Post by Steve Farrelly @ 02:00pm 18/09/12 | 149 Comments
So how does it fare against the original? Well, it brings back everything it did right the first time around (namely co-op), and amplifies it ten-fold. But more importantly, most things Gearbox got wrong with the original have also been broached here, of which the stand-outs are single-player/soloing, and the game's story (in that, there is one now). There's a lot more on offer though, all of which we explore in today's review.
Click here for our full verdict.
Buy now from Green Man Gaming Only GBP£13.99!
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Posted 02:49pm 18/9/12
Posted 03:02pm 18/9/12
Posted 03:09pm 18/9/12
Posted 03:12pm 18/9/12
Posted 03:41pm 18/9/12
Posted 03:41pm 18/9/12
I can totally see the appeal as Dota 2 is much better with friends than randoms but my gaming times varies so much it makes coop difficult to hook up. Leave me playing solo which gets boring pretty quick with games designed for coop.
Posted 03:43pm 18/9/12
yeah me too, its a bit s*****
Posted 03:49pm 18/9/12
Pre-loaded and itching with anticipation. Don't know whether to roll as Maya or Zero. Lilith and Mordecai were the only two characters that appealed to me in the last game and it seems their replacements are the same again.
Posted 03:49pm 18/9/12
Posted 03:53pm 18/9/12
intkeys has it for ~$38, but they're not sending out keys yet.
Posted 04:03pm 18/9/12
25% off
Though I think the deal ends, at the end of the day on the 17th in America, so it might be over by now. Give it a try and see what happens.
Here is where I got the code.
last edited by Lynx at 16:03:00 18/Sep/12
Posted 04:03pm 18/9/12
Posted 04:13pm 18/9/12
Posted 04:39pm 18/9/12
Posted 04:50pm 18/9/12
Posted 05:08pm 18/9/12
Posted 05:23pm 18/9/12
Posted 07:35pm 18/9/12
Did I just get two for the price of one?
edit - nm, GMG f***ed up and billed me twice. Hot.
Posted 07:40pm 18/9/12
Some screens I took.
http://i.imgur.com/d0wBU.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/kCNVR.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/xkGvY.jpg
Posted 07:41pm 18/9/12
Doing better than me, Verified by Visa bulls*** will not work for me at all.
Posted 08:36pm 18/9/12
Posted 08:48pm 18/9/12
Posted 08:56pm 18/9/12
Posted 08:58pm 18/9/12
Posted 09:04pm 18/9/12
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/09/18/wot-i-think-borderlands-2/
Posted 09:07pm 18/9/12
Apparently the single player is worth playing now.
Posted 09:12pm 18/9/12
Posted 09:37pm 18/9/12
I want to play so bad
Posted 09:56pm 18/9/12
Posted 11:51pm 18/9/12
1) sign up for 3 hr free trial
2) log on to a US server
3) boot up steam and activate the game
4) set steam to offline mode
5) play!
Posted 03:11am 19/9/12
Thanks though
Posted 06:21am 19/9/12
Posted 01:11pm 19/9/12
Posted 03:39pm 19/9/12
Not long now ...
Available: 20 September 2012
This game will unlock in approximately 9 hours
Posted 03:39pm 19/9/12
Posted 09:21pm 19/9/12
Posted 09:39pm 19/9/12
Dont get your hopes up too much. For the steam release of borderlands 1 the counter went down to zero, then added three days! People were raging.
Its actually a pretty common occurrence on steam, apparently the publishers set the release date, not valve or steam.
Given that the brick and mortar retail release isnt until tomorrow, I'm not without some suspicion that the counter will just tick over to a new date once it reaches zero.
Posted 12:04am 20/9/12
Posted 12:17am 20/9/12
Posted 10:53am 20/9/12
Posted 06:44pm 20/9/12
last edited by DM at 18:44:46 20/Sep/12
Posted 07:46pm 20/9/12
http://i.imgur.com/jfcse.jpg
Posted 07:53pm 20/9/12
Posted 07:57pm 20/9/12
Again not in the tagline for the review, or in the article.
