Borderlands 2 Preview : Catch a Riiiiiide!

With any successful game, there is a tiny amount of fear when a sequel is released.  I am a huge fan of the first Borderlands, and as excited as I was to hear that Gearbox was working on Borderlands 2, there was a little part of me that was afraid the sequel wouldn’t live up to the original.  When I played the game at PAX East though, all those fears were put to rest.

Borderlands 2 looks beautiful.  The comic book come to life graphics style of the original game is back and looks even better.  The landscapes are stylish as ever and the characters look just as good.  The roster is brand new but only two were playable at the show.  The new siren and the gunzerker were the two playable characters available.  I was a huge fan of the siren in the first game so opted to check out the new one.  The old siren had “phasewalk” which allowed her to turn invisible and move faster, the new Siren has “phaselock” which works like a stasis spell that prevents enemies from moving.

Fans familiar with Borderlands’ gameplay will feel right at home in the new game.  The game is still a hardcore RPG married to a first person shooter.  Numbers still fly off enemies as they are shot and lose health.  Critical hits are still a big part of the game, allowing for the quick dispatching of enemies with precise shooting.  Enemies in Borderlands 2 will be much more proficient this time around.  They are able to jump and navigate the world as free as the player.  Although the enemies are more formidable they aren’t complete damage sponges until they die.  Gearbox worked on adding new states to the enemies outside of living/dead.  As enemy characters take damage they will act accordingly and also be succeptible to stun/stagger states as well.

Gearbox has designed a slightly modified skill tree menu

Enemies are not the only aspects of the game getting a face-lift.  Guns have also received some tender loving care and of course there will be a gazillion of them to choose from.  Each manufacturer’s products will have its own unique style and attributes.  Where Jacobs made highly accurate firearms and S&S all had extended magazines in the first game, Borderlands 2 features even more differentiation between their weapons.  For example Tediore weapons were always mediocre in stats, now to further emphasize that point, their guns are thrown away when they run out of ammo.  Even more interesting all remaining rounds in the discarded guns can be thrown at enemies where they will detonate and inflict damage.  Overall Borderlands 2 looks to be shaping into everything that I wanted, more Borderlands.  That same off-beat humor is still there and I’m happy to say that it is one my most anticipated games coming out this year.