Borderlands 2, a first look through Jay?s eyes

[Jay?]

So, i've had it preordered for a good long while, and have just now decided to spend enough time out of the game to tell people what it's like.

I'm going to start with what they fixed from the first game, because some of it is quite nice.

The most noticeable thing if you're playing on your PC is going to be the ease of which multiplayer is set up. I'm no multiplayer hound, but when i saw a friend of mine playing just a few levels earlier on a quest i neglected, i went for it. I dropped straight into his game and we played. Fast, simple, easy. Everything that it should be.

If you don't play multiplayer, though, you'll probably be more excited that the vehicles have been touched up a bit. Not so much that you'll need to relearn how to drive them, but they react a bit more realistically now, and don't send nearly as much time floating off into the distance, or douing 800 degree flips after running over a pebble. They feel like they actually have some weight behind them now. That combined with the new e-break they have makes sliding possible, if a bit challenging at first.

Finally, a smaller personal gripe that's been repaired. The rocket launchers are MUCH more powerful, such that they feel like what they're supposed to be: Heavy, limited ammo weapons, useful for fighting large enemies, or enemies clumped into groups. Anything else is a waste.

Unfortunately, it isn't all good news.

One of the biggest draws of the original Borderlands was the guns. Don't misunderstand, they're still procedurally generated and there are still more than a billion different combinations, but most of them don't feel like guns anymore. Each manufacturer has a gimmick, but most of the guns fall into one visual category, either Made of plywood and rust or Star Trek convention reject material.

They often behave nonsensically as well. Bandit guns take half an hour to reload and have poor accuracy, making them useless unless they're of the incredibly rare variety, whereas some guns can't be reloaded, and must instead be thrown as if they were grenades, except that they do almost no damage when you do that. Still others gain accuracy as you fire, as if they have some kind of bizarre reverse-recoil.

As you play through the game, you'll eventually find guns you like, just like before and you'll notice the oddness of the rest of the guns less and less, which makes it less of a deal breaker, but i just can't help wanting the old Jacobs and Vladof guns back.

There ARE however a lot of things that are the same though. The writing still ranges from "disturbing" to "mildly offensive" to "genius" which for the most part, is pretty good. A couple characters have new voice actors (the worst and most noticeable replacement is Scooters. Catch a ride will never be as entertaining as it used to be).

The skill tree however, seem more well thought out, with multiple play styles being viable options. The end result is that even with the DLC class a month or more away, borderlands 2 already feels like it has more playable characters than the original.

The only other big difference that comes to mind is the metagame. In the original, the challenges only existed for the purpose of giving bonus experience, which, lets face it, wasn't really necessary. However, in borderlands 2, they serve as a way to earn tokens that you can use to upgrade your whole account. Each token gives you an option to raise one of five stats. Literally any stat available to your base character is a possibility. These bonuses are applied to every character you make, past present or future, which is a very nice addition.

Thanks for reading my huge wall of text.

[Jorcer]

I just wanted to say thanks for this Jay?. I have been considering getting the game (I loved the first) and this seems like a well thought-out and intelligent post that will go a ways in helping me decide

EDIT: Also thought I should mention that there are apparently a slew of Minecraft "cameos" (thatsssssss a nicsssssse game you have there) and such.

http://www.fpsgeneral.com/news/borderlands-2/21675-check-out-this-awesome-borderlands-2-easter-egg

[freakachu]

the guns from BL1 were pretty much the same way a lot of the time, looks wise. I actually like that the manufacturers have really notable and obvious distinctions now, it kinda makes you get a weird kind of "brand loyalty" sometimes, which is pretty cool to me. the E-tech guns are where it's at though. I used one of my golden keys on accident (why is there no confirmation!?!) and got an SMG that shoots crazy bouncing fireballs everywhere.

to me, they basically took BL1 and just improved everything by a lot and gave it a new campaign. that's actually all I ever wanted in the first place, which is great. the multiplayer actually working is also a huge plus.

[PotatoChief117]

I hate being in the U.K sometimes still waiting for Borderlands 2 out tomorrow over here got it Pre-Download already just wanna play lol

[Ordeth]

One of the biggest draws of the original Borderlands was the guns. Don't misunderstand, they're still procedurally generated and there are still more than a billion different combinations, but most of them don't feel like guns anymore. Each manufacturer has a gimmick, but most of the guns fall into one visual category, either Made of plywood and rust or Star Trek convention reject material.

They often behave nonsensically as well. Bandit guns take half an hour to reload and have poor accuracy, making them useless unless they're of the incredibly rare variety, whereas some guns can't be reloaded, and must instead be thrown as if they were grenades, except that they do almost no damage when you do that. Still others gain accuracy as you fire, as if they have some kind of bizarre reverse-recoil.

