• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

WSJ: Borderlands 2 not COD enough, should be priced the same as Nascar Unleashed

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/09/18/game-theory-borderlands-2-fails-to-generate-joy-puke/

Ask me what I think about Borderlands 2 from Gearbox Software, and I’d tell you about its dubious, convoluted plot. I’d talk about a mind-boggling array of guns and loot. At no point, though, would I ever say I was ready to “joy puke” my face off, as the game box predicts players will do.

The sequel to the highly acclaimed 2009 Borderlands game goes on shelves Tuesday in Xbox 360, PS3 and PC versions for around $60. At that price point, the first-person shooter, published by 2K Games, inevitably invites comparisons with the Halos and Calls of Duty games already out and due to come in the next few weeks and months. Borderlands 2 falls short because it’s missing several key elements you need to have in a 2012 first-person shooter game – most notably, a rich multiplayer online mode. There’s an extremely limited four-player cooperative mode, and if you have an Xbox Live Gold account, you can team up that way, but this isn’t the type of deeply engrossing FPS game the headset-wearing COD crowds gather to play months and months after release. In comparison, I read on several sites that COD: Black Ops 2 will feature up to six teams, for a total of 18 simultaneous players, in multiplayer mode.

The game’s opening sequence reminds you that Borderlands’ developers chose to go the animation route, and I don’t like it very much. The game isn’t manga-like enough to be super-hip, so instead, it just feels cartoonish.

As a $30 impulse buy, priced about the same as games like “NASCAR Unleashed,” I wouldn’t have a problem recommending Borderlands 2 as a fun diversion. At twice that price, though, I think it’s fair for players to demand the whole magilla – cutting-edge development, engrossing campaign gameplay, scads of downloadable content, a rich social media/community experience, sharing of loot and gear and online multiplayer modes that keep you and your friends coming back until the next version of the game comes out.

tumblr_m6ijhgI3AR1rug9d0o1_400.gif
 
You forgot this nugget

Borderlands 2’s single-player campaign mode isn’t as good as what you’ll find in games like COD: Black Ops or the Medal of Honor series. There’s too much “feast-or-famine” hunting for tasks, supplies and a good battle for this to be a fun game all the way through.
 

salromano

Member
"At that price point, the first-person shooter, published by 2K Games, inevitably invites comparisons with the Halos and Calls of Duty..."

$60 is the standard, bro.

I don't even want to comment on the rest. It's so bad.
 

marrec

Banned
Finally getting some REAL JOURNALISM in Game Reviews, this is the Wall Street Journal afterall people.

*reads review*

csMEF.jpg
 

Xater

Member
There are also just factual errors like this one:

It may be the game for you, but if you’re in the market for a new FPS, I’d at least counsel waiting to compare it to Black Ops 2, due out in mid-November, or Halo 4, which is slated for a December release.
 

Kade

Member
The game’s opening sequence reminds you that Borderlands’ developers chose to go the animation route, and I don’t like it very much. The game isn’t manga-like enough to be super-hip, so instead, it just feels cartoonish.

HorribleSubs-Usagi-Drop---11-720p.mk%25255B29%25255D.jpg
 

ZeroRay

Member
This is how people analyze industries they don't understand (which accounts for most business analysis, actually). Also, I don't think Manga's been hip since like 2003.

Now if the question was, is $60 a good price for all new games regardless of content, then we'd have a debate.
 

Smokey

Member
Nascar Unleashed portion made this Review of the Year

and I don't even read reviews anymore but I'm sure nothing will top this
 
This how people analyze industries they don't understand (which accounts for most business analysis, actually).

Now if the question was, is $60 a good price for all new games regardless of content, then we'd have a debate.
Yes but this probably isn't even the game you'd base that discussion around.
 

Dinokill

Member
I played Borderlands and all the DLC and it was repetitive as hell. It was one of those games that was a pain in the ass to finish.
 

FStop7

Banned
Why is so much attention/credence being given to a one off review by someone who admittedly doesn't know much about games?

It reminds of me the histrionics that went on around here over Uncharted 3.
 

marrec

Banned
I uh. Well. That's a thing.

Wonder what other gems this fine journalist has written.

"Torchlight II doesn't even have an Auction House in which you can buy in games items with real life money, that's such an egregious error that I cannot recommend this game."
 
I have no idea if that article is serious at all.

I remember when alot of critics and analysts said Borderlands 1 would be a huge bomb, Pachter saying it was a huge mistake for 2K to publisher, and it wouldn't make back it's money, then it goes on to sell like 5 million copies.

What is it that certain people dislike about Borderlands and want to see it fail?
 
It still amazes me that CoD games require massive budgets when they've been reusing the same engine since 2007 (with some enhancements, except BLOPS went backwards). I mean how much money do those explosions cost?
 
Top Bottom