Borderlands

[Dramund]

I think the catch with Borderlands and what I respect the most about it is that it never really hyped itself to be anything that it's not. It was basically hyped up as hybrid of Diablo-style grinding and FPS gameplay and delivers exactly that. Gearbox never misled gamers with promises of a deep quest system, meaningful exploration system, or involved story, or silly statements like "It's going to be a kick-ass shooter". All the previews I read said it was meant to be played with friends, and provided some rather dull gameplay videos. I think it's safe to say that regardless of whether or not the game is good, it achieved exactly what it aimed to do. As a result, I think there were a lot less disappointed gamers than say, Dragon Age, which more or less promised to do to Fantasy RPGs what Mass Effect did to Sci-Fi RPGs. I really think Gearbox's honesty paid off by the time word-of-mouth rolled around.