Borderlands

Borderlands combines a first-person shooter with RPG elements and loot typical of games like Diablo - the player, as one of four treasure hunters, traverses the desert planet Pandora, fires dozens of types of procedurally generated weapons with randomized properties, and gradually levels up their character according to a chosen specialization. Its unmistakable cel-shaded comic-book visual style with bold black outlines gave the game a distinctive look, and combined with four-player co-op, the search for a legendary vault, and dark humor, it made the game one of the founders of the looter-shooter genre, which a few years later launched an entire game series.

The computer version launched simultaneously with the consoles in fall 2009 and offered higher resolution, sharper textures, and steadier frame rates on more powerful hardware than its console counterparts, which suffered from technical problems at the time, particularly on PlayStation 3. Mouse-and-keyboard controls also suited many players better for precise long-range aiming than a gamepad's analog stick, which played a noticeable role in overall combat effectiveness for a shooter with a heavy emphasis on precise hits and critical headshots.

On the other hand, the PC version at launch lacked local split-screen for two players on one screen, which the console versions offered - playing together on the computer was only possible online over the internet, not side by side at one monitor. The campaign, the world of Pandora, the weapons, and the four playable treasure hunters remained the same across all versions, and the PC release was also first among the platforms to receive later patches and was a natural target for community modifications that expanded the game's possibilities beyond the original content, including various cosmetic and balance tweaks. The presence of widescreen support on PC, without needing to stretch the image to fit a television, also gave players on large monitors a wider field of view when traversing Pandora's more open areas than on the console televisions of the time.

Why play it: Anyone playing solo or online will appreciate that the PC version was the first among the platforms to receive patches and was a natural target for community modifications - but it lacks the local split-screen for two players that the consoles offered.