Didn't get mentioned as something you didn't like.
Oh and of course it has a 9.2 .. But then SWTOR has 9.5 and it lasted less time than most single player games ... so maybe 9.2 is a bad score ? Who knows!
Posted 08:04pm 20/9/12
am an assasin, might try something different soon tho
Posted 08:43pm 20/9/12
Have had an okay run for guns so far. Nothing "holy s***!" but a couple of nice ones. No element except for fire yet.
Posted 10:44pm 20/9/12
Posted 10:46pm 20/9/12
This shotty is from a quest and is god damn awesome. More accuracy as you go full auto with pretty decent damage. Sniper rifle is a 9 round, 3 shot burst when zoomed beast
Posted 10:50pm 20/9/12
Posted 10:54pm 20/9/12
last edited by DM at 22:54:42 20/Sep/12
Posted 11:36pm 20/9/12
I'm not enjoying it that much. Should be able to run faster in stealth mode .. plus, the skill that gives you more zoom along with more accuracy isn't helpful. The zoom is too extreme - I just want the accuracy!
Anyone else not enjoying the assassin that much?
Posted 12:21am 21/9/12
Posted 01:26pm 21/9/12
Posted 01:42pm 21/9/12
Posted 02:15pm 21/9/12
Posted 02:20pm 21/9/12
Posted 02:23pm 21/9/12
Probably why I'm not enjoying Borderlands 2 much also. It's a decent game but I just get bored of the combat very quickly.
Posted 02:23pm 21/9/12
Posted 02:25pm 21/9/12
Posted 02:29pm 21/9/12
why dont they have more sweet skills for him :(
Posted 02:36pm 21/9/12
Posted 02:50pm 21/9/12
Oh and that's something else I love about this game. Blood and other liquids actually run down hill. Mind was blown first time I saw a Golliath pull his own head off and saw the blood pooling down the bottom of the hill.
Posted 03:19pm 21/9/12
I love the rest of the game, but the assassin is currently one of the least enjoyable classes I've played from any game. I agree with the lack of stealth effectiveness mentioned in the review.
I've switched to the Commando and having much, much more fun. The skills are actually useful and I can't wait to unlock some of them. The turret thing is similar to the raven from the first game. Just deploy it when s*** is getting intense.
Posted 03:39pm 21/9/12
last edited by DM at 15:39:15 21/Sep/12
Posted 10:15pm 21/9/12
Posted 11:02pm 21/9/12
F:\Steam\steamapps\common\Borderlands 2\DLC\POPremierClub\Lic
Just add what you see here for more unlocks and golden keys in WillowDLC.ini file.
[GoldenKeys]
+SourceId=254
+NumKeys=10
[PromotionalUnlocks]
+UnlockId=1
+UnlockId=2
+UnlockId=3
+UnlockId=4
Free stuff FTW. You can also set yourself for the season pass I notieced when I edited SeasonPass.txt in the same folder, just replaced 2 with 1.
Posted 11:05pm 21/9/12
FYI https://twitter.com/DuvalMagic/status/248901075543945216
Posted 12:21am 22/9/12
Found this rare while doing a quest which gave the 2nd shotgun. Friggen insane damage on the 2 of them. The Boosted Octo fires in a Metroid like wave beam pattern an 8 slug round which seems to penetrate mobs. Every shot seems to slag the dudes then I swap over to the other big beast and 1 shot them for like 2500 damage depending how close I am. Oh and the octo acts like a 2nd grenade too because of the Tediore brand which hits for like 1000 on direct contact. Will deffinatly keep these for my mechanomancer.
Posted 01:39am 22/9/12
Damn, thats no good. I will have to block BL2 in my firewall and play offline too. Luckily I have not even used it any golden keys. Seems trivial when you only get one for your copy of Borderlands 2 but having more makes it even more trivial. If you know what I mean.
