Review – Borderlands 2

If its title were not a clear enough indicator, Borderlands 2 is a follow-up to Gearbox’s 2009 hit Borderlands, a loot-based first-person shooter role-playing game that touted millions of weapons ripe for collection. My initial impressions of the first Borderlands were highly positive, and I praised it for its solid gameplay mechanics, cel shaded art style, and humorous (albeit otherwise lacking) narrative. But by the 85th hour, I became privy to its flaws and repetitive nature. Was Borderlands 2, a title so similar in nature, able to remedy its predecessor’s faults?

My time spent with Gearbox’s acclaimed sequel was polarizing at best. I played through the main story with several friends who loved the game, but being a veteran of the first Borderlands, I found myself not even half as invested as they were. This disparity in our enjoyment was so great that it prompted me to revise the way I review games. So for the first time ever, here are my top five best and worst things I have to say about Borderlands 2:

The Good:

The Setting: What I recall most vividly from world of Pandora in the original Borderlands was its monotonous and uninspired usage of sprawling deserts punctuated by shanty towns. While Borderlands 2 retains these mundane locations, Gearbox has added a wider variety of environments to explore, from icy tundras to toxic wastelands. Coupled with the game’s impressive cel shaded rendering, Borderlands 2 ensures that each new location is as visually engaging as the last.

The Throwbacks: Borderlands 2 is welcoming to new players who have never played the original, but like many sequels, you will miss many of the references if you did not. Several characters make a return from the first game, including the four protagonists and a handful of the supporting cast. While their reintroductions in this sequel are fine as is, sharing a history with these characters made anticipating their reveal that much more exciting. The plot even finds a way to retcon the horrendous ending of the first game!

The Characters: Unlike its predecessor, Borderlands 2 does a fantastic job of fleshing out its diverse cast, both old and new. With standout characters like the antagonistic Handsome Jack, self-absorbed Cl4ptr4p, and violent youngster Tiny Tina, you will find yourself laughing at their outrageous dialogue as well as sympathizing with them as you unravel their personal history through a series of side quests.

The Diversity: If a game has to include different playable classes, they should be unique and balanced (I am looking at you, Dungeon Defenders…). Gearbox manages to pull this off with extreme gusto, making each of the four classes (six, if you have purchased the two character packs) completely distinguishable by their set of skills. If you intend on playing through Borderlands 2 with several different characters, you can rest easy knowing that each successive experience will feel (almost) just as fresh.

The Quests and Loot: Borderlands 2 offers dozens of hours of gameplay through its hundred-plus side quests, and if you are a fan of loot-based games like World of Warcraft or Diablo, you will find yourself right at home in the world of Pandora. With literally millions of different guns and the various ways to obtain them, there will always be a reason for you to explore every nook and cranny of Borderland’s massive world.

The Bad:

The Protagonists: Like the landscapes of Pandora, all its inhabitants are colorful and interesting – that is, all except you. Aside from a few audio logs that offer a brief glimpse into the past of the four (or six) central, playable characters, our protagonists remain largely faceless and devoid of identity. This may be fine if your character is an extension of yourself, but in this case, they already have a “defined” persona. Sure, they may shout a funny quip in the heat of battle, but beyond that, there is absolutely nothing to facilitate an emotional connection between the player and his avatar. A few missions exclusive to each character fleshing out their history and personality could have done wonders for the game’s replayability and the player’s emotional investment.

The Co-op: While Borderlands 2 supports 4-player co-op, there was never a feeling of teamwork and cohesion. Now, I could be speaking out of ignorance, as I have not studied every skill pertinent to each class, but from my time playing with friends, only one character had abilities that benefited the team as a whole (the Siren’s capacity to heal from afar). Otherwise, Borderlands 2’s co-op just feels like nothing more than several individuals playing alone… together.

The Urgency: The significance of death in Borderlands 2 is only as impactful as the player makes it out to be. Dying is penalized by a 7% loss of currency which if you have very little of or simply do not care for, makes death just an insignificant setback and ultimately meaningless. This greatly affects the game by sapping the excitement out of combat, making each encounter less of a challenge, but more of a chore.

The Loot: A huge selling point for the Borderlands series is its claim of millions upon millions of unique weaponry. The truth however, is that you will likely never see even 1% of that figure and the equipment you do find are often subpar at best. This truly feels like a missed potential as some of the guns are aesthetically well-designed. If Gearbox had included full gun customization, allowing different parts of a weapon to be replaced with another, then maybe there would be more incentive to pursue and collect the other 99% of the arsenal.

The Repetition: While there is rarely a shortage of things to do on Pandora, I found one of Borderland 2’s greatest weaknesses to be its extremely mundane and formulaic mission setups. Nearly every quest, at least in the main story’s progression, amounts to nothing more than “go here” and “shoot some bad guys.” Every once in a while, vehicular combat will be thrown in to mix things up, but aside from a handful of boss fights, the game hardly ever requires the player to switch up his tactics and unless you enjoy doing the same thing over and over, this feeling of tedium will linger with you throughout your adventure.

So there you have it – my two cents on Gearbox’s highest rated title to date. Borderlands 2 is an undoubtedly good game, improving a lot of what was lacking in its predecessor. However, the repetitious quest system and uninteresting combat holds it back from being great. But as a studio that is willing to take risks (refer to Duke Nukem Forever and Alien: Colonial Marines) and is always involved with its community, Gearbox is a band of talented developers certainly worth supporting.