Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3, MAC
Developer: Gearbox Software, 2K Australia
Publisher: 2K Games
Price: $59.99 – $69.99 On Steam and Other Retailers
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Perception Check is a video review series joining Non-Fiction Gaming, see more of Australian Casual Gamer’s videos on Youtube.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Review Transcript:
Borderlands: The pre-sequel is a nice addition to the franchise after the disappointing release of Borderlands Legends, the developers have really adopted the philosophy of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The game takes you, the vault hunter, to Pandora’s moon Elpis where you meet up with Handsome Jack before the events of the previous titles.
When first hearing that the game would be a prequel I was a little apprehensive and sceptical about how the game would keep the interest, knowing how the story progresses, but the writing team has done a great job in engaging the audience.
The foundation of the game is still very similar to the previous games; choose one vault hunter out of four characters and start your first person shooter role-playing game adventure. Making this game worth playing for people who have “done it all before” would have been the challenging part with the third release of a borderlands title but placing the story in outer space was quite genius.
Low gravity combat is extremely fun throughout this whole title and does not get overly repetitive at all; I feel as if this low gravity combat should be the selling point of the game along with the back story of known characters like Lilith, Roland and Handsome Jack… and I guess Claptrap.
The gameplay is almost identical to past borderlands titles. The plethora of guns and gun types has always made for a great experience. Getting phat loot always makes you play for that little bit longer than what you should have. When finding new guns you will spend a good 5 minutes adapting your new play style with the weapon. A new addition to the character load out is the Ozpack (or oxygen apparatus), the stats and different abilities gained from the new gear is very noticeable and plays a critical part in the strategy of your encounters.
With the added low gravity game play, you can be put in situations where platforming is necessary to complete the task at hand. I did not enjoy that too much, but it never hindered the overall enjoyment of the title. Using jumping platforms to reach long distances along with your double jump made for some spectacular views but overall did not enhance the experience of the title.
Borderlands: The pre-sequel is almost a direct clone of the previous games, it is always nice to get a new game in a franchise that you quite enjoy, but that soon wears off once innovation starts to slow down or completely stop. Borderlands has not quite it the point where new releases are not exciting, but in saying that, the next release needs to pack quite the punch to continue its success.
The graphics look as good as ever. With new character models and enemy types; it is fun to explore all the new additions to a great franchise and then fill it full of holes.
New environmental effects look quite detailed whether it be lava or frozen lakes of methane. The eye of Helios is ever looming in the sky of Elpis, and occasionally sending down a destructive laser beam which wipes out everything in its path; it looks fantastic to say the least.
Customizing your character model is still a function thought-out the game which adds some interesting additions to the vanity of your vault hunter or their vehicle. It is quite enjoyable to Matchmake with another person and check out how they look and show off your own epic vanity items.
The voice acting I would say has to be the weakest link of Borderlands: The pre-sequel. The main characters have nailed their scripts and style, but every other character just doesn’t seem to get it right.
I tended to squirm in my seat when I would head a bad Australian outback accent or old Australian lingo put into the script for the hell of it. It did not suit the theme of the game and overall made it quite difficult to listen to the dialogue that you could not skip.
Overall
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I can definitely recommend this game to anyone who likes the Borderlands franchise or even to people who just like to shoot stuff. Aside from the voice acting in some parts and the future inevitability of the franchise become stale, it is an awesome time to be had and you should pick this one up.