Actually I just checked "RE: Golden Keys. Exploit patched, no punishment (we get the temptation: doors unlocked, keys in the ignition)." https://twitter.com/DuvalMagic
Posted 03:29am 22/9/12
Posted 06:37am 22/9/12
Posted 05:08pm 22/9/12
Currently level 19/20 as Maya the siren.
Posted 08:13pm 22/9/12
Posted 08:26pm 22/9/12
EDIT - Also found an amazing SMG. has a 9 round burst with a 41 shot clip, and each shot fires 2 bullets. so it's an 18 round burst that only costs 9 ammo. It was just on the floor too so fully explore the cave area (forget the name) that you go to when you are after the firehawk.
last edited by DM at 20:26:07 22/Sep/12
Posted 10:23pm 22/9/12
I really like how Gearbox have kept it fun with being able to sprint indefinately, jumping high and not taking fall damage, it's fun jumping from ledge to ledge runing away from a Goliath!
Posted 11:52pm 22/9/12
Posted 12:11am 23/9/12
Posted 12:25am 23/9/12
Posted 01:02am 23/9/12
Posted 07:40am 23/9/12
Edit: Forgot the picture lol
Posted 06:57pm 23/9/12
Posted 07:07pm 23/9/12
I've been playing coop over the internet with friends for most of the game. Didn't have to do anything. No ports forwarded, nothing.
Have you tried any of these suggestions?
http://borderlands2forum.com/showpost.php?s=3b39023ae6e7c78d7628e483a2a929f3&p=988&postcount=26
http://borderlands2forum.com/showpost.php?p=1008&postcount=31
http://steamcommunity.com/app/49520/discussions/0/882960771709778057/#c882961070457707463
Posted 07:26pm 23/9/12
It seems that for a large number of users the release patch completely f***ed uPNP or NAT or both for the game.
See http://steamcommunity.com/app/49520/discussions/0/882961059685222348/ has lots of details.
When I click the game browser or try to join friends Steam and BL2's exe stupidly try to connect to the local IP of games, rather than the public one. Despite there being millions of copies of the game out there Ive only ever seen one game in the match maker.
Tried port forwarding etc, the only working solution from people in the thread is to DMZ your computer or stick it directly on the net.
Pass.
Posted 07:27pm 23/9/12
IIRC the loot is locked to each person. I think you can only see your loot and vice versa for everybody else. Didnt a similar thing happen in the latest RPGs when playing coop?
Yeah i like the arcade run/jump/fall physics too. More fun, less realism.
Been playing assassin and thinking i made the wrong choice. Lvl 10 and having difficulties with tough enemies. Normal mobs are easy to pick off from a distance but the tough guys require plenty of ammo, often in close quarters fights and i think the special ability is kinda lacking given most situations. Im playing solo though.
Posted 09:15pm 23/9/12
Money and most ammo is distributed automatically between everyone though, as far as I can tell.
last edited by parabol at 21:15:36 23/Sep/12
Posted 09:18pm 23/9/12
even won my first duel and got an orange rifle =)
Posted 09:34pm 23/9/12
Really? Thats f***ed.
I did the sentry gun guy in the first borderlands. Found it lame having something else do the job for you. Maybe i just need to unlock more perks for the assassin.
Thats one of my biggest issues, having just got lvl 11 ive only unlocked my 2nd tier perk after putting 5 points into a single perk. The whole perk system just seems to slow for me and requires a f***load of gameplay which i dont have time for. Some of the later perks look awesome but im guessing ive done at least 10hrs so far so to unlock the later perks im guessing i might need 100hrs which im never gunna make. Id much rather play a shooter like rage where its straight shooting than a game where i think the perks/unlocks are more a gimmick rather than adding a significant advantage. Its like those bad ass perks. I mean a 1% improvement on reload time? WTF. Its not going to make a difference til i clock say 10% difference on a 5sec reload gun and i dont wanna even think how long that would take to unlock. Maybe the game is designed to reward those that put a f***load of hours into the game, if thats the case, thats cool but its not something thats gunna happen for me.
