As an avid fan of the first Borderlands game, I absolutely love Borderlands 2. It subtly improves on the minor faults within the first game whilst keeping the great shoot and loot format which made the first game so popular.
Straight off, if you don’t like shoot and loot games Borderlands is not for you but if you do boy is the game a treat. The game brings together a new bunch of Vault Hunters and their quest to destroy The Vault (which you apparently didn’t destroy in the first game you only opened part of it). Axton the Commando, Zero the Assassin, Maya the Siren, Salvador the Gunzerker and Gaige the Mechromancer are the five new classes in the game which each have their own special abilities to call upon.
Developer: Gearbox
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, Microsoft Windows
Reviewed on Xbox 360
RRP: £39.99
Release Dates:
Xbox 360, PS3 ,Windows – Out Now
From the playable characters Zero the Assassin is by far my favourite with his sniping and deception abilities he allows the player to pick off enemies at a distance and not be overwhelmed by the hoards of ‘bad guys’ which are thrown at the player by the game. Axton’s turret is also a worthy skill as additions are made to his version of the turret but Maya’s Phaselock skill is weak compared to Lilith’s Phasewalk skill from the first game.
It is not imperative to have played the first game in the series, although I would suggest it as Borderlands 2 brings back a lot of memorable characters from the first game as well as following the overall story arc of the first Borderlands game. The story-line and the concept of levelling up for better weapons keeps the player interested whilst improved skill trees and the addition of ‘bad-ass’ points make levelling up even more fun.
Online with up to four players playing campaign is where the game is at its best, you can team up with friends or with up to three other online players to take on the world of Pandora. As more players join the game the game gets progressively harder but the rewards and loot get even better making playing co-operatively even more fun and advantageous. Duels between players return to add that little bit of ‘for the hell of it’ fun and the addition of the trading system and weapon safes makes playing as a team that much easier.
Unlike the first game, Borderlands 2 offers a greater range of backdrops from the Arctic Tundra to the jungle-esque Wildlife Reserve. These backdrops add a little extra to the game rather than the endless dull desert landscape of the first game. The game also has an enemy with a face – Handsome Jack. In the first game one of my major criticisms was that the player did not really know what was going on, they were searching for the vault with no real enemy and when ‘The Destroyer’ did reveal itself in the end it was disappointing and far too easy to defeat.
Jack brings a dark humour to the game and he has also taken credit for the events of the first game so for any player who has played the first game he is automatically a douche right from the start. But it is his constant interventions which give the player a direction with this game, there is an actual enemy and an enemy which makes the game worth while playing.
The advert for the game promised “bazillions more guns” and it certainly delivers. Rarely does the game throw up two of the same item which allows for more variety in the build of different characters. Each brand of gun in this game also comes with its own special characteristic – Tediore guns explode on reload, Maliwan guns always have an elemental effet and Jakobs guns are immensely accurate and powerful.
Within the game there are less ‘go and fetch the heads of 500 dead psychos’’ and more missions with meaning which reaches out to the player giving the story content of the game an additional edge and really appeals to the player. Claptrap returns and provides more hilarious banter as the game retains it’s somewhat jokey nature.
The return of the four original Vault Hunters as NPC’s is a great addition for fans as Borderlands 2 develops on the back stories of these characters which again helps to develop the overall story line and allows the player to feel more involved and connected than they did with the original Borderlands game.
The addition of Gaige and her Deathtrap as DLC almost makes the game too easy at times with the Deathtrap wielding unbelievable power creating explosions and firing lasers as well as mounting up unbelievable shock damage. Although it makes the game too easy for veteran gamers, this feature will prove to be a great addition to first time players of the genre and allow them to settle into the game easier as well as making it easier to play co-op with a player who does not regularly play.
One of the many highlights of the first game was the variety and the extent of the DLC released and Gearbox have promised that all four instalments of DLC for this game will be released within a year. So we will have to wait until then to give the game its final verdict but so far it has been a welcome addition to the Borderlands series.