Borderlands 2 Limited Edition Strategy Guide Strategy Guides and Books

Borderlands 2 Limited Edition Strategy Guide Product Details

Released on 21-Sep-2012

• Borderlands 2 gets new downloadable character

  Think you've milked Borderlands 2 dry? Think again. During a presentation at the SXSW festival in Texas, Gearbox unveiled a teaser trailer for a new downloadable vault hunter character.

  "Deep beneath Pandora, an experiment has escaped," says the teaser. "Bandits beware, a new vault hunter is coming. More mayhem awaits." Shown only in silhouette, the character appears to use melee attacks and looks to be a mixture of Hulk and Robocop. Pretty tempting, eh?

  No release date was given, but Borderlands franchise director Matt Armstrong explained to the crowd that we'll be playing with this new addition sooner rather than later. "DLC is announced on a very tight schedule," he said, "and I don't think you'll have to wait long until you see that character."

  This will be the second additional character for the game. Shortly after Borderlands 2 was released, the Mechromancer Pack added a crazy robot-unleashing little girl called Gaige to the line-up. There have also been three hefty expansion packs released so far. Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty, Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage and Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt are all available, each offering large new maps and loads more hilarious storyline to an already obscenely generous game. If you haven't given it a try, now's the time.

  Borderlands 2 is out now for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.
  

  Published: 11/03/2013

• SONY's Journey dominates DICE Awards

  Journey, the stunning ambient explore-em-up from designer Jenova Chen, swept the board at the annual DICE Awards. Voted for by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, the awards are the closest thing the games industry has to the Oscars, although the ceremony inevitably involves less dance numbers.

  Already a favourite with critics and a top selling game on SONY's PlayStation Network, Journey took home eight awards, including the big three: Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction and Outstanding Innovation in Gaming.

  No other game came close to Journey's haul, but several games came away with multiple awards. The brutally brilliant XCOM: Enemy Unknown took home prizes for best strategy/simulation game as well as Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering. Microsoft's Halo 4 also took home two gongs, for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering and Outstanding Achievement in Connectivity.

  Topping off a 2012 that was stuffed with superb titles across all genres, the exuberant Borderlands 2 was crowned Action Game of the Year, while Need for Speed: Most Wanted took the prize for best racing game and Mass Effect 3 was dubbed best role-playing game. Skylanders Giants beat Lego Batman 2 and Nintendo Land for Family Game of the Year, while PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale provided an upset in the fighting game category, as SONY's character crossover mash-up beat such genre mainstays as Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Street Fighter X Tekken.

  Telltale Games' gruelling episodic adventure series The Walking Dead, based on the hit comic, also won big. It was awarded Adventure Game of the Year, and also took home honours for story and voice acting.

  Published: 08/02/2013

• Observant gamers discover Minecraft, Dark Souls, Ninja Turtles and more hidden in Borderlands 2

  Borderlands 2, the sequel to Gearbox's 2009 loot-grabbing free-roaming shooter, has topped the charts in its first week on sale and players have discovered all manner of hilarious gags and references hidden off the beaten path.

  Venture into the upper left hand corner of the map in the Caustic Caverns area, for example, and you'll find a familiar looking wall made up of dirt cubes. Bash your way through and you'll discover a homage to beloved indie game Minecraft, complete with Creeper enemies and a bonus character skin. Head to the right hand side of the same area and you'll find an eerie campfire with a ghostly warrior sitting beside it, a nod to the equally beloved hardcore RPG Dark Souls.

  There are TV and film references as well. The mission Too Close For Missiles is chock full of Top Gun jokes, from a map location called Goose's Roost to the quest giver, a man named Loggins after Kenny Loggins, singer of Top Gun soundtrack classic Danger Zone. There's even a volleyball net. Another mission, Splinter Group, sends you into the sewers to track down four mutants who love pizza and fight using melee weapons. They're not teenagers or turtles but they are mutants and ninjas, and their colour coded costumes will tip you off as to who they're meant to be.

