Borderlands 2: An Epic Sequel

Sequels are a special breed. In some cases they can be used to correct certain short comings of the original installment, other times it can build and expand on the first. The hardest challenge is to create a sequel for something that has gained massive success, and it is even harder if this success came as a surprise.

When it came to Borderlands 2, from the looks of it, it seems that Gearbox followed one basic principle: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Right out of the box Borderlands 2 seems like more of the first game, but as you play on you see the tweaks and adjustments that have gone in to refine the awesome formula that made the first game so much fun.

The exploration, the loot, THE GUNZ and especially the humor of the first game have been amped up to amazing heights this time around.

There are actually heaps of reviews out for the game already, so there's no point getting into that, from my side I just wanted to share how amazingly awesome Borderlands 2 is, but I think anyone who is even mildly interested in the game already know this.

The world of Pandora is bigger and badder than ever, with heaps of new areas to explore and enemies to fill up with bullets, or if you're like me, slice and dice with a laser construct katana.

The game looks freaking beautiful, with so much added detail etched into the cell shaded world that it's a gem to behold. For me it reaches heights reminiscent of Rage, which made such a hype about it's graphics and game features. Yes the two share a similar world, but the land of Borderlands 2 feels truly inhabited. To some extent I felt Borderlands 2 offered me the gaming experience that Rage had promised.

Borderlands 2  is filled with quests that lead you to its many new locations. Some of these quests you need to look out for though as the world is filled with many hidden side quests and Easter eggs which make exploring so damn addictive. These are hidden to the extent of dropping of specific baddies after doing specific tasks, without spoiling too much, do pay attention to such areas as The Fridge or even Caustic Caverns as the quests that take you there end pretty quick, but the ones you find hidden will keep you busy.

This time around the characters of Borderlands are brought to life in a bigger way as well. All the dialogue is amazingly voiced and you can't help but fall in  love with everyone you meet, even the bad guys.

Even "Handsome Jack" the antagonist of the game is someone you can't help but cheer for when he comes in over your intercom to blurt out his funny stories and one liners.

These characters give way to a flushed out story which can get pretty deep for a FPS. I know some reviews have dismissed the narrative of the game as a back seat to the action and loot that drives it, but I found it to be very engaging.There was one moment in the game that actually pulled some emotional strings for me cause it played on my feelings from the previous game. Then there are quests that made me just laugh out loud IRL because of the dialogue and interactions that were really just honestly funny.

But the loot, O GAWD THE LOOT!

Nothing beats that rush of findiing "that gun" that out bids your current favorite, but this time around most every single gun is so good that it's actually sad for me to let certain weapons go. I  read somewhere that you shouldn't get attached to weapons and that's so true. I actually had to buy more bag/ bank space so I could keep a few guns a little longer for sentimental value.

On my current play through I'm going in as Zer0 the assassin, who is pretty much a cyborg ninja, because that's how awesome Borderlands is. I was going to play as the Commando but felt it was too similar to the Solider from part one (not that that's a bad thing) and I wanted a fresh experience. It was hard to play him as the sword wielding psychopath I had envisioned from the get go, so I started his killing spree as a sniper, but a few more levels and points in I re-speced him into his Blood Shed tree and never looked back, except to admire the trail of death and blood I left behind.

This is my eventual aim for Zer0 once I get very effective with his  Deception skill, but for solo purposes I'll be rolling with this.

Yautja

I really like the challenge of playing Zer0 as a melee focused toon, because I feel a lot of the game is easier on ranged combat. But Zer0's melee tree, if speced right, offers a lot of  straight out damage boosts which in turn allows me to get in "up close and personal" or hold back to pick off as need be. Weapon of choice is Shotguns and SMGs with a Sniper riffle for good measure... and his nifty katana.

Aside from talents and such you can also customize your vault hunter to some extent visually through the use of skins. These are presets whcih you can mix and match to suit your toons character.Though I've found a lot of skins I can't help but stick to this one called "Blood and rust" which covers Zer0 in - well in Blood and muck. It really looks like his killed some serious shizz and is out to hack up something new. And I like the contrast to the other "Clean" Zero skins that are popular online.

And my Zer0 is called Yautja (E-wat-ya) - which makes him even more bad ass.

So yeah man - Borderlands 2 is quite the shizz and I actually can't wait to get home to play it. As a successor I feel it has truly taken the franchise to new heights with its style and attitude. As a game it is truly one of the coolest shooters I've ever played, or just one of the coolest games period, cementing the franchise into my top 5 for keeps.