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Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is a game that Gearbox has previously stated to be shorter in length than Borderlands 2, but longer than Borderlands 1. I’m not entirely sure how long it took me to beat Borderlands 2, but it took around 20 hours to finish The Pre-Sequel. It didn’t feel short, but some parts of the game seemed to drag on longer than others. That is not to say that the pacing in Borderlands 2 was perfect, because it wasn’t; The Pre-Sequel’s plot teetered back and forth between interesting and mediocre, and more often than not did I just want to continue forward to see if it would get better.

One of the most interesting characters from Borderlands 2 was Handsome Jack, and the Vault Hunters in The Pre-Sequel are working for him, albeit under a shorter name (without ‘Handsome’, in lieu of not having the mask in The Pre-Sequel.) He still has some enjoyable lines, and an amazing voice actor, and while playing though the game I actually wanted to see the character break down as his hopes and dreams were beginning to unravel. This did happen to an extent, but not to quite the extent I was hoping. Maybe I was asking for too much, I’m not sure. Still, it was refreshing to be able to get a look into some of the backstory of Jack, even if we never did get to find out who his wife/Angel’s mother was.

Speaking of which, the villain of The Pre-Sequel is Colonel Zarpedon, a Dahl chief trying to keep the vault on Elpis a secret via any means necessary. When she’s introduced, you feel as if she’s a real threat to you, Jack, and the entire moon, and throughout the game you’re reminded of this when the laser on Hyperion’s Helios base goes off as the noise it produces is unavoidable, and oftentimes you can’t help but look toward it to really make sure you’re not imagining things. Hence why I was very disappointed to not have Zarpedon show up in the game more, even just via radio. Unlike Handsome Jack in Borderlands 2, Zarpedon doesn’t really taunt you, she doesn’t acknowledge your presence throughout most of the game, and she doesn’t talk at all when she shows up as one of the last bosses. There are ECHO logs scattered about the game that give a little backstory to her character, which is nice, but it would have been nicer to see her more in the game. Not every villain needs to be like Jack, per se, but having one that really makes you want to finish the game and enact vengeance upon them definitely livens up the story.

Charming characters from past Borderlands games don’t make an appearance, and although this is understandable, as they’re all on Pandora, a nod or two would have been nice. The interrogation between Athena and Lilith could have been more interesting if at least one of the Vault Hunters from Borderlands 2 had shown up, since the ending of that game didn’t give any hint as to where they ended up. One could assume they returned to their respective homes, but that wouldn’t make much sense, as Maya left her home planet to learn, and she may not have been finished learning, and Zer0 probably didn’t really have a home. You may wonder why even Maya couldn’t have been there for the interrogation, as I did. After all, she and Lilith are the only two Sirens left, so you’d think they’d have bonded with one another.

The gameplay for The Pre-Sequel is enjoyable, as it mimics Borderlands 2 and adds a few twists of its own. Oxygen is a valuable resource and you have to find stations to replenish it when on Elpis’ surface. At first, this mechanic seems interesting, but it doesn’t take long for it to get old. I’ve never suffocated to death in game, but running out of O2, or Oz, was annoying, especially when it could have been avoided by having more Oz stations around. The low gravity allowed you to jump to places you never would have imagined before, and it was fun trying to find new things, but the abundance of invisible walls made that get old too. The vehicles are even less interesting than the ones in Borderlands 2, especially the Moon Zoomy, and oftentimes I considered not even going for a vehicle at all. There are Moon Zoomy stations where if you get a Stingray and immediately boost, you’ll get stuck in the ceiling. This makes me wonder how much play testing was done on the game, but I’ll get to that in a moment.


Guns are more of the same, except the E-tech weapons have been dropped and laser weapons added. Laser weapons are a direct upgrade over E-tech, as all laser guns are useful. Unfortunately, ammo costs more in this game, so filling up on laser ammo can wipe out your funds. The vending machines have a better selection in The Pre-Sequel, and it feels like you have a higher chance of getting a decent gun out of them. One thing that really bothered me about the machines, though, was the inclusion of the exact same Marcus lines in the Guns and the Bullets machines that Borderlands 2 had. That felt nothing short of lazy, especially since the design of all of the machines changed. I understand Marcus is the only gun supplier, and that’s fine, but new lines could have been recorded.

Bugs are rampant in this game, and it’s a shame; on True Vault Hunter mode, Jack stopped moving for me and I had to reload the game. I read up on the bug and others had similar ones, and even ones where the moonshot would just break. Quest items could float away, NPCs could stop talking when they needed to, and the vehicles loved to get stuck on things. Oftentimes I would get stuck on a rock trying to walk as if the texture was just placed too high. All of this could have been avoided if more play testing had been done, and it really felt like the game was rushed at the end of development for some reason. Assets being re-used, like the Marcus lines for the vending machines, also prove development was short timed, and also prove a bit of laziness. I didn’t expect a whole new engine for this game, but it looks like Borderlands 2. I also noticed a lot of NPCs wearing helmets in space, which is fine and makes sense, but I do wonder if part of the reason for this was to save on animating their lips when they talked.

Did I enjoy The Pre-Sequel? Yes. Would I recommend it? Not for $60. The gameplay is fun, but the bugs and lack of an immersing story make me suggest you wait for it to go on sale for $40 or less. Perhaps the DLC will change this, and I hope it does, but the shortcuts taken in developing this game make me worry.



BULLET POINT SUMMARY – The Good

Playable characters are well developed and fun.
PCs will talk back to NPCs and co-op partners.
Butt slams are enjoyable and somewhat useful most of the time.
Still lootin’ and shootin’.

BULLET POINT SUMMARY – The Bad

Zarpedon could really be fleshed out more, and be more threatening, a la Jack in BL2.
Oz/Oxygen is a pointless and tedious addition.
Game is very buggy.
Environment can get boring.
Story isn’t as engaging as BL2’s.
Too pricey for what it is right now.



View original review with pictures: http://thatwritingthing.com/borderlands-pre-sequel-write-review/
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