good it is, there are problems with Borderlands. For the most part, the game does a fantastic job of delivering a great multiplayer experience, but Gearbox Software and 2K Games (their publisher) really let players down with the huge problems that came with playing online. If you do want to play with friends, chances are that you'll have to do quite a bit of port forwarding and server tweaking in order to make sure you can connect. In addition to this, since the game is based off of peer-to-peer networking, even neighbours can experience lag if their router has problems hosting the connection. In balancing related issues, many players have complained loudly about how Roland, the support soldier, ends up becoming quite useless at level 50 (the highest level) because of a distinct lack of great rifle choices and the fact that the other three classes can kill enemies so quickly that there really is no need for support.

All in all, however, Borderlands really does a great job of fusing MMORPG elements with FPS action, and it's quite important to see this, as this also gives me great hope for this ailing genre. If Borderlands could convert itself to centralized server hosting and they could somehow figure out how to turn this game into more of an MMOFPS, then we really might have one of the first entertaining MMOs of its class. For now, however, we can still be quite happy with this fantastic RPG style MOFPS - let's hope there's more to come!