Gearbox has confirmed its casual E3 mention to Joystiq that it plans to release Borderlands this October. A company representative told us today that it's looking forward to breaking new ground this fall when the "role-playing shooter with strong co-op and split-screen gameplay" is released. The rep also confirmed that the post-apocalyptic action game will launch simultaneously on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Borderlands had been banging around for a while, then disappeared for an awkward period of time before ultimately reemerging – think: butterfly – with a new art style, which freshened up the title and removed it from "Fallout clone" territory. We'll have our E3 impression of the title up soon.

"This spider has a weak point right there, so ... see! You can blow his ass-sack apart. Well, that sounded bad."-- Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford

Then, not three minutes later:

"Yes. Yes! That midget's on fire!" -- Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford

Life's tough in the lawless lands of Borderlands. You have to watch out for machete-wielding maniacs, gigantic saw blade-wielding death machines, and the pincer-equipped beasts that roam the lands looking for human blood. But, hey, as deadly a place as it is, at least it looks damn good.

You can catch the new trailer past the break.

We really aren't going to get into a semantic discussion about Borderlands' new art style, so feel free to call it cel-shaded or illustrative, it's all marketing-speak bullet-points to us at this stage. Thing is, the game looks totally different than it did back in the day.

We're just curious to see what Borderlands looks like in action now, and we'll hopefully have that chance at E3, commencing in just a little over a month. Check out the gallery below for new images (for the internets, at least), and be sure to click the hi-res button in the gallery to embiggen.

It's not much, but here's the first complete image of Borderlands' new art style. Gearbox claims the image is "completely in-game as you will see Borderlands when you play it." To see more images of the game you'll have to pick up the June issue of PC Gamer or ... well, you can probably guess other places to find them. To see what the game used to look like, check out the gallery below:

As we recently reported, Gearbox's Borderlands has been running dark for a while and has now emerged with a whole new art style. The latest issue of PC Gamer apparently has images of the Mad Max simulator's new art direction, which appears to be an illustrative or cel-shaded style -- say goodbye to Borderlands' previous Fallout 3-esque motif.

Gearbox states on its community boards that the change was made to make a more "visually interesting experience." Allegedly, the gameplay hasn't been affected by the new art style -- not that we'd know, considering we've never actually touched the game, which is supposed to come out later this year.

[Via Big Download]

Update: Gearbox Studio head Randy Pitchford has sent out a statement (posted after the break) that the game's art style is not "cel-shaded." We've also learned that web-ready images will hopefully be available for consumption by the internet on Monday, and the game should be on display -- possibly playable -- at E3.

The PC Gamer cover [above; in full after break] features "an in-game screenshot with no post process," giving us an idea of the new art style and rendering tech.

A 2K representative let Borderlands ping back and show that "it's still on the radar." CVG reports that the Gearbox developed title is still allegedly on track for a release "later this year."

Popping up sporadically over the last couple years, Borderlands hasn't really been shown publicly and has had some minor behind-closed-doors presentations with the press. At this point, your guess is as good as ours as to what the final product actually looks like. We hear that E3 may change that.

Gearbox Software founder, Randy Pitchford, has commented on the developer's blog regarding its recent in-game advertisement agreement with Double Fusion, quelling concerns that Brothers in Arms would become Brothers in Ads. "We respect any contempt for exploitive advertising that negatively effects the integrity or the quality of the game because we, as hardcore gamers, share that same contempt," writes Pitchford. He further emphasizes, "We hate exploitive advertising that doesn't offer value to the gamer."

In the category of advertising Gearbox doesn't hate, lies the kind that improves authenticity. Gearbox provides the example of a Philips factory in Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, a historical site which would detract from authenticity sans the appropriate (and accurate to 1944) branding. Pitchford also lists increased budgets and out-of-game promotion as potential benefits that "we hope come from Double Fusion helping to connect Gearbox with advertisers."

"If you see in-game ads for some stupid product that has nothing to do with the context in which it occurs and actually detracts from the experience, then you can feel justified in bashing the developer, publisher, or advertiser that made that decision," concludes Pitchford. Fair enough -- but we'd better not be stopping at a Burger King in our trek across Borderlands, mister.

As noted in Take-Two's most recent guidance for the fiscal year ending October 31, 2008, Gearbox-developed Borderlands will release in fiscal 2009 instead of fiscal 2008. The publisher explained that the apparent pushback allows for "additional development time" and provides "better balance" in the release schedule of its triple-A titles. Previously, Borderlands was dated for 'Holiday 2008,' which, if after November 1, would fall into Take-Two's fiscal 2009 anyway. Today's notice looks to be less a significant launch delay then, and more a tweaking of financial projections.

