Greed: Black Border
- January 13, 2010
- Clockstone
Get on Steam"Greed: Black Border" is a Sci-Fi RPG with gorgeous visuals and immersive music. Play single-player or with a friend in co-op mode, battling through a war-torn universe for a powerful new energy source. Your actions will determine the fate of mankind in this hack 'n slash adventure. Grinding is to be expected.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Greed: Black Border offers a fun, mindless ARPG experience that is good for passing time, especially when played with friends.
- The game features nice graphics and atmospheric effects, which enhance the overall experience despite its age.
- It has a quirky sci-fi theme that sets it apart from typical fantasy ARPGs, providing a unique setting for players.
- The controls are clunky and can lead to frustrating gameplay, often causing characters to move when they should be shooting.
- The game suffers from a lack of variety in weapons, enemies, and overall content, making it feel repetitive and dull.
- The story is weak and poorly developed, with many players feeling unmotivated to progress through the game due to its uninspired narrative.
- gameplay59 mentions
- 5 % positive mentions
- 85 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by repetitive mechanics, primarily involving basic attacks and dodging, leading to a monotonous experience across various chapters. While some players appreciate the solid execution and sci-fi atmosphere, many criticize the finicky controls and lack of variety, resulting in a frustrating balance between easy and excessively difficult encounters. Overall, the game struggles with originality and depth, making it less engaging for extended play.
“The gameplay itself is actually pretty solid, like nothing completely glitching out on me, but then again there doesn't seem to be an excessive use of features to really screw it up.”
“Graphics are decent, gameplay is simple yet fun, it's relatively hard, and the sci-fi atmosphere is well done.”
“It offers solid gameplay that rivals more expensive titles.”
“The gameplay is kind of terrible; it's like a cheap top-down shooter.”
“Greed has no balance to its gameplay at all, veering constantly between laughably easy and nihilistically, keyboard-punchingly difficult with next to no warning.”
“The controls are painful, the gameplay is boring, and the sound effects are too weak.”
- graphics49 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The game's graphics have received generally positive feedback, with many reviewers noting their impressive quality for a 2009 release, featuring advanced effects like dynamic lighting and smooth 2D textures. While some players found the visuals beautiful and engaging, others pointed out inconsistencies, such as occasional graphical bugs and hazy textures. Overall, the graphics are considered a strong point of the game, contributing to its appeal despite mixed opinions on gameplay and story.
“If the game has one major upside, it's the visuals.”
“The graphics are amazing.”
“The graphics are sharp and visually appealing, reminiscent of Alien Swarm, without major bugs during my 14-hour playthrough.”
“The graphics are hazy and the text is difficult to read at best.”
“Uninteresting story, mediocre graphics, and repetitive enemies.”
“This is a very boring game, that's sad, since I do appreciate the graphics and world setting of the game, but other than that, there is nothing leaving any impression in my head about this game.”
- story48 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The game's story is widely criticized for being shallow, uninspired, and lacking depth, with many reviewers noting that it feels incomplete or nonsensical. Players express disappointment over the minimal narrative content, slow pacing, and underwhelming conclusion, suggesting that it fails to engage those seeking a rich storytelling experience. Overall, the consensus is that the story does not meet expectations, especially when compared to established titles like Diablo and Titan Quest.
“It's competently put together, short, and has a mildly interesting quirky story.”
“While the game is short and lacks depth in storytelling, it’s enjoyable and a great deal at $5.”
“The game lacks a compelling narrative, so if you’re looking for an immersive story, this isn't it.”
“The story overall is fairly uninspired though.”
“The story is slow and not very interesting, the ending is underwhelming as well.”
“There is a complete lack of a story, interesting gear, and enemy variety.”
- music32 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 34 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising the fantastic soundtrack and its ability to enhance the atmosphere, particularly in the first act. However, many users find the music to be generic, repetitive, or sub-par, with some expressing fatigue from the similar electronic tracks by mid-game. Overall, while the soundtrack has its highlights, it struggles to maintain interest throughout the gameplay.
