Borderlands 2 (X-Box 360)
Riv , 2012/10/01 14:05

Publisher:	2K Games/Gearbox Software
Genre:	FPSRPG
Players:	1-4 Players
Rating	Mature
The Good:	Manages to keep the same formula that made the original game so great while implementing enough new features that it doesn’t feel like a rehash.
The Bad:	A few game-breaking glitches have a tendency to make even the toughest enemies way too easy.
The Ugly:	The colorful comments and language the Goliath enemies speak when you shoot off their helmets. GET ON YOUR GODDAMN KNEES!

DISCLAIMER: No Claptraps were harmed in the writing of this review.

It’s rare that a game actually captures my attention long enough to not put it down until I finish it. It’s rarer still that a sequel to a game is anything other than a complete re-hash. Oftentimes in this era a sequel shows little to no improvements from its predecessor and is usually just “this year’s version of last year.” Fortunately somebody loves us and those are the people over at Gearbox as they have taken three years to deliver the sequel to the sleeper hit game Borderlands and they fucking delivered in every possible way. Borderlands 2 manages to improve on the original in just about every department and cements its place as a series that belongs in the upper echelon of modern videogame sagas.

Okay, I lied. ONE Claptrap was harmed in the writing of this review.

In B2 we once again find ourselves on planet Pandora, where much has changed since the last time we were here. Five years have passed since the Vault Hunters awakened the Destroyer. Hyperion Corporation, now run by the manipulative egotistical sociopath Handsome Jack, has pretty much imposed itself all over the planet, vowing to “clean up” the “bandit problem,” all while searching for a second vault on Pandora which is said to house “the Warrior,” a creature capable of destroying anything. He (or she) who opens the Vault will control the Warrior. Take three guesses as to who gets to take the Warrior out before that happens. You find yourself as one of four new Vault Hunters that finds themselves thrust into the chaos of this newer, more industrialized, yet still chaotic and insane planet Pandora.

Your new Vault Hunters are as follows:

Axton, the Commando: Axton should be familiar to those who enjoyed playing as Roland in the previous game. He uses a Sabre Turrent similar to Roland’s Scorpio but with a lot more functionality with the right skill trees. I mean he can shoot NUKES out of that thing. That’s pretty badass.

Maya, the Siren: Replacing Lilith, Maya might just bit a bit more balanced than her somewhat-gamebreaking Borderlands counterpart. As opposed to being able to turn invisible, Maya can lock an enemy in place and deliver massive amounts of damage to it and anyone in its vicinity with her Phaselock ability.

Salvador, The Gunzerker: An all-new style to the game, Salvador’s fat ugly ass happens to be able to dual-wield guns like a true maniac. You can just imagine the possibilities that this brings, such as bullets flying everywhere and shit getting blown up. A few glitches also manage to make this “Gunzerking” the most powerful ability in the game, and videos exist of Salvador soloing things that should not be soloed and killing it within a mere 7 seconds. Still, if you like wanton destruction and a body count higher than World War I, this guy is for you.

Zero, As a Number: A nod to our favorite ninjas such as Snake Eyes of G.I. Joe fame and Grey Fox from Metal Gear Solid, Zero focuses on stealth, backstabbing, melee, and sniping. He’ll do both Brick and Mordecai users proud, and on top of that he just LOOKS cool.

The many faces of Maya.

Another cool aspect is that you’ll be able to change not just the colors of their attire but also choose from different heads/hairstyles and a lot more drastic variations of their costumes entirely. This allows a much more personalized look for your characters which is a whole lot of fun in and of itself.

Gearbox has also announced a fifth playable character, Gaige the Mecromancer who will be downloadable content at a later date, to really keep things interesting. And speaking of interesting, there is much more incentive to play as more than one character thanks to not just the addition of some backstory and not just some vastly different play-styles but also the introduction of “BADASS POINTS.” Badass Points are a new system in which certain challenges will award points. Killing X enemies with X type of weapon, Revive yourself X number of times, etc. Badass points are used to purchase upgrades that effect ALL of your characters regardless of level – things such as reload speed, extra hit points, chance to inflict status ailments, accuracy, it’s all there and means that on every play through EVERY character you create will be bigger and badder. This adds a lot of replayability to Borderlands 2 not just because of the fact you’ll want stronger characters but because of that “gamer penis envy” that compels you to want to have a higher Badass Ranking than your friends. You can also challenge yourself by turning the perks of Badass Ranking off entirely if you don’t want to give your characters the advantage.

Talent trees are also ensure no two play-styles are truly alike (unless you copy someone else's spec)

One thing that the original Borderlands was missing was an emotional connection to the characters and a true sense of “purpose.” Sure there were bits and pieces in the instruction manuals or game guides but there wasn’t a whole lot of that in the game itself. This was made up for with a lot of dark humor and references to all sorts of pop-culture. The sequel quickly establishes more of the storyline. You’ll find that the four original characters from Borderlands are all here and will guide you along the way. There is a lot more establishment of who and what everyone is there for and your own Vault Hunters are no exception now each starting the game with a brief personal ECHO recording about why and how they ended up on Pandora along with findable “backstory” recordings in select locations in the game. B2 manages to give everything an even better FEEL to it than the original. That’s not to say the original Borderlands was bad as much as to say that its successor just gives us a whole lot more. One of the prime examples of this is the villain Handsome Jack.

