Borderlands 2
Improvements: I could tell a difference in the quality of the game just by looking at the menu options. They included tool-tips, character details, and a colorblind mode. They allowed you to censor gore. They elaborated the trait trees to 6 tiers (from 4) and added kill strike abilities. You can climb ladders (at least I don't think you could do that in the first one). You can actually move around a little when you are about to die. You can accept a more variety of quests other than the basic five quests that were repeated within each area of the original game. Speaking of areas, it isn't just one big giant desert. You'll see areas from frozen waste-lands to thralling tundra as you peruse the zones on your new global map!
Although the setting is very much like the first game, the story is way better. NPCs actually converse with you! The way they included the playable classes from Borderlands and had them fight alongside you is spectacular. Jack owns Hyperium. Lilith returns with more Siren abilities since Eridium spawned. You get to see Crazy Earl's face (sort of). Tannis is back, as usual. Word about General Knoxx from The Armory DLC spreads as Moxiim now watches a club. Completing achievements on any character will increase your passive stats over all of them (even if it is just by a little). Completing milestones can reward you new cosmetics. Vending machines can also offer new color schemes and some decent items on occasion, contrary to the first Borderlands game. The new currency, eredium, allows you to upgrade maximum ammo and inventory slots.
Problems: However, a primary reason I didn't finish the game as quick as I hoped was because I felt exhausted after an hour or two of gameplay. The story and humor was pretty solid, but I felt like the game was distracting me with a lot of unnecessary obstacles. How many times did I find the perfect weapon only to throw it away after a couple of levels? What about all those unique boss fights that reward me a special chest with not one single blue item? Sometimes I just stopped paying attention to the 9 different ranks (3 of which were added in DLC content) and tried to compare damage output only. Honestly, there have been times an uncommon weapon performed better than an epic one at the same level.
Maybe I had another reason for my distaste of the game? My reaction to enemies wasn't any different to the rest of the game. So it might have been how one enemy would suddenly deal ten times more damage (instantly killing me) and be able to take ten times more hits as well. I'm not just talking about bosses either. On occasion it had to do with the rock-paper-scissors elemental status played between my weapon and their armor type. Or it could be that I couldn't accept certain side-quests for a region until I completed the main story for that area. This would force me to run through a mob of respawns I fought off just an hour beforehand. Too bad containers didn't reset, ammo didn't disappear, doors stayed open, and cars remained where you left them. Or perhaps it was the fact I had to take on five vehicles, generally two at a time, before they would stop coming after me. The number of times I teleported in a vehicle and tried to change the color after-the-fact was too numerous to count. I think there were a couple times I died by a random enemy while trying to look at the color schemes.
Bugs: There were also a ton of little things that were never fixed from the first game. People still had a tendency to talk over each other. Too much action on the field would make me miss out on what the character was saying. Only one objective could be shown on the minimap at a time. The next objective that appears on the screen after finishing one doesn't seem to follow any sort of priority even when there were some objectives within the same zone. Voice volume was noticeably different within certain areas. Radio was pretty nonexistent in the world and while driving. Escorting NPCs was still terrible. It is still possible to get stuck when exploring hidden areas. Then there was that one time I got lost in Frostburn Canyon and another time I had to reset the game for "Mighty Morphin' Problems" quest. Enemy levels can be vastly overpowered (sometimes +7) to the quest level offered.
Playthrough: Borderlands 2 takes the classes from the original and turns them upside down, each with their own viable and unique trait trees. There are a total of 6 classes, 5 of which I personally tried. I played the entire main campaign in 30 hours with Gaige, the Mechromancer. I found her to be the most vocal and interesting to play with "Anarchy" subverting the way you reload and fire your gun. DT, her robot friend, only seemed to be overpowered because his damage output would level up as much as you did. Then came the question on where to go from here? So I decided to attempt the first DLC Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty. I'm not sure if it is because I was level 32 or it was set at True Vault Hunter Mode, but the game got drastically harder! I tried a buff build and a shield/robot hybrid build but after checking out this guide I realized I needed to target a pure-SMG build that focuses on firing out bullets as fast as you can. There was also a rumor that setting the game to offline mode would somehow make the game easier too. Still not sure if it's true. The Oasis in the 1st DLC dealt with a lot more "mature" themes and added more "cursed" weapons. The mechromancer's Bullet Buccaneer outfit was fabulous and the Sandskiff was a welcome vehicle change. Even though the enemies are deadlier (especially the Anchorman) and there is a lot of running around (I might have broken my 'W' key), the final boss fight made the 9 hours worth it!
Next I attempted Zero, the Assassin, in Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage as the 2nd DLC Campaign Pack. Sadly it wasn't very good. The setting was too similar to the first game and the new "Torgue" currency system didn't help matters when I finished the content in 5 hours. To make matters worse, you have to fight bosses in vehicles without actually using one yourself. Did I mention that the final boss reflects bullets, doesn't seem to have a critical hit location, resistant to all status elements, and fires nukes that can instantly kill you --- on normal mode? It doesn't help when your class is entirely dependent on those things with a motto of "don't hurt me" on his mask. I think the Assassin is the one class that is entirely dependent on your skill. Not only does he not have very many damage reduction abilities or healing capabilities, but his traits are entirely focused on you receiving a critical hit with your sniper rifle or chaining melee strikes through multiple targets in a matter of seconds. Not one I recommend if your goal is just to have fun.
