Pandora's most lovable warlord, Handsome Jack, is no more after Borderlands 2 so someone has to invent a new storyline. Enter the Pre-Sequel.
To cut to the chase, all you need to know is that the whole game happens on the moon of Elpis, which brings us to the evolution of the entire gameplay. Here you have zero gravity and no air, so for air-breathers, you are pretty fucked when you don't have a canister of oxygen on hand.
Fortunately, there are plenty to be had in the form of enemies. Picking one up is as easy as killing them. Well, that said, you gotta kill quite a number of them to shore up your oxygen supplies.
Now, the characters aren't new. All of them featured in this game were Non-Playable in previous Borderlands titles. Athena, Nisha, Wilhelm and, Clap Trap the Fragtrap (no it doesn't kill only gay enemies). This time round you play the role of the bad guys, who aid Handsome Jack in his quest to control Pandora...well on the way to control is as he's nothing but a lowly programmer working for Hyperion.
How do you kill?
Each character has a special ability and for Athena, she has a shield which can absorb damage and used as a killer frisbee. Nisha is by far, the least gifted as she is just a sheriff with a taste for hunting (reminds me of Zero in BL2 with a totally useless talent). Wilhem has the ability to summon drones, Wolf and Saint. Now Wolf attacks enemies while Saint heals and protects. Lastly, you have Clap Trap. If you ever choose this character from the beginning to play with, the game will ask you "Are you sure?"...TWICE just to deter you from taking it on and there is good reason. Claptrap is the best and most powerful character in the Borderland universe. Its ability range from not having to worry about breathing oxygen (fuck yea...I am a robot) and can summon various subroutines to deal damage to enemies like having a missile turret back you up in a firefight to a Doppelganger Victoria Secrets model of himself with fiery wings that flies against and damages enemies. It can also go into a 'berserker' mode where you do combat arm to arm with a sickle.
Gameplay
No gravity and no oxygen. Those are the two biggest changes to the game. Aside from that, everything is the same. You get the same open world concept of play, and the game story is like a puzzle where you complete each mission to reveal more of what is ahead of you.
Along the way, the game is spruced up with a wicked sense of humor. Entertaining nonetheless and a huge distraction when you make your way around Elpis (which rhymes with Elvis...the inspiration for Brick from BL1....geddit?)
Is it fun? Well only if you play with a pal. Most of the missions require you to kill someone or get something. Playing alone will take time and it is far more difficult to do this alone. What's more, you start off with only two weapons on hand and you have to get points to increase the number of weapons you can have at your immediate disposal. Weapons classes are the same, you have pistols, assualt rifles, sniper rifles and sub-machine gun so those familiar with this have no problems selecting what works best for you.
What are you In for?
Those of you who hated Borderlands previously will not like this one bit. This FPS shooter isn't linear. It's not COD or Halo. It's not about going from point A to point B but rather exploring the terrain to find your mix of missions. The gameplay remans one of the most unique and there is no reason to doubt that 2K Australia could not have pulled this off.
Story scripting is nothing sort of remarkable, and the whole game will keep you playing for hours on end.
Of course there are the same annoying aspects of the game such as having the same enemies pop up whenever you re-enter an area which you had previously cleared. This deja-vu gaming is probably the most distracting but you have to remember that every single enemy you kill is rewarded through points and once you get enough of it, the skill-tree opens up many upgrades.
Co-op play is best. I can't think of a better way to take on this game as some of the missions are very difficult to complete alone. There are no levels of difficulty to choose from as everyone starts off as a neophyte with puny weapons and a immature skill tree. Working your way up to the point where you have access to better weapons is probably the only goal you have in your cross hairs as you take on the big bosses in later missions.
Borderlands is a great game. It might not be the billion dollar hit of COD but as an FPS, it deserves a place in the top 3.
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