“Fantastic soundtrack!”
“Great music to blast enemies away to.”
“The sci-fi theme and techno music alone make this a worthwhile buy for us action RPGers.”
“The music is generic to sub-par.”
“The soundtrack isn't interesting, and I got tired from hearing the same (or similar) electronic music by the middle of the game.”
“The music is alright, the voice acting at some points is too quiet, and the story doesn’t feel finished.”
- grinding16 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious, repetitive, and uninspired, leading to a lack of engagement over time. While some players find enjoyment in grinding, many feel it becomes overwhelming and detracts from the overall experience, making the game feel rushed and bland. Overall, the combat and progression systems fail to maintain interest, resulting in a frustrating grind for most players.
“After this, it will not suddenly get interesting; it will only be slowly becoming more and more boring, grindy, and repetitive.”
“The combat itself gets tedious very soon, and there's no real skill build that can actually keep you engaged for long.”
“What originally started as a sort of simple dungeon crawler with a little charm to it quickly became a nightmare with each moment grinding against what little patience I had left.”
- atmosphere12 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is generally praised for its strong visuals, music, and immersive sci-fi elements, contributing to an engaging experience. However, some users noted that technical issues like poor frame rates and sub-standard controls detract from the overall enjoyment. Despite these drawbacks, the atmosphere remains a highlight, with commendable voice acting and a captivating setting.
“The music and atmosphere are great.”
“Great atmosphere.”
“The sci-fi atmosphere is well done.”
“Looks great and the music and atmosphere are great too, but the frame rate is poor and the controls are sub-standard.”
“Graphics are decent, gameplay is simple yet fun, it's relatively hard, and the sci-fi atmosphere is well done.”
- stability7 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, stability reviews are mixed; while some players report a smooth experience with no bugs or graphical issues during extended play, others encounter significant problems with movement controls that can lead to unintended character actions. Minor troubleshooting efforts have not resolved these issues for those affected.
“Tried minor troubleshooting without success.”
“Buggy movement controls, sometimes moving the character even when not holding down the mouse button.”
“When the control scheme isn't bad, it's buggy.”
- optimization7 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The game is reported to be poorly optimized, particularly for AMD GPUs, requiring players to lower their resolution to achieve near 60 fps. Additionally, there is a lack of optimization for newer graphics cards, which detracts from the overall experience despite the game's strong music and interesting concepts.
“Greed has no balance to its gameplay at all, veering constantly between laughably easy and nihilistically, keyboard-punchingly difficult with next to no warning, and no amount of high performance, great music (sadly actually fantastic music) or interesting ideas can save it from that one issue.”
“Graphics & performance:”
“Finally, the game seems to be poorly optimized for AMD GPUs; I had to run it at relatively low resolution in order to get close to 60 FPS.”
“No optimization for newer GPUs.”
“Graphics and performance issues severely detract from the overall experience.”
- replayability6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game offers some replayability through its New Game+ mode, but many players feel that the overall experience is hindered by unnecessarily stretched-out gameplay, limiting the appeal of trying different classes.
“There is definitely replayability as there is a new game+.”
“There’s replayability with a new game+ mode.”
“The game would be more replayable with any of the other two classes if the gameplay wasn't so unnecessarily stretched out.”
“- not enough replayability”
“There is definitely replayability as there is a new game+ mode.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the humor in "Greed: Black Border" to be enjoyable and lighthearted, contributing to a fun and relaxing gaming experience. The game's comedic elements, combined with its engaging hack-and-slash mechanics, make it a worthwhile addition to any collection, especially for those seeking a humorous twist in a space-themed setting.
“If you have been through the fabulous hack-and-slash games in your collection, and are looking for a new one with a space machine gun setting, then Greed: Black Border is a good option, surely worth 4 or 5 euros for the hours of funny, relaxing bulletstorm it can offer.”
