There’s an entire genre of games that essentially set out to appeal to the magpie in all of us. I’m talking about the games that get us hooked to the siren song of that never ending cycle — get loot, go hunting for better loot, get better loot, keep hunting for more. Diablo deserves a mention here as my personal introduction to this wheel of addiction, but Borderlands 2 took that formula to new heights.
The original Borderlands wore its heart on its sleeve with its formula of loot + RPG + FPS = profit, but the lack of any other motivation and the ponderous middle-game bogged me down and prevented me from getting fully invested, as it were. With Borderlands 2, though, they took that formula and basically fixed almost everything that was wrong with it. If you never played the first game, well, you were basically looking for a fabled Vault of some sort; Borderlands relied heavily on its gameplay rather than on thematic justification.
Borderlands 2, on the other hand, has much more of a story, with characters and twists and more! The original Vault Hunters play important roles in this one — and, bonus, each one of them will do more speaking within five minutes of you meeting them than they did in all of Borderlands. Whereas Pandora in Borderlands was basically just the background of a succession of awesome loot-bearing chests, Borderlands 2 gets you more invested in the world it drops you into. I found myself actually caring about the people of Pandora and what would become of them, which is miles removed from my earlier experience.
Borderlands was plagued by annoying side quests, where ‘side’ basically meant ‘fetch’. The side quests are possibly my favourite improvement in Borderlands 2, with quite a few of them being hilarious sidetracks that are legitimately chuckle-worthy. Side quests are just a way to give you more incentive to go exploring, but you’ll have a lot more fun along the way.
Not that you need much more incentive, because Pandora is absolutely gorgeous. No longer will you slog your way through a succession of areas, each looking much like the previous one — oh, the places you’ll go in Borderlands 2! Gearbox breaks out the variety, so prepare to do battle across icy mountains, rivers of lava, swampy caverns, military installations and a whole lot more. Sure, it may not be on the cutting edge graphics-wise, but the style is wholly distinctive (and what wouldn’t most shooters give to have that said about them?) and adds even more character to a game that has no shortage of it.
Here’s the most important part — play this game with some friends. Borderlands 2 is meant to be played in multiplayer, it just makes so much sense. There’s so much potential for co-op hijinks, you’ll kick yourself if you miss out on this! (Take it from someone who went through half the campaign solo.)
I’ve spent far too many nights/early mornings scavenging furiously in Borderlands 2, driven on by the all-consuming need for just one more purple weapon or another shotgun that fires rockets. This is a gloriously addictive world, filled with brilliant touches — like the smug voice of the Hyperion respawn machines (she actually said ‘cha-ching!’ this one time), or the gloriously funny character intros (POP goes the bandit!), or the TMNT/Batman/Minecraft/Lion King-referencing Easter Eggs. Round up some friends and give Borderlands 2 a shot — you won’t regret it.
(Arjun is a gamer, book loverand an all-round renaissance man)