Handsome Jack--Hero

That's right, I said hero.  I finally got to delve back into the world of Borderlands with the release of Borderlands:  The Pre-Sequel yesterday.  There were some familiar faces, but plenty of new crazies to fill up the loony bin that is Borderlands.

For my first playthrough I chose Athena, the gladiator.  Athena's special skill is pulling out her shield--called an aspis--and soaking up damage before throwing the shield for twice the damage absorbed.  This ability seems to suit her as a "tank" type of role.  She can run around soaking up bullets while the rest of the squad blasts the bad guys.

The first few missions take place on the Hyperion space station that is docked above Pandora's moon, Elpis.  Handsome Jack (who's not really Jack, but still John) has hired the vault hunters to help him fight off an attack by some Dahl mercenaries who are trying to take over the space station (the one that looks like a giant H--it has a name that I can't remember).  At this point the gameplay seemed identical to the previous games.  Run around shooting bad guys, loot a billion containers, and complete quests.

Then, the old crew from Borderlands/Borderlands 2 come into the picture (Lillith, Mordecai, and Brick).  As part of the story your chosen character has been capture in Sanctuary and is retelling what happened.  The result of this is that there is lots of funny banter between the old crew (something that was added into DLC like Tiny Tina's Dragon Keep and that I really loved).

It's midway through the opening sequence that your old arch-enemy from Borderlands 2, Handsome Jack, makes his appearance.  Shockingly, he's actually pretty cool.  He guides you through the station and helps you find a way to escape.  He even offers to stay behind and make sure you are launched to Elpis safely.  This is a completely different character from the Jack that you will remember from Borderlands 2.  I'm interested to see how and why he changes as I play through the game.

Once on Elpis you are able to fully realize the difference between the game play in this game and in the others.  Your character is rescued by a zany moon lady named Janey who offers to guide you to her base.  You overcome a short trip with no oxygen and then spend some time completing a mission to find an "oz kit" which is a breathing and jump boosting system for your character.  One part that took me awhile to get used to was the low-gravity on Elpis.  When you jump you hang in the air, when you sprint you take long, bouncy strides.  You can also use your Oz kit to boost your jump and float for a short distance or to slam back down on top of unsuspecting foes.  I haven't quite mastered the butt slam yet, but I'm working on it.