Borderlands 2

Bigger, crazier and more diverse than original. A role-playing shooter that raises the bar for both RPGs and shooters. Wonderful.

It's expertly paced, cleverly written, gorgeously refined and beautifully executed. What surprised me the most is the sheer level of detail involved. Personalised character elements, the duel for loot system and the depth of your skill tree customisation makes playing for yourself more satisfying than ever. Symbiotic AI and meta-challenge systems give you more reason to fight on. And a combination of loot-chasing and story make Borderlands 2 a must own.

Pandora feels more like an actual place than a virtual battleground, thanks to Gearbox's attention to detail in this game...I mean, when was the last time you cared about the name of any gun manufacturer in any shooter you played recently? Listen, I've played the heck out of the COD: MW titles, and I've used a TAR-21 more times than I care to mention, but I couldn't tell you who manufactured it... The gun-makers in Borderlands 2 don't even exist, for goodness sake, and I'm already brand-loyal to one of them.

Borderlands 2 is a better game than Borderlands in every imaginable way. Scoff at anyone who calls it a v1.5 update; this is really what a sequel should be. At the most basic level, you've got the same great experience that the 2009 game offered, only with much more depth and variety.

With its unmatched co-op gameplay, intense shootouts, addictive loot collecting, expansive skill customization, hilarious dialogue, and insane level of difficulty, Borderlands 2 is one of the most rewarding gaming experiences of this console generation. [Oct 2012, p.90]

It's a game for gamers, and a stark reminder that often the best games aren't those that set out to redefine the medium, or seek dour creative legitimacy, but those that set out to entertain, to make us laugh, to surprise us, and make such an impression that we'll return to them for years to come.

Overall, I found myself stopping to smell the roses on a number of ocassions, attempting to raise my Badass Rank just for fun. Even in the more run-of-the-mill areas or quests you might encounter during the game, these challenges help keep things interesting.

Damned impressive, standing head and shoulders above the original and other games in the genre as the most addictive, engrossing co-operative FPS game of this generation. A bona fide game-of-the-year candidate.

Borderlands 2 takes the franchises's successful formula of tons of guns and absurd humor combined with enough bells and whistles to make you drool like a dog at feeding time and simply updates it instead of changing it completely.

Bigger. Ballsier. Bullet-ier. Borderlands 2 is the antidote to stuffy military shooters. [Nov 2012, p.64]

Bigger, longer, better, funnier, and the list goes on and on. It comes closer to perfection, and even though there's still room for improvement, Borderlands 2 will be one of those game we'll remember in a few years when we think about "the previous generation".

I can't recall a more convincing successor than Borderlands 2, which has undoubtedly and so convincingly crushed the original to smithereens.

Borderlands 2 is one of the best co-op games around and more broadly one of the most enjoyable ones, thanks to the sheer variety of weapons, enemies and missions, capable to entertain the player for many hours and several play-throughs. A must-play.

The story in Borderlands 2 is by far the biggest improvement. The humor and over-the-top style that was merely glimpsed in the first game are ever-present here. Strong personalities drive the experience from beginning to end, whether it's Claptrap's sense of self-importance, Tiny Tina's hyperactivity, or Handsome Jack's spiteful annoyance.

Borderlands 2 is everything fans of the original could have hoped for. No, it doesn't mess with a formula that already proved itself. Instead it supports the framework for a great role-playing game with a bigger world, while offering more customization options for its players. It's also one of the funnier games you're likely to play this year.

Borderlands 2 is a FPS/RPG fusion the rest of the videogame development world should stand up and pay attention to, because Gearbox has backed a real winner in this IP. A must-buy.

Borderlands 2 is a marvelous sequel. Its unique style, vast world and funny characters draw you in, its hectic combat and endless supply of loot cause addiction. Superb audio-visual quality and smooth co-op are only the topping on the cake. Borderlands is one of the best games of 2012. [Oct 2012]

Overall, despite a small number of flaws, Borderlands 2 is well worth picking up. It provides the same action packed, RPG style experience found in the original game, spread across a larger world with lot more stuff to do and explore.

A fantastic sequel full to the brim with colour, verve and personality, excelling as an enjoyable shooter with involving RPG elements despite more fetch quests than several dogs will experience in a lifetime. It's all wonderfully well-executed and fun to play.

