BORDERLANDS 2

Borderlands 2
Developer(s)	Gearbox Software
Publisher(s)	2K Games
Director(s)	Mikey Neumann
Producer(s)	Randy Pitchford
Writer(s)	Anthony Burch Mikey Neumann
Composer(s)	Cris Velasco Sascha Dikiciyan Jesper Kyd Raison Varner
Engine	Unreal Engine 3 (heavily modified)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
Release date(s)	NA September 18, 2012 EU September 21, 2012
Genre(s)	First-person shooter, action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	9.1
Media/distribution	Optical disc, download

Borderlands 2 is a space western first-person shooter/action role-playing video game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games. It is the sequel to 2009's Borderlands and was released for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms.

Gameplay

Borderlands 2 builds upon the gameplay elements introduced in its predecessor. It is a first-person shooter that includes character-building elements found in role-playing games, leading Gearbox to call the game a "role-playing shooter." At the start of the game, players select one of four new characters, each with a unique special skill and with proficiencies with certain weapons. From then on, players take on quests assigned through non-player characters or from bounty boards, each typically rewarding the player with experience points, money, and sometimes a reward item. Players earn experience by killing foes and completing in-game challenges (such as getting a certain number of kills using a specific type of weapon). As they gain levels from experience growth, players can then allocate skill points into a skill tree that features three distinct specializations of the base character.
Returning gameplay features from the first game will include the 3-branch skill trees, class-mods, and four-player online cooperative modes. New features include a more expansive and customizable weapons system, reworked four-seat drift-able vehicles and vehicle physics elements, and dynamic mission systems. For example, taking too much time to save a friend in a mission may result in their death and the failure of the mission, which will affect the story as the player progresses. Technically, the game world will be all connected, rather than loadable levels for each region, allowing accurate viewing of the entire world from a given point rather than the first game's premade "Skybox."
In addition, the artifical intelligence (AI) system has been reworked for the game. Non-enemies will populate the game world more often and will travel around different locations depending on the time. According to Gearbox VP Steve Gibson, enemy AI will encourage teamwork, such as flanking, as well as taking cover when wounded, though lower level enemies like Psychos will still embrace the mentality of, "Wow that's a gun! I want my face in front of it!".

 Shooting enemies will stun or cripple them depending on where they are shot. For a change, enemies will be intelligent enough to climb and traverse difficult terrain to pursue the player. Enemies will also be able to interact with each other. For example, certain enemies can heal their teammates, boost their shields for defense, or use them as shields to protect themselves.

Synopsis

Setting

Five years have passed since the events of Borderlands, when vault hunters exposed the secrets of the Eridian Vault. A man called Handsome Jack has taken credit for the vault hunters' actions and claimed the wealth of the Vault, allowing him to take over the Hyperion Corporation and effectively gain dominion over Pandora. Promising to clean the lawless planet up, Handsome Jack embarks on a campaign to exterminate Pandora's existing colonist population and industrialize the planet. The main symbol of Handsome Jack's rule is a massive supply base built in the shape of an "H" on Pandora's moon. The base is always visible, and can deploy Hyperion forces to any point on Pandora.

Plot

Borderlands 2 begins with the player fighting to the death to win a priceless cache of loot in a gladiatorial tournament run by Handsome Jack for his personal amusement. The player succeeds and gains notoriety, but Handsome Jack sees this as a threat to his popularity with the people. At the tournament's end he denies the reward and leaves the player for dead in a tundra. The mysterious Guardian Angel from the first game then contacts the player and explains that Handsome Jack must be killed, directing the player to rescue the four original vault hunters from Hyperion's clutches to accomplish this. Although Jack's full intentions are unknown, part of his plan involves finding an ancient evil named "The Warrior" that is located somewhere on Pandora.

Characters

There are four new playable characters in the game.
The first new character is a gunzerker named Salvador, who resembles Brick from the first game in abilities, but also can dual-wield any combination of guns.
The second character, a siren named Maya, has an ability called Phaselock which suspends enemies in midair and resembles Llilth from the first in abilities.
The third character, Axton, is a commando character who relies on turrets to decimate his enemies and resembles Roland in abilities.
The final character, Zer0, is an assassin capable of creating a decoy of himself and becoming invisible for a short time. At the end of this process, he is then able to unleash a critical hit on an enemy with his sword or gun. He is skilled with snipers and pistols, and is similar to Mordecai, one of the playable characters from the original Borderlands.
The four player characters from the first game, Roland, Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai, all return in the form of NPCs that the new characters will encounter on Pandora, or in various missions. Non-playable characters like Guardian Angel and Claptrap return to aid the player during quests. In addition to Axton, Zer0, Maya and Salvador a fifth playable character was revealed at PAX East by Gearbox referred to as the "Mechromancer." The character, who is named Gaige, a red-headed cyborg that can summon a D374-TP ("Deathtrap" - a hulking, floating machine made of scrap parts), is currently in concept stage and Randy Pitchford stated that they would begin to work on her some time after the main game is completed "in a couple months." She will be released on October 16 and will be free to those who preordered the game from certain retailers, granting them access to the Premiere Club.

Development

Following the unexpected success of the first Borderlands, which sold between three to four-and-a-half million copies since release, creative director Mike Neumann stated that there was a chance of a Borderlands 2 being created, adding that the decision "seems like a no-brainer." On August 2, 2011, the game was officially confirmed and titled as Borderlands 2, with Anthony Burch announced as the writer the next day. The first look at the game was shown at Gamescom 2011, and an extensive preview was included in the September edition of Game Informer magazine, with Borderlands 2 being the cover story. Like the first game, Borderlands 2 was developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games, running on a heavily modified version of Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3. The game was released on September 18, 2012 in North America and is scheduled to be released on September 21, 2012 internationally.
Gearbox revealed that they would be honoring a late fan of the game, cancer victim Michael John Mamaril, with the addition of an NPC named after Michael in the sequel. Additionally, Gearbox posted a eulogy to Mamaril in the voice of the game character, Claptrap.
Controversy regarding sexism hit a month before the game's scheduled release after Gearbox designer John Hemingway referred to a skill tree owned by the downloadable content character the Mechromancer as a "girlfriend skill tree". "This is, I love Borderlands and I want to share it with someone, but they suck at first-person shooters. Can we make a skill tree that actually allows them to understand the game and to play the game?" Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford was quick to react on Twitter, saying "There is no universe where Hemingway is a sexist. All the women at Gearbox would beat his and anyone else's ass."

Video