What is required to play online on the Xbox 360 version of Borderlands?

I've bought Borderlands and I've been playing it on my own. I'm starting to get interested in playing co-op online, but never done it before so not sure how I go about it.

• Do I need to do anything else other than the game & an Internet connection?

• Do I just click on the Xbox live link in the game load screen to take me to the correct online location/screen etc?

• Do I need to buy an Xbox live card to be able to go online?

A real newbie question but I've never played online, not sure how it works, and not sure if I'll prefer it to the single player I'm going through now. I don't want to pay loads of additional cash for Xbox live access and then not use it.

Solution 1:

All you need is the game,internet and Xbox live gold membership.

To start it, click "Xbox live" in the main menu.
- Click custom games or quick match to join someone else's game. Pick the match you want to join and then it will ask you to choose your character. Everyones matches to choose from will be labeled by what level character they are and what quest they are working on.
- Click Create game to start a game with your character.