  This is surely just the tip of the iceberg. Borderlands 2 is a game crammed with silly little details and gags that are easily missed in the heat of battle. If you haven't picked up a copy, it's out now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Hours of entertainment, guaranteed!

  Published: 25/09/2012

• Borderlands 2 - Review

  
  

  

  Bigger And Better

  Borderlands 2 doesn't mess too heavily with the successful formula established by the original back in 2009, delivering another customisation-heavy first-person shooter with the questing structure and customisation options of a role-playing game and a big emphasis on co-operative play.

  What it does do is build on the first game in a number of ways that mark it out as a great follow-up. These range from minor things like walking over ammo to pick it up and the ability to trade with co-op partners, to significant ones, like more varied and unpredictable missions, as opposed to the original's series of fetch and carry quests.

  The story centres on your rebel faction's race across the planet Pandora to stop villain and self-proclaimed dictator Handsome Jack from opening a vault and awakening an ancient alien evil. However, you'll spend a lot of time getting sidetracked by non-essential side missions and a desire to go hunting for new items, or just getting distracted by packs of wild animals and hideouts full of bandits.

  

  Your journey through Pandora is made all the more enjoyable by the fact that Gearbox has replaced the samey brown colour palette that defined environments in the original with a more varied colour scheme, from the crisp icy blues of an arctic tundra to toxic neon caves and lurid purple mountains which, in combination with the game's striking art style, make Borderlands 2 one of the prettiest titles of 2012.

  Gun Club

  If you had to sum up Borderlands 2 in one word though it would be 'guns' - bazillions of them, according to the game's promotional material. The title uses a complex procedural generation system to create literally millions of combinations of weapons which you upgrade throughout the game.

  There's a dizzying amount of variables (damage, accuracy, magazine size, reload etc.) and specialist parts that alter how items perform, ensuring you're never short of ways to engage the many hostile creatures that inhabit Pandora's unpredictable alien landscapes.

  

  Rebel Alliance

  Borderlands 2 is at its best with four friends playing co-operatively, combining crowd control and healing abilities with close and long-range combat specialities to devastating effect. The game's four character classes are designed to work together; among their specialities, Maya the Siren can freeze enemies, Zer0 the Assassin can create clones of himself, Salvador the Gunzerker can dual-wield weapons, and Axton the Commando can deploy turrets that seek out enemies.

  Borderlands 2 builds on the template set out by the original to create a bigger, better sequel. The gunplay's great fun, the collection and customisation options are extremely moreish, the art style's gorgeous, and the locations, missions and enemies are more varied than they were in the original. If you liked the first game you're bound to love this, and those new to the series are in for a real treat too.

  GAME's Verdict

  The Good:

  • Markedly improves on the original.
  • Fantastic co-op gameplay.
  • It's lovely to look at.

  The Bad:

  • Not quite as satisfying in single player.
  • The story's not exactly riveting.
  • More weapon slots would be nice.

  Published: 20/09/2012

• Review Roundup: Borderlands 2

  Review Roundup: Borderlands 2

  The scores are coming in for Borderlands 2, Gearbox's eagerly awaited co-op RPG shooter hybrid sequel, and it's looking like universal acclaim.

  "An excellent shooter no one even remotely curious should overlook," is IGN's verdict, sitting atop a 9/10 score. "Prepare to level. Prepare to loot. Prepare to get lost in the hilarious, bizarre and wonderful world of Pandora."

  Eurogamer agrees, adding another 9/10 to the stack. "Borderlands 2 is still a hillbilly moonshiner sort of game," says their review, "But it's the hillbilly at his canny, tinkering, big-dreaming best. It's the hillbilly at the peak of his powers. It's the hillbilly made majestic."

  There are also 9/10 scores from both the Official Xbox and Official PlayStation magazines, while Play magazine dished out - yes - a 9/10 while declaring Gearbox's labour of love to be "an excellent lesson in sequel-making and is easily one of 2012's best games."

