When comparing Borderlands vs Gauntlet, the Slant community recommends Gauntlet for most people. In the question“What are the best 4-player local multiplayer games on Steam?” Gauntlet is ranked 4th while Borderlands is ranked 29th. The most important reason people chose Gauntlet is:
Gauntlet offers full controller support that actually works extremely well for an action RPG. This makes for a good game to play on a Steam Machine or living room gaming PC.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Addictive loot based gameplay
The loot in Borderlands is color coded to signal which loot is the most rare. This system of loot based collecting allows the user to always be on the hunt for more rare items, which can be addicting in the way it has been designed.
Pro Fun dungeon boss fights
Players can team up against dungeon bosses that are often large in scale and power making for fun tasks to complete that are separate from the main story tree.
Pro The character customization is great
In Borderlands, once you reach a certain level, you begin to acquire talent points. Each point can be spent in several different ways that will enhance your characters power, and there are quite a few paths to take. For example, one character can power up his melee attacks, his ability to take hits, or his explosive capabilities (specifically with rocket launchers). Of course, as you gain more levels, even if you completely fill out one of those trees, you can start to gain points in another, and your talents begin to interact in interesting ways.
Pro A great mix of first person shooter and RPG
Borderlands provides the feel of a first person shooter in the rich, story-driven world of an RPG.
Pro A great sense of humor
The entire Borderlands series takes comedy pretty seriously. More accurately, it doesn't. There's a lot of cheap, light-hearted jokes in the game that really keep you smiling while you're blowing your enemies to tiny bits.
Pro You can easily play the PC game on a sofa with the included full controller support
Gauntlet offers full controller support that actually works extremely well for an action RPG. This makes for a good game to play on a Steam Machine or living room gaming PC.
Pro Bosses offer good bit of diversity to the gameplay thanks to requiring different strategy over the base gameplay
Different bosses require different tactics to defeat them. This creates a good change of pace from the regular hack and slash gameplay as differing tactics will need to be used.
Pro Good co-op options no matter if you want to play locally or online
Gauntlet has support for local and online 4 player co-op. Making for a game that works well for small groups.
Cons
Con No mini-map on screen
User will have to open the menu often in order to get their bearings as to where things are as there is no on-screen map, it is only in the menu. Having to pull up the menu so often for the map can be frustrating an immersion breaking.
Con Very repetitive gameplay
With a few exceptions, the gameplay and strategy is the same for the entire game. There is very little progression and very few new abilities. The game also seems to gets easier rather than harder, although the new Colosseum mode adds some challenge to the end game.
Con Locked camera
The camera is locked in a single position. This creates confusion while playing in a busy area, as the camera does not stay focused on the player’s character. While a locked camera made sense in the arcade or on home consoles, where only one screen was needed, it really doesn’t make much sense for online multiplayer.
Con Can be rather difficult
The difficulty level is way too high especially when playing with kids.
Con Requires controllers with XInput
You cannot play Gauntlet with PS controllers.
Con Wizard is complicated to use
The wizard character is complicated to use. He has nine spells that can be cast using a number of hard-to-remember button combinations. This results in very few people wanting to play as the character. For online matches, this means there are quite a few three-player games as no one wants to take the role of the fourth character: the wizard.