The Wild Journey of Borderlands’ Art Style

The Epic Transformation of Borderlands

Imagine living in a world where everything is dark, moody, and about as colorful as a rainy Tuesday. Sounds dreary, right? Well, that’s exactly how Borderlands looked when it was first shown off nearly two decades ago! Talk about a glow-up!

According to Strauss Zelnick, the big cheese over at Take-Two, bringing Borderlands to its colorful, inky glory wasn’t just a fun little art experiment. Nope! It cost a staggering $50 million and an additional year of development. Because who doesn’t love spending bundles of cash and time on redesigning a game days before its release, am I right?

Why the Change?

Zelnick didn’t just throw dollars at the problem; oh no! He went all Nancy Drew and dug deep into the game’s potential problems. He recounted a moment when his top division head swing into his office, waving the red flag, saying, “Hey buddy, we might’ve totally messed this up. This art style? Not gonna cut it.” And just like that, the decision to transform the game was made. Talk about daring!

It’s wild to think about how they put so much on the line for an artistic overhaul. Some might question why this laid-back, comedic universe even needed that change. After all, some early testers thought it was just another mud-brown shooter, reminiscent of titles like id Software’s Rage or Fallout 3. But clearly, someone had the vision of a flashy, vibrant world that was just waiting to pop—like a piñata full of candy!

While I’m left scratching my head wondering what “moody” Borderlands might’ve been like, I have to admit it’s hard to picture the game as a drab shooter coming out in a sea of beige oblivion. In hindsight, it’s clear that the wild whimsy of Borderlands as we know it was worth every penny (and delay) spent. You either adore it or are a tiny bit envious that it dared to be different, and that’s its charm!