A great return to a great concept, Borderlands 2 keeps the momentum going strong.
The story of Borderlands 2 continues from the first. Set after the events of the first game, Handsome Jack, of the Hyperion Corporation has come to cleanse Pandora of 'evil' and bring order to the junkyard planet. Your task as an intrepid Vault hunter is to stop him of course. The original cast of Vault hunters also make a return as the story unfolds, and they have personalities and voices of their own to boot.
Although still entertaining, the story in Borderlands 2 alike the first is primarily a means to an end. The first Borderlands saw you opening a vault to find treasure, the second asks you to do the same to save Pandora. There really isn't much else to it. You probably won't find yourself caring about the welfare of the planet during your time with the game. Where Borderlands 2 shines becomes obvious as you meet the various characters inhabiting Pandora. You'll meet many faces in Pandora, each with their own story to tell you. Half the characters you meet are ready to be sent to an asylum, the other may half have recently broken out. That is where the genius of Borderlands 2 lies, the game is a parody of itself.
Missions are plentiful and you can expect more of the unique approaches to simple missions that you found in the original. Collecting booze for drunkards and fetching pizza are but some of the stranger tasks you'll face in the game. Borderlands 2 thankfully avoids repetition, although you are travelling from point A to B most of the time to collect/kill C, the intricacies of each of these quests keep you plugging away for hours on end.
The core of Borderlands 2 is obviously in the looting. There are more guns that you'll ever need and the main appeal of the game still stays true to finding the best ones out there and wreaking havoc. There is also the return of shields and class mods all with different effects along with some new grenade modifications just to keep things fresh. The weapons themselves are much more varied this time too, not just in how they work but also appearance. The weapons in Borderlands 2 are almost their own characters each with unique traits and some wacky designs.
The world of Pandora has also changed. No longer just a wasteland of bandits, Pandora has many new locales for you to explore. From snowy mountains to wildlife sanctuaries Pandora has some great places for you to visit. The various new areas are a welcome change and the differences between them go a long way to keeping the game feeling fresh.
Enemies in Pandora have also had some work; there are still Psychos and Bandits shouting nonsense at you as you fill them with lead. But new areas bring new life and with it new foes looking to kill you. Some new enemies come in the form of ape like creatures how climb around hurling terrain at you; some are more tactile in their approach and can even go invisible. It takes clever use of all that weaponry you've been looting to take them down and the right weapon makes the job a lot easier.
There is a problem with Borderlands 2 though, one that kept cropping up. The enemies after a while become annoyances. Whilst exploring Pandora's great scenery the first time in a playthrough you'll find the planet's foes are challenging to engage. The next time you visit that area though, you are more than likely to be too advanced to find that same challenge you originally faced. This means that the once great gunplay and tactics boil down to either shooting them with anything for little experience, or simply running past them and ignoring them. This takes so much from what makes Borderlands 2 a game that you want to keep playing. When a game relies on the acquisition of weaponry, making it almost pointless to use is certainly not what you want to do. It would seem enemies that levelled with the player would be the cure here.
Borderlands 2 also has another problem. It is expected of you to finish the game at least twice to get the maximum out of the experience, yet the first two thirds of the campaign comparatively to the last is a complete game changer. Your first experiences in Pandora aren't bad by far, yet the game picks up so much by the latter stages that it trumps its own design. You won't want to start again after what you've been through. Many points in the game are great when experienced first time round, but the second time just wouldn't be the same.
Those who do want to adventure into the second playthrough for the best the games incredible loot collection has to offer certainly won't be getting a bad experience. Yet more could have been done to make that second playthrough something to aspire to rather than just getting greater weaponry.
Borderlands 2 has some truly great characters moments and is a worthy sequel to the 2009 game. Whether it has doubled the games original fun is certainly something to debate about. The world is enjoyable to be in and the moment to moment gameplay is strong. The deciding factor comes down to longevity. Fans of the original game will know that sometimes the grind is a necessary evil to obtain the greatest the game has to offer, yet after all the changes and effort made Borderlands 2 still seems to lack drive after you have beaten the game once.
If you are looking for a Borderlands experience then this is certainly going to fill the void, it keeps very true to the original premise and the changes that are made are solid ones. These changes may not be enough to recommend it to those who disliked the first game, but they certainly give you a good reason to recommend it to those unaware of Pandora and all her glory. Even if you only play through the game once you'll still spend hours and hours laughing, shooting and looting. Borderlands 2 is a great game that takes a great concept and makes small but crucial steps to making it better.