Review of: Borderlands 2
Written by: SinsOfaSoldier
To begin this review, I state this purely on my opinion and how my gaming experience for this went. Now, let us kick off this review and take a look into the world of Borderlands 2. This is Borderlands 2, the sequel to Borderlands and it takes place five years after the first game. It starts off where the vault from the first game opened and now a mineral new to the series called Eridium is appearing everywhere. This is where the story is picked up, you have an evil corporation run by a man named, Handsome Jack. Now Handsome Jack here has been mining the planet of Pandora for this mineral and in search for the second vault, which brings us to the main reason why new Vault hunters are in this game. Now in the opening scene we see our 4 main heroes, Axton, Salvador, Maya and Zer0. They are introduced along with a rocking theme song, a small sequence showing off their skills and how we see that Jack plans on killing all Vault hunters by hiring then killing them. Now to say the least this gives the Vault hunters a more than reasonable excuse to go after Handsome Jack and thus begins the story of revenge. Immediately in the game-play it starts you off talking to Clap-Trap, everyone's favourite little robot and he sets you up and gives you the rundown. Now the controls can easily be modified to fit your kind of shooter and even has an option to keep it on the first Borderlands controls for those very familiar with the game. I will not be getting too much into details on the story other than it is a revenge story letting you explore the massive terrains of Pandora.
Now everyone should be
aware of the game being a shooter RPG, Meaning there are elements of
RPG, in which you are leveling your character, choosing how you want
your character to grow and a new feature which I will talk about
further in the review is the Skin Customization option. Borderlands 2
has your wide selection of guns that it is known for and it also has
elemental weapons which are incendiary, electricity, corrosive (which
is basically acid), explosive and a new element called Slag.
Essentially being hit by a slag weapon will make the enemy weaker,
thus making your weapons more effective and hit stronger, minus slag
weapons. When beginning the game you are asked to choose from a set
of characters each with their own unique skill which will help suit
your play style. You have Axton who is the Commando class and his
skill is a deploy-able turret which can be upgraded immensely and can
prove to be a very helpful ally. Next you have is Maya, who is a
Siren and who replaces Lilith from the first game, her skill is to
basically trap enemies within a vortex like bubble and suspend them
within the air and allowing allies to attack that enemy. Maya does
have some upgradeable skills that allow her to become a healer to the
team and keep the team pushing forward. Another character to choose
is Zer0, who is the assassin class and his skill allows him to
project a hologram of himself while the real one goes invisible,
which is great for escapes or sneaking around to get a better vantage
point on the enemy. Last but not least we have Salvador, a Gunzerker
and his ability is to let him dual wield any two weapons the player
chooses. Feel like spraying the area with bullets with a machine gun
and adding a dash of rockets? There's Gunzerker for that. Feel like
being in a John Woo movie with dual wielding pistols? There's
Gunzerker for that.
The game has a very robust
leveling system in which you can choose from 3 trees to expand your
play style and allow you to improve your skill set, how you handle a
weapon and even help your health and shield abilities. There is also
a new system added to this game called the Badass Rank, where upon
completing the games very elaborate challenges you are awarded badass
ranks. Every time you get a certain amount of Badass ranks you are
awarded a Badass token which can be put to permanently increasing
your character's skills in multiple ways from shield capacity to
melee damage and even health increases. The challenges that are in
the list are both area based where you complete certain tasks in what
areas they announce to challenges that are tracked over your entire
gameplay. This gives the game a bit more to do and awards you for
your hard work and let's you improve your character to fight harder
and gives you bragging rights to your friends as to how high your
Badass Rank is. Another new feature to this game is the Skin and Head
customization, which gives a whole new aspect to making the player
feel in control of their character in every way. Skins and Heads are
collected throughout the game either by exploration, completing
missions or buying them when available at the stores. Even the
vehicles you drive have a skin option so you can make your ride,
actually your own ride. There is so much in Borderlands 2 that let's
you take control of your character and let's you have your fun anyway
you want.
Borderlands 2 takes looting
and gun collecting to a whole other level. I mean, there is an
incredible amount of guns within one game that it is very hard to
come across the same gun twice. And each gun is unique or crappy in
its own way. One gun that I can use for being unique is a gun you can
get from Moxxie by tipping enough and it is the Miss Moxxie's Good
Touch. This gun while holding it and not firing will vibrate the
controller within your hands and becoming a vibrator essentially. But
the list of unique guns feels never ending and you will go through
hundreds probably even thousands of guns in a playthrough, just
because of how expansive the selection is. A good thing Borderlands 2
changes upon from the first game is the ability to just instantly
pick up money and ammo by walking over it, where as the first game
you had to look at it to pick it up. Money is useful in buying more
guns, shields, ammo and even the occasional pull on the slot machines
for a random surprise. There is also another kind of currency used
which is the Eridium bars which can be spent to buy more space to
hold ammo and even backpack space. The game is constantly throwing
new things at you and never feels like you are picking up the same
weapon each time, which gives the game more variety.
One thing I personally find
great in Borderlands 2 is the use of today's memes and everything
that has become popular within the internet culture. Another great
thing about Borderlands 2 is the Easter Eggs within the game. As I
played through I continuously came across little references to just
about anything like Snow white and the Seven Dwarfs, the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Double Rainbow Guy. The challenge list
and even some of the dialogue are references to today's culture,
other games and popular things among the internet. As I played more,
memes and Easter Eggs are continuously found and provides a good
laugh each time. Another humorous aspect to the game has to be my new
all time favourite villain ever, Handsome Jack. His dialogue and the
very things he says will have everyone either chuckling or just burst
out laughing. I wish not to spoil much of his humour but if anything
makes the game worth going through it is hearing the things Handsome
Jack has to say, but speaking within the same breath everyone adds
their own humour and dialogue that gives the game it's charm. Think
the arrow to the knee joke is over yet?
Borderlands 2 is
an overall amazing game that continues to entertain and is different
from most of today's games, from the artwork to the amount of guns
and even the amount of area you have at your disposal to explore and
find the endless Easter Eggs. Another unique feature about the game
is the more friends you have to play with, the more unique of an
experience you will have each time you play. And in the near future,
the game will come with DLC that will expand the universe of
Borderlands 2 and if anything like the first game's DLCs, will be
worth every cent. My final review on the game is, gameplay is
impeccable, variety keeps things fresh and there is promise of more
Borderlands 2 to keep you coming back. So in conclusion Borderlands 2
is a must play and a must own. And that concludes my first review, I
hope this helped you on understanding more on Borderlands 2 and helps
you reach a verdict on the game and if you like this review, keep an
eye out for my future reviews.
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