I have to admit, the subject of today is pretty young. Though I’m having this celebration for one game in particular, the franchise has only been around for nearly a decade. Despite it’s short existence, the wild gunplay, oddball humor, and weirdly endearing nature has managed to captivate it’s target audience. If you couldn’t guess by that last sentence, I happen to be talking about the Borderlands franchise. Since 2009, this strange little series has managed to amass a sizeable following, and one in which has solidly grown over it’s existence. I’m left dumbfounded by this, yet I get why Borderlands is so popular. So join me won’t you, as we celebrate the birthday of the over-the-top Borderlands franchise. Let’s begin.
(Note: I’m strictly talking about the FPS entries in this birthday/retrospective. Nothing about Tales From The Borderlands, or any other spinoff.)
Borderlands (2009) (Launch Trailer)
“Gearbox's Randy Pitchford said that the idea of Borderlands was inspired both being an avid role-playing game fan, including roguelikes such as NetHack and action role-playing games like Ultima and Diablo, and being drawn into first-person shooters that he worked on in his early career, including Duke Nukem 3D. He recognized that the core gameplay loops for both genres are at different time scales; whereas the core loop for a role-playing game is long in terms of leveling up characters, a shooter has a much shorter one in moving and shooting to clear out a new area. Pitchford felt these two loops were not mutually exclusive due to the different time scales, and believed some type of fusion could be made from the two genres, thus forming the basis of Borderlands. Pitchford recognized this could be a risk but was not afraid to take it: in a 2017 interview, Pitchford recounted that industry analyst Michael Pachter had believed Borderlands was going to be a failure, as players that would want to play a role-playing game or a shooter would more than likely play a game dedicated to that genre instead of the hybrid. After the Borderlands series had sold more than 30 million copies, Pachter admitted to Pitchford how wrong he had been.
Gearbox did not have the narrative defined at the onset of development for Borderlands, but needed to find some reason to have the player feel rewarded about killing enemies and collecting loot from them. As they developed the game further, they came to the idea of casting the player as a "vault hunter", so that looting equipment and other items would be "kind of virtuous". This led to the Pandora narrative, since the act of opening a vault or box to obtain potentially disastrous results was compared to the mythological Pandora's box.
Borderlands runs on a modified Unreal Engine 3. The developers decided that their original, cel shaded-style concept artwork would suit the game better than a more realistic, polished method. This method produces cartoon-like action visuals and also enables the landscape and weapons to be highly detailed. The original art director was so disappointed at her work being scrapped that she left the company. It was later acknowledged by Randy Pitchford that the art style was not entirely original to Gearbox, and was inspired by Ben Hibon's short film Codehunters. Hibon has stated that while he was contacted by Gearbox to possibly work on artwork for Borderlands, nothing ever came of the talks.”
Borderlands was first revealed in the September 2007 issue of Game Informer magazine. Elements that were planned at the time of that cover story but that did not make the final game included proceedurally generated "loot caves", and the ability to hire non-playable character mercenaries to help in combat. Further, the game initially had three Vault hunters; Brick had not been included yet, as Gearbox thought that it would be interesting in the co-op to have two or more players playing the same characters but with persistent improvements that the players had made to them.”
As for the story, let’s see what the Borderlands wiki has to say:
“In the distant future, in the year 2864, several colonization ships head to Pandora, a planet on the edge of the galaxy. The colonists are drawn there in search of a better life as well as vast mineral resources said to be on the planet, free for the taking, akin to a futuristic gold rush. Some time after settling, the colonists discover that there is little the planet offers aside from some decrepit alien ruins. When the companies mining the planet leave, they let loose the criminals they had employed as forced labor and left any other colonists there. Some of the settlers seek to get rich quick by discovering alien technology. Most others are just trying to survive. After seven Earth years, the planet's slow orbit brings a transition from winter to spring, and many horrifying creatures emerge from hibernation.
