Borderlands 2 Announced

[Rob Williams]

The moment all Borderlands fans have been waiting for has arrived - and out-of-the-blue. It's been rumored that Gearbox originally wanted to announce Borderlands 2 later this month, but due to a couple of leaks, its hands were forced, and fans of the series couldn't be happier. In conjunction with an official announcement, Gearbox has also launched an official site for the game, although it's currently media-deprived as we'd expect.

Read the rest of our post and then discuss it here!

 

[marfig]

Well, I'm hoping the weapon random generator isn't so generic it hardly matters, as was the case with the first game. It was up to certain unique weapons to fill the void of what was mostly a rather unexciting weapon generation system.

 

[Rob Williams]

I might add to this list later, as more things come to mind.

What I'd Like to See

Weapons that can be augmented with an element, rather than include an element from a get-go. This would allow you to find a killer weapon and then apply an element that -you- want, rather than be forced to use whichever one it comes with, if it comes with one at all. Once an element is applied to a weapon, it should be a permanent choice.

Separate packs! No, this isn't an MMO, or a true RPG, but one of the reasons I never carried multiple weapons around is that I am a loot fiend and end up getting all my loot mixed in with permanent weapons in my collection. I've on occasion ended up selling a weapon I actually meant to retain.

The ability to hold more than 4 weapons at a time, or taking things a step further, have dedicated keys for -types- of weapons (eg: hit '2' to choose sniper rifle, and then your mouse wheel to scroll all the sniper rifles you have equipped). This would allow you to equip many weapons and always have what you need close at hand. This would save the tedium of pushing Tab to go swap weapons and thus wouldn't cover up your entire screen.

More stuff to purchase! What good is a billion dollars when the machines never actually sell anything useful? Make money WORTH something.

More vehicles! The vehicles in the original were a ton of fun to drive and use, but with all of the DLC, save for Knoxx, vehicles weren't available at all. Kind of depressing.

T.K. Baha resurrected! And more Scooter!

I'd love to see the game launch with a high level cap from the get-go, and also include the option for a second playthrough.

What I Don't Want

Any sort of linearity. What made the original so amazing is that it almost felt like an MMO in that there rarely felt like you were being forced down one path. Rather, you could take things in stride, do side-quests or just explore, and get around to progressing the main story whenever you felt like it.

 

[Optix]

Moar Steve (HEYO!) and more Scooter (Hotdog down a skagg den, know what I'm saying?).

It's gonna be sweet!

I'll come up with an actual list of when I have some time.

 

[Greg King]

I've just recently started playing Borderlands and LOVE it. As excited as I am about the second game, I am still having a love affair with this one and all it has to offer. Maybe I can time it so I get the first one and a bit of the DLC done before 2 arrives.

Love me some Borderlands.

 

[marfig]

More stuff to purchase! What good is a billion dollars when the machines never actually sell anything useful? Make money WORTH something.

What do you mean here, Rob? More different types of items, or making items at machines more interesting to purchase?

The thing I felt about Borderlands item collection was that -- no doubt due by the FPS aspect of the game -- it was too limited. As such those machines were pretty much useless indeed, except for the powerups. But I couldn't see many ways this could be improved, to be honest.

T.K. Baha resurrected! And more Scooter!

I'm not generally a fan of comebacks. I'd for once like to see a sequel that didn't bring back old characters (who in fact rarely become better than what we remembered them), but a sequel that instead introduces different and equally unforgettable characters.

That said, Borderlands NPCs were mostly part of the background. I'd like to see something new here. More and different interactions between my character and NPCs that doesn't involve only quest giving. If they did that I'd be all over the idea of re-introducing Scooter especially.

I'd love to see the game launch with a high level cap from the get-go, and also include the option for a second playthrough.

Speaking of which, I'd like the game to be playable after finished.

Moar Steve (HEYO!)

Echo 2 is one of the funniest ones of the game. "Oh, my angel..."

Some General Knoxx echos were also very funny. Can't remember each ones exactly. But I would laugh to bits at some of his self-inflicting maniac-depressive rants.

Maybe I can time it so I get the first one and a bit of the DLC done before 2 arrives.

You probably won't. It's so great you won't want to do anything else until you finish it.

Speaking of the DLCs, Borderlands is that rare game where the DLCs are worth every penny. The robot revolution dlc was, in my opinion, the weakest of them all. But still a whole lot of fun.

 

[Optix]

Echo 2 is one of the funniest ones of the game. "Oh, my angel..."

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/516843

My favorite clip is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLD8cGi3Wwg

 

[TheCrimsonStar]

AJSDLBAICBAWBID YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!

 

[marfig]

AJSDLBAICBAWBID YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!