Recycling weapons has never been this fun. Borderlands improves and expands on everything in the predecessor. It's bigger, better and even more hilarious than anything you could have hoped for.

For fans of the original Borderlands this will be a must buy, but for those who are still on the fence, it's time to come down. Borderlands 2 has everything that made Borderlands great while improving on the things that players found dull in the first game – most notably the bland environments. Although we are going to see a lot of games releasing next month, if you still haven't picked up Borderlands 2, I would highly suggest you go out and grab it right now!

It's probably one of the best co-op games you'll ever play. [Issue#90, p.72]

Borderlands 2 is a must have, whether you have played the original or not, it adds plenty of new content and offers up enough change to be worth the purchase. Having the weight of expectancy on its shoulders hasn't done any harm and it certainly lives up to the hype.

It's bigger, better and more addictive than ever. If you loved the first one, you simply can't miss Gearbox's latest game.

Borderlands 2 is a role playing game combined with a shooter, including a Bazillionen weapons and enemies, with an extremely brilliant cel-shaded look. This and tons of loot are guaranteed to captivate the player to the screen.

An evolutionary improvement on the original and by consequence one of the best co-operative first person shooters ever made.

Borderlands is an amazing collection of bizarre weaponry, hectic fights and great humour. The different environments, crazy weapons and unique skills keep the game fresh from start to finish. The game might have been better off with a slightly lower pace when playing alone, but this is easily outweighed by the fun you'll have when playing with a friend. If you're going to buy just one cooperative game this year, let it be Borderlands 2.

Borderlands 2 is a denser, richer version of it's predecessor, never compromising on the gunplay that made the series worthy of a sequel.

The sound design isn't going to do much for you if you're not a fan of the direction electronic music has taken these days, but I personally feel that the game's soundtrack is of incredible quality and matches perfectly with Borderland's style and how it plays. It's intense, powerful, edgy and exactly what a videogame of this caliber needs in order to stay immersed with the atmosphere.

Gearbox takes all the good ideas from the first game and tweaks everything to produce a great sequel. Guns, a better story, more guns, nice character progression and even more guns make Borderlands 2 one of the finest games of this year.

An epic sequel with a compelling, entertaining, long-lasting single player and one of the finest co-op experiences of all time.

Borderlands 2 might not develop extensively on its forebear, but it has even greater power to hold you for hours on end, deftly weaving RPG stat development with skill-based play. It's enough to make every decision you make meaningful and fun, and lend the realisation that Gearbox knows more about the fundamentals of the shooter than almost any other developer.

'Shoot me in the face! Shoot me in the face! Come on, shoot me IN THE FACE!', a maniacal guy shouts at us passionately. A neck shot and dead body later, the message appears on screen: congratulations, mission accomplished. It's moments like these that show that Borderlands 2 has found its voice. One filled with uncontrolled anger, sudden mania, crude humor and lots of depth. The planet Pandora will keep anyone in its grip for at least thirty hours with intense shoot-outs, bizarre side-quests and crazy characters.

It's clear that GearBox wanted to attract the undecided gamers, and they've done it in the best possible way with Borderlands 2. Multiplayer cooperative fans should all head to Pandora.

If we were to level any specific criticisms about Borderlands 2 it would be the whole guns thing. Yeah, we get it, the game has all the guns ever, but to be honest a lot of them are pretty samey, with maybe a new adjective or stat change here and there.

The wacky world that Gearbox has built really shines in Borderlands 2. It doesn't just work as a means to deliver funny lines of dialogue, though. Here is an established universe providing ample free reign to contrive silly gameplay mechanics that defy both first-person shooter and role-playing game conventions in way that has me convinced we'll be seeing a lot more Borderlands in the future.

On paper, this sequel reads much the same as the original. But it's not - it's a vastly superior game with a sharper focus, better quests and more enjoyable blasting. Borderlands 2 is a gamer's game, so if you like shooting things, levelling up and exploring every cubby hole across a massive, varied world - if you love games, basically - then it's definitely for you.

Borderlands 2 improves on all the elements that made the first one such a big surprise, offering a fun and complete package. Great for solo, absolutely fantastic in co-op.