A beacon of hope for the remaining colonists emerges in the form of a mysterious alien Vault carved in the side of a mountain. This Vault is said to contain vast stores of alien technology and secrets. The only problem is that the people who discovered the Vault were completely wiped out by some sort of protective force. The only evidence of their discovery is a scattered radio transmission, proclaiming the Vault's majesty, but not its location.”
Reception & sales for Borderlands were pretty good for late last decade/early this decade. Ratings for the game were all in the 80s, and the various outlets were all pretty consistent on this front. By December of 09, the game sold over two million copies. By February of 2010, the number rose to 3 million, and in August of 2011 it sold 4.5 million copies worldwide.
Best Aspect? Despite the story that’s presented, it’s actually quite minimal in the game itself. This really makes it feel like the player can create their own story on Pandora, and what little is presented acts as a basic guideline. While this does hurt the various characters you come across (Personalities are kind of weak), you can kinda put your own twist on them. To be honest, I actually respect the reason why there’s not much of a story in Borderlands, as they didn’t think that the game would sell as well as it did. A respectable reason, but boy oh boy were they wrong about the game not selling well!
Next positive point are the classes you can pick. You’ve got 4 to choose from: the Soldier, the Siren, the Hunter, and finally the Berserker. Each class offers a unique playstyle: the Soldier can throw out a turret, and is a wiz with shotguns and assault rifles. The siren loves SMGs & the elements, and can teleport to a pocket dimension & reappear in a powerful energetic explosion. The Hunter knows his way with pistols & sniper rifles, and can unleash his hunting bird upon enemies. Finally, the Berserker is good with his fists & rocket launcher, and can enter a hulk-like state to boost his melee. To complement their ability, each class has 3 lists of passive upgrades they can select from when they level-up. While they’re a little on the short side in terms of options, none-the-less they give the player choices in upgrading their respective characters.
Next up is what people like the most about Borderlands, and that’s the loot. You’ve got a lot of goodies available: there’s shields to give you a buffer, artifacts that modify your ability’s elemental damage, various grenade mods that alter the grenades you use, and finally there’s the weapons. While everything else is fun to get, but the guns are the stare of the show. There are various guns companies in Borderlands, and each have various qualities that separate themselves from one another. For example, Hyperion weapons are highly accurate, Tediore weapons load really fast, and Maliwan weapons all correspond to one of the 4 elements: there’s fire for unarmored & unshielded targets, acid for armored targets, shock for shielded targets (Good for anything to be honest), and explosive for double damage. All of this detail really adds to Borderlands’s identity, as the FPS & RPG elements really meld together to create a wonderful package.
The world of Pandora is another positive point for Borderlands. While the color pallet rarely if ever changes, the various areas are definitely varied. Ramshackle towns, bandit warrens, and the military facilities of Atlas (Another one of the weapon companies) are just a few of the zones you can travel to. Pandora is also filled with numerous enemies as well, from the previously mentioned bandits, to skags (An alien equivalent to wild dogs), to some of the wildest bosses this side of the late 2000s, this adds further believability to a surprisingly detailed world.
Finally, the team play with friends is a great plus. Up to 4 people can join up to hunt down the vault together, and while the story doesn’t change because of this, the gameplay is still top notch. One fun little thing: the more players there are in a group, the higher difficulty the monsters & bosses become. This makes it more challenging for the players, and in a way makes teamwork a little more important that when you’re just playing solo. This aspect would carry over to the second & 3rd games in this series as well, and thus the teamplay focus as well.
Worst Aspect? There’s really only a sliver of things that mar this game’s otherwise gorgeous face. The thin story, while it allowed you to essentially create your own character & destiny, at the same time make for a somewhat meh world. There’s not much happening, and even during the more climatic portions, the sense of urgency & concern for characters really isn’t there. Guns, while highly plentiful, really don’t do anything special sometimes. Even the unique & legendary pieces aren’t all that remarkable, which is sad. Finally, while a game with a nice length, it strangely comes across as really long. Even with subsequent playthroughs, it’s like it takes forever to beat sometimes. Luckily, the more & more you play, the quicker it seems to go through.
