*LTTP = Late To The Party

In between pirating, world warring, and ranting, I've silently been playing Borderlands 2 on my trusty PlayStation 3, courtesy of the PlayStation Plus service. I've held out on throwing out one of my “quick look” blogs because I wanted to make sure the game held up to the test of time. Can the heavily stylized first person shooter keep game play fresh throughout the journey?

The answer is YES!

It’s no surprise this game won numerous “Game of the Year” awards in 2012. The character design and the leveling experience rival some of the deepest role playing games I've ever played. But if you’re not into that kind of stuff, the combat and looting structure will make you feel like you’re always progressing. That doesn't even touch on some of the insane missions, game play mechanics, and overall feel of the game.

My adventure started with Salvatore, one of the four selectable Vault Hunters (there are additional characters via DLC, but I’m only discussing the original version of the game). Salvatore is a gunzerker, a class which allows him to dual wield weapons for a short time. In theory, this is amazingly awesome… but it didn't match my personal play style. In restarting the game with Axion, the Commando (who uses turrets to assist in combat), I realized just how deep the character selection was. Zer0, the assassin, and Maya, the Siren, all carry unique tools to battle as well. It really is four games in one.

Leveling is a fun and never seems like a chore. Experience points are gathered and spent on skill trees. Each character has three different trees to select from, including passive damage boosts to new, special abilities. I chose to stick to turret damage and deployment time, something I greatly benefited from later on. My turret even had rockets on it, which always helped clear out those rooms of elite enemies. Whatever it couldn't finish, I could.

A deeper dive on the traditional leveling system is your Badass rank. Badass points are gathered from completing assorted challenges throughout the game play. Kill 5 enemies with a MIRV, use the shotgun to kill 25 enemies, or melee 100 characters are just examples of the hundreds of challenges the game offers. Completing a challenge rewards you with a Badass point, which is an independent leveling system from your primary experience. These Badass levels increase overall statistics, such as reloading speed, accuracy, and explosive damage. Best of all, they carry across all of your characters. It’s what the Diablo III paragon system has morphed into, almost assuredly a direct copy of Borderlands 2’s idea.

Of course, the game never takes itself seriously, which is greatly appreciated, as indicated by the turn in dialogue on your first mission. “You just moved five feet and opened a locker. Later, when you’re killing skyscraper-sized monsters with a gun that shoots lightning, you’ll look back at this moment and be like ‘heh.’” Now if that isn't cool, I don’t know what is.

Along your journey, you’ll meet some pretty memorable characters. I don’t want to ruin the fun for any of those who haven’t played it yet (I mean, I can’t be the last one on Earth, can I?), but let me just say that you’ll find it extremely entertaining. My hats off to the team for their incredible work with each character, as the voice acting, character look, and character dialogue are about as quirky and off-color as you can imagine.

But not everything can be midget psychos, bonerfarts, or dook huts (treasure chests). I found in my play through that game difficulty spiked without warning, which did require some unnecessary grinding. Nothing spells buzzkill faster than one-shotting to getting one-shotted in less than fifty feet. I know this game thrives on teamwork and co-play, but for those of us solo players, the challenge can be a little too aggressive. In a complaint I carry over from the original Borderlands hasn't been fixed: the map. It’s practically useless for navigation, as most of the terrain changes aren't properly captured (akin to having a two story map transposed on itself).

These are forgivable offenses, but noticeable ones.

This game is the Saint’s Row to GTA before there was a Saint’s Row. It’s one of the original innovators of nonsense, and despite the silliness, it manages to somehow stay grounded in reality. Handsome Jack is by far one of the meanest (and funniest) villains I've encountered in a long time. His hand-picked league of assassins will thwart you at every turn, but thanks to the insane amount of weapons to be found, can all be dispatched fairly easily. I personally enjoyed the shotguns that were thrown as grenades when reloaded. Because, why not?

For those of you who have already gone through this game when it was released nearly 16 months ago, I think you’re better for it. For those who haven’t gotten to experience just how great of a value PlayStation Plus is, or are curious to try something that’s completely out of the norm, I highly recommend checking out this title. After all, they are still making DLC for it.

Why are you still reading this?

Go!

Go play it now!