A Girl's Game Review: Borderlands 2

I played the first Borderlands, and enjoyed it, so in honor of that, I picked up the second. I loved it!!! I loved it even more than the first, and I loved it so much, I downloaded the Season Pass to get all of the DLC, or downloadable content, including the extra characters, which I will include in the review. I'm still not the biggest fan of FPS games, but this one followed and expanded on the first one so much, it made it amazing. I played with a few friends on online multiplayer, like last time, but I also finished everything first on solo play, which was a lot harder, but I leveled up my character a lot quicker that way. The graphics are still comic book cell type, which I find extremely fascinating, and the music was similar to the first, which means it was entertaining, but not too annoying. The game kept my interest the whole time with only a few levels I didn't really like. It brought back a lot of old characters as NPC (non-playable characters), plus it introduced a lot of new, and relatable characters as well, both playable and not. As the kids nowadays say, "There's some feels in it, so get ready!"

Borderlands 2 follows along the same type of story as the first, but there's an actual "Bad Guy" instead of just The Vault. I'll try not to give too much away, but here's your warning; SPOILERS!!!!

Again, you're a mercenary sent to Pandora to find the mysterious Vault, since (spoiler) in the first one, you didn't really find it. Like Borderlands, you have a "Guardian Angel" type helping you out at key points. Unlike the first game, there's someone trying to stop you from finding the Vault first. A guy named Handsome Jack is trying to kill you as soon as you land on the planet. Not only do you have to deal with the planet's natural inhabitants, you are fighting against his as well, and his can get pretty strong. You've got to find and open the Vault before him, and he's very persistent. You do have some help though, from some very familiar characters, including a curious and loud robot with one wheel and no verbal filter.

Like mentioned earlier, there are some downloadable characters to play, so I will breifly mention them here. But first, the main characters of the game. They're a bit different than Borderlands, but they still resemble the original cast. They have their special abilities or skills, but aren't as specialized as before. No more "picking your character to fit your gun," they all can kill just as easily with a revolver as a sniper rifle. The skill trees let you choose what you want your character to specialize in, as well as how their ability works. Choose away, but it can be expensive to change them.

Salvador is the Gunzerker, who is somewhat like Brick. Instead of his ability being Berserk, which turns him into a melee monster, He Gunzerks, which makes him able to dual wield, two guns of different types at the same time, as well as heal, regenerate ammo, and basically become a huge badass. Using the Skill Tree, you can focus his attacks and regeneration to your liking. Salvador can be considered a tank when leveled up properly. Send him in to attack!

Zer0 is the Assassin, who is kind of like Mordecai, but kind of like Lilith as well. His skill, Deception, projects a copy of himself, moving and all, then he turns invisible and moves faster to get behind or away from enemies. He is great against one or two enemies, but his skill isn't very useful against large groups. When he attacks someone with a gun or a sword while in Deception, he becomes visible again, so attack with caution. His skill tree can customize what he can do in Deception, as well as up his damage with what he does use. This guy takes practice, but has the ability to rock. Also, he only talks in Haiku, so he's very relaxing to listen to, even when he's talking about killing and death.

Maya is the Siren, like Lilith. Unlike Lilith, she doesn't turn invisible. Instead, her skill is Phaselock, or she temporarily sends out a ball which suspends the enemy in he air and immobilizes them so you and your team can attack without getting hit. It doesn't work the same with big enemies though, so don't get ahead of yourself. With her skill tree, she can be an amazing healer, stop crowds, or just kick butt on her own. She can go full power, which is elemental and strength; healing, where she can Phaselock on allies and heal them from a distance; or even reflect bullets back to the enemies. This Siren is definitely a lot more powerful than the last, though don't tell Lilith that.

Axton, the Commando, who follows along Roland's likeness, is kind of a catch-all destroy-everything-from-behind-a-big-gun type of guy. His skill, the Sabre Turret, is great for decoys, distractions, and an extra set (or two) of guns. With his skill tree, you can up the damage, add rockets, change elements, and even add a nuke. Axton's skill tree mainly focuses on his Turret, though there are a few health and weapon upgrades for Axton as well.