Borderlands. A sleeper hit if there ever was one, but a phenomenal shooter at the same time. If you want to see the origins of this fine franchise, check this title out. Next game!
Borderlands 2 (2012) (Launch Trailer)
Here’s what Wikipedia had to say about the development of Borderlands 2:
“Following the unexpected success of the first Borderlands, which sold between three to four-and-a-half million copies since release, creative director Mike Neumann stated that there was a chance of a Borderlands 2 being created, adding that the decision "seems like a no-brainer." On August 2, 2011, the game was officially confirmed and titled as Borderlands 2, with Anthony Burch announced as the writer the next day. The first look at the game was shown at Gamescom 2011, and an extensive preview was included in the September edition of Game Informer magazine, with Borderlands 2 being the cover story. Like the first game, Borderlands 2 was developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games, running on a heavily modified version of Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3. The game was released on September 18, 2012 in North America and on September 21, 2012 internationally.
Gearbox revealed that they would be honoring a late fan of the game, cancer victim Michael John Mamaril, with the addition of an NPC named after Michael in the sequel. Additionally, Gearbox posted a eulogy to Mamaril in the voice of the game character, Claptrap.
Controversy regarding sexism hit a month before the game's scheduled release after Gearbox designer John Hemingway told Eurogamer: "The design team was looking at the concept art and thought, you know what, this is actually the cutest character we've ever had. I want to make, for the lack of a better term, the girlfriend skill tree. This is, I love Borderlands and I want to share it with someone, but they suck at first-person shooters. Can we make a skill tree that actually allows them to understand the game and to play the game? That's what our attempt with the Best Friends Forever skill tree is." Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford responded to the controversy on Twitter, saying "There is no universe where Hemmingway is a sexist - all the women at Gearbox would beat his and anyone else's ass." Randy Pitchford also tweeted: "I'm sure Hemmingway is getting noogied now, but not his fault. A personal anecdote has been twisted and dogpiled on by sensationalists."”
As for the story, here’s what the Borderlands wiki has to say:
“Set five years after the events of Borderlands; Handsome Jack, the game's main antagonist, has taken over the Hyperion Corporation, declared himself Dictator of Pandora and taken all of the credit for finding the Vault -- going so far as to claim responsibility for killing the Destroyer. Jack has also blotted out much of the light on the planet by having a giant orbiting H-shaped base set in front of Pandora's stationary moon, creating a 'big brother' atmosphere throughout the planet. The new group of Vault Hunters in Borderlands 2 are tasked with killing Jack and returning peace to Pandora.
Borderlands 2 begins with the protagonists on a train to an unspecified location to begin their search for the vault. The train turns out to be a trap set by Handsome Jack, to kill all who search for the Vault. The Vault Hunters defend themselves long enough to reach a train car filled with explosives and a 'dummy' Handsome Jack look-a-like. The detonation causes the train to crash in the Arctic Wasteland, with our new team strewn across the wreckage. The game picks up with the Vault Hunters waking up to Claptrap digging through the remains. The mysterious Guardian Angel then contacts them and explains that Handsome Jack must be killed, directing players to rescue the four original Vault hunters from Hyperion's clutches to accomplish this.
All four of the original Vault Hunters reappear in the sequel as NPCs, taking a pivotal role during the main storyline and offering optional missions that continue their personal story.”
Reception for Borderlands 2 was universally positive. Ratings were anywhere from hit 8s to 9s out of 10 on some reviews, and high 80s to very low 90s on other reviews. The game managed to sell 8.5 million copies by February 2014, with Randy Pitchford claiming that the game had sold "well over" 12 million copies a month later. By August of 2015, Borderlands 2 sold over 13 million copies, making it 2K's highest-selling title. That’s impressive if you as me!
Best Aspect? The world of Borderlands 2 is far more expanded & detailed than the first game. The one flaw with the original game’s graphics is that it came across as too cell-shaded at times. With this game, that visual aspect has been heavily smoothed out, and said cell shade is almost non-existant. There’s a greater level of detail when it comes to textures, sounds, and the rest of the visuals & audio. The world itself is larger as well: while the original Borderlands gave you a wide space to play in, many parts all looked the same. With B2, each area feels distinct from one another, and has it’s own feel & character to it. Speaking of characters...