Dont get me wrong, i dont mean to have a big cry/rant. As i said, id much rather a solid shooter and ignore the perks/unlocks which is how im playing borderlands 2 ATM with a focus on finding sweet guns rather than unlocking sweet perks. Just find the lack of perk progress kind of taunting but maybe thats cause i dont play RPGs often.
Posted 09:34pm 23/9/12
Posted 01:52am 24/9/12
The game really became awesome after this part too. Cool crystal monsters, cool invisible bat things, cool "hail" weapons. Also just got rockets on my turret = freaking awesome.
Really enjoying this game!
Posted 05:48am 24/9/12
It would be great if the skills were not so pigeon holed. Like Zero has to have a stealthy attack and the siren has some sort of dis-enguage warp power. It would be cool to pick from a list of abilities/skills or skill sets, Maybe in the next BL we will have a custom character and more skills/abilities.
I find playing Zero ok, less survivability but its still good, forces me to be better and use tactics.
Posted 11:19am 24/9/12
There was a recent exploit with golden keys and the DLC season pass, was a simple .ini file that kept the stats so people were unlocking all current DLC and getting unlimited keys. I tried it out but the loot in the chest wasn't as amazing as the drops I was getting or the quest rewards at some points. The golden chest is tuned to your current level though, so if you have some keys, maybe open one at level 20ish and then keep the rest for end level.
Posted 11:22am 24/9/12
Posted 11:33am 24/9/12
Can you post a link to the s*** that worked for you? Might give it another bash.
Posted 11:38am 24/9/12
For Borderlands ports, check here.
Worked for me, though I do use Simple Port Forwarding as my tool of choice, really awesome program.
Posted 11:44am 24/9/12
The Badass perks aren't per character, they're global. So if you play through the whole game with each class once you'll have a lot of bonuses.
Posted 02:33pm 24/9/12
See to me thats a disappointment. 3 trees but only 1 gets unlocked after a single playthru? I wouldnt play through again so it means most of the skills would be untouched in order to reach the higher level ranks.
Again, i would do 1 play through, maybe 2 as its pretty same same to me.
Posted 02:49pm 24/9/12
Posted 02:52pm 24/9/12
Well, its not for you ... its for people who want to have something to build to on multiple play throughs?
When did this idea that all features of a game should be for all playstyles gain traction?
Posted 02:59pm 24/9/12
the holotape or whatever they are of Tiny Tina's parents being killed. Since she tells you that Flesh-Stick killed them, and on the recordings there is a couple who are provided to hyperion corp's slag experimentation place by him, and Handsome Jack is forcing the doctor to inject them with slag. Pretty sad to listen to.
Posted 03:01pm 24/9/12
Posted 03:05pm 24/9/12
Posted 03:05pm 24/9/12
Well now i know that. I dont mind the devs making a game to better suit multiple play throughs, i just wasnt aware thats the case. Now i can just stick to playing it as a shooter and f*** off the unlock elements as they do f*** all.
Posted 03:56pm 24/9/12
That's all I could see from your last two posts.
Posted 04:08pm 24/9/12
I was never commenting on the length of the game, only the time required to access the unlocks/perks. As i said, if the game wants to reward players who play the campaign over and over and rack up tonnes of hours, then thats OK, i was just under the incorrect impression that most skill tree unlocks would be accessed during a single playthrough.
Posted 04:23pm 24/9/12
So ... Most skill tree unlocks for a class don't open on a single playthrough? As in < 50%?
Posted 04:46pm 24/9/12
So i was working with 1 skill tree maxed out of 3. Therefore 1/3 < 50%.
