The first Borderlands was a very good game finding a
good way to combine a RPG mechanics into a FPS, however it was only an above
average game at best. It was way too repetitive and the story was really only
there to justify going from point A to point B and kill enemies X, Y, and Z.
The game did have one shining detail; coop. The original game was one of the
best coop games in the past five years next to Left for Dead and Halo
3, and now the boys (and girls) at Gearbox have corrected the problems of
the first game and created one of the best games of the new decade, Borderlands
2.
I was a
little skeptical before I played the sequel because of the problems mentioned
above. I never really got into Borderlands 1 because it was too
repetitive on the single player front and my friends were either too far or
behind me in game progress for me to truly enjoy the coop campaign. I told
myself to enjoy the game and not to give up on it after only a few hours. I’m
about 25-30ish hours into the game and I’m lucky that I’ve never had to give up
on the game. Yes I know I haven’t finished the game but I don’t need to. I’ve
seen 20 plus hours of the game and I know it’s not going to suck in the final
thirty minutes. I also have friends who have told me that the only thing that
changes in the end of the game is difficulty (SHOCKER!).
Gearbox has
put a much bigger emphasis on story in this game and goes as far as explaining
some aspects of the original game. There are many more characters that you will
interact with and there is a villain that is pointed out before you get to
create your character. (This was a big problem for me in the original as the
antagonist was never truly seen or identified early) Another cool thing Gearbox
did is that three of the four main characters appear in game as NPCs and there
is still DLC for the fourth to come into play. Every character, from the
returning characters from the first game to the antagonist, Handsome Jack, has
his or her own personality and truly shows it. Even though there are virtually
no cutscenes, the characters will talk to you over the radio during missions
and truly immerse you in the world of Pandora. Although it still isn’t at the
caliber of other games, like Halo or Fallout, and most of the missions still
are only there to get from A to B, the story is much more improved and makes
the gameplay more tolerable.
Speaking of
gameplay, the combat system is largely unchanged and more refined from the
first game. The point of the game is still to find, use, and replace guns
constantly as there are thousands (probably millions) of “different” guns in
the game. By “different” I mean that there are multiple different gun companies
with each one having different qualities. For example, one company makes guns
that fire with a higher rate of fire while another makes guns that you throw
when you reload and it explodes like a grenade. From there, there’s the usual
make up of pistols, machine guns, SMG’s. assault rifles, sniper rifles, and
shotguns and there are different effects that guns may have, including igniting
enemies on fire or shocking them. The weapon system can be made out simply to
company Y, gun type 3 (ie SMG, pistol, etc), effect A, and rarity 3. Enemies
drop so many guns that I haven’t bought one gun from a store and instead just held
out for an enemy drop or one of the many loot chests that are littered
throughout the game. The other combat ability you get comes from one of four
classes you choose at the beginning of the game. There is a commando that can
drop a turret, a brute (called the gunzerker) which can temporarily duel-wield
guns, the siren who can do magic moves that throw people helplessly in the air,
and an assassin that projects a hologram and turns invisible. Each class has a
huge skill tree that really begs for second play through and you can play a
second campaign as the same class and still have a completely different
experience in each. There is also new game plus which allows you to start over
with all your stuff and have the enemies scaled to your level when you start.
Enemies are also more varied than the first and they range from wolf-bear beast
things to bandits to robots. There are also plenty of bosses that appear
throughout the game and each one is fun and challenging to battle. Finally coop is about the same with you being
able to quickly join or drop into your friends’ campaigns. If you happen to be
thirty levels behind your friends, you can still join up and when you get to
the missions you played with them in your single player campaign you have the
option to skip the respective missions. All in all, coop is still very fun and
probably the best way to experience the game. Even if you are a single player
man like me, you should still experience this coop at least once before you
retire this game.
Much like
the first game, the visual style and music is the biggest thing that separates
Pandora from other virtual environments like Tamriel of the Elder Scrolls
franchise. Gearbox doesn’t even try to hide the fact that Pandora doesn’t exist
and the characters have matching personalities. For example, one character is a
little girl that gives you a mission to protect her tea party from bandits
while she dances around and complains that her guests are being too loud and
shooting things. She also loves to blow crap up! The visuals are very fun to
look at whether you’re watching the passing scenery driving from A to B or
watching a robot enemy slowly corrode from the corrosive damage effect on your
gun. Also there is much more than the desert environment of the first game.
During the story, you’ll go to an apocalyptic-like city, a factory, a beautiful-looking,
robot-led city, and a glacier environment among others. The music is also very
good going from ‘mood’ music when walking around to mega synth music during
fight scenes.
Overall,
Borderlands 2 is the perfect example of a great sequel. Gearbox listened to and
correctly addressed the problems of the first game while polishing other
aspects of the game that were good to begin with. Although this sequel didn’t
set any new bar, Borderlands 2 is hands down one of the best games of 2012 and
might just be game of the year when 2012 is all said and done (supposing we all
don’t die when the Mayan calendar ends)
9/10