I visited the 3rd DLC Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt with Maya, the Siren. The "fan boat" was fun to ride around in and the enemies were both interesting and challenging to fight. For the 6 hours I played, the whole thing is really hard to describe. I can't exactly pinpoint one thing about the experience because the whole thing was rather interesting from the weapons, to the bosses, to the marsh-like environment. Even the Siren was neat because the trait trees let you decide between survivability, healing (useful in teams), or damage. In fact, I highly suggest grabbing a Chaos build since a single bullet or ability strike can devastate everything in sight.
5 Headhunters: My next goal was to finish all of the Headhunter DLC Packs. Each one takes roughly 30-60minutes and is generally themed to some sort of holiday. T.K. Baha's Bloody Harvest was fast-paced with nothing standing out, The Horrible Hunger of the Ravenous Wattle Gobbler was somewhat difficult with a hilarious 20-minute story from Grandma Flexington, and How Marcus Saved Mercenary Day was pretty easy with a very snow-globe style town, an intriguing boss fight, and one crazy singer. However, the 4th and 5th Headhunter Packs stand out over the others since they also include additional voice acting from the player. Mad Moxxi and the Wedding Day Massacre combines St. Patrick's Day and Valentines in a series of crazy schemes with funny dialogue involving Moxxi and her family. Then you have the most excellent Headhunter Pack: Sire Hammerlock vs. the Son of Crawmerax. Not only do you get tons of callbacks to the first Borderlands game with characters reprising their roles but you have an awesome exploration on the beach and below! And I guarantee your class will say something hilarious. Did I mention that there are no transitions, it is all one big map? If it wasn't for the next two campaign DLCs, I would have ended my playthrough right here. It is just too bad that Salvador, the Gunzerker, wasn't as fun to play as I hoped. There is plenty of flexibility in his trait trees but a lot of his success depends on what two weapons work well with each other when using his ability.
Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep, the 4th Campaign Pack, was glorious. The entire setting is based on Tina's board game. There are so many jokes and surprises that I can't even begin to describe it all. Pretty much every character from the core game is in here. Skeletons will fall apart, armor included, and chase after their head if it falls off. The weapons are awesome. There are also grenades that simulate fireballs and lightning strikes. There is a gun that shoots swords. And I don't know about you but that mimic scared me to death the first time I encountered one. Playing as Axton, the Commando, was actually a pretty decent choice. Like the Mechromancer, Axton's damage seems to be entirely based on his girl... turrent... ability. His Survival Tree was fine for awhile until I grew bored of hiding behind things. Instead I took a fast-firing approach. Not only can you toss your missile-load turrent into combat first with this build but (in time) the explosive Torgue weapons would benefit from both grenades and explosive buffs. I played 8 awesome hours.
Then it was time for the 5th DLC Campaign Pack: Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary. You would think I would choose Krieg, the Psycho, as my character. You would be wrong. The entire persona of the character is a little too... gross for my tastes. So I decided to toy around with the Siren again. Besides, the Siren has some of the coolest cosmetics. There is a new environmental hazard, infection, that you have to contend with. In some regards, the DLC reminded me a lot of Halo in some ways with the Flood. Despite getting multiple Effervescent (aka Rainbow) items and two legendary class mods, I couldn't use them. My legendary weapons were actually more effective in battle. They threw in so much stuff from the other games and DLC packs - Sandworms from Captain Scarlett, Spores from Sir Hammerlock, a use of the mysterious amulet from Tiny Tina's Assault, Tina's opinions on cookies from Mr. Torgue's Campaign, etc. It took me a total of 8 hours to finish. At this point I didn't think there was a reason to worry about any of the exclusive endgame raid bosses that were totally setup to instantly kill a member intermittently, especially when this DLC locks one behind 20 Eredium. Though, the music is still awesome. I didn't mention the other packs because Natural Selection Annex was an arena addition to the main campaign at level 25 and Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack is a glorified monster spawner arena meant for endgame raids. Both not even worth a mention.
Rating: Although it is possible to complete all the achievements and receive a rank of 24,578... I only tolerated to get up to 9,531. And don't get me started with trying to work through normal mode (1-30), TVHM (31-50), UVHM (50-72), Overpower Levels (73-83) and however the DLC packs add to them on top of that. One playthrough is enough for me. When it comes to the DLC content: Rough - HH1, HH2, HH3, C2; Average - HH4, C1, C3, C5; Great - HH5, C4. Total Time: 70 hours.
Summary: Building from the original foundation, the developers have succeeded in modernizing and streamlining a first-person shooter in an extravagant world with interesting characters and a top-notch villain. Despite minor complaints in the UI, AI, quest design, and bloated levels, the world continues to surprise you and is actually doable solo with any class. The humor and basic premise of the game might turn a few people off but will continue to be a memorable game for the rest of us.
10-1-2019