The Border Lands was an official, free, retro style, browser-based "demake" of Borderlands. It was released on 22 August 2012 at http://www.wubwub.eu/demake.php. It is no longer available to access with the release of Borderlands 2. It's also playable now at http://www.a10.com/action-games/borderlands-flash.
Gameplay
A player starting the game as Salvador.
The gameplay of 'The Border Lands' is similar to a retro birds-eye shooter, presenting a fixed square of terrain and various enemies attacking from the four gates on the sides. The Borderlands 2 twist is that there are procedurally generated guns (for gun parts see below) and enemies have a chance of dropping red chests.
Players start by picking one of the four Borderlands 2 character classes each with different stat ratings:
- Salvador: Health 2/4, Speed 1/4, Damage 4/4
- Maya: Health 2/4, Speed 3/4, Damage 2/4
- Zer0: Health 1/4, Speed 4/4, Damage 2/4
- Axton: Health 2/4, Speed 2/4 Damage 3/4
(DLC extra characters does not feature in this game)
Characters start with a single shot pistol that will do 10-20 damage to enemies with a short range (damage and range increase with levels which can be gained via killing enemies and earning EXP). The player must then kill all of the enemies to complete the level.
Enemies
Taking Damage
If the character collides with an enemy or is shot, it will lose health. If all health is lost (indicated by the red bar at the top of the screen) the character will lose a life and teleport to the center at full health.
If the character Levels up, its health bar will be fully restored, this will also be done at the start of each level.
If all lives are lost, then it is game over. The accumulated score will be shown and the player can add his/her initials and the score will be ranked among other players.
Looting
When a red chest is dropped by an enemy, the character can be moved adjacent to it in order to access the contents. The weapon from the chest can then be equipped or rejected, but only one weapon can be equipped at a time.
Tips & Tricks
- By quickly tapping space twice with a shotgun, players can fire two shots before reloading.
- New players (or players who want a high score) should lookout for Wave Accuracy or Higher Railguns, as it is arguably the most powerful gun in the game.
- Players can Click off the Game screen to pause it, and click back on it to resume.
Weapons
Weapons are defined by five parameters.
Type
The type of a weapon determines its look, basic behavior, and range.
| Type | Damage | Fire Rate | Range | Clip Size | Area of effect | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pistol | Medium | Medium | Long | Medium | Single | |
| Machine Gun | Low | High | Long | Large | Single | |
| Shotgun | High | Low | Short | Small | Single | Has inherent spread |
| Flame | Low | High | Short | Large | Penetrating | |
| Acid | Medium | Medium | Long | Medium | Explosive? | |
| Eridian | Medium | Medium | Long | Medium | Explosive? | |
| Rockets | High | Low | Long | Small | Explosive | |
| Railgun | High | Low | Long | Medium | Penetrating |
Due to their range and ability to penetrate enemies and even obstacles, the Railgun is probably the best weapon type, especially one of at least Wave accuracy.
Accuracy
The accuracy category of a weapon determines how the direction of the shots are determined. From best accuracy to worst, these are:
- Two-Way: Fires shots directly in front of the character and directly behind at the same time. This doubles the total number of shots fired.
- Focused: Fires shots directly in front of the character.
- Wave: Fires shots directly in front of the character; shots move side-to-side as they travel.
- Spread: Fires shots randomly in a cone of about 30 degrees to each side in front of the character.
- Random: Fires shots in random directions.
Note that Shotguns have some inherent spread, so even a Focused Shotgun will have some spread.
Damage
The damage shown on the card is relative to the character's equipped weapon.
Fire Delay
The fire delay shown on the card represents how long the delay between shots and is relative to the character's equipped weapon. Contrary to the color of the arrows, lower numbers are better.
Clip Size
The clip size shown on the card is relative to the character's equipped weapon.
Trivia
- All of the guns in this game are obtainable in either Borderlands 1 or 2 (with exception to two-way weapons).
- Clap-Trap claims that The Border Lands was released before the original Borderlands, in 1984, but it features the Borderlands 2 characters, and is referred to in the URL bar as a 'demake'--a term for a game that has been reduced to a smaller, simpler form.