Character classes are another plus for Borderlands 2. While the original classes were fun, it always seemed like there wasn’t many play styles to them. With the new characters, there seems to be a treasure trove of play styles available to them. There’s the Gunzerker, capable of wielding 2 weapons of any kind in each hand, and just mowing down everything in front of him. You’ve got the Commando, who uses a turret that can be upgraded & taken down at any time. There’s the Assassin, who can use stealth even in the middle of a heavy firefight. Finally there a new version of the Siren that locks down targets instead of teleporting, and has a little more in the ways of support, but she hasn’t forgotten how to harness the elements. With the DLC, you’ve got 2 additional classes in the form of the Mechromancer and the Psycho. The former is capable of summoning a mechanical friend to help her in combat, while the later finally allows the player to fulfill his/her bandit fantasy. Each class has 3 skill trees like the original game, but they’re expanded to the point where one person’s playthrough will be far more different than somebody, possibly being completely different.
Loot in Borderlands 2 is a huge plus for Borderlands 2. The original game had a lot of stuff, but the amount you can find in this game is ten-fold. Once again, you’ve got shields that can give you back ammo potentially when it, grenades that can pop up like bouncing betties (As an example), the new class mod items that give bonuses to skills & a variety of other things, and the guns. Boy oh boy, the guns! Each brand now has actual character & flavor, and have more obvious traits with their weapons. Jakobs weapons deal high damage but are semi-auto only, Tediore weapons are thrown away & explode when you reload then, and the new Bandit weapon company (A replacement for S&S Munitions) make sure their weapons hold a lot of bullets. Visually they’re all different now as well, with Maliwan guns look incredibly high-tech, and Torgue weapons look like old-school 40s/50s fighter planes. Just as the player classes were advanced & changed, the implements of destruction you come across are advanced & changed from the original game as well. There are even laser-like E-Tech weapons, but I’ll let you discover them & have fun with on your own.
With such a change like this, you’d except the enemies to be altered as well......and you’d be right. Another great change to Borderlands 2 is it’s roster of enemies, and this was pretty obvious as well. In the original game you didn’t have a big rogue’s gallery of enemies to fight, as it mainly stayed with bandits. In B2? The expanded menu of targets reflects the bigger & more detailed world. The bandits still exist, but now they come in a wider variety, complete with different tactics, but you got new enemies as well. There’s Hyperion’s robots, and they come in a variety of models. An expanded plethora of Pandora’s wildlife, and you’ve got wilder & crazier bosses to deal with as well. This larger list of enemies, along with the expanded world, makes Pandora that much more alive & believable.
The last positive for Borderlands 2 would be it’s post launch content. As strange as it sounds, Gearbox really delivered on this front: There were 4 story DLCs, 5 mini-story DLCs, 2 bonus characters (See above), 2 difficulty level increases that were free (The 2nd included a level-up zone) and included new weapons, and to round it out, 2 or 3 head/skin packs. All of this gave Borderlands 2 the long life it has, and while there were some issues with it after the Season Pass (See later on for details), there was a lot of extra meat added on for fans to devour. Even today, all of this added on makes for a behemoth of an experience.
Worst Aspect? 3 things. 1 minor, 1 moderate, and 1 major. The minor problem I have is how controlled the drops are this time. In the original game, you would have legendary weapons & items drop from just about anyone & anywhere. Even vending machines would have a chance to have a legendary item for sale, although this would happen only rarely. In B2, things are much more predictable in a sense. Specific enemies will drop specific items, vending machines almost never have legendary items for sale, and loot chests are too random in some cases. This creates an environment that’s more akin to an MMO, but at the same time it isn’t so annoying you can’t find what you want.....provided you do at least a little grinding (Or save file altering).