Borderlands 2 is full of memorable moments and silly, crass folks – and if those silly, crass folks happen to be your friends, it's easily one of the best co-op experiences out there, and one of the best games I've played all year.

Borderlands 2 features an insane amount of content. Expect to spend at least 40 hours finishing the main story campaign, and much more than that to complete all the optional missions. Once you beat the campaign, you can replay the game in harder Vault Hunter mode with your veteran character for even better loot and rewards.

The words "awesome" and "badass" are used a lot in this game, but Gearbox has earned the right. When you gunzerk into a crowd of bandits, get killed, and your shield's nova kicks in, wiping everyone out and bringing you back to life, you'll think so too.

At the end of the day Borderlands 2 is a game that should be played, as the fun factor is high, the addictiveness is through the roof, and the game provides hours of gaming entertainment.

A few relatively minor complaints aside, Borderlands 2 improves not only the narrative, but almost every major game system. If you've been itching for a reason to jump back into the world of Pandora, Borderlands 2 provides a more than ample supply.

In the end, I have to say that Borderlands 2 serves as a wonderful example of how to make a sequel work.

Forget Borderlands. Borderlands 2 is so much better. The game, which combines shooter elements with RPG-elements, provides action, humor and a lot of diversity. It's a shame that the story is too hard to follow but nonetheless the game stays strong. Not to forget it's got an really addictive element in it: loot!

Nothing about it screams revolution of the series, but at the same time, it remains a fairly fantastic experience. If looting and shooting for 30 hours sounds great to you, and you enjoy the shooting mechanics, it is a no-brainer. Playing with friends is a blast, and the humor is outstanding. This is a finely crafted sequel that will likely impress all fans of the original.

If you love to laugh and shoot at the same time, Borderlands 2 is for you. The remarkable humor oozes through the whole 40 hour long game and is the glue that keeps the otherwise not-so innovative game together. Gearbox managed a pimped version of the original game but dared not to try something new.

Borderlands 2 doesn't reach far beyond its predecessor's scope, but it does do almost everything better. Additions, refinements, and fixes all combine to create an appreciably improved experience, one that fully delivers on the promise of the first game. While Borderlands felt empty at times, this sequel is bursting with content and brimming with life, making it an absolutely delightful way to spend hours and hours and hours of your free time.

The only downside here is that at some point the game may still feel like you're going through yet another generic loot fest, ultimately offering very little substance to those gamers who expect a richer story and a connection with the in-game characters.

In conclusion, Borderlands 2 is a significant improvement on the original; it sharpens up the narrative, the core game progression, the visual theme and many other fundamental aspects that needed adjustment.

Borderlands is now a known quantity, which is both good and bad. While Borderlands 2 is without a doubt the best version of Borderlands that there is, the best experience one can have with this fledgling series will always come with that first trip to Pandora, and for many, that special moment has already passed.

After a couple of slow hours in the beginning, Borderlands 2 starts for real. It's filled to the brim with guns and humor, complete with co-op, classes, skill trees and DLC on the horizon. This is a game that will keep you occupied for a long time.

We also take some issue with Borderlands 2's sense of humour. While it's welcome, it draws so frequently on up-to-the-minute memes that it becomes hard to remain immersed in an experience supposedly taking place in the distant future, on a remote planet, and among people who have no reason to understand the significance of an arrow in the knee. Most of it's just not that funny.

More comprehensive, more varied, better polished, Borderlands 2 still boasts the same strengths from three years ago, only enhanced. It's still a rather brutal FPS mixed with loot-whoring RPG, with a unique design and a super-violent, super-crazy world.

A fulfilling experience. The improvements to gunplay and customization take it further than its predecessor. Its story gives you enough hooks and motivators to want to see it through to the end. Unfortunately, it may feel like a bit of a slog to get there, and you'll want to sort out exactly who's hosting that game between you and your online friends very early on. However, with a well-balanced squad, there are few more pleasing experiences than taking down a gigantic robot constructor through four unique skillsets.

Borderlands 2 is a better game in most of the ways that matter, but some of that is brought down by the familiarity of the experience.

Borderlands 2 is unquestionably a better game than Borderlands. The new emphasis on elemental weapons and dismemberment make for better combat scenarios, and the constant character improvement is a great push forward for players looking for long-term rewards. But sticking around for those payoffs requires more patience than I'd hoped.