Borderlands 2 preview: Is it Sept. 18 yet?

Is next Tuesday yet? Well, how about now? No? Ok it’s been a few more minutes, it’s gotta be the 18^th by now…

“Borderlands 2” by Gearbox Software is finally hitting shelves next Tuesday, Sept. 18 and if you couldn’t tell, I’ve been anxiously awaiting its release for what feels like years. After tearing through the original game and its numerous DLC packs, I’ve been hanging on literally every piece of news about the sequel that I can gather. I’m not the only one out there struggling with the wait until the 18^th and Gearbox knows it – which is why they’ve been posting pictures like this on their official Facebook account:

So to pass the time until “Borderlands 2” is released, I’ve been endlessly creating different character skill trees which the folks at Gearbox have graciously provided on the game’s official website. If you visit www.borderlands2.com, click on “Characters,” select any of the four new characters and then click “Skill Tree,” you’ll be able to not only view each of that character’s three skill trees, but you’re also given 50 points to play with – as many as a completely leveled-up character would have.

Since the Soldier was my class of choice last game, Axton the Commando is most likely going to be the first character I create. His skills are similar to Roland’s except that he is more geared toward offensive output than Roland, who had numerous skills dedicated to healing/protecting teammates (many of those healing powers now belong to the Siren, Maya), though Axton does get a skill that encircles his turret with a protective shield but other than that, his skills deal mostly with dealing damage. Also, I’d recommend pursuing the Guerrilla tree to get the most out of your turret. Though the skills to add a shield or Longbow abilities to your turret are in other trees, Guerrilla will increase its fire rate, add missile pods as well as add a second gun to your turret that fires Slag rounds (a new elemental power that make affected enemies take extra damage). Though the Survival tree will eventually let you throw two turrets and if you get creative enough, you’ll eventually be able to throw two shielded turrets with maxed out rates of fire, accuracy as well as missile pods. But these are only a few of the numerous different skills combinations possible for just one character in “Borderlands 2.”

In the course of messing around with the various skill trees, you’ll get a better understanding of that character’s strengths and weaknesses. More importantly, though, with the way the skill trees are laid out now, I’ve noticed that you’ll only earn enough points to fully upgrade one tree - meaning you would do well to focus on one tree enough to unlock its most powerful skill. As you can tell, the choices in character creation is almost endless and will have you agonizing over where to invest every newly earned skill point. Don’t worry though, you’ll be able to re-allocate your skill points at any time during the game – for a price. The more skill points you have to redistribute, the more money a re-allocation is going to cost you.

If you’d like a more visual introduction to “Borderlands 2,” spend a few minutes watching “And introduction by Sir Hammerlock,” one of the new NPC characters you’ll meet in the game:

But the additions to “Borderlands 2” go way past just new characters and skills. Though you won’t be able to build or customize weapons, you’ll be able to customize the visual style of your character with new outfit pieces, hair styles or clothing colors. These changes are just cosmetic but will let you differentiate your character from the rest.

In the first “Borderlands” if you found a weapon you wanted to keep but couldn’t use (say, a unique boss weapon) you’d probably be forced to sell it off eventually to make inventory space for usable guns. A storage system was eventually released as part of the Mad Moxxi DLC but it was only available in areas included with the DLC. That feature is a standard part of “Borderlands 2.” Not only that, but you’ll now be able to trade weapons amongst the various characters on your profile meaning that sniper rifle your berserker found won’t just automatically need to be sold to make room in your inventory.

If you preordered “Borderlands 2” through Gamestop, you’ll receive a number of awesome bonuses. First, you get a pack of unique Gearbox weapons to start your character off as well as a Golden Key to open a special loot chest in the main hub, Sanctuary. You’ll also be able to download the new Mechromancer class when it is released as DLC on October 16. This new class is able to summon a massive robot to fight alongside you in battle – and it’s free if you bothered to preorder the game. But that’s not all – you also get access to the Creature Slaughter Dome, an enemy-attack mode similar to Mad Moxxi’s Underdome, except this time you actually earn XP and weapons (unlike the Underdome, which only rewarded you with guns for finishing rounds – and no XP). I’ve also just read that the item you get out of the Golden Key chest scales to the level of the character that opens it, so you may want to hold off until you have a few levels under your belt before cracking it open.

But perhaps more than anything listed above, I’m very interested in experiencing the plot of “Borderlands 2.” Though I adore the first game, plot and storytelling was not one of its strong aspects. For the sequel, however, Gearbox has spent a considerable amount of time not only creating interesting characters for the player to assume but has spent time creating a recognizable villain for the game – Handsome Jack. A lot has happened on Pandora since the first game and Jack has been the driving force behind of most of those changes so I’m very interested to learn more about him, see how he acts and find out just what he has in store for Pandora this time around.

“Borderlands 2” is shaping up to be the game I spend the majority of my time with in the remainder of 2012. With all the spectacular upgrades to the gameplay and the formula, this is one game you’ll want to experience with friends. And even more people will be able to get in on the action this time now that players on splitscreen will be able to play online with others (something not possible in the first game). Even the skill tree screen has been refined so that people playing on splitscreen will be able to more easily navigate their abilities.

So…is it next Tuesday yet?

