It's just about time to kill some skags, hoard guns and earn heaps of experience. To get you in the mood to read our upcoming Borderlands 2
review, we're running a series of articles leading up to our verdict,
coming this Thursday, 9/13 at 9PM PST. We'll cover topics like the loot
system, the story and more, giving you a taste of how I'm feeling about
each along the way. Read on, Vault Hunters, read on.
There’s something endlessly exciting about watching shiny things spill forth from someone I’ve just pumped full of lead. And in Borderlands 2 this happens about every five seconds, as you’re pretty much constantly thrown a stream of enemies to blast.
Guns are the primary type of loot you’ll come across, and developer Gearbox was only kind of kidding when they advertised “gazillions” of weapons in earlier promotional videos. The limited number of augmentations for weapons means several of them will work similarly, but the stats are randomly generated in such a way that I’ve never seen the exact same weapon twice. This means that every time I’m fighting challenging enemies there’s that buzz of excitement, that sense that the next shot could very well secure me something better than I could have expected.
Of course there’s always a chance that the randomly generated stats could also result in an awesome weapon type I don’t typically use, but it really comes down to how you like to play (and you can always sell duds for cash). Borderlands 2’s four classes each have preferred weapon types, but they can use any of them, and sometimes you’ll want to deviate from the norm because you find something that’s simply too badass to pass up on. For instance my main is a Commando, whose talent points have made him particularly awesome with assault rifles. This perfectly suits my playstyle, as I’m particularly aggressive and like to get in fairly close and unleash a stream of bullets. However, at one point I came upon a pistol that fires like a shotgun and becomes increasingly accurate as I fire. The bullets fly slow as hell, but when they strike…let’s just say it’s painful. Very, very painful. My commando still uses his fair share of assault rifles when he’s at a distance, but until the next lucky drop, this pistol is here to stay. He’s just a bit more of a gunslinger than the John Rambo he once was. Maybe he's a bit out of character now, but you can't argue with the gigantic critical hit numbers that pop up every time the bullets slam into meat.
Outside of guns, Borderlands 2 presents ample opportunities to let your stats-obsessed side come out. Some of the most enticing drops end up being shields and class mods. Even the most boring shields have varying stats that affect their recharge rate and time before they start to recharge, but rarer pieces of equipment do cool things like explode in a burst of fire when depleted, which can be a huge boon when you’re surrounded. Class mods too have a dramatic effect on the way you play, with randomly generated stats that directly augment your talents and can give you dramatic boosts to important things like reload speed or damage with a particular weapon type. They can even give you boosts that apply to anyone else you’re playing with, making them particularly useful and great loot for the more party-oriented among you.
One thing I complained about with the original Borderlands was that for all the loot you got, none of it allowed you to change your appearance. This is a shooter first and foremost, but there’s enough RPG elements in Borderlands that it always felt bizarre that I couldn't do more to change my appearance. Even a few armor slots I could swap out to further augment my character would have been great. Borderlands 2 didn’t go the armor slot route, but the team at Gearbox did add a ton of new skins to switch between. Customization here is a bit disappointing in terms of how bare bones it is, as you can only change up the entire skin of your head and your body, but it’s still better than the even more limited options from the first game. At least now you can play an online match with several other people using the same class and clearly tell who’s who. And, if nothing else, it gives you yet another type of loot to chase after through the first playthrough and beyond.
So far Borderlands 2 is doing basically everything right with loot:
it’s abundant, it changes up your character constantly, and it’s
exciting to pursue.
Expect more updates on Borderlands 2 throughout the week, with tomorrow’s focusing on how Gearbox is doing with the side quests and storyline.
When and if you pick up a copy of Borderlands 2, you should never, ever skip a sidequest. You could barrel on through the story if you really wanted, but you’d be doing yourself a great injustice (and probably making the game way harder since sidequests help you level). The main story gets a bit too serious for my tastes sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, I like a tale that tugs at my heartstrings or gets my blood pumping, but that’s not what Borderlands is really about to me. To me it’s about the type of humor we saw in the General Knoxx or Claptrap DLC, where dick and fart humor is mixed with clever wit and references to pop culture.
Hence why I’m loving Borderlands 2’s sidequests. Here’s where you’ll
encounter the four bandit brothers who live in a sewer, eat pizza and
are named unsurprisingly akin to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Or
where you’ll be tasked with hunting down porno mags for the town’s
redneck mechanic so he can relieve some sexual tension while he pursues
someone “distantly related.” That probably sounds a bit low brow when
you read it, and sometimes it is, but it’s always delivered well and
peppered with plenty of thoughtful innuendo that makes it feel smart.
Sidequests are also where you’ll get to know and better understand the various characters of Pandora. Yeah, you’ll meet plenty of strangers and even make a few acquaintances by simply playing the main story, but if you want to better understand who they are and where they’ve come from you gotta take the time and do their bidding. For instance one sidequest I did for a crazy woman named Tannishad me collecting recordings stashed throughout the environment. While seemingly pointless, gathering them gave me insight into a time when she was tortured, helping make sense of her tragic madness. Sound a bit too heavy for you? Don’t worry, there are plenty more quests where you’re doing something far more stupid, such as hunting down monsters called Bonerfarts or getting belligerently drunk in a bar so you can crash a wake and murder everyone in a hail of gunfire. Even when the quests are silly and seemingly pointless they reveal more about Pandora, showing you just how harsh, brutal and ugly this backwater planet can be.