  Even the posh papers have joined the chorus of praise. "Whether players are ploughing through icy tundra, driving across a desert, picking their way through a goop-filled cavern or blasting through a gang's blood-daubed hideout, Borderlands 2 feels consistently fresh", reckons The Guardian's five-star review. "This is a world to lose yourself in - and thanks to the addictive quality of the game's loot-drops, it's likely many players will do just that."

  Drooling much? Don't worry - Borderlands 2 is out this Friday for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

  Published: 18/09/2012

• Borderlands 2 given away free to bungee daredevils

  2K Games has come up with a terrifying way to promote Borderlands 2, the eagerly anticipated openworld RPG shooter that launches this week. Anyone who fancies a free copy of the game is welcome to have one - all you need to do is throw yourself off a building.

  The Old Truman Brewery in London, to be precise, where 2K is hosting a special bungee jump event for brave souls who like to combine their bargain hunting with a stomach-churning squirt of adrenalin. Head there on Sunday September 23rd, make the jump and nab a free game.

  "We want to provide an afternoon of extreme fun and discover just how psycho Borderlands 2 fans can get," says Ben Lawrence from 2K Games UK office. "A bungee jump is the perfect way to truly test your nerves and we're excited to bring the insane pleasure of the game into the real world!"

  Of course, if you don't live in London, or just prefer not to risk life and limb for free software, you can just buy the game now and have it delivered to your letterbox, with no stunts required. It's out on September 21st for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and is already attracting glowing reviews, including a 9/10 from IGN, 95% from GamesMaster magazine and a stonking 9.8/10 from Game Informer.

  Published: 17/09/2012

• Borderlands 2 - Preview

  
  

  

  Opening Pandora

  Combining classic first-person shooter mechanics with the questing structure and customisation options of a role-playing game, Gearbox's Borderlands was one of the surprise hits of 2009. A refreshingly unique title, albeit one with a few rough edges, it has sold over 4.5 million copies to date, and next month we'll be treated to its highly anticipated sequel.

  Borderlands 2 sees players battling across the planet Pandora in a bid to stop the main antagonist and self-proclaimed dictator Handsome Jack from awakening an ancient alien evil known as 'the Warrior'. From the icy tundra, through the dangerous grasslands, past the mysterious corrosive caverns to beyond, Pandora is a vast, unpredictable world overflowing with hostile creatures.

  The sequel looks set to improve on the original in a big way, perhaps most notably in the combat department. While a great deal of the first game's battles involved setting up camp behind cover and trading bullets until one side bit the dust, fighting in Borderlands 2 is far more varied.

  

  This is largely due to the sequel's smarter enemies, who are now capable of banding together to charge and overwhelm you. This in turn means players need to think more carefully about their approach to engagement, and react to a continually shifting battlefield with appropriate manoeuvres and abilities.

  
  

  Guns. Lots of Guns.

  But two can play at that game. The Borderlands series is all about cooperation, and just as enemies can join forces to make mincemeat of players, you can team up with up to three other friends online in drop-in-drop-out co-op mode or play with a buddy locally via split-screen.

  Borderlands 2 lets you choose from four character classes with a range of upgradeable abilities. A Siren named Maya can freeze enemies, the Assassin is an agent of confusion capable of creating clones of himself and even vanishing briefly, the Gunzerker has the ability to dual-wield weapons, and the Commando can deploy turrets that seek out enemies.

  

  Like its predecessor, Borderlands 2 features an array of procedurally generated guns, shields and grenades, meaning there are literally millions of weapon variations available and an absolute tonne of ways to engage foes - you could use a rifle that shoots poison bullets, an RPG that launches fiery rockets or a lightning-spewing shotgun.

  From the time we've spent with the game, the combat feels much more dynamic than it did in the original, the enemies and locations more varied, and the missions have evolved from a series of fetch and carry quests to feature branching paths and unpredictable structures. Needless to say we're hopeful the game will turn out to be everything the great but flawed original nearly was.

  Published: 30/08/2012

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