Borderlands 2 Review

[zumbledum]

You get the Mechromancer for free if you pre-order the game.
Which you can still do in the EU, since it won't be released until the 21st.
A fact that drives me apeshit. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFGHGERHERGHERGHAFS

hehe you might be the only person in the world wanting to be on this side of the release day fence, i know i would swap with you if i could!
been watching some streams and trying not to watch streams so i dont spoil it but it does look well like borderlands but MOAR and as i still enjoy a trip to the borderlands i think im going to be in love with this, just sad they killed my siren(the class) but i have to say the other 3 do look very fun

 

[pointless vandalism]

Is the UI still a train wreck?

 

[Croaker42]

Would it help your anticipation any if I told you you get to fight Bonerfarts and Bonertoots early on in the game?

*dies*
One of the best missions so far. (Only a few hours in over here)

OT;
I thought the review was dead on in that Borderlands 2 offers more of the good stuff that was BL1.

I simply would not encourage anyone who did not care for the first game to pick this one up.
Also. My publicist said we can't call them Bonerfarts.

 

[Alexander Horta]

I still can't decide which class I'm leaning towards - most likely the gunzerker - and I want to know people's experiences of playing each one. I have heard that Zer0 can be a bit of a scrappy character to solo with. Is there anyone with incite who agrees or disagrees?

Well, I've only played a little so far, so I'm not the best choice. But, I'm having a blast playing as Zer0. Though it's very true he's not the best solo character, as he's meant to do larger damage to one character at a time, and his power lets him get real close to enemies to kill them, but makes it hard to get away from the rest. He's pretty specialised towards that, so, yeah, not the best solo character. Still extremely fun though.

Anyway, my only complaints about this game are the time it takes to respawn, like others have said, and the ice water. It's fine when you're near a shore of some sort, but if you fall off a floating platform, say real early on, you're hard pressed to find a way back on before you die. Otherwise, it's a fantastic game, and the writing is top notch.

 

[Thomiroth]

I understand that was the intention, but in my playthru with the weapons I had found and constant ammo regen, and bad enemy AI... if anything got that close I was playing it wrong. There was one area with tight enough close quarters to warrant using close range weapons (Sledge's Safehouse) but all the other quests were outdoors, or in big caverns or warehouses. Even if I was dumb enough to charge when there wasn't any real reason to (there never seemed to be) my long and mid ranged weapons (and my roomate's who usually took a longer range character) would chew thru any amount of resistance well before I got to point blank shotgun range.

Very fair point, actually, most of the areas were extremely open. But then, it could also just be an example of choosing how you want to play a character. The system is still nicely open to any interpretation of any character, which is how I like it, but it did lead to a bit of 'every character being able to do anything, with a different flavour,' which was one thing that that kind of pissed me off originally with the first one.

I'm hoping there's more cavernous or close-range areas in this one, since it means that you'll have to be able to adapt. I played through the first game with the Hunter, meaning I took the long range approach as well, but it wasn't really as fun for me as the Siren or Berserker, to be honest. But then, I still had a shotgun and revolver to play with once I had cleaned up the dangerous enemies, which was still only done because I could. Maybe there'll be enemies that can forcibly get to you, no matter what, which would be nice as well.

Still, I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes, since I've pretty much kept myself as ignorant as possible as far as actual game information is concerned. I suppose that's another example of my 'close range' attitude.

 

[Varya]

I don't understand it. I'm nit a big shooter-fan, nor do I love Diablo-style games, though I happily can spend a few hours with each. Yet the sum of the parts somehow makes for one of my favorite games in a long time.

 

[TwentyPercentCooler]

I've been enjoying myself immensely in BL2 so far. Pretty much everything that I disliked about the first game was improved somehow, and the things that didn't need improvement weren't messed with.

Those disappointed in the paper-thin excuse for a story in the first game will be pleasantly surprised by the sequel, I think. It's not a masterpiece, but it's more than a cardboard cutout that barely qualifies as "functional." The guns are a little more varied and the shields and grenades are FAR more interesting and diverse. The combat has been improved from the first as well, at least by some small measure. More enemies have grenades and there is a greater variety of enemy types, although you won't see anything that would have been out of place in the first game.

I particularly like the environments. BL1 was brown desert, brown cave, more brown desert, brown mine, even more brown desert, and, just to keep you guessing, brown desert. In BL2, I started off in a glacier and it looked pretty awesome.

Spoiler

The only thing that I don't like is the new Siren's action skill. It sucks compared to Phasewalk, but oh well. Phasewalk + Maliwan Hellfire/Plague (legitimately obtained) was hilariously, gloriously and hideously overpowered. Elemental effects seem to have been toned down a bit for BL2, which isn't a bad thing.

 

[Atmos Duality]

A fair review, though again I don't much care for scores.

*In general, BD2 is just much better, and a damn sight more fun than most any shooter I've played in the last four years (though EYE wasn't too terrible, it also was amateur to a 'T').

Going on a point by point review (some comparisons made):

Spoiler: Plus: Bullet Velocity

+BD1, bullet velocities were low. BD2, they're MUCH higher.

There's no more lunacy like bandits ducking a sniper shot aimed right at them, or having to use Cannon Ballistic logic to aim at flying targets
(In BD1, I'm not only firing subsonic rounds, but they're slow enough that a person can cognitively hear and REACT to a shot that's aimed right at them?)

