4) Borderlands – The Destroyer
Gearbox Software’s loot ‘n shoot RPG series is full to the brim with interesting, if borderline mentally deranged – living on a moon situated in the ass-end of space, far removed from civilized society will do that to you, I guess – characters.
Tina Tina, Handsome Jack and the OG Vault Hunters themselves are all brought to life, not just by Borderlands‘ vibrant, cel-shaded aesthetic, but some brilliantly-penned character development. Jack, despite never appearing in the original game, is, without a doubt, the series’ main antagonist, his popularity in the second game having led to a spinoff, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!, which explored the character’s past and origins.
It’s bizarre to think, then, that despite the colorful cast we remember the series to have, the original Borderlands‘ narrative felt very off the cuff, to the point that I can scarcely remember a single story-important event (was there any?) that occurred during its runtime. But that’s okay; Gearbox never publicized the original game in 2009 as being anything other than a loot oriented shooter, a promise that, with the exception of its closing moments, the developer wholly delivered on.
See, the entire driving force behind the events of Borderlands was the quest to unearth the Vault, an ancient, mysterious relic said to hold an untold amount of treasure just waiting to be plucked from its resting place by whoever discovered it first. As everyone would later find out, though, the only thing waiting behind the Vault’s magical doorway was the Destroyer, a monstrous entity straight out of a Lovecraftian tale.
Killing it, you’d think, would grant access to the Vault’s interior, but no, all of that hard work is repaid, not with excessive amounts of loot, but a smattering of guns and other trinkets that were no more remarkable than the gear you had currently equipped.
Disappointing, to say the least.