Almost 300 hours into Borderlands 2, I've come to the conclusion that, even though I am enjoying the game, this is not a true sequel.
After the break, we visit Pandora and get deja vu all over again. (May contain mild spoilers)
As I stood next to the vanquished end boss of Borderlands 2, I shook my head. Had Gearbox not learned anything from the original vault fiasco? The fight was ridiculously easy, boring, and had no worthwhile loot drops. I wasn't overpowered (level 32 with blue and purple items equipped), and had a hell of a more difficult time getting past badass level robots in the previous zone. Watching the endless credits scroll across the screen I realized much of Borderlands 2 was identical to the original.
You start the game as one of four vault hunters yet again. This time the four are variations of the originals; the Soldier with his turret, Siren with her phase lock, Gunzerker with his raging duel wields, and Assassin with stealthed melee attacks. They bring new abilities to the table, yet mostly fulfill the same roles as the last game. There is a new, fifth class, the Mechromancer, which is a refreshing change compared to the others. However, she is only available if you preordered the game or bought the DLC pack.
The premise of Borderlands 2 is simple, there's a bad guy named Jack who wants you all dead. He is plotting Bad Things and it's up to you and your friends to stop him. Jack is easily one of the most well done bad guys in a video game.
The journey to the end is the same as the first game, follow the path of story quests through various zones while leveling and gearing up your character. Along the way you'll do (or ignore) numerous sidequests and learn the history of the new characters and what has happened since the last game.
A new "badass ranks" leveling system has been added to BL2. You earn badass ranks for completing challenges, such as number of enemy type kills or exploring areas. The ranks fill up a leveling bar and each one completed earns you a point which can be spent on one of five random abilities, such as melee damage or critical hit chance. The ability bonuses are applied to all characters on your account (can be disabled if you want a "clean" playthrough).
Many of the NPCs return in BL2, with some excellent voice work and amusing lines. New characters are introduced, and many fit right in with the current cast of miscreants. The original four player characters from BL1 are now NPCs and are fully voiced this time around with distinct personalities and back stories.
Questing is essentially the same in BL2; you get your quest(s), complete them, return for reward. Inexplicably, you can only have one quest highlighted at a time, which makes doing several quests at once more of a pain than it should be. There's a few memorable quests, but for the most part you'll not pay much attention to the details of them.
Gearbox claims there are a "gazillion" guns in BL2 and for the most part they are correct. Tons of items drop from enemies, are found in chests, or are given as quest rewards throughout the game. Still the same white-green-blue-purple-orange quality levels. There is a "pink" rarity level which nestles somewhere between purple and orange, that is an "E-tech". These E-tech weapons are mostly laser or plasma type items. Grenade launchers are in BL2 (were cut from BL1 before launch) and are lumped in with assault rifles. Dart guns are also in and mixed into the pistol class.
Inventory is still a chore, and you'll spend way too much time comparing minute stat differences. Bank storage is in the base game of BL2, but is still woefully less than you want. There is now a "shared stash", a four-slot bank space that all of your created characters can access. Extra bank/inventory slots, along with additional ammo capacity, is now bought with Eridium instead of using in-game cash of getting storage deck upgrades via quests from BL1.
There are still class mods, grenades, and shields in BL2. Artifacts from BL1 have been replaced with relics, and are their own equipment slot. Grenades have been overhauled and they now have random stats/abilities like other items. Shields also have been given more variations and certain types can deal out damage (and some are completely overpowered *cough*Bee*cough*).
For whatever reason, Gearbox decided to keep the same leveling system from BL1. Playthrough number one will get you to around level 34. Playthrough number two then starts in the mid-30s and gets you to 50 well before the end. If you get to the end of PT2, you trigger the infamous "PT2.5" which auto scales everything in the game to your current level. I personally feel it was a big mistake to keep this system as it adds confusion and you can easily end up under/overpowered.
Once you have beaten the game and the aforementioned end boss, there is a repeatable raid boss available and at least one "secret" boss that takes a bit of work to spawn. None of these bosses are much of a challenge and have been trivialized by certain item combinations *cough*Bee*cough*. Item drop rates are poor on most of the bosses and sub-bosses throughout the game and some can require literally hundreds of kills to get the items you are looking for.
For those that play well with others, co-op is back and Gamespy has been ditched in favor of Steamworks. Connecting to a game is easy, and the menu screen shows what quests people are on, how many in group, and what level they are. If you complete quests in someone else's game, when you return to single player you will have the option to skip the ones you did while in co-op (no quest rewards for skipping). There are no PvP arenas in BL2, but dueling is still an option with the added "ante" option so you can duel for an item from your inventories. If you prefer to play co-op, make sure you have a set group of friends to play with, otherwise you can find yourself stuck with no-one in your level range.
Technically BL2 has been sound for me with only one real CTD I can recall. You will encounter minor bugs throughout the game, and there are many areas where you can get stuck in the terrain, but for me it's been pretty solid so far. I have heard of others having lost save or badass points, along with connection and graphics issues, but haven't seen them first-hand.
In the end, Borderlands 2 feels like a giant expansion of the original game. Re-used art assets are everywhere, nearly all of the NPCs from the original make some kind of appearance, even the game is still DX9 Unreal engine. It just feels like more, but not new. I've noticed that people who weren't into the original game seem to enjoy BL2 so maybe I'm missing something, or just jaded in my old age. More of something can be a good thing, but in this case it falls short of great.
VERDICT:
Fan of the original? BUY
Casual shooter fan? BUY
Looking for a next-gen shooter? PASS
Like item farming for hundreds of hours? BUY
Don't like MMOs? PASS
On the fence? WAIT FOR GOTY EDITION
QUICK CUTS:
Mechromancer DLC (if you didn't pre-order BL2)
Contains new character class, nothing else. It's a fun and very different class/playstyle and worth checking out.
You love BL2? BUY
$10 a bit steep? WAIT FOR SALE
Captain Scarlett and her Pirates Booty DLC
More quests, zones, new vehicle, new item rarity, new currency, new raid boss(es). About 6-10 hours of gameplay.
You love BL2? BUY
$10 too steep? BUY SEASON PASS
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