Why Mordecai Lost So Much Weight (Behind Borderlands’ Graphical Overhaul)

In September 2007, an upcoming sci-fi first person shooter called Borderlands won a coveted spot on the front of Game Informer Magazine. The new franchise was trumpeted on the cover to the mag’s 3 million subscribers as “groundbreaking.”  A lengthy article featured dozens of screenshots of a project that sounded nearly complete.

A 2008 release date was promised.

A year later, Gearbox was radio silent. There was no game. No news. The community was scratching its head. What was going on?

The studio was taking the unusual step of graphically overhauling a game three years into development. Gearbox was busy transforming the art style from a dark, realistic aesthetic to a brighter and more stylized approach reminiscent of a graphic novel.

(The picture above shows the character Mordecai in the old style on the left, and the new style on the right.)

Gearbox began the shift to the new “concept art style” prior to December 2008. We know that because in December a Gearbox playtester compared the game to Crackdown. Crackdown, a 2007 shooter for the 360, used semi-cel-shaded graphics to emulate a comic book.

It wasn’t an easy decision. Gearbox head Randy Pitchford said he almost “shut them the hell down” when he learned the Borderlands team re-did the graphics.

Gearbox co-founder Brian Martel told PC Gamer that the switch “was pretty ballsy.”  But, “We knew that we needed to make a decision that would help the game.”

After all, Gearbox’s last major release—Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway—sold poorly. Adding to the challenges, somebody in the game industry told me it’s a really lousy time for a new franchises. The recession is affecting video game sales. If a gamer is going to buy his one title for the month, he’s more likely to go for one with a track record than something completely new.

So for a fresh face like Borderlands to do well right now, it needs to really stick out. Borderlands, despite its impressive ambition, wasn’t doing that. Release date delays had meant the game’s initial buzz from the Game Informer cover dissipated. Plus, any time Borderlands was mentioned, it couldn’t avoid comparisons to the host of other games with a post-Apocalyptic sci-fi setting or RPG-FPS elements. Rage, Too Human, KillZone 2, etc.

For people to really perceive a game as different, it helps to actually look different. Hence the new “concept art style” which emulates the concept drawings of the game. There were other influences as well. “One of things that inspired us a lot was the Gorillaz music videos,” said Martel.

“It’s got that really hip quality to it. It’s edgy,” says Martel. “If you’ve seen any of their videos I think there’s a quality to that in their character design look and feel that’s not kiddie.”

So far, the gamble appears to be paying off. While, the new graphics have certainly turned some people away from the game, it's attracted many more. The comments on blogs like Kotaku reveal new style snatched the attention of many people that weren’t looking at the game before.

What do you guys think? Many of you have already sounded off on whether you like or dislike the new graphics, but do you think it will actually help the game sell more copies?