Spoiler: Plus: Weapon Manufactuer and Role Diversification

+Weapon manufacturers and role are much less redundant than before. The only major redundancy being Bandit and Vladof, with the latter generally being far superior to the former.

However, the gun design is far more distinct, and I can tell almost immediately who made what weapon, and what its general role is at a glance...usually. Sniper Rifles and Combat Rifles sometimes look too similar, as do certain models of shotgun.

Spoiler: Plus: SMGs Rebalanced

+SMGs are no longer the god-weapons, but I think Gearbox went a tad bit too far in nerfing them. Between the many flavors of combat rifle, shotguns and machine pistol, I had no real use for them.

Spoiler: Minus: Revolvers Overnerfed

-Revolvers were brutally nerfed. Repeaters were improved in general, and each weapon class is now manufacturer-specific (Jakobs makes Revolvers. Vladof and Bandit make machine pistols. Maliwan and Hyperion make repeaters, etc).

I kind of miss my Masher Revolver and gunslinger style, but it's a price I'm willing to pay.

Spoiler: Plus: Rocket Launchers

+Rocket Launchers are no longer 'joke' weapons. This is tactical ordinance amigo.

Spoiler: Neutral: Ammo Reserves

=Ammo is more scarce for most classes (except Gunzerker, since his action ability regens ammo), which makes bullet-power and elemental power far more important than magazine size.

The Storage Deck Upgrades cost Eridium now, which makes it a pain in the ass without grind or luck.

Overall, I see certain weapon types being more fun/useful as a result of this (Snipers especially), while others being worse (Pistols, SMGs, certain flavors of rifles)

This becomes less of a problem as time goes on, but it is something of a killjoy.

Spoiler: Plus: Elemental Damage Rebalanced

+Elemental damage is far better balanced. No more Maliwan-is-God situations. However, Elemental Weapons are also by no means useless (unlike the nerfing with SMGs)

The new Slag Element is also FANTASTIC; doubly so for multiplayer. Even a rudimentary slag weapon will provide a tremendous boost to your overall damage.

Spoiler: Plus: Variety of Enemy Targets

+Variety in enemy units is much better, forcing you to consider your approach a bit differently between gunfights. How they behave, what their abilities are...all better diversified.

Spoiler: Plus: Environment

Borderlands 2 is indisputably improved in terms of both map design and aesthetics. The diversity in climate and color is remarkably refreshing; especially compared to being trapped on the set of Mad Max for 20 hours in BL1.

Spoiler: Neutral: Gameplay Difficulty

Borderlands 2 is a more difficult game.
Where I could cruise through most of Borderlands 1 on a few choice weapons, Borderlands 2 is more difficult for a variety of reasons.

I) The AI is much better. INFINITELY better.
II) The enemy stats ramp up more quickly
III) A greater variety of enemies in combat situations require more planning
IV) Enemy reinforcements tend to arrive more frequently, and more quickly. Usually via escalation.

And my problem with this is that the game was almost certainly balanced around 2 Co-op. Going with more players makes the game much, much easier, going solo can become downright BRUTAL in places.

Contributing to this is the issue of loot. While Borderlands 1 was bias towards Blues, Purples and Oranges for effectiveness, it wasn't shy about handing them out either.
Borderlands 2: Whites and Greens reign. Relative to Borderlands 1, Whites and Greens are much better, and you can easily make due with nothing but Whites and Greens for your first playthrough.

However, Blue, Purple and Orange are RIDICULOUSLY rare in comparison. Outside of a Quest Reward, I have seen ONE Orange in over 30 hours of gameplay, and maybe 6 total non-Grenade Purples.

While this is better balanced than before, it also means that if there are any unique weapons at the highest rarities, you probably won't get to play with them without sinking a HUGE amount of time into the game. I have the pre-order bonus, which includes starting with an Eridian Relic that boosts my Rare Find chance and I still find mostly junk.

On that note, I must have missed E-Tech, having found exactly ONE E-Tech weapon outside of a quest.

Spoiler: Various Comments on NPCs

-Scooter
Fuck that guy. He's not really funny anymore, just annoying.
He does have one or two good memorable quotes, but the rest of the time he's just an obnoxious creepy cockstain.

-Claptrap
He's...less overtly abrasive than in BL1 and has better jokes overall, plus some moments of catharsis. However, he's also fantastically annoying in other points of the game. Honestly, if he just up and died early on, I would not have minded.
Unfortunately, the talkative little shit is with you the whole damn game.

+Sir Hammerlock
This man is awesome. Period. ("Bonerfart")

+Roland
Much less annoying and abrasive than before. He actually acts like a leader of men.

+Lilith
Remarkably likeable despite being more than a tad disturbed. I like her attitude if nothing else and she never got on my tits.

+Mordecai
Can't really talk about him without spoiling things, but overall he's pretty cool.

+Brick
Good man, kind of friendly in a "Chaotic Good" sort of way. I like him.

-+Handsome Jack
I'm kind of torn here. On one hand, he is ridiculous Comic Relief for most of the game. On the other hand, when he isn't acting as comic relief, he is an utterly irredeemable monster.

Others: Tiny Tina and Ellie are amusing if nothing else (Tina in particular is ten kinds of fucked up). Moxxi, Marcus and Zed are still there, and that's about the best way to describe them...they're just kind of there.

Earl is back, but he's the Eridium Black Market, and does absolutely nothing else.