If you have played the original Borderlands in 2009 then you are probably familiar with the best intro of that year and its equally epic theme song ‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked’. Before I actually start to tell you just how great its successor is, I will start by stating that this year’s intro has topped the original and so did the game. By creating a loot driven shooter with RPG elements Gearbox Software has landed an instant success 3 years ago and while the first attempt at making such a game was good, the game set on Pandora had its fair share of issues but the developer has done its best to address them for the sequel.
It is hard to speak of Borderlands in anything but an extremely loving way; the game was so unbelievably refreshing with its art style and gameplay, that it took the world by storm to an extend that even the developers and publisher 2K Games did not expect. After Gearbox spent a good year developing and releasing DLC for the 4 player coop title it was time to work on the sequel. Borderlands was great fun to play but also had players and critics overlook some of its issues since it was such a breath of fresh air such as the missing mini map, technical problems and user interface (UI) and of course the tacked on story.
Fast forward to 2012 and Gearbox released Borderlands 2 which built on all the things that were great about the original and addressed its shortcomings in just about every way. Borderlands 2 is still a loot based RPG shooter that is best enjoyed with a group of four friends and has 4 character classes to chose from, the game is also based on Pandora again and of course the ‘Vault Hunters’ are here to grab some treasure. This time however, the game has a fully fleshed out story where the game’s villain ‘Handsome Jack’ recruits vault hunters to do his dirty work. Of course there is more to Jack than meets the eye and he wants to open an ancient vault that will allow him to more or less destroy everything and everyone or at least control the planet. This doesn’t go over well with you or the guardian angel, who also returns to the game, and the player quickly goes onto a quest to stop Jack.
Borderlands 2 is a much better game than its predecessor and that is not only due to the story, more built out characters rather than mission originators, and the added mini map but also some minor tweaks like the improved UI. The navigation has been enhanced and I was able to mark items as favorites or trash, which allows for easy selling of items I didn’t care about and making sure I never sell others by accident. Other tweaks went into the way quests are handled and upgrades are applied. None of these are breathtaking changes but improve the overall playability of Borderlands 2. Some nice added features are fast travel and the stat comparison when hovering over a new gun or mod when looting – players won’t have to open menus to check if this is a superior item. In order to supplement some of the skill tree progression, which feels a lot more unique this time around, there are ‘Bad Ass Tokens’ which can be applied to reduce shield recharge rate, gun accuracy or maximum health – all of these changes will carry over between the four character classes. This means any of the token based enhancements will apply to Gunzerker, Siren, Commando or Assassin class.
When you are not looting, chatting up NPCs or checking your quest log you are probably killing enemies – lots and lots of enemies whose banter makes for some comic relief as numbers keep popping from their bodies when they die from the effects of the 870 Gajillion guns in the game. Does that sound like fun to you? Well it is some seriously addicting gamer crack Gearbox has come up with. There are several gun manufacturers in the game that will have different abilities ranging from Western style weapons to alien technology based guns with tons of elemental effects. All of these things become more fun with 3 more friends to play with as they can jump in and out of each other’s games with the seamless coop options. You will also be able to skip missions that were already completed as you helped a buddy in his game – another nice touch added to Borderlands 2.
Naturally there are always a few things to point out that could be improved, even though there aren’t many of them in Gearbox’s latest outing, there are a few I’d like to point out. Vehicles still feel a bit squirrely and are only used to get from point A to B in a quicker fashion. The game also suffers from some texture pop-in even when installed on the hard drive – this isn’t a big issue but I wouldn’t expect it at this stage of the console cycle. Lastly, if you’re playing cooperatively make sure it is with people you know, as the shared loot system can make for you not getting any of the good stuff.
From reading this review you can already tell that Borderlands 2 is a huge improvement over its predecessor and the good far outweigh the bad. Gearbox has made an already fun and addictive game into a great one that has me wanting more already. The sequel is packed with fun, rewarding gunplay and looting around a good story that is all enjoyed even more with friends over Xbox LIVE or PSN. While there are some minor issues to note, Borderlands 2 is already a Game of the Year contender and we are only in September!
Score: 9.5 / 10
Borderlands 2 was developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on September 18th. A retail copy of the Xbox 360 version was provided to us by 2K Games for reviewing purposes.