Yes. But what does that mean?

 

[Kayden]

Yes. But what does that mean?

I don't think you want to be doing his laundry in the near future.


I was so glad to hear about this. I was hoping they would stop the DLC and go to a new game, glad to see that hope realized.

 

[TheCrimsonStar]

I don't think you want to be doing his laundry in the near future.

ROFL!!

 

[Optix]

Looks like forum activity will grind to a halt since just about all of the regulars are looking forward to this.

 

[marfig]

Looks like forum activity will grind to a halt since just about all of the regulars are looking forward to this.

Well, I'm also antecipating the upcoming Hard Reset.

FPS in a Blade Runner world? Sold! Polish developers? Sold!

 

[Rob Williams]

What do you mean here, Rob? More different types of items, or making items at machines more interesting to purchase?

Alright, I might catch a bit of flack for this but...

There are a couple of things. Weapon add-ons is one example, such as being able to purchase items to increase the fire rate, power, reload speed, et cetera. These can stack with innate character abilities no problem... it'd just be a way to have actual customization where weapons are concerned, as there were no customization options are -all- in the original.

How about character abilities? Imagine each character having three inventory slots that can be filled with special items that can be purchased from these machines that act as potions/edibles to enable time-limited abilities. Only three could be carried, and not all the machines would sell the exact same "power-ups", if you will.

Faster run speed for 60 seconds, faster fire rate for 20 seconds, more power for 15 seconds, ultimate defense for 10 seconds, et cetera. These could be bound to hotkeys so that you will have easy access to them for when times get tough.

In my opinion, the original Borderlands was not that difficult of a game, save for some bosses. Adding the ability to allow people to carry various powerups could provide an entirely new strategy mechanic to the game.

While not as important, what about being able to purchase customizations for your character? In BL1, all the characters look the same. Brick looks like Brick, no matter who plays him. It'd be neat to change their physical appearance or add accessories. You can change your colors in the original, but that doesn't exactly make you look that different.

I'm not generally a fan of comebacks. I'd for once like to see a sequel that didn't bring back old characters (who in fact rarely become better than what we remembered them), but a sequel that instead introduces different and equally unforgettable characters.

That's fair, I can understand that I just love them if done right. I feel like there is enough room to have continuing characters across a series of games while still unveiling some new ones.

That said, Borderlands NPCs were mostly part of the background.

I dunno. The characters to me, with their quips, made a lot of the game for me. "It's gonna be SWEET!" and "Oh and also, she's my mom", from Scooter were great lines. "Ya ever think about settling down? We could use someone like you around here." So many quotables in this game, it's insane. That, or I am just an unusual BL player (could be).

Looks like forum activity will grind to a halt since just about all of the regulars are looking forward to this.

That's why we gotta hope they introduce 10-way co-op ;-)

 

[marfig]

Alright, I might catch a bit of flack for this but...

Well I kind of agreed with everything you said about that. It's going to bring a few more RPG elements into borderlands. But I think would be well worth it. Another thing that crossed my mind was vehicle parts/accessories and making vehicles a more integral part of the character development (like leveling our own vehicle).

 

[Kougar]

I can't wait, Borderlands 2 is definitely on my to-buy list unless I hear otherwise.

I gotta agree with all the points you make, Rob. Usually I'd pick one small portion out that I'd disagree with, but this time I can agree with your entire post.

The character commentary always got me to pay attention or the odd laugh. The NPCs could've been better, but they were still better than the average game. I also really, really hated that they killed T.K. Baha... especially after the bit about his wife. I wanted some retribution!

I also can't agree more regarding the weapons... while I loved the sheer number of variants... there were only a few select guns for any specific weapons class that anyone would ever use. I was always a sniper + assault rifle guy, but I couldn't pick a character that had natural abilities for both. I would always have to decide if I wanted character bonuses for one or the other only, but I'd typically still carry around both. So anything Rob suggested I'd be happier with... I'd like to customize my own weapons to suit how I use them. I'd rather have a few well-placed, high damage shots than a banana clip upgrade, single-shot only limitation, inaccuracy, or the wrong elemental upgrade. Except maybe the S&S Orion sniper rifle, I loved the lightning splitting ricochets. Don't aim at the head, just shoot the ground and zap the entire squad.

It would be tough to do, but it would be possible to make the game so it could be replayed continually... after a few runs the player will already have the weapons they want, so just increase the damage, health, and intelligence of the NPCs and let them replay the game at a matching higher difficulty. Limiting the game mechanics to two runs was better than no replays at all... but it could have been configured for more. That'd let it tie in pretty well to future DLC packs, too, unlike the current system where the DLC packs completely change the underlying ranking / upgrading structure and don't mesh smoothly.