For anybody who likes first-person shooters during which the motion and gameplay seamlessly mix collectively to current a cohesive expertise, the Borderlands franchise is certain to return to thoughts. It’s a refreshing diversion from the usually critical and grim takes on conflict and battle that function in different franchises like Name of Obligation, for instance, permitting for a extra breezy tone though issues can and do get darkish now and again.
At its coronary heart, every Borderlands recreation is about stability. It’s about balancing humor and coronary heart in opposition to a refined evaluation of company greed and oppression. It’s about balancing wonderful capturing with a loot drop system that permits for lots of artistic expression. It’s about balancing the outdated and the brand new in ways in which make sense in every successive instalment. We may go on and on.
Nevertheless, Borderlands 2 stands out as a spotlight within the franchise’s historical past, and we’d say that it’s one of the vital stable experiences that takes all the pieces that made its predecessor particular, and dials these components as much as 100 with aplomb. It’s a recreation that we might gladly begin over given an opportunity.
However what makes it such an awesome title in our e book? Strap yourselves in and discover out.
An Bold Sequel
Whereas the story of the primary Borderlands recreation definitely entertained us after we first performed it, the sheer scope of its sequel’s narrative made it seem like a proof of idea in retrospective comparability.
Taking the premise established within the first recreation to new heights, Borderlands 2 was fairly the rollercoaster, increasing on occasions within the first recreation whereas additionally bringing in a brand new set of Vault Hunters into the fold. Nevertheless, by together with the primary characters from the primary recreation as NPCs, Gearbox Software program cleverly bridged the hole between its video games and established a type of continuity between them that might, properly, proceed, in Borderlands 3.
The brand new story was in a position to maintain the humorous tone of the primary recreation whereas additionally bringing lots of heartfelt moments to the desk in a manner that was not solely natural, however so well-paced and well-written that it had us questioning if the primary recreation was solely a prologue to Borderlands 2.
Angel’s introduction and the conclusion to her story continues to offer us goosebumps and serves for example of how Gearbox managed to stability a lightweight and breezy tone with darker moments that have been positive to have gamers on the sting of their seats. You by no means knew what was coming subsequent in Borderlands 2, and that made it a really particular recreation in out e book.
A intelligent transfer was organising the brand new narrative within the aftermath of occasions within the first recreation. It was a intelligent manner of introducing Eridium and Good-looking Jack into the combo, whereas permitting for fully new Vault Hunters to take up the mantle of protagonists from the outdated guard.
Doing so allowed Gearbox to extend each the dimensions and scope of Pandora in addition to its distinctive gameplay techniques whereas offering the narrative area to incorporate a slew of recent characters who joined the returning solid to make Borderlands 2 a really formidable story certainly.
And it was a transfer that labored properly. Good-looking Jack’s efforts to safe a brand new Vault and his subsequent takeover of Pandora was the proper option to increase on the narrative from the primary recreation. It additionally allowed Gearbox to get fairly artistic in different areas of the sport, as even the very best of essential narratives wouldn’t excuse an absence of innovation in gameplay mechanics and world constructing in a franchise that earned its fame for exactly these causes.
However Borderlands 2 was in a position to dwell as much as that problem.
Pandora 2.0
The sport’s expanded story had the additional advantage of permitting Gearbox so as to add a extra assorted set of biomes for the Vault Hunters to discover. Pandora in Borderlands 2 was greater than only a huge desert.
It included lush grasslands, chilly and desolate glaciers, murky swamps, and volcanic areas, permitting Gearbox to flaunt a vastly expanded imaginative and prescient for its artwork type from the primary recreation. It was a benchmark in artistic freedom, permitting its artists to let free their concepts and produce selection to a title that thrived on it in different areas of the expertise.
With the outcomes on the market for all to see, it’s clear that Pandora’s makeover was one which not solely made sense from a story standpoint, however was additionally fairly instrumental in making the expertise of enjoying by way of Borderlands 2 all of the extra immersive consequently.
It’s a feat that may be fairly exhausting to realize by any requirements in trendy gaming, and Gearbox should be counseled for its novel strategy that inspired its artists to go nuts with their designs. It’s a transfer that allowed Borderlands 2 to blow up with colours and distinctive visible overtones, making Pandora far more enticing as a vacation spot within the course of.
We will’t actually blame Good-looking Jack for organising store there, to be sincere.
