Gearbox Software’s Randy Pitchford talks about the new additions to Borderlands 2, including a larger arsenal and new vehicles and upgrades. “Most guns in a video game,” is an award going to Gearbox’s Borderlands and at this year’s E3, the boys from the Guinness Book will be joining the Gearbox team to present it to them. Borderlands 2 looks to outdo that.
Borderlands 2 looks to follow in the action-packed footsteps of its predecessor through the destitute lands of Pandora. One of the most exciting new additions to the game is Zero, an assassin class added in this incarnation. Zero will serve as the sniper class for players interested in long-range violence, with a focus on stealth and the ability to phase in and out for a brief period. In the first Borderlands, there are four classes with diversity in skills and how players can triumph in given situations.
With the next title, the developers add four new characters, and are using them as integral parts in the storyline, something less critical to the story of the first game.“Zero, the Assassin; Salvador, the Gunzerker; Maya is our new Siren; and there’s Axton, who’s the commando,” says Randy Pitchford, the president and CEO of Gearbox Software, listing the four new choices.
The playable characters aren’t the only new faces, as the game features a new antagonist, Handsome Jack, who views himself as a dictator of sorts, someone bent on ruling what little is left in Pandora. This introduces a sense of rebellion to the series, as the players attempt to take down this figurehead.
Borderlands 2 also features many environments, some new, some returners, ranging from huge jungle environments full of foliage to even more massive cities, and the return to the post-apocalyptic wasteland fans of the series know and love. This results in a larger, more expansive game than the first, and fits with the desires of the developers to “kind of not just make a game you can consume, but turn Borderlands into a hobby”.
2K Games, the publisher for the Borderlands franchise, based on the success of the first and the promise of the second, released two sold out pre-order packages. Pre-ordering any edition of the new game offers entry into the Premier Club, and before the game is released, a new, fifth character will be added, probably as downloadable content, but purchasers of the pre-order will receive this character free of charge as members of this Club, in an effort to reward fans who are excited enough about the game to buy it before it comes out.
Borderlands 2 also features more vehicles, with the old favorites returning, such as the Runner, and these vehicles allow for more customization than in the previous version. Overall, Borderlands 2 is shaping up to once again merge the two genres of RPG and FPS into another beautiful, fun-filled jaunt through a new version of a world many, many fans have grown to love.
Watch Randy Pitchford talk about the game below.