Gaige, who is my favorite by the way, is a Mechromancer. In other words, she's a teenage genius, that built a gigantic robot that she sends out to kill everything, take all her damage, and rein supreme in ass-kickory. Death-Trap, her creation and best friend, also has the ability to shoot lazers, deploy and charge shields, and do elemental damage based off of what you shoot him with. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt him. Just be prepared for a minor headache and lots of math when trying to understand and get down the Anarchy and Discord areas of the skill tree. They're worth it if you're willing to spend the time sorting everything out, but they're very confusing.

Note to the wise: If you ever get your hands on the Infinity Pistol, a legendary gun that carries unlimited ammo and never has to reload, it WILL NOT work when you have skill points set in the Ordered Chaos skill tree. Basically, anarchy is out of the question to use this amazing weapon.

Last, but certainly not least, is Kreig the Psycho. He is pretty self-explanatory, being a Psycho that you can control. He is one of the only characters that is completely focused on one type of attack: melee. His skill, Buzz Axe Rampage, can make him an almost unbeatable character if leveled up right and points put in the right skill tree areas. Basically, he takes less damage, heals more, and kills quicker while in Rampage, doing mainly melee attacks while making things explode and while you are on fire. If you combine the right tree options, you will heal while being on fire, set other people on fire, blow yourself up to kill those around you, and still be ok. He rocks!

Finally, we're able to choose different outfits and color schemes for out characters! And some of them are actually pretty neat! I have a black and pink one eyed rabbit head on my Mechromancer, and it's adorable. Enjoy the partial customization.

Like the last game, the enemies level up with you. But unlike the last game, they literally level up with you. Once you pass a certain point in the game, all the enemies graduate to your current level, even the easy ones from the beginning. It makes it easier to level yourself up, but you also never really have it easy in the game. Also, a note to the brave, if you get any DLC maps, whatever level you start the DLC, that is where the base level of the enemies and bosses will be, and bosses are always above you. The more you level up, the more points you can use in your skill tree, and the more damage you can do, so it still works out well. Side missions become easier with higher levels as well, and some of them give out some great rewards, so don't ignore them!

There's more than just one car this time, there's numerous vehicles, and you can choose colors on those as well. Other than that, it's still the same driving style, same guns, though some have two instead of one, and the same buttons to push. I like the hoverboat in the Pirate DLC best, it's fun!

Co-op play is the same as well, so when someone joins your game, get ready for harder enemies. A tip for easy level up though: the enemy's levels are based off the host player's level, so if you've got a level 14 character, and a level 63 friend, join their game, hide as much as possible, and rack up that experience as they kill everything to level up quicker than anything.

They're starting to add better main females in the game. Maya, Gaige, and my favorite NPC of all time, Tiny Tina! She's hilarious, she's vulgar, and she's just a kid! If more games added characters like her that weren't just about the sex appeal but more about the character itself, I think I would play more. Her DLC, Assault on Dragon's Keep, is arguably the best DLC of the game. It adds an extra few hours, expands on the story line, and helps you to understand who she is as well as who the other characters are deep down. If you get any DLC, get this one!!! Don't play it until you've finished the game completely, and bring a box of tissues with you. It gets pretty sad at the end...

• Ammo is a lot easier to find in this game, but it's also a lot more expensive to buy. Stock up!
• Whatever weapons you don't plan on using, sell them! You're going to need the money to buy other things. But also be aware that sometimes the best weapons aren't orange, which are rare weapons. My best sniper for my Mechromancer is a white, or common, weapon. the next highest is a green, but it's only at half the damage.
• Base your shields off of your skill tree. Sometimes you do more damage without a shield, so choose a low level one to run out in one hit.
• Explore everywhere! There's always a mini-boss to fight that gives you lots of weapons and experience to kill. Sometimes letting the enemy level up causes a mini-boss too.

Gearbox is putting out both Borderlands 2 and TPS in one handy dandy package for Xbox One and PS4!!! The Handsome Collection will include all DLC from Borderlands 2, and 5 DLC items from Borderlands TPS. You will be able to play the same characters from the same missions with the same guns and Badass points with the ability to transfer your prior-gen save. (You don't have to start over!!!) You will also be able to play 4 player split screen on the same console instead of only 2. Get ready next gen players, Borderlands is finally coming to you! Release date is March 24th 2015 in the US and March 27th 2015 Internationally.