Extra Vault Hunters, Extra Madness
Whereas a brand new story and an expanded Pandora have been vital components in making Borderlands 2 as interesting to us as it’s, they pale compared to the way in which during which its solid continues to occupy a spot of fond nostalgia in our minds.
The 4 new Vault Hunters have been the proper mix of the outdated and new, bringing contemporary new tweaks to the skills of their predecessors whereas managing to face out on their very own sufficient to be compelling protagonists. Zer0 continues to be amongst our favourite assassins, Edward Kenway and Ezio Auditore however.
However the place Borderlands 2 actually hit the nail on its proverbial head was the intelligent integration of the earlier recreation’s Vault Hunters into its expanded narrative, permitting the franchise to create a type of bridge between the outdated and new in a fashion that made sense whereas fleshing out every of these characters in a manner that felt each satisfying and rewarding for its gamers.
Studying extra concerning the new Vault Hunters by discovering their voice logs was one other spotlight of the expertise, permitting Gearbox to beat the limitation of them being largely silent protagonists whereas offering its gamers with one other incentive to attempt to go to each doable nook of Pandora that they might discover.
And that brings us to Good-looking Jack. As an antagonist, he not simply stole the highlight away from the remainder of the solid, however made it his personal. Flitting between nonchalant conceitedness and megalomaniacal rage, he continues to be amongst our most favourite antagonists of all time in trendy gaming.
Daemon Clarke’s tackle the character is one that’s so distinctive, we virtually discovered ourselves rooting for Jack at a number of factors within the story. Up till Jack’s actions at an important level within the recreation’s narrative modified our opinion of him endlessly, that’s.
And naturally, there was Tiny Tina. Ashley Burch’s capability to deliver the character to life deserves a particular point out particularly within the intervening years since she took on the problem of creating Aloy a mainstay in PlayStation’s lineup of frontline characters on its Horizon franchise. It’s not on a regular basis {that a} character is so good they get their very own spinoff title, in spite of everything.
Borderline Psychotic
And that brings us to the gameplay. The gameplay loop on provide in Borderlands 2 is one more instance of how Gearbox was in a position to mix the outdated and the brand new, bringing significant enhancements to what made its first recreation particular in ways in which retained the unique’s familiarity whereas its new additions screamed of innovation.
The core expertise remained largely the identical as the primary recreation, with Borderlands 2 being a superb looter shooter that allowed its gamers to make the most of every Vault Hunter’s new abilities in artistic methods both solo or with their buddies in tow. That half didn’t change, and it didn’t need to.
However the brand new and improved loot system, and the flexibility to share gear between cooperating gamers introduced a layer of immersion to its collaborative multiplayer shenanigans. Increasing on the procedurally generated loot system of the earlier recreation whereas including new weapon producers every of whom introduced a fairly distinctive type to their weapons was a stroke of genius in some ways.
For starters, it allowed every participant construct to really feel very distinctive and distinctive whereas additionally permitting for a better time making these builds due to the flexibility to share loot. Second, it tied in very properly with Pandora’s new expanded measurement and scope, making the planet really feel extra alive and thriving with life than the primary recreation may hope to handle.
And lastly, it made Borderlands 2’s fight all of the extra partaking, with gamers incentivized to tackle enemies with the hope of getting their arms on a weapon that actually suited their playstyle or one which they might go on to that one good friend who sorely wanted a greater device of destruction.
The expanded loot system had us spending many an entertaining hour amassing weapons and swapping them out and in of our builds. It was a superb enlargement of an already unbelievable gameplay mechanic, and can stay a supply of fond recollections of Borderlands 2 similar to all the pieces else within the recreation.
Intuitive Innovation
Borderlands 2 was a showcase of Gearbox’s capability to gauge the weather of its titles that labored, and its willpower to reinforce ones that didn’t with a view to current a cohesive, impressed expertise for its gamers.
It’s no shock that the sport has achieved the success that it did. Whereas Borderlands 3 was an equally stable recreation in its personal proper, it’s the second instalment on this evergreen franchise that holds a particular place in our hearts. Maybe Borderlands 4 can change that when it releases later this yr? We definitely hope so!
Observe: The views expressed on this article are these of the creator and don’t essentially characterize the views of, and shouldn’t be attributed to, GamingBolt as a company.
