Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! Confirmed!

Gearbox has announced that there will be a new Borderlands game, and it'll be out later this year. As the subtitle suggests, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! (yes, the exclamation mark is part of the name) will fit in between the first game and Borderlands 2 in terms of story.

It takes place on the moon orbiting the planet Pandora, and casts you as one of four mercenaries working for Handsome Jack, the villain of Borderlands 2. All the main characters have appeared in previous games, but this is the first time they'll be playable. There's Athena The Gladiator, from The Secret Armory of General Knoxx DLC, Wilhelm The Enforcer, a boss enemy from Borderlands 2 and Nisha The Lawbringer, who crops up as the sheriff in Lynchwood in Borderlands 2. Perhaps most importantly, the fourth player character is Claptrap, the iconic wise-cracking robot who has played a vital role in the Borderlands saga.

Being set on a moon, much of the gameplay will be changed by low gravity and the need to keep topping up your air supply. You'll be able to hit enemies so hard that they float off into space, or shatter their helmets to make them suffocate.

“Because Borderlands 2 did so well there's obvious demand there, and we have not been able to serve it sufficiently with just DLCs,” says Gearbox boss man Randy Pitchford. “And we've consumed all the memory there is to consume to add more content to Borderlands 2. And frankly, as creators, we love the space. We're still arguing inside of Gearbox about how much of our own time we should spend in the Borderlands space versus on future things, because a lot of us really love making Borderlands.”

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.