It's been a while since the public has seen anything of Borderlands, the upcoming first person shooter with some action-RPG elements. The development team at Gearbox Software has been keeping quiet about the game for a while but apparently a new issue of PC Gamer magazine reveals that the title has switched its art style. Instead of a more realistic and gritty look the game now is cel-shaded, giving it a comic book look.

So why the switch? In a post on Gearbox's message board the company's community manager states, "it fits the game and creates a more visually interesting experience." He added, "The game world is no less gritty, dirty, or harsh - all of the detail is there, and the environments have even more atmosphere. We solicited feedback from our focus testing initiative, which consists entirely of a very large pool of gamers from all walks of life, and in the end, the choice was clear for us.." The actual gameplay of Borderlands has not been affected by this change in the visual style. The game is due out this fall from publisher 2K Games.

Update: According to a new message board post from Gearbox head man Randy Pitchford the game's art is not cel-shaded after all but remains cryptic on what changes have indeed been made to the game's graphical look.

[Via Borderlands Guide]