Gaming on the Cheap: Raise some hell in "The Darkness 2"

First person shooters are so prevalent anymore that it’s hard for any one title to stand out among the rest. They all give you a vast arsenal of weaponry to mow down countless legions of faceless goons and after a while, it becomes so very boring committing these virtual murders with the same old tools of the trade. Developer Digital Extremes shares these complaints with ordinary shooters and gives players some unique and truly grisly ways to deal with foes in “The Darkness 2.”

The series, based on a graphic novel of the same name, centers around Jackie Estacado, a low-level mob enforcer who is cursed to carry the Darkness – an ageless entity of pure evil and malevolence. After defeating the mobsters out to kill him at the end of the first game, Jackie has since taken control of the Franchetti crime family for himself and has also managed to suppress the Darkness, seemingly for good.  That relative peace doesn’t last long, though, as Jackie becomes the target of a group known as the Brotherhood who are bent on reclaiming the Darkness, regardless of its current host. The Darkness eventually re-manifests itself to protect its current host, Jackie.

A number of changes have been made to the series since its original installment. The most noticeable change has been to the art style, replacing the relatively bland yet gritty visuals of the first game with bright, colorful cel-shading. The new style gives the game a much different look, harkening back to its comic book roots. While I personally would’ve liked to have seen the visuals continued to trend along the gritty path, I can’t deny that “The Darkness 2” is one slick looking game. Also, don’t worry that the change in art style has downplayed the amount of violence and gore – because it hasn’t.

The next big change in “The Darkness 2” is that the action is broken up in levels, rather than traversing various areas using the subway system, as in the first game. This keeps the action and story moving along at a nice clip, never letting any steam it’s built up go to waste. Levels usually begin in Jackie’s penthouse apartment, allowing you to explore collected items or talk to your cronies. Though this can be bypassed easily enough if blowing fools away is more your speed.

As in the first game, Jackie can wield a vast array of guns as well as being able to dual wield pistols and smaller machine guns. But this time around, his Darkness powers play a much more prominent role in combat. Dubbed “quad-wielding” by Digital Extremes, Jackie is able to use two guns as well as his Darkness arms at will, creating some devastating attacks. The left arm is used to grab objects – turning car doors into shields, pipes into projectiles and enemies into bloody piles of limbs (via the game’s incredibly violent executions). The right arm is used for melee attacks and the direction of the attack can be aimed with the right stick, allowing you to dismember enemies as well as perform special attacks.

Make no mistake about it, “The Darkness 2” is intended solely for mature audiences as it pulls no punches during the combat or in its narrative. Jackie’s enemies, The Brotherhood, have a history of committing atrocities attempting to control the Darkness and the Darkness itself is the literal embodiment of evil. To this end your Darkness arms will be tearing out enemy hearts for health, and performing various, nasty execution moves on stunned enemies to gain health, ammo, a shield or recharge other Darkness powers (like Gun Channeling and the Swarm).

Actually using those executions during a tense firefight is much easier earlier on in the game, where you’re afforded a bit more time to enjoy the theatric finishes as opposed to the later stages of the game where you’ll often be teetering on the brink of death as you blast away with both guns, flail your Darkness arm wildly and search for some semblance of cover. Though the earlier levels of “The Darkness 2” aren’t very challenging, you’ll be facing some tough opposition later on. Since the Darkness can only operate in areas of relative dark, the Brotherhood employs mobile, high-powered lights as well as grenades that blast surrounding areas with bright lights to weaken the Darkness and force Jackie to seek darker surroundings. Though the Brotherhood pursues Jackie relentlessly, these encounters are never too overwhelming or cause fits of controller-throwing rage.

I was very surprised by the story presented in “The Darkness 2.” Not because it was shocking in any sort of grotesque way (trust me, the visuals and gameplay will dole out plenty of the “grotesque”) but because of the way it easily toys with the player. Numerous times during the course of the story, the narrative takes a dramatic turn, dropping the player into unknown territory, forcing you to decide if you can trust exactly what the narrative is telling you. The themes of “The Darkness 2” are actually very similar to another standout FPS title, “BioShock.” In both titles you take on the role of a character who believes he is acting of his own free will, accomplishing his own goals, but in the end we find that someone, or something, else may actually be pulling the strings.

“The Darkness 2” also introduces multiplayer to the series in the form of the “Vendettas” missions. A separate campaign that runs parallel to Jackie’s story, Vendettas are missions designed around four-player cooperative play. It seems that Jackie, as the current host of the Darkness, has attracted others to his cause – others who wield powerful artifacts that are powered by dark essence. Each character has a specific dark-weapon that not only acts as a powerful melee attack but also is how these characters perform. Each also has a unique tree of skills to unlock as well as a unique Darkness power. For instance I played as Jimmy Wilson who wields a large axe that can be thrown and recalled on command, as well as being able to summon Darklings who seek out enemies and explode, causing massive damage. Vendettas can be played online or offline but being that many unlockable skills are related to buffing the stats of other players, it is a mode that was definitely designed to play with others.

As a fan of the original game, I was quite happy with the way that “The Darkness 2” turned out. Though the change in art style may be a bit too much for some to come to terms with, the copious amount of blood, gore and violence will no doubt assure those on the fence that this game hasn’t lost the edge of its predecessor. The deeper, twisting story will no doubt keep players in the dark (pun not intended) and on the edge of their seat, even after the credits finish rolling. Plus, the inclusion of multiplayer and a New Game + mode (after completing the single player campaign once) give players plenty of reason to keep coming back to. “The Darkness 2” should available for a relatively cheap price these days and, to an FPS fan, is worth every penny.