Developers: Gearbox Software
Publishers: 2K Games
(This is my first review. SPOILER ALERT: It will suck)
So, I've had the game for a while now and completed it once. That was a co-op playthrough with Liam3k, but I'm about 50% of the way through on a solo playthrough. And I can tell you; I'll be doing another playthrough after that. It's not the story that gives you the urge to re-play it; it's the characters you play as. I want to experience how each one plays out with their unique abilities. That, and the amount of loot! The story though, is by no means bad. Largely, it's the same goal as last time, something to do with some jackass trying to open a vault, but the myriad of different characters and humour make it worth the 40+ hours you'll spend on it.
This is where you'll notice the first improved thing about the game, character selection and customisation. Change your name, change your character skin, hell - even change your head. It looks better. You then wake up to see everybody's favourite little asshole, Claptrap. Like in the first Borderlands, he's with you throughout the "tutorial" part of the game, where you'll get your first gun and run into the first of a bucket-load of new enemies.
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| These ugly son-of-guns are called Bullymongs |
But anyway, you'll blaze through the tutorial with lightning fast pace and before long, you're thrust into the main part of the story. The jackass I mentioned trying to open the vault is the president of the Hyperion Corporation, Handsome Jack. While he's a massive douchebag, he also provides a lot of comedy relief. You know, up until you really start to piss him off. Touching on the comedy, I'd like to say Gearbox have once again done a fantastic job with the writing, so props to them. Not just on the writing either the whole game is great. But we'll get to that later.
The promise of "87 bazillion" guns falls drastically short. While no-one was actually expecting anywhere close to that many, I - though it might just be me- was expecting a little more variety. A lot of the guns are just the same, with the only difference being level requirements and stats. For example, I opened a weapons box only to find the two shotguns inside were exactly the same, apart from one being 2 levels higher than the other. Class mods are available earlier in the game, which is a good thing. They did take out Eridian artifacts, which added an elemental effect to your class skill, but they brought in relics instead. Relics give you bonuses to different stats, be it more weapon ammo, more health or exp etc. The equipment management page in the tab-menu or back-menu is a lot easier to use now. Loot still uses the coloured rarity system. In order from most common to rarest: white, green, blue, purple, orange. There's a new separate colour as well, pink. This signifies an Eridium weapon. These are powerful and come with great bonuses, but they use two or three ammo per shot.
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| Sweet grenade - a rare find so early on |
The introduction of a trading system now means you can trade weapons, mods, shields and grenades, as well as money, with other players. I found I was using my money a lot less than in the first game, only using it to buy ammo after all the loot boxes had been picked clean. Rarely will you find a weapon in the shops better than one you will get in combat. Instead, Liam and I spent most of out money on possibly the most addictive addition to the game; slot machines. You can win: money, eridium, green weapons(more common than white on the vending machines) white weapons, blue, purple or orange weapons. There's a 0.02% chance of getting an orange weapon, and go figure Liam gets one after only a few spins. Or you may just end up getting a live grenade thrown in your face.
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| Oh the amount of hours and money we spent on these... |
The combat seems a lot more fast-paced, in fact the overall game does. When you go into "Fight for your life" mode, they now give you the ability to move, albeit very slowly, but at least it gives you a chance to go after the asshole who keeps ducking into cover. It also feels a lot more satisfying when you get a critical shot too. Another thing they scrapped was the weapon proficiency, but it's replaced with "badass tokens" that you get for completing challenges. You can increase a number of things with them and each increase carries over to a new character, should you so wish to create one.
So in all, it's a great game. The controls are largely similar to the first game, and it very much looks like the first game with a shiny new skin. But that's not a bad thing. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Right BioWare... right...? But I digress, the art style is great, level design is fantastic and it's just an overall improvement. I'd give it a solid...
9/10
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