Borderlands made its video premiere last night during Spike's VGAs with this quaint trailer narrated by (spoiler alert!) a cruelly deformed hottie. Your guide to the unnamed planet of Borderlands informs you that there are more ideal vacation getaways than this, pegging you as either a 'fool' or 'criminal' (perhaps hinting at the inclusion of choice-gameplay similar to Mass Effect's Paragon/Renegade system). The planet, which features the requisite Ice Level, is rife with bandits and untamed wildlife, just the sorta snag to cut your visit short unless you've got help, er, guns -- make that -- "a helluvalotta guns" (this is an RPG-shooter after all). Oh, and don't forget to visit the Vault -- it's got a big, glowing entrance. You can't miss it!

Despite Gearbox President Randy Pitchford's best guess, his studio's forthcoming co-op shooter Borderlands will not require an Xbox 360 hard drive. In a comment made last week, Pitchford assumed the game would require the optional drive because it "seems impossible that a game that is doing as much as Borderlands and pushing the limit so much with all the weapons and equipment and character stuff can actually do it all in memory and streaming from the media." Well, according to Lead Programmer Steve Jones, Borderlands can and will operate without the use of the hard drive. Jones did add that the game "will take full advantage of the [Xbox 360] hard drive if it is present" (we assume the PC and PS3 versions will utilize their respective storage drives too).

Currently, Microsoft's policy permits MMO developers to require the use of a hard drive pending approval from Microsoft. All other games must be able to function without the use of the drive, though a recent mock-up of the Call of Duty 4 box art, featuring a "storage required" label (later confirmed to be made up), has raised suspicion that the policy is still open to revision.

Concluding a Games Convention demo of the 2008 release Borderlands (that Diablo meets Mad Max shooter), the president of Gearbox Randy Pitchford confirmed with 1UP that when the game releases, it will require a HDD if played on the Xbox 360. Pitchford is fully aware of Microsoft's opinion on HDD required games, but still sticks to his studios' development guns stating that Borderlands needs a caching HDD due to the unique nature of the game and all its randomly generated missions of randomness. Honestly, we're just curious to see how Microsoft will handle games and developers when talk of HDD required games begins to bubble up. Cue death stare!

If you enjoyed the Brothers in Arms series of games, you're probably familiar with Gearbox Software. The developers behind those titles has announced, along with 2K Games, their new FPS called Borderlands. The game sports a sci-fi theme, which is always nice. Well, not always, but generally it's better than playing through more WWII battlefields.

The game isn't due out until holiday season 2008, so we've got nothing else on the title for now, but we're sure we'll hear more sooner rather than later. We know the game will feature player customization, vehicles, and real-time physics ... the usual stuff. What's unusual is the randomly-generated missions that'll pop up. This presents almost endless possibilities each time you play. With 4 player co-op in the works, we know it'll be exciting to play with friends. We'll keep you posted as details emerge!

Borderlands, the upcoming Mad Max-ish, Diablo-esque action game from Gearbox, has been picked up by publisher 2K Games (who are releasing a little game called BioShock next week, by the way). Known for their work on the Brothers In Arms series, Gearbox is crafting Borderlands as an action game with RPG elements and 4 player online co-op. In other words, it sounds like just the thing to cure what ails you (and a hell of a lot of fun to boot). President of 2K, Christoph Hartmann, notes that Borderlands will play host to "revolutionary new technology" that allows for the creation of "thousands of unique, randomly generated missions, weapons and situations." With such lofty promises in tow, Hartmann concludes that Borderlands "will raise the bar for next gen action games."

We'll have to wait and see though, as the game isn't scheduled to release until the end of 2008. For more info on Borderlands, keep an eye out for the September Game Informer, of which the contents will no doubt be scoured for the benefit of X3F readers everywhere.

[Via Joystiq]

2K Games, who are on the cusp of releasing another "groundbreaking" FPS next week with BioShock, have just announced that they'll be publishing Gearbox Software's latest, Borderlands. Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K, gushed, "By utilizing revolutionary new technology to create thousands of unique, randomly generated missions, weapons and situations, Borderlands will raise the bar for next gen action games."

Part of that raised bar is also the game's cooperative online experience, which allows for four players to "share the same game experience simultaneously" by joining or leaving the game at any time. Hate other people? Go through in single-player mode (you grump). If you think this sounds like a more action-oriented Hellgate: London, you're not alone. Borderlands will be available Holiday 2008 for PS3, Xbox 360, and Games for Windows.