Quick Look: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

I am not totally opposed to more Borderlands, but I don't think I want more right now. Maybe when it's cheaper.

Still haven't played Borderlands 2, I'll do that one first if I want a Borderlands fix.

I don't really know why that would be a problem when the voice actress is a brown girl with a white father. Her and her brother make those HAWP internet videos (which I actually don't find funny apart from a handful of episodes). So it's not exactly a secret who she is or what she's like.

I thought it was a pretty good character. The voice acting certainly wasn't phoned in. Borderlands isn't really about deep character portrayals so it makes sense for them to have exuberant personalities. A lot like Clap-Trap, it's just really high energy immaturity. None of it was in poor taste. It didn't feel overly try-hardy like PewDiePie (Whom I absolutely cannot stand). People complain that it used "internet humour" but then I guess I have to ask what internet humour is exactly and why it's bad comedy.

@larmer: I don't get the racism thing either and it's certainly not an opinion I share in. But then again, the internet being the internet, it has a proclivity for sounding-off on issues without all the facts at hand. I'm sure that wont change any time soon. It's all just opinion ultimately, it just happens to be opinion that's completely uneducated and therefore lacks any real weight, and by extension, merit.

On the subject of internet humour, I don't think memes are a bad thing in and of themselves (with some exceptions that are just plain malicious or hurtful). In fact, I've seen a lot of memes over the years that have provided some honest to goodness belly laughs, stuff that has stuck with me for a long time.

The problem I have with them however, is how they're typically re-appropriated in other mediums in the laziest fashion possible. They don't go through any kind of creative pass, they're just slapped in there as-is, as if to say 'Hey remember when this was funny? Well, we're repeating it. That means we're funny too, right?' to which I would answer 'No, no you're not."

If they turned the joke on it's head and did something unexpected, then I could get behind it. Unfortunately the only real issue there is that the consumers of said joke may completely miss it. That would be unfortunate, but is a reality of using what is effectively obscure source material in the first place.

So weird. Gerstmann and I couldn't be more different in our feelings for BL 1 & 2. BL 1 was mediocre and BL 2 was great.

@paulyrepass444: What the hell dude....

After playing Pre-Sequel I cannot go back to Borderlands 2, the new movement additions are fantastic. The extra speed and aircontrol granted by the doublejump changes the combat in so many ways. Being able to jump around to get into and out of melee range, or just buttslam with ice to get some breathing room etc makes the game a lot more dynamic. The latter part of the game on the space station is really annoying because they remove the floatyness of the moon so you do not get as much height or distance with your jumps.

I think this game is great. After hours of grinding in Destiny the loot drops in Borderlands the Pre-Sequel feel like a breath of fresh air. The O2 doesn't matter for survivability and is only there for limiting traversal. The writing is similar, but better than in BL2 (which I also liked). I'm not as keen on the vehicles. Having to make some of those vehicle jumps exactly right or fall to your death is really annoying. Also, the race to beat the annoying little kid's lap time made me super angry and I loath that character. Other than that race mission, it has been quite fun. Some of the mission areas are absolutely huge as well. The mission that Jeff started in this quick look is insanely long and takes some actual time investment.

Overall I think this is a slightly better than BL2 game which is to say it is leaps better than BL1. But I like Clap-Trap and Tiny Tina, so maybe I'm a monster. Or maybe I'm not as cynical in the things that I like. IDK. Opinions.

I don't think I've ever disagreed with the giantbomb staff on something as much as in this, oh well its no big deal.

It would be great if people who haven't even played the game would stop commenting on how bad they think the oxygen system is though.

I'd probably get this if it was on XB1.

I can easily see the O2 sensor on this game to be just a skill/super meter where it just uses extra oxygen to run it but it doesn't kill you after a certain amount of time. In Dead Space it was a good mechanic as it was limited use & helped with the tension, here it just looks like even more reasons not to play it with things like this being contrary to the fun the game should be delivering.

Looks like the same old game to me.

I forced myself to play though the first one just incise there was something in it that i liked but no not at all. I guess for some people they will love this game good on them just not the game for me.

After watching this I sorta want to play this game.

When it is on sale.

Streuth! I might have to pick up this game.

I don't get the criticisms Jeff has of this game. The O2 management is totally a non-issue, as you're constantly getting oxygen refills everywhere, and the penalty for running out is so low. The low-gravity and verticality are fun and add a neat dynamic to the combat.

The hate on BL's humor is fucking old, too. It never leaned heavily on the meme stuff in the slightest. Everything about BL is so inoffensively silly, Tiny Tina included. Not every joke lands, obviously, and sometimes it can even be somewhat annoying, but I love how generally lighthearted the BL universe is while still maintaining real lore and self-seriousness. And Handsome Jack was, dare I say, one of the best and most defined villains I've seen in a game.

That said, even though I bought this game, I feel like $60 is a lot to ask for a previous gen game that offers a very similar experience to BL2, with a few more options. I bought it because Destiny was such a disappointment and I wanted a good loot game without having to replay either previous Borderlands. It's a good time to be sure, but you basically know everything you're getting from the start. I really wish this came to the new consoles. I have a feeling it will at some point.

@onekillwonder_: That just begs the question of what is the purpose of the O2 system, if it's trivialized and non-punishing.

That bit about the Claptrap and the high fiving was hilarious. I want to play this now solely for that purpose, and because I get to play as a claptrap of course.