I know I didn’t really talk too much about the main storyline, but
that’s because it’s good enough that I just don’t want to spoil it for
you. Even with its predictable twists and turns it’s turning out to be
something worth experiencing fresh. If you loved the first Borderlands,
and maybe even fell for some of the playable characters, expect to be
pleasantly surprised in Borderlands 2.
Check back tomorrow for a new update about Borderlands 2’s reworked interface.
Day One
My name is Anthony and I’m addicted to loot.There’s something endlessly exciting about watching shiny things spill forth from someone I’ve just pumped full of lead. And in Borderlands 2 this happens about every five seconds, as you’re pretty much constantly thrown a stream of enemies to blast.
Guns are the primary type of loot you’ll come across, and developer Gearbox was only kind of kidding when they advertised “gazillions” of weapons in earlier promotional videos. The limited number of augmentations for weapons means several of them will work similarly, but the stats are randomly generated in such a way that I’ve never seen the exact same weapon twice. This means that every time I’m fighting challenging enemies there’s that buzz of excitement, that sense that the next shot could very well secure me something better than I could have expected.
Of course there’s always a chance that the randomly generated stats could also result in an awesome weapon type I don’t typically use, but it really comes down to how you like to play (and you can always sell duds for cash). Borderlands 2’s four classes each have preferred weapon types, but they can use any of them, and sometimes you’ll want to deviate from the norm because you find something that’s simply too badass to pass up on. For instance my main is a Commando, whose talent points have made him particularly awesome with assault rifles. This perfectly suits my playstyle, as I’m particularly aggressive and like to get in fairly close and unleash a stream of bullets. However, at one point I came upon a pistol that fires like a shotgun and becomes increasingly accurate as I fire. The bullets fly slow as hell, but when they strike…let’s just say it’s painful. Very, very painful. My commando still uses his fair share of assault rifles when he’s at a distance, but until the next lucky drop, this pistol is here to stay. He’s just a bit more of a gunslinger than the John Rambo he once was. Maybe he's a bit out of character now, but you can't argue with the gigantic critical hit numbers that pop up every time the bullets slam into meat.
Outside of guns, Borderlands 2 presents ample opportunities to let your stats-obsessed side come out. Some of the most enticing drops end up being shields and class mods. Even the most boring shields have varying stats that affect their recharge rate and time before they start to recharge, but rarer pieces of equipment do cool things like explode in a burst of fire when depleted, which can be a huge boon when you’re surrounded. Class mods too have a dramatic effect on the way you play, with randomly generated stats that directly augment your talents and can give you dramatic boosts to important things like reload speed or damage with a particular weapon type. They can even give you boosts that apply to anyone else you’re playing with, making them particularly useful and great loot for the more party-oriented among you.
One thing I complained about with the original Borderlands was that for all the loot you got, none of it allowed you to change your appearance. This is a shooter first and foremost, but there’s enough RPG elements in Borderlands that it always felt bizarre that I couldn't do more to change my appearance. Even a few armor slots I could swap out to further augment my character would have been great. Borderlands 2 didn’t go the armor slot route, but the team at Gearbox did add a ton of new skins to switch between. Customization here is a bit disappointing in terms of how bare bones it is, as you can only change up the entire skin of your head and your body, but it’s still better than the even more limited options from the first game. At least now you can play an online match with several other people using the same class and clearly tell who’s who. And, if nothing else, it gives you yet another type of loot to chase after through the first playthrough and beyond.
Expect more updates on Borderlands 2 throughout the week, with tomorrow’s focusing on how Gearbox is doing with the side quests and storyline.
Day Two
The main story of Borderlands 2 is already shaping up to be loads better than that of the original (which was admittedly pieced together almost as an afterthought), but the sidequests are what have me hooked. They’re where the Gearbox’s writing staff chops really show, and where they get to take Borderlands 2 way, way off the rails.When and if you pick up a copy of Borderlands 2, you should never, ever skip a sidequest. You could barrel on through the story if you really wanted, but you’d be doing yourself a great injustice (and probably making the game way harder since sidequests help you level). The main story gets a bit too serious for my tastes sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, I like a tale that tugs at my heartstrings or gets my blood pumping, but that’s not what Borderlands is really about to me. To me it’s about the type of humor we saw in the General Knoxx or Claptrap DLC, where dick and fart humor is mixed with clever wit and references to pop culture.
Sidequests are also where you’ll get to know and better understand the various characters of Pandora. Yeah, you’ll meet plenty of strangers and even make a few acquaintances by simply playing the main story, but if you want to better understand who they are and where they’ve come from you gotta take the time and do their bidding. For instance one sidequest I did for a crazy woman named Tannishad me collecting recordings stashed throughout the environment. While seemingly pointless, gathering them gave me insight into a time when she was tortured, helping make sense of her tragic madness. Sound a bit too heavy for you? Don’t worry, there are plenty more quests where you’re doing something far more stupid, such as hunting down monsters called Bonerfarts or getting belligerently drunk in a bar so you can crash a wake and murder everyone in a hail of gunfire. Even when the quests are silly and seemingly pointless they reveal more about Pandora, showing you just how harsh, brutal and ugly this backwater planet can be.
Check back tomorrow for a new update about Borderlands 2’s reworked interface.
Athens Time
0 σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου