Borderlands 2

[Dexter345]

I think it's absurd to think that BL2 is worse than BL1. Losing the gore was stupid, but making that into a big deal is also stupid. To say that Anthony did "nothing but regurgitate Internet memes" is a HUGE exaggeration. There is some of that. But to deny the existence of of an actual narrative with plot points and character motivation because of a handful of references seems silly.

The "love child of Borderlands 1 and Phantasy Star Online" comment I don't get, because I never played Phantasy Star Online, but I can't see anything bad about variety in the environments as seen in BL2 and especially when compared to the all-desert-all-the-time of BL1.

I loved Borderlands 1, but for me, Borderlands 2 is hugely improved in just about every way.

[Konnery]

Borderlands 1 is more or less a proof-of-concept game.

This is a game built on the success of that concept and improved. I really don't see how you can look at this game and say it's worse, in any way, than the first one. It controls better, the gunplay is highly improved, the character skills and the skill trees actually prove to be something of consequence now. The enemies are more varied in not only their design but how they behave. Seriously, leveling up a Goliath is a game in it's own. And this is all praise coming from someone who got shafted by a glitch that reset all his Badass rank and collectible skins/heads...and he had every single one of them.

Borderlands 1 devolved fast into a Crawmerax farm festival after all the DLC was released and really the only respite from the constant desert wasteland theme was Zombie Island.

Also saying this was PSO kinda made me lol.

[Solgrim]

Sure, technically the game is better. The problem is that all of those improvements mean nothing when the aesthetic of the franchise has been transformed into a game that worships popular culture to the point that it is literally the script. You can't say that despite that there is a narrative. The narrative that is there is middle school fan-fiction at best. The shit that Jack does is the most contrived, forced plot devices to "get you to hate him" I've seen in an antagonist in a long time. Pre-launch could they have beat it into our skulls anymore that that is what they were going for. Also, Jack opens up the game with a joke about a diamond pony. Can this "absurdity" be any more forced?

I had hopes that Anthony Burch understood the "tone" of the game as he said he did. He mentioned multiple times how Scooter was funny and stupid, but had a dark side to him. Pointing out how he killed a man just for sleeping with his mother. Now what is Scooter? He's no longer out for himself, he's now helping out the citizens of Sanctuary and doing goofy introduction dances. You can argue that they "have to team up because Handsome Jack" (let's think about how horrible that concept already is for a moment), but no, Scooter would have been sitting his lazy ass in a shop only caring about himself.

And then there is the bit where a SPOILERS certain character dies and you end up breaking the news to people like Scooter and Moxxi. Sorry, but they didn't give a shit about you in the first game. Moxxi had you fighting for your life as she sadistically threw more shit at you. Now she suddenly gives a shit? Now Scooter suddenly gives a shit? Let's baby this atmosphere a little more why don't we. Blands 1 had the brutal atmosphere of a western, and the desert locations helped in that. The environments vary so dramatically in Blands 2, that it just creates a disconnect from the world.

And I love how people love the mission where you assist the woman in killing the misogynist, yet a few of the stand out moments in that mission's dialog are literally (If I remember correctly) a fucking sandwich joke, and something along the lines of "Well, at least I'm not... a WOMAN!" Really original writing there. It's just more jokes and dialog that have been written a million times before by a million internet forum posters. I suppose you could argue that is what he was going for. Him being that awful internet person. Too bad the entire game's script follows suit.

And I love how he gets pretentious trying to make social commentary in a game like Borderlands with that quest, but then turns around and writes a character like Tiny Tina for his sister who does nothing but appropiate african american stereotypes while objectifying women at each turn. I love that she was best friends with Roland. Are we subtly implying she learned to speak like this from him? I also love how one of the vehicle skins says "Bikini Bitches" on it. Real progressive on the feminist front, Ant.

The internet references even seep into the main characters like Axton when he says shit like "Cool story, bro." Like, really? What fucking year is this? But people eat that shit up, so he injected it in every corner of that game. Brick, Patti, and Marcus were the only characters that were treated decently and weren't ruined. Sorry that I actually fell in love with the first game for what it offered aesthetically and character wise. I suppose all that matters to gamers though is getting together and getting "badass" loot. Who cares if the world you do it in is genuinely appealing. I suppose if you worship internet culture and love to feel "in on the joke" this game is right up your alley.

