Also On: Xbox 360, PS3
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: 2K Australia, Gearbox Software
Medium: Digital
Players: 1-4
Online: Yes
ESRB: M โ Mature
โThere is no good loot-based shooter.โ
My friend decides this an hour into the new Borderlands game; he also feels burned by Destiny, a game we thought would replace the need for any cooperative shooter over the next decade. Heโs agreed to join me in getting the most of a multiplayer game while Iโm reviewing it, and several days after completing the campaign in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Iโm still not finding a reason to dispute his initial remark. For whatever reason, this is a genre that canโt get its shit together.
Ignoring other games, what Borderlands gets right, and always has, is that it rewards players with loot for everything they do. The value of what guns and accessories is debatable, but the assets are there. Itโs always been the game to fill gaps of time, no matter how small they may be, with a chest to open, or another container to pop the lid off for a couple dollars. Iโd say itโs always been an amazing co-op experience, but the first game does a lot to stifle that claim. For now, itโs got the loot locked down.
What itโs gotten worse at, almost as if it never knew how it discovered the formula it jotted down, is the other half of its appeal: the gunplay. Enemy encounters are beginning to feel more like mishaps than events, with weapons that feel more like accessories than awesome tools.
While I never cared to finish the first game (it lost me somewhere after the first 7 hours of Pandora), I played Borderlands 2 to near 100% completion at about 10 times what I put into its predecessor. I canโt say I enjoyed it, but I did get to spend time with some friends in a fully accommodating co-op shooter, and in the face of the persistently obnoxious universe that Borderlands takes place in, I came to treasure what it gave us. This friend with me, in the first paragraph, is one of those who shared most of Borderlands 2 with me. This friend is a person who, like me, can be won over with the right mix of magic in an otherwise mediocre game. Borderlands 2 was that game for the lot of us, but when it came to playing the Pre-Sequel, we couldnโt be done with it quick enough. So whatโs changed?
For starters, The Pre-Sequel is developed by Gearbox and 2K Australia, whoโs identity is strong in the gameโs nomenclature and accented voice-acting. The Australian presence is refreshing to have in a big game like Borderlands, and actually does a lot to charm me into feeling as if itโs taken some of the edge off its inherent 6th grade writing. I only wish it was more than a sensation, as the writing in the Pre-Sequel appears to have reached an all-time low far beyond when Borderlands was simply in love with itself in Borderlands 2. Now, itโs as if Borderlands is also in love with the people who would write fanfic for the series. While weโre spared spending any time with the likes of Tiny Tina, the game has now replaced previously annoying characters with a new cast who are either miserable or devoid of personality. Those who play the Lawbringer class, for instance, will be treated to loads of VO barks and some backstory about how morbidly gratifying the death of this characterโs mom has been. This happens incessantly as post-combat dialog includes lines about how great things are going โsince mom diedโ almost every time you shoot a group of two or more enemies.
It also turns out that Handsome Jack is only worth writing if heโs the bad guy, because until then, he doesnโt have any identity except as a foundation for a tragic figure who canโt catch a break. Sounds like someone who could go bad, huh? The Pre-Sequel will beat you over the head with this revelation.
Aside from a few crashes between players, the Pre-Sequel online co-op is as competent as it was when Borderlands 2 established a no-hassle drop in/out system for players to join and leave each othersโ games. Itโs so consistent that it feels almost like a copy/paste of the Borderlands 2 UI, likely a product of not fixing what isnโt broken. The controls, for that matter, are identical to the Borderlands franchise, with a few low-gravity tweaks to scrape together an identity for 2K Australiaโs game.
Itโs all the other tweaks that seem to have found them stumbling through an interquel of the original two games. Itโs the interest in telling Handsome Jackโs origin story that pigeonholes the plot. Itโs the inclusion of low gravity as a major gameplay component that causes the movement to feel loose and sloppy. Itโs the poor navigation checkpointing that tether players to constantly referring to their map in a poorly designed open world. Itโs the confinement of marrying themselves to the space between two games that has lead to Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel landing at a level of quality set between the two.
