Borderlands

 
Rating: M
Release Date: October 20, 2009 (NA PS3, XBOX 360), October 26, 2009 (NA PC)
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Multiplayer: Yes, two-player splitscreen and four players over LAN or LIVE/PSN.
Downloadable Content: Yes: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot, The Secret Armory of General Knoxx, and Claptrap's New Robot Revolution.

Borderlands is one of those games that you can play a million times over and never have exactly the same playthrough. The reason for this is that there are four different classes (Soldier, Hunter, Siren, and Berserker), each with three distinct subclasses. Add over 17 million guns to the mix, and this game will be able to keep you playing for hours.

If you go solo, Borderlands is very challenging. Get one or more friends to join the mix and the game ramps up the difficulty, making each enemy that much harder to kill. This affects the rarity and value of the loot that each enemy and boss drops, making it that much better to go at it with friends.

In addition, there are some bosses that are hard to take out without friends, such as Crawmerax the Invincible, whose max level is 72. The player's max level is 69 (har har). At least one DLC, Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot, thrives with four players since it is arena-style wave combat, with the enemies of each wave gaining different perks that make them harder to combat.

Once you complete the game, you can go through a second playthrough with your character wherein all enemies are leveled to 50, thus making each of them an even match for you. This should be easy with two or more players, though, and the loot will be much more in line with each player's level, as will the experience points gained.

Whether you play it with one player or four, Borderlands is still an epic game. If you'd like to get in on the experience, the game and its strategy guide will be available from my Amazon aStore.