The moderate problem is the pop culture references. A lot of the memes that were put into the game made sense in the early 2010s, but by 2017, they come across as incredibly dated. A few still manage to work, but for the most part just come across as jarring. For me? I can take all of them or leave em. There’s still a couple that make me chuckle, but at worst the rest can make me facepalm, and acts as a source of criticism for those who don’t like the game.
The major problem....for me at least....would have to deal with Borderlands 2's story, and dear god do I hate it! I’m not a fan of morally grey storytelling (Apart from a select few things), but B2 does not do it well at all. This is the kind of game that just shoves it’s moral greyness right in your face, yelling out loud “Huh Huh!? Isn’t this grey & real & edgy!? Huh Huh!?”. It does everything it can to paint a bleak picture, complete with constant betrayal, characters with tragic backgrounds, and heavy usage of forced emotions. This ultimately results in me liking almost none of the characters (I only like a sliver of the cast, including DLC characters), and actually take pleasure in their suffering. Gearbox, in my opinion, did a poor job with the story telling, although I have to admit there are pieces of it I can at the least respect.
Borderlands 2. An absolute titan of a first-person-shooter, and one that’s still got a rabid fanbase behind it. I had a blast with it back in 2012, and I still enjoy it today. For anyone who’s even a casual FPS fan, you’ll want to play this one. Next game!
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (2014) (Launch Trailer)
“Speaking in February 2013, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford stated that there were no current plans for a third installment in the franchise, as the company believed that a sequel to Borderlands 2 would have to be "massive", but that "when you think of what Borderlands 3 should be... No, we don't know what that is yet. We can imagine what it must achieve, but we don't know what it is yet." The company also cited a desire to focus its attention onto new games for next-generation consoles, such as Brothers in Arms: Furious Four, Homeworld: Shipbreakers (a new game in the Homeworld franchise, which Gearbox had recently acquired in THQ's bankruptcy auction), and entirely new properties such as Battleborn. Despite this, the company still believed that they had not yet met the demands of fans, or even its own staff, in regards to the franchise (even with the overall success of 2 and the large amount of downloadable content that had been released), prompting the creation of spin-offs such as Tales from the Borderlands, an episodic adventure game being developed by Telltale Games, and a port of Borderlands 2 for PlayStation Vita.
A few months after the release of Borderlands 2 (and shortly after it had concluded its contributions to BioShock Infinite), Gearbox began working with 2K Australia to develop a prequel to the game which would take place directly after the events of the original. The decision to make the game a prequel to Borderlands 2 was centered around a desire to use the Hyperion moonbase (a location alluded to, and visible in Borderlands 2) as a playable location; the development team felt that going to the moonbase in a sequel to 2 would be too "boring" for players since the relevant conflict was already resolved, and because "if we're going to go to the moonbase anyway, what if we try something completely different that people aren't expecting". Pitchford noted that this setting would allow the game to address plot elements and events alluded to in the first two games that were not yet completely addressed—on the possibility that the game could introduce holes in the continuity of the franchise, he joked that the franchise already contained many plot holes to begin with. He suggested that working on The Pre-Sequel could be a breakout role for 2K Australia, similar to Gearbox's own Half-Life: Opposing Force. As for the size of the game, Pitchford stated that The Pre-Sequel's playable world would be in between the size of the original and Borderlands 2.
2K Australia performed the majority of development on The Pre-Sequel, but worked in collaboration with Gearbox on certain aspects of the game. The studio also provided its writing staff—including Anthony Burch, lead writer of Borderlands 2—as a complement to 2K Australia's own writers. The engine of Borderlands 2 was used as a starting point, allowing the 2K Australia team to quickly prototype and implement features on top of the existing functionality already provided by 2. Most of the new mechanics in the game, such as ice weaponry, were conceived entirely by the 2K Australia team; Gearbox's developers had shown concerns that freezing weapons were illogical in comparison to the other elemental weapon types (such as incendiary and acid), but Pitchford excused their inclusion in The Pre-Sequel because cryogenic technology was more "natural" in the space-oriented setting of the game.