What could we expect, in that case? How does one approach a โpre-sequel,โ let alone a prequel? This handing off of Borderlands suggests that Gearbox doesnโt trust the series to stand on its own while they work on a new IP. Why else would a totally different team be assigned an incidental game that can neither damage nor improve the series pedigree? Are they being groomed to inherit it? This isnโt exactly a glowing example, if so.
Itโs certainly not because there was any necessity to flesh out the antagonist from the last game. Then again, maybe Iโm wrong and thatโs exactly why weโre here, but this would suggest an even more embarrassing scenario where the Borderlands franchise is being given direction by the whim of its easily receptive fanbase. Hereโs hoping the Pre-Sequel is just 2Kโs way of telling us that if we wait another two years, weโll be reading previews for Borderlands 3 on next-gen platforms.
Ultimately, weโre given exactly what we could have expected, which is more of the same. More incessant characters, more co-op gameplay, and more loot than we can fit in our inventory. On every level, however, it happens to be at a lower quality than Borderlands 2. Even the art is worse, somehow, with a special nod to the splash titles that introduce a character looking like mockups.
In a nutshell, itโs simply not designed in any thoughtful manner that suggests refinement or forward thinking was present. The map design is a mess, and communicating how players can utilize the oxygen and low gravity maneuvers is poorly handled. Then there are the interiors, an ungodly maze laid out in the least circular fashion Iโve seen for these games, which lead to party members spawning at weird checkpoints and being generally lost once backtracking comes into play. Guns appear to be less meaningful, somehow, and the abilities that each class brings to the table havenโt really got any focus. Itโs as if the designers are asking us whether or not some of these mechanics are even working or not. Some of the special abilities will actually go so far as to impede core abilities, such as reviving teammates, when in use.
We could assume that Borderlands is simply not for me, but Iโm already well-aware of this. What I canโt seem to understand is how in 2014, these open-world, co-op, loot-based shooters canโt even take valuable lessons from games that share some of the same genres. Why are the guns in Borderlands so inaccurate? Where is the hint of enemy AI from Destiny? Why can I teleport to a vehicle another player is driving, but if theyโre on foot then we have to trek across the map for 5-10 minutes? Is Diablo 3 the only game with that โteleport to playerโ feature? Did Blizzard patent it or something? Are there vehicle physics for an open world, or is everything with four wheels supposed to handle like an arcade racer from 2003? Is it unfair to hold a Diablo-meets-Halo game to the same standards of its two most prominent influences, or should we try to be appreciative of its existence in the first place?
By the time thereโs a third game in the series, Iโd hope that it would at least have the basics of what make its influences fun to play. The Pre-Sequel is a shining example of taking references from previous entries and tossing them in a mixing bowl of things players like to see in games today. Sprinkle the store-bought RPG seasoning on the in-your-face FPS, make it open world, chop, toss, chop, roll out, add garnish, hope it turns out okay. Serve?
In everything that Borderlands does to make a seamless co-op shooter, there are no improvements to the inconveniences that have grown into the franchise. Instead, weโre given everything as a legacy feature: bone-headed phrases like โson of a taintโ that arenโt funny in the least, four new wacky characters, another vault to hunt for, clunky controls, poor mission design, and another forgettable story.
It still has an identity as a co-op shooter that I can play on a flexible basis with a handful of friends, and Iโm grateful for that. For everything else, I wish that there was an FPS influenced only by the no-fuss co-op of Borderlands and none of the other things it has. From the looks of The Pre-Sequel, we shouldnโt be expecting anything other than stagnant design in the near future. Maybe thatโs the Borderlands way โ to regurgitate settings and characters until weโre at Borderlands: The Megamix by 2K Singapore, crammed inconveniently between the 4th and 5th numbered franchise.