Borderlands

Borderlands is a 2009 first-person shooter and action role-playing game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games. It launched for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in October 2009, with a Windows release later that month. Its setting is Pandora, a harsh planet where abandoned industrial operations, bandit settlements, and dangerous wildlife surround rumors of an alien Vault. Players choose one of four Vault Hunters: Roland, Lilith, Mordecai, or Brick. The game's opening bus ride introduces Pandora with Cage the Elephant's song “Ain't No Rest for the Wicked,” while the robot Claptrap greets the player on arrival in Fyrestone.

Each Hunter has a distinct action skill: Roland deploys a Scorpio turret, Lilith uses Phasewalk to turn invisible and move rapidly, Mordecai sends his bird Bloodwing against enemies, and Brick enters a powerful melee-focused Berserk state. Character-specific skill trees complement experience levels, weapon proficiencies, shields, and elemental damage types. Firearms are a central attraction: randomized combinations of parts and statistics produce an enormous range of shotguns, pistols, sniper rifles, and other weapons. Manufacturers such as Jakobs, Maliwan, Tediore, and Vladof give equipment recognizable traits. The campaign supports solo play and cooperative play for up to four players online at once.

The story follows the search for fragments of a Vault Key, with archaeologist Patricia Tannis providing crucial information and the mysterious Guardian Angel directing the Hunters through their ECHO devices. Pandora's corporate and criminal factions repeatedly obstruct the search. Atlas Corporation's Crimson Lance soldiers pursue the Vault under Commandant Steele, while bandits and local bosses control routes across the wasteland. At the climax, Steele reaches the Vault first but is killed when it opens. The creature inside, the Destroyer, becomes the final boss. Rather than receiving the expected cache of riches, the Hunters must stop what emerges from the Vault.

Borderlands expanded after release through four downloadable campaigns. The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned sent players into a horror-themed outbreak; Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot focused on arena combat; The Secret Armory of General Knoxx added a conflict with Atlas forces; and Claptrap's New Robot Revolution revolved around a robot uprising. A Game of the Year edition collected the base game and its expansions. Its outlined, comic-book-like visual treatment became a feature of the series, distinguishing it from shooters of its era. Gearbox followed it with Borderlands 2 in 2012, which returned to Pandora and developed the Vault Hunter story further.