The four playable characters have an increased amount of dialogue in comparison to their equivalents in previous instalments; NPC dialogue can change depending on the characters present. Developers also felt that The Pre-Sequel would have more diverse humour than previous installments due to the makeup of its writing staff, and a decision to portray the Moon's inhabitants as being Australians themselves, allowing for references to Australian comedy and culture, including missions referencing cricket, the folk song "Waltzing Matilda", and a talking shotgun based upon the bogan stereotype. Bruce Spence, a New Zealander actor well known for his role as the Gyro Captain in Mad Max 2 (the second film in a franchise that was cited as an influence on the setting of Borderlands as a whole), is among the game's voice actors–voicing a gyrocopter pilot in reference to his role from the film.”
The story? Well, we’ve got the Borderlands wiki again to help us out:
“Set at a point between Borderlands and Borderlands 2, four aspiring Vault Hunters fight alongside Handsome Jack, witnessing his transformation into the ruthless tyrant people loved to hate in Borderlands 2, and inadvertently assisting with the rise of the Hyperion Corporation and his position within it.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel begins as Colonel Zarpedon and her Lost Legion assault and capture the Helios space station. Jack proceeds to send his new Vault Hunters to the surface of Elpis, Pandora's moon, in an effort to find a way to retake the station.
Unlike Borderlands or Borderlands 2, where events take place as they occur, the events of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel are the story told by a captured Athena to an audience of Lilith, Mordecai and Brick, with occasional interjects from other characters as the story progresses.”
The reception for The Pre-Sequel was similar to Borderlands 2, but not quite as impressive. There were reviewers that gave the game a 8/in the 80s, but there were many more that gave TPS a 7/in the 70s. The two most critical reviews were from Destructoid, as Darren Nakamura gave it a 6 out of 10 (Praised the combat, but criticized the ending, bugs, as well as the boring and uninteresting environmental art direction), and the most critical came from Adam Beck of Hardcore Gamer, with his rating of 2.5 out of 5 (His points of criticism were it’s bugs, loot system, script, campaign, world design and performance of characters).
Best Aspect? The story. Yes, I’m actually complementing the story in The Pre-Sequel. Make no mistake, it’s just as awful as B2, and the previously mention forced moral greyness comes back in full. However, The Pre-Sequel at least explains the background that was in B2 (Something that Borderlands 2 hardly did). Poorly, but it explains stuff. That’s all I got to be honest.
Next up is the setting, as there’s basically 2 places the player will romp around in. There’s Elpis, Pandora’s moon and where a majority of the story takes place. Unlike the surface of Pandora, Elpis comes across as rather alien. The people on the moon are rather odd, there’s no oxygen outside (Outside of Oz Kits & special forcefields, but more on the kits in a moments), there’s hazards all over, and the wildlife comes across as more primal than Pandora’s. Ironically, the Threshers you encounter in Borderlands 2 happen to come from Elpis, but I can’t spoil it, as the side-quest that involves them is actually kind of funny. At one point, you actually manage to get aboard Hyperion’s satellite that you saw during B2. Like the company’s weaponry, the entire place comes across as sleek, stylish, and clean......apart from the presence of Lost Legion & their tampering. There is an area where you come across some construction, and it’s the only time that something controlled by Hyperion (In this setting at least) appears flawed. There’s builder drones & debris all over the place, the Lost Legion has a claim here, and there are former workers who’ve become diseased & crave the flesh of anything they find (Similar to the Rat bandits from B2). There is also the vault and it’s denizens you come across right at the end, but.......na, I’m not spoiling it. It’s a pretty cool sight, and I can’t ruin it. You just have to see it for yourself.
