Borderlands

Borderlands combines a first-person shooter with RPG elements and loot mechanics typical of games like Diablo — as one of four treasure hunters, the player traverses the desert planet of Pandora, fires dozens of types of procedurally generated weapons with randomized attributes, supplements their loadout with grenades and shields, and gradually levels up their character according to a chosen specialization, whether that's a sniper, a mercenary, a siren with magical abilities, or a hunter with a robotic companion. Its distinctive cel-shaded comic-book visual style with bold black outlines gave the game a look unlike the realistic war shooters of the time, and combined with four-player co-op and dark humor, it made Borderlands one of the founders of the entire looter-shooter genre.

The PlayStation 3 version launched simultaneously with Xbox 360 and PC in autumn 2009 and was completely identical in content — the same campaign, the same weapons, the same four playable treasure hunters, and the same world of Pandora with the same side quests. The main difference showed up in the technical execution: reviewers and players at the time pointed out that the PS3 version suffered from somewhat worse frame rate stability and longer loading times between areas than the competing Xbox 360, something that was fairly common among multiplatform titles from the first half of the PS3/360 generation due to the console's different architecture.

Four-player co-op worked on PS3 the same way as elsewhere, over the PlayStation Network, and it also supported local split-screen for two players on a single console, just like on Xbox. Content-wise, the PS3 version thus offered exactly the same experience as its counterparts on other platforms, just with a noticeably rougher technical side, which players noticed most during more demanding firefights with lots of enemies and effects on screen at once. Nevertheless, it was a fully content-complete version of the game, with all the same weapons, enemies, and side quests as the other platforms offered, so PS3 players didn't come away with a diminished experience — just a technically somewhat rougher one.

Why play it: For buddies craving a cooperative looter shooter, the PS3 version offers the same content as elsewhere, including split-screen, just with a somewhat rougher technical side during demanding firefights.