I decided to check it out in more detail:
Did a quick google and people seem to finish @ lvl mid 30s. So thats 30 skill points as you begin them @ lvl 5 right and finish @ lvl 35?
And using this skill tree:
http://borderlands.wikia.com/wiki/Zer0
It seems there are 10 skills per tree, with all skills having 5 ranks apart from 2 skills per tree with only 1 rank. So with 30 points, you couldnt even make it to the end of 1 tree if there are 42 in total required to access the final skill. Im guessing maybe you get some free unlocks as part of quests or something but i dont think ive got any of those so far with my lvl 11 dude.
So therefore, with only 30 points to allocate based on a single play thru, and a total of 126 skill points required to unlock all skills, thats <50% right? If 1 point in a skill allowed access to later skills (which i would prefer) then this wouldnt be the case but each skill needs to be maxed before the next tier level is available.
I dont remember the order of the tree but lets say you wanna unlock half of all the trees. So lets use 4x 5 ranks + 1x 1 rank per tree, x3. 63 unlocks required to max out half your skills in all 3 trees, and a single play through gives you 30. Again, <50%.
Maybe my maths is wrong, maybe ive overlooked something but to me the skills trees are a waste of time given that i generally play shooters once then dont touch them again. Dead Space, quake, doom, COD, FEAR, Just Cause, Serious Sam all single play thrus apart from Dead Space 2 which im part way thru play thru 2 and probably will never finish. Again, if they wanna make the skill trees for people who do multiple play thrus, thats fine by me, its just not the game im looking for.
Posted 04:47pm 24/9/12
It does seem like you want to access lots of a class' options in a single playthrough? To me that is counter-intuitive in a good RPG, because your development choices should create a unique character, so that means at least half of the choices are discarded.
This was one of the (imo more legitimate) complaints about d3. It went too far down the unlock everything path, with no decisions being permanent. It felt kind of hollow to me.
Posted 05:01pm 24/9/12
I dont mind not being able to unlock all skills, i would just rather they let you know approx how many unlocks you will have so you can plan your character. Now that i know 30, i would happily go and plan my character build as best as possible, like i did int he past with neverwinter nights and fallout 3/NV. I quite enjoyed thinking what stats i would level so that i could access certain skills at much later levels of the game.
What i really dislike is having to max a skill before unlocking later skills. Plenty of the skills i looked @ and thought 'meh' so using 5 points to max (1/6th of your points in a single play thru) i consider to be a waste of unlocks. If they allowed later tiers to be available after 1 point, i would much prefer that which i liked about diablo 2. I played diablo 3 for only a few hours before giving up. I loved diablo 2 but found the skills and characters in diablo 3 lacking.
I just noticed you have a SWOTR thing. So i guess you are a RPG fan which i can see why you like the borderlands unlock system. Me on the other hand, im all about FPS. The unique character thing i understand and really, really enjoyed that with Fallout 3 / NV. I spent quite a while looking at all the skills available @ certain levels and what i would put into each SPECIAL stat to that i could build a character i would like. I just think too many of the borderlands 2 skills are s*** unless they are maxed.
Posted 05:06pm 24/9/12
Posted 05:26pm 24/9/12
Posted 10:34pm 26/9/12
my steam doesn't have borderlands 2 premier club showing.. :S
last edited by Damo at 22:34:12 26/Sep/12
Posted 10:48pm 26/9/12
i have a 17 assasin, got bored and started a caommando.. so much more fun. he is at about lvl 25 i think.
Where abouts is the slaughterhouse?
Posted 10:54pm 26/9/12
When you blow up the train during the Tiny Tina section and enter the new indoor area, it's on the left I believe.
Hilarious music.
