I have hundreds of hours in the first borderlands but I think the game itself is pretty shit. It completely fails as an fps because your movement speed isn't fast enough to make organic use of cover or treat it as a run n gun, and it's not great as a cover shooter either. It just ends up being a game where you need big enough numbers on your gun and shield to get past the next zone.

The setting, story, and art isn't bad, but without good gameplay none of that can save a game. The only reason I played it so much was because I sometimes wanted a mindless experience where I can watch the numbers go up without thinking too much about anything.