A Girl's Game Review: Borderlands The Pre Sequel

I have played and loved every game in the Borderlands series, so why wouldn't I do a review for this one as well? I've finished my first play-through so far, and despite being a surprisingly short game, I still love it! Again, I've got the Season Pass, which allows me to download most of the DLC discounted, though only a few things have come out so far, so I will be updating this hub as they come out and I play them. The gameplay is still the same, the graphics follow tradition and are great, and it was yet another game I couldn't put down. Just a note, there is something different with the graphics, and I don't know what, but they caused me to get headaches after about an hour of play. Whether motion sickness or just the different colorations of things, I had to change some settings in the game, and just as a precaution I take a Dramamine before playing, but I haven't had any problems lately. Anyway, back to the game itself. The story line was slightly short but very explanatory as to what happened between the first and second games. It makes you understand more about the bad guys in 2, and like them more as well. Go Bad Guys!!!

Slightly different than the other two games, you're still fighting a common enemy to find a mystical vault. Here is where the differences come in. SPOILERS!!!!!

You're a vault hunter hired to take back the Hyperion Moon Base from Colonel Zarpedon, who is a badass chick that's pumped full of Eridium, then find the vault for Jack. Jack, as in the same jack that we fought against in Borderlands 2 you ask? YES! Jack is the main good guy in this one. Well, not really good, but he's the one you're working for. You'll be fighting against Zarpedon's men, the Lost Legion, random creatures from the moon's surface, and infected Hyperion workers in some places. There's less gravity, so you can jump higher, you now can butt slam an opponent, you need an oz kit to breathe, and of course, "Gazillions of guns." And now, Claptrap is playable, yay!!!

Athena is kind of a mix of different characters. Her special is her shield, which she can use to block and absorb damage, or she can throw it to cause damage. She has aspects of both Zer0 and Axton, yet she's her own new character. She says some pretty funny things as well. The characters talk a lot more in this game, unlike the last two. She is Captain America on steroids, and it's about time they start putting some decent female characters in games. Next to the Mechromacer from Borderlands 2, Athena is my favorite female playable character. She's well rounded, has ways to help as well as deal massive damage, and the name isn't bad either.

This isn't the first time we've seen Nisha, but it is the first time we get to play as her. She is a gunzerker of sorts, she can duel wield her weapons as her special, but her skill trees allow for other additional aspects to it. Her Law & Order skill tree is pretty intense... Again, I'm glad they're finally adding strong female characters in the games, and believe it or not, there seems to be more females than males when it comes to main characters in this Borderlands. Nisha may be soft spoken at times, but she still turns into a badass when the time comes, even after the game is over.

Wilhelm also has been seen before, and also as an enemy, but not as human as he is in this game. Wilhelm is a mercenary that is addicted to cybernetic augmentation. The more he adds into certain areas of his skill tree, the less human he becomes. His special resembles that of the Mecromancer Gaige, he sends out two robots, one to attack enemies, and one to heal and fill shields. They start off pretty weak, but they can level up and get a lot stronger with time. He's a good solo campaign character; Wolf and Saint can get second wind kills for you. Wilhelm as a character is a little weak, in the terms of likability and memorability. He's fun to play and all, but doesn't leave the lasting impressions that the females do.

It's everyone's favorite singing robot!!! He is one that I was more than happy to play as, even though he's fairly weak and his skill is unpredictable. VaultHunter.exe is a program that takes into account random things in the environment and changes Claptrap and possibly even the team to overcome them. His skill isn't always helpful though... The Gunzerking one is neat, but he won't stop shooting, even after the enemies are dead. The Rubber Duck one is really annoying. There's mini aspects of all the players in VaultHunter.exe, so look for each and every one.

The first downloadable character included with the Season Pass is Handsome Jack's Doppelganger. His skill is to construct two digital copies of himself that take all the hits as well as attack, plus when one dies, you can regenerate it. I haven't gotten to play much with this, but I'm sure he's a very fun and interesting character. I wonder how Jack interacts with his body double...

"Ever wondered if your favorite researcher, Sir Hammerlock, had a sibling? Well he does, and she’s the older sister that every little brother is terrified of. Lady Aurelia the Baroness is the newest playable character coming to Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel as a downloadable add-on. Starting on January 27, 2015, you’ll be able to pick up the Lady Hammerlock Pack on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Steam."

Taken from Borderlandsthegame.com, it's official! Sir Hammerlock's older sister is going to be our 6th character. If she's as crazy and kill obsessed as her brother, she's going to rock. I can't wait to give her a try!!! I highly recommend checking out the Borderlands website about her, it explains her action skill and skill tree. She focuses on cryo elements, and supposedly can turn one of the fellow vault hunters into a "servant," using their kills to her advantage. Seems neat!

With all of the updates between the first and second Borderlands, I would have expected a few more from this one, but was a little let down. The customizations are still on par when it comes to heads and colors, but I would have hoped for more. I guess they focused mainly on the fact that there's less gravity, so you can bound wherever you want basically. There's chests everywhere, hiding places anywhere, and more enemies to kill than you can dream about. The jumping to avoid enemies doesn't always work, so make sure your guns are leveled up and doing the right amount of damage. Try to get laser guns too, those are fun but expensive. Cryo weapons, or guns that have the freeze attribute, are neat too, especially when you're close enough to smash your enemy to kill them once frozen. I have noticed that there aren't any Slag weapons like in Borderlands 2, or at least I haven't found one yet, so don't expect any of those. Just be prepared to Butt-Stomp enemies like crazy. Not because you need to, but because you want to.

Oh, keep your eyes out for Janey Springs, especially if you play as Athena. Janey leans more towards the female persuasion, and voices it often when it comes to Athena and Moxxi. She's hilarious! Doing her first few missions opens up the Grinder though. The Grinder is a machine that you can use to combine three guns or items into one that is usually stronger. Look up some grinder recipes here and here. I personally haven't played much with the Grinder yet, so I'll save my opinions for myself, but my guy friends that play love it, especially if it has the chance to get an item with Luneshine.

My main hints to you ladies wanting to cuddle up on the couch and play with your favorite guys is to practice alone for a while before playing multiplayer, unless you're already comfortable with FPS games. The gravity gets confusing when it comes to jumping and flying across the map. Get as many badass points as you can, the upgrades go for every character on your profile, not just the one you're playing now. When playing solo, make sure you stay balanced with healing and attack. You have to start all over if you die on your own. When playing multiplayer, level up your character to compliment your co-players. If you've got one guy that's heavy into healing, and another that wants to kill using only melee, put more points into getting kills from farther away, either with elemental weapons, or just with a critical hit. Guys usually tend to go for the kill instead of the heal though, so you may want to focus on healing with your multiplayer character, just to make sure you're useful.

• Practice jumping and shooting early on, you'll be aiming while in the air a lot in the game. There's even bonuses for shooting while in the air.
• Legendary, or orange, weapons have been noticed to drop a lot more frequently in this game compared to the others. Don't get use to it though, that might be patched before long. Keep an eye out for a normal enemy to drop something amazing!
• Try to keep your white weapons for a mission that you'll hate to have to do. Don't sell all of them off once you get it, and you'll know what it is once you get it.
• Just because something is really high doesn't mean you can't get there. With the lower gravity, the boosted jumping, and other additions to the game, you're going to be higher than the highest point in no time. And falling still doesn't hurt you, unless it's into an abyss.
• Practice driving both vehicles; some missions require a certain one. Plus, with the Stingray, you can butt stomp, so practice getting money and ammo off the ground with that.

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.