Posted 11:46pm 26/9/12
not cool dying on wave 7
Posted 06:54pm 27/9/12
Posted 09:51pm 27/9/12
Posted 05:47pm 28/9/12
Posted 05:54pm 28/9/12
Posted 06:01pm 28/9/12
Posted 09:35pm 28/9/12
Posted 10:20pm 28/9/12
Posted 05:52pm 30/9/12
Posted 07:07pm 30/9/12
Also the Commando's turret shield appears to be completely useless when you're past level 30 and especially when playing multiplayer - it doesn't scale with your level. Put turret up, one enemy shoots at it with a shotgun, shield goes down straight away. Might respec to undo that skill [until|if] they fix it.
Posted 07:57am 01/10/12
Is there anyway to up the difficulty level?
Posted 08:13am 01/10/12
Posted 08:18am 01/10/12
Posted 05:27pm 01/10/12
C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\My Games\Borderlands 2\WillowGame\Config
Open up WillowGame.ini and you will see GameDifficulty=+1.0 change that to 2 or whatever you want.
If you play over LAN or co-op make sure the person who you are playing with also has this changed to match. Just to make sure it all works.
Posted 01:42am 03/10/12
http://i.imgur.com/56oia.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/D0VJk.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/TEfCE.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/hgAnR.jpg
Not sure if anyone else noticed this, probably because not many people play Zer0.
Its a reference to Empire Strikes back when Solo is talking to the general about having a bounty on his head.
Posted 08:35am 03/10/12
Posted 09:43am 03/10/12
Posted 05:53pm 03/10/12
Posted 06:41pm 03/10/12
Posted 06:02pm 04/10/12
I finally got a ps3 for this??!?! :(
Posted 06:14pm 04/10/12
Posted 06:34pm 04/10/12
Posted 07:50pm 04/10/12
I like how each of these points is expanded on and discussed in some basic detail to explain why.
Oh wait ...
Posted 07:58pm 04/10/12
For me:
Too much time was spent stuffing around in the weapons menu. The constant going back and forth on maps was kinda meh after a while. i.e the dude after you get claptraps eye back, searching for his audio logs and checking in all the time and ugh, fail. Having to run back to the action in co-op mode when your up on those higher levels. And thats were i gave up.
Just overall feels weak. Guess im a COD fanboi of sorts. In that id rather play COD on the WII than BL2 on the PS3
Posted 08:08pm 04/10/12
That's like, at the beginning of the game. Sounds like you played the game for 10 minutes.
Yes I'd recommend sticking to linear on-rails shooters where you rush through boxed-in hallways and are required to frequently tap X quickly to trigger a scripted action for uber self-accomplishment feelings.
Posted 08:16pm 04/10/12
Posted 08:57pm 04/10/12
Only a few things annoy me so far, The inventory and other screens are not set up well for PC IMO. BL 1 inventory was set out batter and I did not have to shift into a different pane to look at something or swap something.
Posted 09:05pm 04/10/12
Posted 10:07pm 04/10/12
What hallway? The game is 95% outdoors.
Posted 10:18pm 04/10/12
And even though the game is "95% outdoors" 95% of the battles take place in small areas as enemies don't spawn miles from you.
Posted 09:13am 05/10/12
Posted 09:14am 05/10/12
Posted 02:38am 13/10/12
Navigate to C:\Users\*name*\Documents\My Games\borderlands 2\willowgame\Config and open willowengine.ini.
Search for this line: DefaultPostProcessName=WillowEngineMaterials.WillowScenePostProcess
and replace it with
DefaultPostProcessName=WillowEngineMaterials.RyanScenePostProcess
This turns off the thick black border, but also disables SSAO. However I suspect you may be able to force it back on with nvidia cards. here are 3 comparison shots.
Posted 04:36am 13/10/12
Borderlands isn't Borderlands without the thick black cartoony border.
However I'd recommend the following changes in the same config file to skip the intro cutscenes:
Also don't make bForceNoMovies equal to TRUE unless you want to skip all loading screens, intermediate and end cinematics ...
Posted 08:28pm 13/10/12
Posted 03:50pm 14/10/12