Borderlands Sequel Overhauls Major Features

Sitting in a room at PAX awaiting the start of the presentation 2K and Gearbox had prepared for the next Borderlands title, I actually was prepared to be underwhelmed.  I loved Borderlands, but shooter sequels rarely shine past their predecessors.  A company simply cannot afford to significantly change or improve a successful brand without alienating their exisitng customer base.  So when 2Ks rep explained that the new game would be a true sequel in that major improvements would be introduced, I was still skeptical.  Read my impressions of the upcoming game after the jump. 

The first thing she said was that they scrapped the old weapon collection system.  This might not be entirely true, but they did throw out all of the old weapons and manufacturers.  The newly introduced weapon makes each have their own distinct design with the intent of making each brand recongnizable by sight.  Several of the types had simple attributes, such as fast rate of fire, but one in particular had the most interesting flavor.  It was dubbed the "Wal-Mart" of weapon manufacturers.  It had a cheap look and when a clip was emptied the entire weapon was tossed away and could be thrown at enemies to stun them.  Weapon collection was a key feature in the Borderlands, so it is not surprising that they would have an entire new set of weapons ready for us in the sequel.  The weapons shown so far do lend confidence that a few surprises are in store.  An improved vehicle system was also promised, but proof was not forthcoming. 

Weapon collection was one important facet of Borderlands.  Quests was another.  Finding your quest objective will be much easier with the new minimap.  It might seem like a little thing, but it is not.  Switching to the map screen constantly is a pain and relying on the compass could see you flying off a cliff or walking into walls constantly.  Three cheers for the minimap.  Also involving the quest system, they fixed quest ineligibility in the still included drop-in/drop-out multiplayer.  It is nice to see that they had an eye on the minor flaws. 

Borderlands 2 will feature a new set of characters.  We saw the Gunzerker in action, an evolution of the Berzerker class.  It was explained that the Gunzerker's ability lets it dualwield any two guns.  For instance, it might use two rocket launchers and it might be badass while doing so.  We saw a new Siren as well, but little detail was revealed as to her abilities.  The "heroes" from the first Borderlands will make guest appearances and we already got a look at Roland in that capacity.  In the demo he was held prisoner and the objective was to rescue him.  It will be good to see them again.

The main improvement to the Borderlands franchise is its significantly upgraded enemy AI.  Enemies will now climb and jump on walls to reach the player, cooperate by providing cover fire, and do other normal things like limping when wounded and searching for cover rather than standing out in the open and letting you murder them.  It is hard to judge the intelligence of AI without actually playing the game, so we'll know better when 2K and Gearbox start letting people get their hands on the controls.  

More diverse enviroments have also been promised.  In the demonstration only one level was shown, but there was a scenic overlook from which several interesting areas could be seen.  They promised that each visible area will be visited in the full game.  They also explained that areas will have more diverse paths to allow players to cooperate in different ways.  It was not clear from the demo whether this will amount to any substantial improvement.  Regardless, the environments will make the gameplay more interesting, especially when combined with the smarter AI and more mobile enemies. 

The PAX demonstration was still quite likely an early build.  Borderlands 2 releases sometime in 2012.  Expect much more information to be released between now and the new year, with at least 2 more playable characters to be unveiled along with details on the new Siren.