With a tag line like "Diablo meets Mad Max," how can you not take the bait? Gearbox Software's Borderlands is the cover story in the September issue of Game Informer. Described as an RPG-shooter, with 4-player online co-op support, Borderlands appears to mimic the space gansta aesthetic that was so brilliantly captured in the dusty Gibson films of yesteryear -- not unlike id's new project Rage. How Diablo elements play into the dune buggy battlin' should be explained once the full cover story has been perused.

Developer Gearbox has earned critical props for its Brothers in Arms games, which are often overlooked in the rotting heap of World War II shooters. The latest in that series, Hell's Highway (due in November), showed great promise during an E3 demo, but once again, was lost in the swirl of game previews, and has an uphill battle at retail, facing a very competitive holiday lineup. But if Gearbox stays dedicated to top-tier technical and production qualities, as seen in Brothers in Arms, than Borderlands could be the commercial success this studio is capable of developing. This is one to watch.