Old Haven Happiness

Last night I loaded up Borderlands figuring I'd play solo for a little while to hit level 30.  Little did I realize that I'd get sucked into the game for four hours.  I have been tooling around in the Rust Commons for several nights and starting to find that the game starts to feel a bit of a grind the further I got into leveling up while playing solo.  Last night though changed my perception of the game back to the original enjoyment that I felt the first night I played the game.

After playing through the first main area you end up moving into a new town called New Haven which butts up next to the Rust Commons.  New Haven is the starting point for many quests throughout the Rust Commons (East and West), as well as introduces you to many new characters to help drive the story along.  I had enjoyed the game as I explored New Haven and the Rust Commons, but it never dawned on me that there could also potentially be an Old Haven.

Well after finishing off a series of quests the other night I was able to cross a draw bridge that previously had been raised which allowed me to find Old Haven.  Old Haven reminds me of one of the better instances from WoW.  I say this because several of the points I've encounted in Borderlands up to this point felt very much like simple extensions of the rest of the world of Pandora.  Old Haven breathed life into action in the game that had started to fade.  Now granted I have not played Borderlands at all with any other people at this point but the action has become very repetitive and predictable (albeit enjoyable).  The premise of Old Haven is that a town has become over run by a group of mercenaries who have claimed Old Haven as their own after being paid to clear out a rival gang from the town.  My excitement for Old Haven is squarely from the fact that unlike most of the combat locations in Borderlands, Old Haven is chock full of street fighting with enemies coming from all sides.  Even when I thought I had cleared out an area I would find myself having enemies circle around me to try and ambush me.  This was a total blast.  I would love to see how Old Haven plays out with a full party and all the chaos that would ensue.

The best part of my whole Old Haven encounter was the fact that the story led me closer to the end of my journey to the Vault.  While the story takes a backseat to the action in some points, there is definitely a good reason for wanting to play through to the end.

If you haven't picked up Borderlands yet (for PC, PS3 or 360) do yourself a favor and buy this game.  Pick it up on PS3 and join me even. 

More later folks