Borderlands (video game)

Borderlands
Borderlands game cover featuring Psycho character
Developer(s)	Gearbox Software Additional work by: Demiurge Studios Shadows in Darkness Darkside Games
Publisher(s)	2K Games
Distributor(s)	Take-Two Interactive
Director(s)	Matthew Armstrong
Producer(s)	Simon Hurley Stephen Palmer
Designer(s)	Matthew Armstrong Ruben Cabrera Jeramy Cooke
Writer(s)	Matthew Armstrong Simon Hurley
Composer(s)	Sascha Dikiciyan Cris Velasco Raison Varner Jesper Kyd
Series	Borderlands
Engine	Unreal Engine 3
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 NA: October 20, 2009 PAL: October 23, 2009 Microsoft Windows NA: October 26, 2009 PAL: October 30, 2009 OS X WW: December 3, 2010
Genre(s)	Action role-playing, first-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer, co-op

Borderlands is an action role-playing first-person shooter video game that was developed by Gearbox Software for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Shield Android TV. It is the first game in the Borderlands series. The game was released worldwide in October 2009, with the Mac OS X version of being released on December 3, 2010 by Feral Interactive. A sequel, Borderlands 2, was released worldwide in September 2012. It was also later released for Xbox One through its Backwards Compatibility program in November 2015

Borderlands includes character-building elements found in role-playing games, leading Gearbox to call the game a "role-playing shooter". At the start of the game, players select one of four characters, each with a unique special skill and with proficiencies with certain weapons. The four characters are: Roland the Soldier, Mordecai the Hunter, Lilith the Siren, and Brick the Berserker. From then on, players take on missions assigned through non-player characters or from bounty boards, each typically rewarding the player with experience points, money, and sometimes a reward item. Players earn experience by killing both human and non-human foes and completing in-game challenges (such as getting a certain number of kills using a specific type of weapon). As they gain levels from experience growth, players can then allocate skill points into a skill tree that features three distinct specializations of the base character; for example, Mordecai can become specialized in sniping, gunslinging with revolvers, dropping the beat ability which gives a speed and health boost or using his pet Bloodwing to assist in kills and health boosting. Players can distribute points among any of the specializations, and can also spend a small amount of in-game money to redistribute their skill points.