First Impressions of a Great Game
In my last post, I reviewed a review done by a completely incompetent reviewer of Borderlands 2. And now *drum roll* it's time for my own review of my first impressions of Borderlands 2. I've spent about 5 hours playing the game so I cannot say that this will be a comprehensive review of the entire game. It's just my feelings on the first few hours that I have had the opportunity to play through in Borderlands 2. Here goes:
Initial review of Borderlands 2: Easily a 10/10. It was exactly what I expected and more when compared to its predecessor.
Let me explain why:
- Humor: The game had me laughing within the first minute of starting a new game. It paid homage to the original Borderlands with a skag (dog-like creature) making it's way across a desert. The skag then gets almost run over by a bandit rover and pulled behind the rover with a chain attached to its leg. After the midget bandit pulls a few ridiculous stunts, the rover is then destroyed by a train in which the vault hunters are riding on. For those who have played the original Borderlands, this makes sense and is quite funny. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, here's a link to the original Borderland's opening sequence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOTLrV_9t4Q, and for the Borderlands 2 opening sequence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-ldjgFHFII. Enjoy. Now I tend to have a darker sense of humor than others, so for me, both of those openings are hilarious. If you don't find them funny, that's your business.
As the character progresses into the storyline and through some of the smaller side-quests, the humor just becomes more and more prevalent. For those familiar with the Borderlands series, the ever-present robot, Claptrap, is back and even better in this game. I won't ruin the opening of the story completely, but let's just say that you get your HUD from Claptrap who "totally didn't take it off a dead vault hunter." And the humor just keeps going and going. Handsome Jack refers to someones' face as "Looking like they got into a fight with a belt sander" and during a side mission, some of the enemies get renamed "bonerfarts" and "bonertoots." I admit my sense of humor may be a bit juvenile at times, but that is just comedy gold.
- Graphics: A definite step up from the original game. The landscapes are beautifully rendered and the backgrounds of the game provide some lush scenery. It sometimes does take a few seconds for the renderings to load, but overall, I have not experienced any lag or frustration that comes with the graphical processes. The beautifully detailed and stylized art of Borderlands 2 is what brought me back to the series. With it's updated graphics and sharper lines, I have nothing to complain about. The colours this time around are also more vibrant and provide a broader palette which is a definite increase over the drab brown palette of the original.
- Gameplay: Overall a definite step up from the original Borderlands. Enemy AI is vastly improved over the original game (although the original Borderland's enemy AI was quite advanced). Enemies duck, dodge, roll, jump, and dash in this new installment of the game. And when their health gets low or certain parts of their bodies are injured, the enemies even crawl away from the player. It's amusing to run over a bullymong (a large gorilla like creature with four arms) and watch it crawl away with two of its arms.
As for the character classes, Gearbox has outodone themselves. Rather than having four separate characters (soon to be 5 with the Mechromancer DLC) Borderlands 2 is capable of having twelve different characters what with the different skill trees that each character can take. As Zer0 the assasin, I can choose a sniping path, a close-combat path, or a weapon-damage path. Each path has it's own perks and is tailored to a certain type of playstyle. Each character has three different branches on their skill tree and as stated earlier, each one plays to a different playstyle. I look forward to spending countless hours playing through at least once with each character (including the DLC character).
When it comes to missions and side quests, the writers in Gearbox have completely outdone themselves. Each character that you receive a mission from is voiced and has their own set of dialogue. The characters are as varied and wacky as ever, and I have enjoyed my time getting to know Sir Hammerlock (Gentleman. Hunter. Scholar.). As you delve further into the side missions, you get a better look at the different character's personalities and have some laughs along the way.
- Final Decision; I know that I stated above that I give Borderlands 2 a 10/10, but there's my reasoning for it. If you are on the fence about getting Borderlands 2, I have but one thing to say to you: Go get it! It is one of the crowning achievements of this console generation.
Why are you still reading this? Go get the game! You will certainly "joy puke" your face off.
Still reading? You really have no life do you?
Initial review of Borderlands 2: Easily a 10/10. It was exactly what I expected and more when compared to its predecessor.
Let me explain why:
- Humor: The game had me laughing within the first minute of starting a new game. It paid homage to the original Borderlands with a skag (dog-like creature) making it's way across a desert. The skag then gets almost run over by a bandit rover and pulled behind the rover with a chain attached to its leg. After the midget bandit pulls a few ridiculous stunts, the rover is then destroyed by a train in which the vault hunters are riding on. For those who have played the original Borderlands, this makes sense and is quite funny. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, here's a link to the original Borderland's opening sequence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOTLrV_9t4Q, and for the Borderlands 2 opening sequence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-ldjgFHFII. Enjoy. Now I tend to have a darker sense of humor than others, so for me, both of those openings are hilarious. If you don't find them funny, that's your business.
As the character progresses into the storyline and through some of the smaller side-quests, the humor just becomes more and more prevalent. For those familiar with the Borderlands series, the ever-present robot, Claptrap, is back and even better in this game. I won't ruin the opening of the story completely, but let's just say that you get your HUD from Claptrap who "totally didn't take it off a dead vault hunter." And the humor just keeps going and going. Handsome Jack refers to someones' face as "Looking like they got into a fight with a belt sander" and during a side mission, some of the enemies get renamed "bonerfarts" and "bonertoots." I admit my sense of humor may be a bit juvenile at times, but that is just comedy gold.
- Graphics: A definite step up from the original game. The landscapes are beautifully rendered and the backgrounds of the game provide some lush scenery. It sometimes does take a few seconds for the renderings to load, but overall, I have not experienced any lag or frustration that comes with the graphical processes. The beautifully detailed and stylized art of Borderlands 2 is what brought me back to the series. With it's updated graphics and sharper lines, I have nothing to complain about. The colours this time around are also more vibrant and provide a broader palette which is a definite increase over the drab brown palette of the original.
- Gameplay: Overall a definite step up from the original Borderlands. Enemy AI is vastly improved over the original game (although the original Borderland's enemy AI was quite advanced). Enemies duck, dodge, roll, jump, and dash in this new installment of the game. And when their health gets low or certain parts of their bodies are injured, the enemies even crawl away from the player. It's amusing to run over a bullymong (a large gorilla like creature with four arms) and watch it crawl away with two of its arms.
As for the character classes, Gearbox has outodone themselves. Rather than having four separate characters (soon to be 5 with the Mechromancer DLC) Borderlands 2 is capable of having twelve different characters what with the different skill trees that each character can take. As Zer0 the assasin, I can choose a sniping path, a close-combat path, or a weapon-damage path. Each path has it's own perks and is tailored to a certain type of playstyle. Each character has three different branches on their skill tree and as stated earlier, each one plays to a different playstyle. I look forward to spending countless hours playing through at least once with each character (including the DLC character).
When it comes to missions and side quests, the writers in Gearbox have completely outdone themselves. Each character that you receive a mission from is voiced and has their own set of dialogue. The characters are as varied and wacky as ever, and I have enjoyed my time getting to know Sir Hammerlock (Gentleman. Hunter. Scholar.). As you delve further into the side missions, you get a better look at the different character's personalities and have some laughs along the way.
- Final Decision; I know that I stated above that I give Borderlands 2 a 10/10, but there's my reasoning for it. If you are on the fence about getting Borderlands 2, I have but one thing to say to you: Go get it! It is one of the crowning achievements of this console generation.
Why are you still reading this? Go get the game! You will certainly "joy puke" your face off.
Still reading? You really have no life do you?
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