One of my personal highlights of 2008 was the announcement that Diablo 3 existed outside of my imagination, and that Blizzard was in fact making the game. This was swiftly followed by the knowledge that not only would it not be out in 2008, it wouldn't be out in 2009 either...possibly not even out before the damn Mayan calendar ends the world. This was quite rude of Blizzard, given they must surely know of my profound addiction to looting corpses and levelling-up! What was I going to do in the interim?

That's when I remembered Borderlands, a Gearbox-developed first-person shooter set on a distant planet where a bunch of mercenaries had the sole purpose of locating the mysterious Vault and plundering the treasure contained therein. The game promised loot galore, four unique classes, the ascension of levels and the killing of hordes of enemies...it sounds great in theory but could it really deliver the goods?

The short answer is yes, yes it can. Borderlands proves to be a thoroughly enjoyable shooter that masterfully blends fast-paced action with the sort of crack-cocaine that makes World of Warcraft so addictive: gathering goodies and character customisation. It's not perfect, but for a lot of you, that won't even matter once you pop the disc in and the siren song of stockpiling stuff serenades you. For everyone else, a review follows.

Borderlands opens with each of the four protagonists in silent contemplation on a bus heading for the town of Fyrestone. All four have their own set of skills, and each complements a certain play-style. For example, Mordecai, the hunter, favours sniper rifles and dealing with enemies at extreme range, while Brick is basically a melee tank who is all about explosive weapons and punching things in the face. You'll be asked to pick your player before you step out into the harsh climate of Pandora and set about finding this legendary vault.

The first thing you'll notice about Borderlands is the unique cel-shaded aesthetics that are all thick black comic-style outlines up close that give way to a more traditional look as the game stretches into the distance. Even though the game's textures can look quite realistic, it lends the whole game a very cartoony feel the likes of which we haven't really seen since XIII back on the original Xbox. The planet of Pandora is a pretty desolate place too – predominantly desert and rocky mountain ranges, its citizens struggle to eke out a living from a planet that clearly doesn't want them around. Yet the game still manages to look good most of the time, even if it does get a little drab and repetitive occasionally.

Of course you aren't here to sightsee: you're here to find treasure, level up and kill a lot of enemies in the process. In these 3 key areas, Borderlands manages to do a lot right, although it does make a few serious missteps along the way. Let's start with the killing of things, since this is probably the patchiest of areas for the game. The A.I. sucks – there's no sugar-coating that fact. The enemies are about the stupidest you'll ever encounter in a game: anything without a gun will just charge right at you, and heaven forbid they do have a gun because they really don't know what to do with it. Sometimes they'll stand in the open, sometimes they'll stand behind something, other times they'll do both or just run around like headless chooks until you put them out of their misery.

But Dom, I don't want in-depth A.I. with squad tactics, I want to shoot enemies until they explode in a shower of gibs and loot, I hear you say. And that's all well and good, gentle reader, but at the same time it does make for a fairly monotonous experience. Plus there's a pretty limited range of enemy types, so with no real functional difference between a skag dog and the insectoid scythid, it makes for some bland battles. The only thing differentiating your foes in any meaningful way is that they may have unique vulnerabilities that require a slight adjustment in your tactics – scythed have thick frontal armour for example, but a well placed shot to their abdomen will make them pop.

And when they pop, amongst their colourful entrails there is a very good chance you will find a shiny new gun or chunk of cash. At heart, Borderlands is all about the gathering of gear, so much so that the developers refer to the game as a "loot `em up.” There are literally millions of combinations of guns in the game, which more than compensates for the fact that you won't also be scrounging for twelve different types of body armour or rings and necklaces. You can equip a shield that depletes and charges much like Master Chief's famous personal protection device, as well as modifications for your grenades and a class-specific power-up, but beyond that it's all about the ordnance in Borderlands.

Not surprisingly, this game has some great guns, divided broadly into handguns, SMGs, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles and explosive weapons. Each weapon has a basic set of statistics that includes things like damage and reload speed, but rarer weapons can deal elemental damage that substantially alters the effectiveness of that firearm. For instance a pistol dealing shock damage is great for depleting shields, while a sniper rifle with fire damage can actually set an enemy on fire and deal substantial damage over time. Coupled with the fact that some enemies are resistant or vulnerable to certain elemental damage types, this adds a tactical dimension to your weapon selection.

For those of you familiar with Diablo or World of Warcraft or practically any loot-driven game of the last decade, you will be right at home with Borderlands and its colour-coded loot system that denotes the rarity – and thus value – of the gear you have found. Green is your entry level rare item, which runs right up to legendary items whose titles are orange in colour. These guns will often have a unique name and pack some pretty impressive statistics. There's an impressive array of visual styles for the weapons in the game, yet enough of a similarity that after time you'll be able to identify which of the in-game companies manufactured your current shooter.

More importantly, the weapons feel distinct, which is an impressive accomplishment given how many there is. You'll know your SMG is a Tediore brand weapon because the downtime between reloads is tiny compared to others, and the difference between a combat rifle with and without a scope is quite profound. Independent of the weapons, Borderlands handles very well, balancing the tight controls and speedy reactions we've come to expect from a shooter with the basic RPG style of play.

In fact some of the RPG tropes at play here are fantastic, like how each time you shoot an enemy the amount of damage you've dealt pops up above their head before arcing downwards and fading away, just like in a Final Fantasy style game. Each character class has its own talent tree just like World of Warcraft, right down to having three distinct specialisations you can chose to put your points in. While the differences may not be as profound as that venerable MMO, it's enough to let you personalise your persona and tailor the experience to your own personal style.

Despite all of this, Borderlands is not the most enthralling of singleplayer experiences. It's entirely serviceable and will be good enough for most, but where the game truly shines is in its four-player cooperative play mode. Playing with others makes the game a whole lot more enjoyable (and challenging – the toughness of enemies increases with each player you add!), opening up new tactical options and also enhancing the quality and quantity of loot that drops. While players can duel each other and enter arena battles, this is very much a co-op experience, which makes some of its quirks particularly vexing. The biggest by far is the fact that players can't trade loot properly, instead being forced to just drop things on the ground. Some sort of exchange interface would make loot swapping much more pleasant. It's minor gripes like this that detract from the game's overall experience, and while annoyances like this or how long it takes to get access to quick travel can be a pain, ultimately it doesn't mar the experience too much.

Naturally as a modern game, you can be damn sure there is Downloadable Content on the way for Borderlands. But unlike most shooters that just add maps, Borderlands is promising to dole out what amounts to short stories with their DLC. The first premium content download, the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, transports players to a murky swampland where a well-meaning doctor has unleashed the opening act of a zombie apocalypse. Featuring new art, textures, and enemies in addition to a dozen or so new quests that should last a couple of hours, this is a hefty bit of gameplay for your 800 Microsoft points, and a great indication of what else is in store for Borderlands in the future.