A pretty interesting new entry in the action-RPG fusion genre has been delayed til the end of November after its splash promotion at E3 – Borderlands, to be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PCs.  It's a massive driving 'n blowing-stuff-up game that pits you to survive in a larger-than-life road warrior wasteland.  Borderlands will be set in a desolate sci-fi world that includes sprawling, randomly-stocked areas.  

Play starts with a first person shooter basis, and adds RPG elements.  These elements include looting items for later cash sale, combat and weapon proficiencies that improve FPS accuracy, MMO-style team raiding, three characters each with unique character classes, and quest arcs that drive cinematic story progression.

There are two major content-generation systems in Borderlands that helps add replay value.  Both guns and monsters are constantly reinvented by the game engine so that weapon drops and encounters won't get boring.  Monsters can feature different attacks both in style and substance; various reports have mentioned midgets that might spit fire versus acid, or spiders that might jump up and perform face-hugging attacks. 

Borderlands is not a game for kids; it is an extremely brutal and violent game, with combat features that go beyond simple head-shots and evisceration, into limb-tearing melee and face-melting science.  The language is peppered with the sorts of profanity you'd expect from desperate, sometimes savage raiders roaming a forsaken planet in search of elusive resources. 

Borderlands will have a single-player version and co-op multiplayer for both online and same-console play.  According to demos at E3, it seems that due to the RPG elements, characters used in multiplayer must progress together in a persistent instance of the game, keeping single-player characters separate, which is overall similar to an MMORPG, except it's not.  

Here are the official trailer, and a gameplay demo.  Be warned that the demo features some adult language from a cutscene in the game.