Borderlands takes place on an alien world called Pandora (ironically the alien planet at the center of the upcoming movie and Ubisoft game Avatar is also named Pandora) where humans came thinking there was some kind of alien treasure. Alas, there doesn't seem to be any such items on the planet but after several years the remaining humans on the planet get wind of some kind of vault rumored to be stuffed with alien tech. Unfortunately, the route to get to that vault is filled with tons of odd creatures.

You can select one of four separate characters to play in the game, each with their own powers and abilities. They can also level up and improve their stats and abilities. But make no mistake; Borderlands, while having some RPG elements, is at its core a twitch-based shooter. Item drops include weapons and ammo in addition to loot and you spend the majority of your time shooting creatures from the planet.

The four player co-op that we got our hands on in the 2K Games booth was certainly additive. Much like the Left 4 Dead series you have to stick together in order to survive. Otherwise creatures like crabs that bury themselves in the sand and animals that are crosses between lizards and packs of dogs will make mince meat out of you.

While the PC version of Borderlands at the Nvidia booth was single player only it looked sharp with high resolution textures that really showcased the game's unique illustrative art style. We suspect this game could get a lot of co-op attention from its PC users online.

As with many of our demos at PAX we wish we had more time with Borderlands but we feel confident in saying that Gearbox Software's latest creature is looking like it will also be its best game. We hope to get our hands on a beta build before its release on October 20.