Heavily armed "Borderlands" videogame hits US

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"Borderlands," a videogame brimming with weaponry and battle, hit North America on Tuesday.

It takes aim at the rest of the world on Friday.

The title developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games combines one-on-one challenges, solo play, and online team options with a wasteland planet setting and lots of guns.

"Borderlands" contains automated weapon generating software that even served up surprises for its creators during a demonstration at a major E3 videogame conference in California earlier this year.

The videogame boasts "a near infinite variety" of weapons, and the overall objective for players is basically to find them and use them to annihilate enemies. The game's arsenal tops 17 million weapons, according to 2K.

"The 'Borderlands' team has brought together the things we know we love -- co-op, skill-based action, character development and millions of guns -- in a way we haven't seen before," said Gearbox president Randy Pitchford.

"I think it's the best video game we've ever made and I have never been more excited about a launch."

Borderlands allows players linked by the Internet to freely join or leave each others' games at any time for "collaborative mayhem" or solo adventure.

"Borderlands is unlike anything else on store shelves," said 2K president Christoph Hartmann. "It's got it all... and the biggest arsenal ever seen in a first-person shooter."

Versions of "Borderlands" tailored for play on Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3 consoles were released Tuesday in North America. The videogame software will be available in other markets beginning Friday.

Versions of the role-playing videogame for play on personal computers will be released next week.

The first downloadable expansion pack for "Borderlands" will star zombies; enemies dear to the hearts of shooter fans.

"The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned" for "Borderlands" is to be released by the end of the year.