Personally, I couldn't laugh at a single joke since I've heard them all countless times the last 7 years.

[usedtabe]

I see where you're coming from as you enjoyed the first game in that fashion. To someone like me none of it really matters because the gameplay was my only reason to be in this game. I couldn't tell you the story my first playthrough because it was always in party chat with at least 2 other people so all dialogue was missed outside of bits and pieces.

Everyone hated the internet memes as far as I've heard. I don't know of anyone who thought those were a good idea. I giggled at Tina and some of the other dumb shit but I actually liked Jack and considered him the "good guy" of the story. But that's only after forcing myself to care about the story long enough to think about it. Otherwise my 70+ hours was just having fun shooting shit with friends. I know that mentality sucks for those like you who cared about the characters and narrative, but it's the nature of the beast for this style of game IMO.

As I get older I care less and less about videogame stories because most are just ass. I care about gameplay the most. The only time I find noticing the story is if they are really well done(The Darkness 1&2) or if they are just so bad it grates on me.

[Konnery]

I can kind of see what you mean, but as was the case in the first one, and probably even moreso in it, all the dialogue and quest related mumbo jumbo is just a means to an end. I didn't really even notice half these "meme" throws you have there. I mean, it's Borderlands and most of this I expected to be thrown in there ever since it the 2nd one was announced. Can't say I can sympathize with expecting respectable narrative and character development in a game largely about blowing shit up and getting more shit to blow other shit up with.

[Solgrim]

Yeah, and like I said, the game is actually good technically, and if you can enjoy it for that, awesome. Sadly I can't simply thanks to the gore alone being toned down. It just isn't as satisfying killing things as it was in the first one. As I get older, I have less tolerance for games that don't satisfy me in everyway possible.

[usedtabe]

That's kind of comical as that's how I started off when I got back into the hobby back in 2005. Now I'm glad to be able to dumb down my expectations and just have fun with what a game does do right. I'm able to enjoy more games that way for sure.


Now I can say this because I have the added luxury that I know there will always be my Fallout 3 and NV I can go to if I need to scratch my "everything" itch. Without those available I might have a different perspective.

[Konnery]

I definitely know what you mean. "Blowing shit up" is much more effective when shit actually blows up...into bits. Didn't they say they'd release a patch to ham up the gore in regions where they would be able to, or did that fall into limbo with all their other 'fixes'?

[usedtabe]

I remember the talk of a patch, but I don't know anything more. Hell, I haven't even played the second DLC yet. I do hope it gets patched as I miss the exploding bits too. It's not gamebreaking for me but it sure as shit is more satisfying watching those watermelons explode in your sniper scope.

[Solgrim]

I remember they said they'd perhaps look into doing something about it, I dunno. It would be a big thing to fix though, considering it was built from the ground up for Blands 1. I mean, killing Skags isn't even as gorey. Blands 2 has bodies that blow up, but the more intricate gore is gone. Dismemberments rarely ever happen, and when they do, and when the bodies blow up, it's way less bloody. In Blands 1, I remember being able to run up to a Bandit and slice with Mordey's sword and decapitate an enemy, and they'd just stand there before falling, with a fountain of blood pouring out of the neck cavity and spilling on their chest and everything else. The blood would literally fill the screen. Brick could get done with a wave of enemies and look back after berzerk and a field of body parts would be left behind.

Bits of body would literally fly 200 feet up into the sky from explosions or vehicle splatters. While the new physics are nice, it's way less satisfying to run an enemy over in Blands 2. Also, the blood curdling screams were dumbed down, and classic lines like "You never should've come here and now you're gonna pay!" and "Strip the flesh! Salt the wound!" and "More meat for meeee!" were just better acted and in Blands 2 the only one I can remember was "I'm gonna wear your face as a condom!" which is not really scary, just awkward and... bad. Bandits in Blands 1 didn't know or give a fuck to talk about 'condoms'. They were at their most primal and violent as proven in the above lines.