Next up are the classes for the Pre-Sequel, and much like B2, we got a pretty diverse cast of characters. There’s Athena the Gladiator, Wilhelm the Enforcer, Nisha the Lawbringer, and shockingly of all, Claptrap. Athena has a special shield that allows her to absorb damage & throw it out, Wilhelm has two drones he can use in battle, Nisha gains something equivalent to an aimbot, and Claptrap has something called VaultHunter.EXE. It allows Claptrap to initiate a program that can give him a beneficial ability, or it can give him something that could periodically impede him in some way. It’s completely random as to what you’re given, but that just adds fun to the character. With the DLC, there are 2 additional characters. Handsome Jack’s body double, and Sir Hammerlock’s older sister Aurelia. Jack’s body double can call upon special hologram to aid him in battle, and Aurelia is a master of sniper rifles & can manipulate cryo damage like nobody’s business (More on cryo in a moment). As with B2, the playthroughs are endless with how diversified each character is.
Last positive point for the Pre-Sequel would be the new items introduced. There are the previously mentioned Oz Kits, which give you an air supply when you’re on the surface of the moon or any other airless environment. They also act as a jet pack (Which uses air in the process), and allow you to do a ground-pound attack for area damage. The other new item is the laser weapon category, which seems to be this game’s equivalent to the E-Tech weapons of B2. Unfortunately, only 4 companies make them. Maliwan, Hyperion, Tediore, and Dahl all make lasers with unique properties: Maliwan lasers increase damage overtime, Hyperion lasers have the increased accuracy property that all their other guns have, Tediore lasers act like tesla grenades, and Dahl lasers burst fire when aiming down sights (Like all other Dahl weapons), but also have the chance to pierce targets. There is also the new cryo element added for all guns, which has a chance to freeze the longer you’re on a target, making them vulnerable to explosive & melee damage. It’s a shame that lasers & cryo damage weren’t in Borderlands 2, although give that there was E-Tech & slag damage (When a target was slagged, they would take 200 to 300 percent more damage depending on the current difficulty), I’m not so surprised.
Worst Aspect? Length of time is a big detriment. Let me put it into perspective: when Borderlands 2 came out, it took me about a solid week of gameplay on my very first run through to beat the game. In contrast, it took me about a solid week of gameplay to get through both difficulties in The Pre-Sequel. Both.....difficulties! This shortened length of time also impacts the story. There’s far less time in building up characters, and the few new ones that are introduced almost come across as window dressing. There are far more returning characters in The Pre-Sequel, and to be honest most of them really weren’t necessary. It also doesn’t help the fact that the story suffers from the same issues as Borderlands 2, but in a weird way I expected it.
Next up is the loot selection. On the one hand, there’s plenty of new weapons, shields, grenade mods, etc. On the other hand, 2K Australia brought back a lot of guns & such from B2, or they more obviously renamed some items, while at the same time changing the mechanics of previous weapons. The Unkempt Harold transformed into the 88 Fragnum, for example. This is an incredibly lazy move, and really weakens the game in certain respects. Some changed weapons are altered enough to where they feel mildly different, but it’s still a lazy move.
Lastly, the Season Pass for The Pre-Sequel really got hit hard. One of the biggest issues with Borderlands 2's Season Pass was that not all of the DLC was included with it. The 2nd DLC character (Krieg), some of the skin packs, and the often criticized Headhunter Packs weren’t put on the season pass. To make up for this, they attempted to put everything on it, and they succeeded.......somewhat. There were 2 DLC characters like the game before, but there was only a single slaughter map DLC (With weird weapons that didn’t quite seem practical enough), and one lone story DLC (Claptastic Voyage). In an attempt to make a season pass that included everything, they created less post-launch content. Even the pre-order bonus was week, as it was a simple 3-round slaughter map that gave an okay shield at the end as a reward. Pretty sad, if you ask me.
Borderlands: the Pre-Sequel. An incredibly flawed title, but it isn’t quite the heinous abomination as everybody makes it out to be. If you want that Borderlands 2 experience, but in a more bite-sized packing, try out The Pre-Sequel.
So that was my look at the FPS franchise Borderlands. Built off of sheer luck, it still somehow manages to be one of the biggest series, even in 2017. If you want a more offbeat shooter series, give this one ago. See you in a few days, when I'll celebrate a birthday for a righteous Prog Metal album. Until then!
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