On Oct. 2014, “Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel” was published by 2K Games and released for the PlayStation, Xbox and PC. Developed by Gearbox Software along with 2K Australia, the is both a role playing game and a first person shooter.
Chronologically set before the first and second Borderlands, the story begins with protagonist Handsome Jack, an evil character from Borderlands 2. He owns a factory named Hyperion that produces weapons and robots. Alongside with Jack is his team of new Vault Hunters who are four new playable characters. There is Wilhelm the Enforcer who is a Hyperion engineer and was a boss in Borderlands 2. Next is Nisha the Sheriff who kills bandits. She was recognized by Jack and became a part of his vault hunters. Athena the Gladiator, an armored character with plenty of resistance is also a part of Jack’s vault hunters. Lastly there is Claptrap the Fragtrap, a robot that was manufactured in Hyperion who is also a vault hunters.
Unlike most first-person shooter games, “Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel” allows the player to customize characters like an RPG. It has a rich story line. Players are able to customize characters like an RPG, filling out niches depending on character choice.
Multiple players can cooperate on a single console or online together.
Changes in mechanics since Borderlands 2 can be seen when the player is in the level Helios, the moon base of Borderlands that takes place in space. The player’s character will float around in zero gravity with a jetpack to maneuver.
Comparing the new game to its predecessors, the plot unfolds similarly. Though much of the artwork has been updated, the newer version consists of similar cartoon-like artwork, with comic book graphics included. While new characters are a fun addition, the few new weapons are not revolutionarily different from previous renditions.
After beating “Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel” the first time, players are able to play the storyline all over again but on a harder mode. The game loses some of its replay value in the second playthrough though. Once the player completes all of the quests during the storyline, the game does not offer any new rewards during replay.
The Player vs. Player functions in the game isn’t too great because there isn’t a wide range of activities that players can do together. Friends are able to play through the storyline together. Another function is running up to the other player and hitting them with your character’s melee ability to begin a duel of who can shoot the other player’s health out first.
The online capabilities for the pre-sequel include finding others to go through the storyline. Players can find new guns, trade weapons, blowing up space creatures and other enemies up. What’s not to love?
I found Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel to be a great game. However, it had a much shorter story line compared to Borderlands 2, which I consider to be one of the best games of its era, and so would rank it lower than its predecessor.