I see halo copies cod arguments all over the forums, with no end in sight. People then say that cod copies all other shooters as a counter. But the thing is every game copies one another, its a fact. Every shooter after doom wound up being a doom clone, but only some were accepted(marathon). When it came time for consoles it wasnt as bad as it once was, but it was still going on. Golden eye has similar mechanics to halo ce in terms of how weapons are were you start out with one and then find more. Halo 3 came out and people say now it was a unique shooter, and it was but that was only because it chose not to evolve too much but takes equipment which was its true online change from tf2 because had something similar. Cod takes kill streaks, perks, sprinting, and a point system and everyone calls it a revolution. Now halo 4 comes out and a small portion of the community says it lost its identity yet no game has had any true identity. What the key is, is how its executed, thats the most important thing. Every shooter takes from one another its a fact and halo 4 does barrow from other shooters, but it does things differently, example: loadouts, in every shooter and implies that every weapon is available to the player. In h4, you are limited to classic non power weapons. The kill streaks are also done differently as they dont offer ai to get kills for you, instead you get a choice between 3 items like a power up, grenade or a power weapon that are random every time. Stop saying the game has no identity because no shooter has had a true identity
What exactly did Borderlands copy?
Yes, shooters borrow mechanics all the time. They also make their own and have their own unique feel to them.
When one game borrows too much though, it loses its identity.
Although some shooters play differently, on the AAA console market halo is probably the most unique but each game does its own thing well and each series should continue what they do instead of copying what the popular people do. I made the argument awhile ago that you wouldn’t tell TES to be “borderlands with swords” despite the fact they are both rpg’s they play their genre in total different ways then eachother and therefor they both deserve to exist. As applies with cod and halo, both games are shooters yet they play their genre differently and both should remain different and keep doing what they always do but still innovating