All of these things tied into making Blands 1's violence overall more satisfying. Which is the main reason I loved the game. Oh, and the elemental deaths were much more satisfying in Blands 1. They dumbed those down as well. I feel that these things tie into making the actual gameplay more satisfying. If I'm playing a game about killing, the aesthetics and everything need to go about making that as satisfying as possible. The new enemy variety is nice I guess, but things like Goliaths made the bandits less human, therefore making it less satisfying to dish out violence. It became more of a fun MMO thing that takes place in a variety of colorful locations (the PSO comparison).

[Konnery]

I remember the talk of a patch, but I don't know anything more. Hell, I haven't even played the second DLC yet. I do hope it gets patched as I miss the exploding bits too. It's not gamebreaking for me but it sure as shit is more satisfying watching those watermelons explode in your sniper scope.

I haven't touched it either. To a point I feel bad about it because I got the season pass, but at the same time the DLCs are still very singular experiences and there's no real support for the base game. IE: New vehicles only in new areas etc and I effing hated how they did the new bosses and their drops. At least throw us a bone and give some new boss drops for all the new bosses and not just have some crappy MMO style token farming that takes for-fucking-ever to even get a look at the weapons thanks to the cooldown. They took a "let's get some play time" out of this and totally turned it into "yeah, you won't wanna fight these guys more than the one time".

[usedtabe]

I'm waiting till a drought or they up the level cap before going back.

[ProlificDream]

This last DLC was pretty disappointing. It took 3 hours to finish and I still have one more side quest to complete, which is a god awful one. I really have kind of gotten disinterested in the game. The pirates booty took a while to beat, but otherwise these last two have been disappointing. Although, I do find the jokes to be quite humorous.

[ZombiePlatypus]

Huh, I completely forgot the third DLC was hitting this week. I still haven't touched the second piece of content.
GLAD I BOUGHT THE SEASON PASS!


I'm totally ruining the industry. #DGAF

[Edd Strid]

Think I got suckered into the Season Pass, having so much fun with everything they did for the original (apart from Underdome), I thought the season pass was a no-brainer.

Sadly it's rinse and repeat crap, a few chuckles but nothing has been as good as the main-game or the stuff done for DLC in the first game. The achievements are uninspired do X, go to X and complete the main mission every time. Oh but to make this a challenge, of sorts, one of them is going to be to defeat an invincible, one of those was sadly Master Gee, the grandest fuck up I've seen for some time.

[Konnery]

It's like...I really do love Borderlands 2 but there's just that little something that didn't quite make the translation from the main game to the downloadable content.

I still think the DLC areas should have been more organic where you get introduced to them from Sanctuary and have to actually go to them from the actual core game areas so they feel like more than "WARP HERE FOR NEW CONTENT". The separation of vehicles and events is kind of stupid, though I can appreciate the possible technical difficulties that kind of inclusion would have so who knows.

[JT Murphy]

I thought all the DLCs were fun in their own right, but none of them have been as striking as Zombie Island, or as jam-packed and relevant as General Knoxx. Hell, General Knoxx is the reason we have a Borderlands 2 at all.

I know they outsourced these three episodes to other companies, and it shows. I've had my fun, but now I'm hoping Gearbox takes the helm for DLC 4 and once again steps up with a worthy epilogue to the main game.

[Konnery]

I heard from a buddy (though it was no official link to anything from him) that Gbox is supposedly going to release more DLCs/another season pass once all these are done.

[falsenipple]

I heard from a buddy (though it was no official link to anything from him) that Gbox is supposedly going to release more DLCs/another season pass once all these are done.

They won't be seeing my money if that is the case. This DLC has been short and kind of worthless. Some of it is funny enough, but none of it adds any replay value or truly memorable experiences. I don't usually call out developers on things like this, but the last DLC was just plain ass.

[ProlificDream]

Huh, I completely forgot the third DLC was hitting this week. I still haven't touched the second piece of content.
GLAD I BOUGHT THE SEASON PASS!


I'm totally ruining the industry. #DGAF

Fail. You still haven't helped me beat Gears 3 on Insane.

I'm sure the next DLC will come out some late spring, as they were supposed to go until June. It will probably be a leveling up DLC. Maybe the achievements will be more creative than just "complete map, complete all side quests, complete story." Snooze.