I was thinking this exact thing. The guns just don't feel right in this game. They're not as, I guess, awe-inspiring? They look absolutely ridiculous.

I also felt like having all guns of each manufacturer have the same trait (Tediore guns being thrown like grenades when reloaded) makes the traits less desirable and far less special. I feel like those traits should be sometimes things. Special oddities.

Another thing on the guns is that I really dislike how nearly half of the guns I've found consume more than one bullet per shot, with most consuming three or even four. That should have been reserved for things with ridiculous stats, high elemental chances, or special attacks like rockets instead of bullets or grenades instead of bullets.

[Jay?]

the guns from BL1 were pretty much the same way a lot of the time, looks wise. I actually like that the manufacturers have really notable and obvious distinctions now, it kinda makes you get a weird kind of "brand loyalty" sometimes, which is pretty cool to me. the E-tech guns are where it's at though. I used one of my golden keys on accident (why is there no confirmation!?!) and got an SMG that shoots crazy bouncing fireballs everywhere.

In the original, it was just rocket launchers, eridian guns, and occasionally repeaters that looked like wacky space guns. All the rifles and smgs and whatnot looked generally like guns. I just don't think that was a bad thing.

Another thing on the guns is that I really dislike how nearly half of the guns I've found consume more than one bullet per shot, with most consuming three or even four. That should have been reserved for things with ridiculous stats, high elemental chances, or special attacks like rockets instead of bullets or grenades instead of bullets.

That tapers off a lot by the time you hit level 20 or so. Also, you can use eridium to buy SDUs, rather than waiting for marcus to decide to sell them, meaning that if all you use is SMGs, you can spend all your eridium on ammo upgrades for them, instead of having to wait till the end of the game to max them out.

[Mageleon3860]

Thank you jay? me and brother was gonna buy 1 for each but we wanted to see/hear anything good/bad about it and my or my bros mates don't have this game.

i don't really minds if stuff is same but...

i've seen some gameplay looks alot bbettterr ^.^

[elmarko98]

I hate being fourteen....

[Mageleon3860]

I hate being fourteen....

im only 16 but im allowed 18+ rated games

[elmarko98]

My mum's different all my friends are allowed 18+ games i'm only allowed 15 and 16s :(

[Jorcer]

Has anyone found any of the minecraft easter eggs yet?

[Mageleon3860]

Has anyone found any of the minecraft easter eggs yet?

didn't know there was any..

Explain?

[Jorcer]

I just wanted to say thanks for this Jay?. I have been considering getting the game (I loved the first) and this seems like a well thought-out and intelligent post that will go a ways in helping me decide

EDIT: Also thought I should mention that there are apparently a slew of Minecraft "cameos" (thatsssssss a nicsssssse game you have there) and such.

http://www.fpsgeneral.com/news/borderlands-2/21675-check-out-this-awesome-borderlands-2-easter-egg

From my earlier post (Click the link)

[Ordeth]

That tapers off a lot by the time you hit level 20 or so. Also, you can use eridium to buy SDUs, rather than waiting for marcus to decide to sell them, meaning that if all you use is SMGs, you can spend all your eridium on ammo upgrades for them, instead of having to wait till the end of the game to max them out.

It tapers off? As in, guns stop consuming ammo like me at a buffet? That's weird; You'd think that at higher levels it would be consuming more ammo because the guns are better, but not at lower levels because the guns aren't superawesomeamazing.

Also, I've been buying SDUs, but that doesn't really help when you get two or three shots per clip and then have to reload for 4-8 seconds. I wasn't even aware that Marcus sold SDUs, I thought you could only buy them from Earl.

[Ashzification]

Has anyone found any of the minecraft easter eggs yet?

My husband found a creeper. That's about it so far.

I especially like this from that link: This is an excellent nod of respect to Mojang and Minecraft in general. A tip of the hat to Gearbox for putting this together!

And just for some entertaining reads (since I myself have not played yet, though I have been watching my husband play)

http://borderlands.wikia.com/wiki/Borderlands_2_Easter_Eggs

[Jay?]

It tapers off? As in, guns stop consuming ammo like me at a buffet? That's weird; You'd think that at higher levels it would be consuming more ammo because the guns are better, but not at lower levels because the guns aren't superawesomeamazing.

Also, I've been buying SDUs, but that doesn't really help when you get two or three shots per clip and then have to reload for 4-8 seconds. I wasn't even aware that Marcus sold SDUs, I thought you could only buy them from Earl.