In the previous game you had minimal interaction with the game’s primary antagonist, Commandant Steele. Sure she was a bit of a bitch, but Jack manages to make her look like Mary Poppins within the first half hour of game play. Jack is a sociopath with delusions of grandeur who also believes he is the hero and you are the villain. He makes this apparent throughout the game by taunting you constantly, either not taking you seriously, mocking you, or even trying to sing you a horrible song during a tragic moment in the game’s storyline. Simply put “Handsome Jack is a cunt,” and he’s so good at it that he somehow makes you want to kill him and regret doing so at the same time. I don’t think I’ve had this much fun with the main villain of a story in years.

That’s not to say Jack is the only one who provides amusement. The rest of the gang is all here whether it’s the greedy weapons merchant Marcus, the insane Dr. Zed who got his medical license revoked, or your old pal Claptrap, they’re all here adding a sense of dark humor to the game. I can’t help but laugh any time Marcus informs me “if you shop anywhere else, I’ll have you killed.” It’s that kind of dark humor that makes Borderlands such a fun series. It doesn’t take itself seriously and manages to push the envelope without infuriating every interest group on earth. How can you not love a game that isn’t afraid to use the word RETARDED in an overly politically-correct generation? (As in IF YOU DON’T BUY TORGUE GUNS YOU’RE FUCKING RETARDED!)

You can not only trade your guns to other players but wager them in player-vs-player duels.

And speaking of guns, they’re all here too. The “randomly generated” weaponry is back and with billions upon billions of combinations no two people ever get the exact same loot. Now this formula also applies to grenades which have new abilities as well, such as being able to suck your enemies into the explosion or spawning 4-8 smaller, “child grenades” that home in on the enemy. There’s never a lack of ways to kill people, methods to kill people, or weapons with which do to so. Some of the weapons are so good you won’t even care if it’s weaker than your new gear just because it’s that good (case in point there are at least 3 weapon variants that TALK to you including one which tells you what a horrible human being you are for killing others).

Michael Bay just came.

The audio and video presentation is something special here, a much more fluid, detailed elaboration on that “Borderlands Look,” and you’ll find that you’re often staring at the scenery just trying to take in all the details. The music is somewhat hypnotic and trance-like as its very Western-esque inspired tone continues from the previous game and is elaborated on. Some of the tracks are even familiar to those who played the first game and give you a sense of familiarity, which means Gearbox has succeeded. They have created an epic feel to their soundtrack. The music picking up and going wild when enemies appear gives you a sense of urgency and suspense as well, and speaking of enemies…

One thing about the original Borderlands was that while they had a rather small variety of enemies. The sequel elaborates on it with more types of bandits, droids, angry wildlife, and the like. Whether it’s the thinner, harder to hit “Rat” style bandits, or the fat Nomads yelling at you to “LEAVE US ALONE” with midgets strapped to their shields as hostages, there are some serious bad guys to take down, including my personal new favorite: The Goliath.

WELCOME TO DIE!

Goliaths wear “bucket head” helmets while yelling in a somewhat retarded voice things like “TIME FOR SQUISHING” and shooting at you like a standard helmet. Knock their helmet off and you’ll reveal their disfigured face and elongated neck that was suppressed by said helmet as they go into a fit of “roid rage” and attack ANYONE including the other enemies while yelling psychotically for you to “GET ON YOUR GODDAMN KNEES!” Sometimes I admit that not just the Goliaths but other enemies and their random quotes cause me to literally laugh out loud and forget they’re trying to kill me. It adds to the fun of a battle against the opposing forces. I mean what can you do when a Psycho randomly starts quoting William Shakespeare’s Hamlet? Of course it’s equally funny when the same Psycho tells me they will “make condoms from your eyelids.” The humor of Borderlands makes it incredible and this one is packed with Easter eggs and references to just about anyone and everyone who has ever played a videogame, watched a cartoon, read a comic, opened a book, or done any of those fun things we all love to do.

And it’s also fun to share. Borderlands 2 allows you to play with friends split screen, and this time allows you to split the screen either vertically or horizontally, making local co-op a lot easier on the eyes. You can then take that split screen game live and join someone else’s session as well. It’s a lot easier to get in the game socially and there will be a lot of enemies that will be much easier in a team. However the loot that drops is ALSO improved when you play together giving you a lot of incentive to do so. Moreover you don’t have to sit around all day chucking out INVITES to your friends because the game allows you to easily see what mission your buddies are doing and just “jump right in.” I was pleasantly surprised when one of my X-Box Live friends just so happened to “join in” on a game to help me take down a tough boss.

All in all while Borderlands brought something new to the table with their FPS-RPG genre, Borderlands 2 elaborated on it in just about every possible way and showed other developers out there how to make a sequel. This was one that was worth the three year wait, worth the $59.99 and will likely be backed up with lots of DLC as was its predecessor. If every developer managed to put the effort into a game the way Gearbox did with Borderlands 2 I would probably never go out, have sex, party it up, or have any social life again ever… oh, wait, I don’t do any of that anyway. But if I did, I’d have to stop. Kudos, Gearbox and I anxiously await Borderlands 3.

-- Riv - jasonrivera@jasonrivera.com