Borderlands 2 Review

Have you ever been sitting on your couch with a friend trying to figure out what game you want to play? You want to play an FPS and your buddy wants to play an RPG. Well now you don't have to compromise anymore! Borderlands 2, the sequel to 2009's Borderlands which combines frantic FPS combat and RPG loot dropping goodness. We return once more to the wonderful world of Pandora but this time, things have changed. This is quite a spectacular journey, so bring friends!

Gameplay

Borderlands 2 is so much like its predecessor in many ways. You still progress through a large open world completing main story missions and side quests. You will be shooting several Tons of bullets, driving buggies, and collecting a Lot o' loot. The world is divided by areas which each have their own missions. Although this is very much an open world game, the mission structure is somewhat linear. Each mission has a pre-determined level assigned to it. Meaning if you are below the level suggestion it will be tough, or if you are higher in level, the mission will be trivial. The mission XP that you earn will still be the same, but enemies will be easier to kill and any loot you find may be below your level if you get too far ahead of the given mission. 

     The story is much more focused this time around. You play as a ‘Vault Hunter’ who was sent to Pandora to do just that; hunt for Vaults. Four years have passed since the events of Borderlands 1 and  Pandora has definitely changed. ‘Handsome Jack’, the ruler of the Hyperion Corporation has set up shop on one of Pandora's moons. He is in a never-ending attempt to get access to one of the Vaults. Your goal is to put an end to that, and beat him to it.

MECHANICS - The FPS mechanics are straight on. Shooting feels as great as ever, and pulling off that perfectly timed headshot, Never felt more satisfying!  What makes defeating monsters and bandits even better? When they drop loot! Finding a rare gun or shield that popped out of one of your fallen foes is so rewarding. Being able to instantly compare stats of the weapons you come across, to what you have in your inventory makes it even easier.  Of course you will often come across chests in the wasteland that you can find items in, or even purchase them from Vending machines. 

CLASSES - You can play as one of four classes: ‘The Gunzerker’ which allows you to dual wield weapons, ‘The Siren’ which can phase lock enemies, ‘The Commando’ that can deploy turrets, and ‘The Assassin’, who can slice at enemies without them even knowing it. Challenges have returned this time around but are much more refined. Every time you complete a level of a challenge you increase your ‘Bad Ass’ rank. This new ranking system is unlimited, so as long as you keep completing challenges you will have awesome bragging rights. The higher you ascend in your bad-assery, the more Tokens you unlock. Tokens give you bonus stats, like +1% Melee Damage, or -1% Shield Recharge Delay. These bonus stats can be active for every character you create since the Bad Ass score remains constant for all of your characters. 

CO-OP - You can play Borderlands 2 by yourself, or you can bring up to 3 friends to play alongside you. With four classes to choose from, your game can be very exciting, since each of the class specialties can alter the way you fight greatly. The more people you have in your group increases the difficulty of enemies and also increases the chance for better loot drops.

Borderlands 2 is an RPG at heart, so as you may expect you will be leveling up your character all the way to level 50 and unlocking new skills as you go. Gearbox Software has promised more DLC to come, and it is safe to assume that the level cap will be increased as well. 

Graphics

Borderlands 2 is a very unique game visually. It has a cell shaded look that gives the game a wonderful  flare. Expect to see a lot more colors this time around in Pandora. The drab grays and browns from the first game are still here, but there are plenty of greens and reds which really livens up the universe.  The gun and character animations are all very smooth and the game overall is technically sound. You will find texture pop-in to be fairly frequent any time you load up a save or enter a new area however.

Borderlands 2 has some new character customizing options which will allow you to choose customer skins for your head and body. New skins are unlocked as you increase in ‘Bad Ass’ rank, and as they are randomly dropped. This helps to make these characters really be your own.

Sound

The sound in Borderlands 2 is excellent. Jesper Kyd, who is known for his work on Darksiders II and the Assassin's Creed games, composed the soundtrack for Borderlands 2 as well. As you play the game, you will notice that the music is actually unique to each area of the game that you enter.  As opposed to a sound track that may repeat, this enables each area of the game to have its own vibe, and lends nicely to the tone of the game. 

The writing in Borderlands 2 is stellar. The dialogue is witty and quite often had me laughing in my chair. The story is much more developed and actually gave me more incentive to run around and explore. 

Conclusion

If you played Borderlands 1, you owe it to yourself to play the sequel. The game as a whole is very similar, but sometimes it is the many small things that really make a difference. Being able to initiate a trade with a friend, or duel them for a piece of loot that they stole from you is Amazing! Being able to walk over money to ammo to pick them up is genius! Borderlands 2 has an improved AI. Charging enemies no longer run at you in a straight line which allows for an easy headshot. Shooting at enemies will cause them to veer off path, much like you would see in RAGE. Enemies can become wounded and limp away from the scene of battle. There are many more enemies in this game which helps to change things up during combat. You can be running away from a Bot that is about to explode in your face, only to have and aerial drone shooting charged plasma at you. Borderlands 2 is always engaging, and very addicting. In fact I need to cut this review short just so I can return to the wonderful world of Pandora! But seriously, if you are wondering if it really is worth all the hype, just take my word for it. If you have ever played a FPS or an RPG and had a good time, then you cannot go wrong with Borderlands 2!

$54 out of $60

Roger Havens    @Afro_Gear