Borderlands...1...'Tardy' is not the word..sorry.

If like me you're one of those gamers who unfortunately has to pay their own rent, I believe we're called 'adult' then you won't have...Oh F-it, there's no excuse, if you're into your games then you'll most likely be more than aware of and completed Borderlands around 2 years ago. I however, am not like you...I brew games, I play them when and only when everyone else has moved onto the next big thing; they call me the 'anti-cool'. Never the less with Borderlands 2 looming and lurking in the distance there is still some merit to be savoured from this most tardy review.

For me, snobbily sifting through the mass of releases at arms length is the only way to deal with gaming in 'adulthood'. In general though I'm hot and cold towards my gaming, like one of those new oven/fridges, you know?! Anyway... Fallout 3 for example, I've been playing it for around a year and a half, never having bitten the bullet to complete the motherscrapper, a credit to the game yes, a discredit and shame upon my family? Mostly I'm biding my time for Mass Effect 3, the game to end all games, and possibly the universe. Borderlands was supposed to be just a stop-gap for me, a fix until greener pastures. But, I'm really loving it...

If you're one of those 21st Century gamers that's been casually suckered into shooter gaming through Call of Duty then in my view Borderlands will serve as an ideal next step. Diversity of gameplay? Let me break it down into terms digestible by the average male (that's you sucker): imagine for a minute that Call of Duty is Megan Fox...she is 'quite' hot, but has been for a while and she's become like soo boring...what does she really do?! Not much. Now, if I will be allowed to continue on this protracted, female metaphor consider that Borderlands is...Angelina Jolie...that bitch got bare kids, she can definitely cook and clean AND she fine, see what I've attempted to do here?

Now the comic-style graphics may not immediately be for everyone, but they set Borderlands apart from all the hyper-realistic trash prevalent in most games today and you may just learn to love them for their rough and ready simplicity. In terms of an immersive experience you couldn't ask for more, with over a dozen separate maps, progressively impressive weapons and tangible character skill developments this game just snowballs into awesomeness. Better still, played as a two-player co-op you'll be laughing for hours at the chaos you can cause fighting hordes of beasties in the scorched and mountainous terrain.

With just the right amount of tangible story progression in and amongst the myriad of side-quests, I can't really think if there's any room or need for improvement when the 2nd comes out.

So, if you have for some reason not played Borderlands yet...God, where have you been living, under a rock or something?!...grab it now and complete it just in time for Borderlands 2, which is expected some time from April 2012 onwards and which from early look-sees promises even more riotous ruckus.