Borderlands 2 review - We're gonna need a lot of guns

It’s been a while since my last update and I’d like to apologize for that. I have a good reason, though. Gearbox Software recently released “Borderlands 2,” sequel to the 2009 surprise hit “Borderlands” (one of my favorite games of all time) and, well, I’ve spent a bit more time on quests and searching for loot than actually writing about it. But trust me, once you get a taste of everything that “Borderlands 2” has to offer, you may never want to leave either.

Though the core of the series hasn’t changed much – explore Pandora’s vast, hostile landscapes, complete missions and shoot things in the face while collecting gobs and gobs of loot – nearly everything has been improved and upgraded to provide a more streamlined experience. The visuals are brighter and cleaner, the characters are a bit deeper and the story has received a significant amount of attention as compared to the first game. But more importantly, it’s easier than ever to play cooperatively with friends, which you will definitely want to do to get the most out of your time on Pandora.

Times are still rough on the backwater planet of Pandora. In fact, they’re worse than ever. The events of “Borderlands 2” hinge on two huge events in the history of Pandora. First, the opening of the Vault at the end of the first game changed the landscape of the planet significantly, sparking the growth of a precious element known as Eridium. Along with the opening of the Vault, the events of the DLC pack “Viva La Robolucion!” has resulted in the Hyperion Corporation setting up permanent operations on the planet. Hyperion has begun strip-mining the planet’s Eridium resources while simultaneously seeking out another hidden Vault.

Unlike the faceless Atlas Corporation in the first game (or whoever was controlling the Crimson Lance), the Hyperion Corporation has a very well-known leader – Handsome Jack. It seems Jack has taken credit for opening the original Vault and is responsible for luring the Vault Hunters to Pandora this time around. Jack wants the new Vault all for himself and hopes to rid himself of competition by wiping out any new Vault Hunters that show up on the planet. Though you initially come to Pandora seeking the fortune that the Vault is said to contain, stopping Jack and getting a manner of revenge on him quickly becomes your biggest goal.

The cast of "Borderlands 2" (from left) Axton, Zer0, Salvadore and Maya

Getting to Jack won’t be easy, however. The landscape of Pandora is brutal as ever and you’ll need some serious firepower to survive. Gearbox has done a considerable amount of work adding a greater level of variety to every aspect of “Borderlands 2.” There are more categories of enemies as well as newer types of each enemy to ensure that firefights never become dull or predictable. There are numerous, different landscapes, ranging from grasslands, rocky canyons, chilly tundras and more – as opposed to the brownish, rocky terrains that comprised a majority of the first game. And perhaps most amazingly, there are even more guns in this game.

In “Borderlands,” just as in the sequel, there are many different manufacturers that produce the various guns and equipment to be found. Only, those differences weren’t very pronounced in the first game. While it was hinted at that certain companies imbued their weapons with unique traits, most guns usually performed similarly despite this. Such is not the case in “Borderlands 2.”

Not only do guns from different companies each perform in their own unique manner, they each will generally have a distinct appearance as well. For instance, Dahl guns are generally highly dependable guns with good accuracy, steady rates of fire and high damage. Visually, Dahl guns resemble military grade technology, giving each a solid, sturdy appearance. Another company, Maliwan, specializes in elemental technology and as such, their guns will generally be SMGs or pistols with high rates of fire and great accuracy. Maliwan guns have the appearance of being made from lightweight materials and usually sport a colorful paint scheme. Those are only two of the many, many different manufacturers represented in “Borderlands 2” and you’ll undoubtedly, eventually come to favor certain companies over others. Personally, I’m a big fan of Torgue guns which sport a colorful, yellow-and-black checkerboard color scheme and always deal explosive damage. They may not fire quickly, but when your rounds explode on impact, you don’t need to fire many shots.

Before I even played “Borderlands 2,” I knew that I was going to be spending a lot of time playing it, searching for more baddies to kill and loot to “appropriate.” What I didn’t know was that killing and looting would take a backseat to something else entirely – the story. The first game wasn’t known for its storytelling – mainly because there was hardly any story to speak of. Luckily, there was a much greater emphasis on creating memorable characters and events in “Borderlands 2.” Each character begins the game with a playable audio recording giving you a slight peek into their backstory and possibly referencing why they are on Pandora. Characters you meet along the way have their own personalities and motivations outside of simply moving the plot along, a significant change from the previous game where NPCs seemed to only exist to help you advance.

