Gearbox's hottest 8 out of 10, Borderlands The Pre-Sequel brings everything you loved from borderlands 1 & 2... and makes it ok I guess. It's not a bad game, it just seems very aware of what it is and what it's trying to be. To elaborate, Borderlands 2 went above and beyond in the way of making a stellar game, with new features while still retaining that old humor and crazy gameplay. I can't fault BTPS for it's gameplay, after all it's near identical to the previous titles, but all it's new features feel kinda gimicky and forced. For example the extended jump is nice but running around constantly aware of the ticking oxygen meter is annoying and takes you out of the game to focus on the HUD. The new lazer type weapons are fun until you realize that all the old guns are still more powerful and you can only really spec for one elemental damage. This may not seem like a big deal, but keep in mind there are sections that are literally impossible without the right elemental damage. For example I specifically remember a section where you have to break a wall to proceed but it only breaks with ice type damage. I had no ice type guns. I had to spend all of my hard-earned cash on a bottom-tier ice lazer just to progress. That's not rewarding gameplay, if I hadn't collected that money I would've been stuck there for however long it took.
I'm almost getting a Dark Souls vibe at times too, I've been just churning the main story line so I'm horrifically under-leveled which makes even trash mobs in boss fights a very real threat. You could say this is partially my fault, but the way you're hurried from section to section makes side-quests feel like an afterthought. Side quests should (especially in borderlands) should be inviting and shiny, I remember hearing about the gun that screams when you fire it back in BL2, but nothings draw me to stray from the path of pain and occasional progression that I've been traveling down. I remember being a good few levels beneath the level 13 Boson boss, but it was very satisfying to finally take down.
Let's talk classes, I play Athena - the gladiator. Previously I mained Maya - the Siren, so I'm glad I accidentally speced for a healer again. At first the gladiator class is horribly underwhelming as an understatement. You throw a shield; that's about it. However after going down the medic skill tree the shield now heals me and ricochets and absorbs elemental damage to release. It's pretty fun, the recharge is super high as well making it a very viable option for healing in free time. My tactic is to pop the shield and run at the angriest badass I can see, absorbing the damage while unloading a full clip into him, finally releasing all the stacked damage into him as well. It's proved very effective against grounded bosses, you really do feel like a badass. The classes are the strongest points of BTPS, I haven't had a chance to try out any of the others yet, but the progression and skill sets really add to the otherwise linear and similar gameplay.
The story is hard to get into, you start off traveling to Helios, then it gets taken over by Dahl, and Jack (yes, the handsome one) directs you to save the nearby moon; Elpis. It strays dangerously near that sci-fi trope of having an over-abundance of crazy space names that just sound silly if over used. Psychos and Bandits have been replaced with 'mad men' and 'scavs'. The large Dahl loader robots are particularly hard to take down, but so is everything considering I'm like 3 levels beneath them. Overall I'm finding them fun and challenging, they still have quirky dialog. I want to like them so much but they're missing that craziness, it's hard to believe someone is crazy if they've got technical gear all over them and space hoods. Where's the topless maniacs who ran at you with buzz-saws!? That being said, I do like the design of the suicide psychos, instead of carrying piddly little grenades that they run at you with, these guys carry giant rocket-nuke-missile things on their backs. Badass.
I've got up to the agro-Felicity boss fight (again around 2 levels under her), so I can't make a valid judgment on the ending, but all I can say is I hope they didn't pull a BL2, because I really disliked the ending in that. I hope that it covers all the loose ends with Jack, I have great hopes for it.
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