Marcus sold them in the first game, but he would refuse to sell the next tier until you had gotten to an arbitrarily chosen piece of the plot.

[Ordeth]

Marcus sold them in the first game, but he would refuse to sell the next tier until you had gotten to an arbitrarily chosen piece of the plot.

I meant that I wasn't aware that Marcus sold SDUs in the second game.

Also, has anyone noticed a steadly-increasing FPS lag? When I start playing I'm fine, but after about forty-fifty minutes later I start getting near-unplayable lag.

[Jay?]

I meant that I wasn't aware that Marcus sold SDUs in the second game.

Also, has anyone noticed a steadly-increasing FPS lag? When I start playing I'm fine, but after about forty-fifty minutes later I start getting near-unplayable lag.

He doesn't. Not really sure how you got that impression...

[Ordeth]

He doesn't. Not really sure how you got that impression...

rather than waiting for marcus to decide to sell them

I guess I misunderstood that. I understand now that you were referencing the first game.

Now I feel stupid. Wonderful.

[Jorcer]

Hey Jay? have you found the Minecraft easter egg?

Also just thought I should mention that I bought the game partially based on this review.

[Jay?]

I Now have a couple more things to add.

Grenades and shields are amazing now. It's no longer a matter of "is it stronger? pick it up." Multiple effects are present on each grenade. Homing Mirvs are ridiculous, as are any kind of singularity grenades. Shields can do things like amplify your next shot when you have full shields, or give you bonus melee damage when your shields are down.

Melee has also been made much more effective than it was before. The game seems to be overall much more balanced.

Another thing the game has now is real difficulty. Soloing one of the circle of slaughter quests is painfully difficult with some builds. Enemy diversity is also much improved, and many of them even have special gameplay mechanics that you can use to your advantage, or if you aren't paying attention, kill you out of nowhere. (fuck me, i hate Lab Rats)

Another area that diversity has improved a lot is in the NPCs. There are at least 15 or so dialogue strings that happen when you talk to nameless characters wandering about. Compared to the first borderlands that had about 5 different lines of dialogue for unimportant characters, none of which amounted to anything more than "you seen my gun?" .

[Jay?]

I Now have a couple more things to add.

Grenades and shields are amazing now. It's no longer a matter of "is it stronger? pick it up." Multiple effects are present on each grenade. Homing Mirvs are ridiculous, as are any kind of singularity grenades. Shields can do things like amplify your next shot when you have full shields, or give you bonus melee damage when your shields are down.

Melee has also been made much more effective than it was before. The game seems to be overall much more balanced.

Another thing the game has now is real difficulty. Soloing one of the circle of slaughter quests is painfully difficult with some builds. Enemy diversity is also much improved, and many of them even have special gameplay mechanics that you can use to your advantage, or if you aren't paying attention, kill you out of nowhere. (fuck me, i hate Lab Rats)

Another area that diversity has improved a lot is in the NPCs. There are at least 15 or so dialogue strings that happen when you talk to nameless characters wandering about. Compared to the first borderlands that had about 5 different lines of dialogue for unimportant characters, none of which amounted to anything more than "you seen my gun?" .

Hey Jay? have you found the Minecraft easter egg?

Also just thought I should mention that I bought the game partially based on this review.

I've seen it. Wasn't super impressed, but hey.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. See above details.

[Jay?]

I Now have a couple more things to add.

Grenades and shields are amazing now. It's no longer a matter of "is it stronger? pick it up." Multiple effects are present on each grenade. Homing Mirvs are ridiculous, as are any kind of singularity grenades. Shields can do things like amplify your next shot when you have full shields, or give you bonus melee damage when your shields are down.

Melee has also been made much more effective than it was before. The game seems to be overall much more balanced.

Another thing the game has now is real difficulty. Soloing one of the circle of slaughter quests is painfully difficult with some builds. Enemy diversity is also much improved, and many of them even have special gameplay mechanics that you can use to your advantage, or if you aren't paying attention, kill you out of nowhere. (fuck me, i hate Lab Rats)

Another area that diversity has improved a lot is in the NPCs. There are at least 15 or so dialogue strings that happen when you talk to nameless characters wandering about. Compared to the first borderlands that had about 5 different lines of dialogue for unimportant characters, none of which amounted to anything more than "you seen my gun?" .

Hey Jay? have you found the Minecraft easter egg?

Also just thought I should mention that I bought the game partially based on this review.

I've seen it. Wasn't super impressed, but hey.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. See above details.

[Jorcer]

I liked it just for the fact that they included their own little homage to Minecraft. Also the creepers were just as scary as they are in minecraft.

I'm about 15 hours in and loving it, consider this a thumbs up from me :)