It'd be easy to look upon Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and see nothing but a cheap cash in on the popularity and sale success of Borderlands 2, however doing so would be somewhat of an injustice. Don't get me wrong, the Pre-Sequel is very much a Borderlands game through and through, with a few new additions and variables thrown in to make just enough difference to tell the two games apart. It feels as if this latest Borderlands adventure has been created with the Borderland fan in mind, telling a story that fills in the Universe in much greater detail and tells the backstory of certain characters that call this crazy place home.

Set on Pandora's moon of Elpis, the Pre-Sequel is set between the events of the original Borderlands and its sequel, detailing many of the events that led to Handsome Jack's rise to power. Playing as one of the four new vault hunters, you'll travel a variety of interesting new locations doing the usual shooting, stabbing, looting and now, butt-slamming. Yes, you heard me right… butt-slamming. This new method of offense is only achievable thanks to Elpis's unique gravity (or lack there of) and the added ability to jump and glide with the help of boosters makes traversal both a breeze and a pleasure, once you get the hang of it that is. Butt-slamming might actually be one of the most satisfying new additions to the Pre-Sequel. So whilst you might not find yourself doing anything radically new, what's on offer is a good 25+ hours of fun, funny and action packed content featuring many, many guns.

Speaking of guns, one of the Pre-Sequels other new additions come in the form of laser weapons, these vary from your laser beam variety to your more traditional Star Wars-like laser shot. They're a welcomed new addition to providing more variety to your arsenal, not to mention the universally known fact that lasers are cool. As you might expect, these laser weapons and the o2 cannisters used to survive on Elpis and butt-slam your way to victory can all be upgraded with better and more varied versions found upon your travels. They don't drastically change how the Pre-Sequel plays, but they to help differentiate the two games.

The four new vault hunters all feature an interesting mix of gameplay styles and while they're not all as interesting as those found in Borderlands 2, they still feel varied enough. Fragtrap, the Claptrap vault hunter features arguably the most bizarre set of skills (as you might imagine) including his ultimate skill which consists of a random selection of existing vault hunter skills. So one moment you can be using the gunzerkers dual weapon ability and the next you'll throw out an Axton influenced mini claptrap turret. The fact that you never know what you'll get next makes Fragtrap one of the more interest vault hunters to play. There's Nisha the Lawbringer, whose skill will generally increase weapon damage, Wilhelm the enforcer who can summon two feisty drones by his side to tackle difficult combat situations and Athena the Gladiator who features a Captain America-like shield to both absorb damage and use as a projectile weapon in combat. A smaller but welcomed new addition is the ability to actually hear your character responding to characters and events happening around them, it helps sell the characters that bit more.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel isn't short on content with the inclusion of the True Vault Hunter mode unlocked once you complete your first playthrough of the game so you can assured knowing that this is more than just an expansion filler until the folks at Gearbox unveil what's next in the Borderlands franchise. Anyone who enjoyed the humour and Universe of Borderlands will feel right at home here and I found myself giggling on a number of occasions. It's also nice to see 2K Australia's own unique Australian sense of humour pop out of the covers every now and then. That said, if you were turned off by Borderlands often easy and rash humour than this won't be changing your opinion anytime soon. Like I said previously, it feels as if the Pre-Sequel was designed with existing fans in mind, those wanting to know more about the universe they've come to enjoy so much. It accomplishes this by sticking with the familiar whilst also adding a new feature or two.

It can't hurt that the Pre-Sequel is based off one of the most enjoyable loot driven shooters in recent years and those looking for more Borderlands will find themselves right at home. 2K Australia haven't looked to change a successful formula, but instead decided to help fill in the greater happenings of the universe in which it is based, in this they've done a perfectly fine job. Those looking for anything radically new will be disappointed, but simply looking for more chests to loot, bandits to shoot in the face and enemies to butt-slam will find themselves more than happy with what Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel as to offer.