Just a few of the cosmetic changes possible for Maya the Siren

But most importantly, “Borderlands 2” presents one of the most engaging and entertaining villains I’ve ever encountered. In the first game, there wasn’t any one, identifiable villain. There were numerous boss characters you would fight, but not one central figure which you struggled against. Handsome Jack changes all that for the better. Jack is the head of the Hyperion Corporation and, in addition to mining all the Eridium from Pandora he can, he is searching for yet another hidden Vault. Luring new Vault Hunters to Pandora was actually part of his plan – round up anyone who might discover the Vault first and make sure that they don’t. And, being the head of a massive corporation, Jack has plenty of resources at his disposal to ensure he reaches the Vault first – namely thousands upon thousands of hulking, death-dealing robots that he launches from his space station orbiting Pandora’s moon (which just happens to be in the shape of a giant ‘H’). Despite the fact that Jack has a tendency to kill anyone who gets in his way, he truly believes that he is the hero of the story and that you are the villain who doesn’t know when they’re beaten. Superb writing and voice acting gives Jack – and every other character – a depth and life that just wasn’t found anywhere in the first title.

Speaking of the Vault Hunters Jack lures to Pandora, I gotta admit, I’m a much bigger fan of them than I was of the previous four. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Roland, Lilith, Mordecai or Brick but Axton, Salvadore, Maya and Zer0 are just way cooler and sport much more friendly skill trees. Whereas the original four characters were seemingly locked into a category of weapons they were better suited for (Mordecai and sniper rifles, for instance), you’re given much more freedom to use the weapons that work for you. Being that Zer0 is Mordecai’s spiritual successor, you would probably think he would be predisposed to sniping. And while, sure, you can use snipers all you want, Zer0 has many skills which don’t focus on sniping, necessarily, but on critical hit damage so that if you have a preference for close combat you aren’t handicapped if you want to turn him into a ninja with a shotgun instead of hazy figure in the distance with a sniper rifle.

While it was obvious that Gearbox did a ton of work to improve the most immediately noticeable elements of the series, a great deal was done to improve the gameplay mechanics underneath it all, as well. Driving received a great deal of work, now giving each vehicle a greater feeling of weight and torque, replacing vehicles that felt as if they were gliding across the landscape. An onscreen minimap now gives you a better sense of where you are in each environment and a larger overworld map has been added to the Fast Travel menu, allowing you to instantly see where highlighted missions are located. Items dropped by enemies (like money and ammo) are now picked up automatically, which helps greatly collecting the massive amounts of loot dropped by enemies – especially while driving. Little touches like these, and more, have gone into making an already stellar series even better.

Zer0 gets ready to introduce his blade to a Vakrid, a new enemy

When I first opened the Fast Travel menu, I was surprised at how large the available map was. After playing for several more hours, I truly started to get a sense of how much work was done to even out area/mission discovery with how quickly your characters gain experience points and levels. Never did I feel like I was progressing too quickly or that certain mission were beyond my abilities. Even when playing with friends who have various leveled characters, I was surprised at how even the difficulty of the combat remained. Each firefight is intense – especially with more people – but I never felt overwhelmed or frustrated.

Despite its action-packed, FPS exterior, “Borderlands 2” is very much an RPG at its core. Each character has three, large, diverse skill trees where earned skill points can be spent. Die-hard fans will no doubt spend too much time agonizing over how to level up their characters as numerous builds of each character are possible. In combat, each hit you register pops up a number to instantly let you know how much damage you’re dealing – as well as color-coding the numbers to let you know the type of damage as well. You’re even able to change the appearance of your characters and make them distinct and unique to you. 

Over everything else, the ease with which you can play “Borderlands 2” with friends or strangers over Xbox Live is astounding and being able to share your journeys across Pandora with others is worth more than all the loot in a hundred Vaults. Parties can be easily organized from the main menu and you can instantly jump into a friend’s game or change network settings from the pause menu. It’s even possible for two-players on splitscreen to play with over the internet with others. But no matter how it’s accomplished, one thing is certain – “Borderlands 2” is better with friends.

The amount of content offered by the core game of “Borderlands 2” is truly astounding and promises to offer nearly limitless amounts of fun and gameplay. When you consider the fact that Gearbox is releasing another playable class this month (the Mechromancer) as well as four DLC packs before the next summer, you could easily play “Borderlands 2” until the next summer and still not be tired of it. With a bunch of incredible titles on the horizon like “Dishonored,” “Halo 4” and “XCOM: Enemy Unknown,” it will be harder and harder to find time to return to Pandora but make no mistake – Handsome Jack has not heard the last of me.