Borderlands Excitement!

After several years of waiting (4?), it appears that we will finally be getting a new Borderlands game!  This week two new trailers were released--a theatrical trailer announcing the game and a gameplay trailer.  I was very excited to view the theatrical trailer and see which direction the new game is taking.  It appears that we will get a proper sequel to Borderlands 2 as opposed to a spinoff like The Pre-Sequel.  Here is the trailer--give it a gander:

I was a bit surprised to read somewhat mixed assessments of the trailer.  Fans of the series (like me) reacted with joy, but I did see at least one news outlet that panned it as appearing to be "more of the same" and needing something fresh.  I can't fully disagree with that viewpoint--I think the series could use some improvement--but I saw plenty in the trailer to be excited about.

One of my first impressions was joy at seeing the old crew from Borderlands 2 and several other familiar faces.  For me, the highlight of the series has always been the whacky characters and learning about the various vault hunters.  From the trailer, it looks like Lillith, Brick, and Mordecai will be back (to me, it looks like they will most likely be NPC's who are tied in with the story). 

We also get a glimpse at the characters who I am assuming will be our future set of playable vault hunters.  On that front, I do see some similarities to the character classes of the past--there appears to be a siren (a very ripped siren!) who possibly has some melee abilities (six arms for massive punching!); a character with summonable abilities--it looks like he can summon a wide variety of robotic turrets, suits, etc.; there's a character who gives me a very Zer0 feeling--like he's an alien in a suit; and of course, there seems to be a traditional, soldier-like character.

The highlight of the trailer for me, is the premise that the game will stretch over many different worlds.  Tales From the Borderlands revealed a universe wide system of vaults, which is the perfect setup for creating a massive, open world full of new environments.  My major hope is that a big part of the story will be locating vaults and raiding them.  The vault aspect of the game has always been one of its bigger disappointments.

The video also introduces us to two characters who appear to be the new villains of the game--a scarred, floppy-haired guy and a white-haired, evil looking lady.  They look like quite the duo.  I hope they can measure up to the maniacal evil of Handsome Jack.  The video also boasts of new enemies to slay and there looks to be several varieties.

I am also excited to see several notable side characters make an appearance in the video.  We get a brief glimpse of a building that says "Ellie's Scrapyard" and there is a shot of Tiny Tina (only she's not so tiny anymore!).  There's even a shot of Rhys from Tales From the Borderlands!  It's going to be very cool to see what role they play in the new game (and maybe Fiona and Sasha too--I can hope).

And, of course, there's the mention of OVER A BILLION different guns!  What's not to like about that?  And really, why aren't there more guns with legs?  C'mon!

Overall, I'm feeling excited at the prospect of a new game even though I've always had some mixed feelings about Borderlands.  I love the series for its quirky characters and macabre, bizarre sense of humor, but the gameplay can get a bit dull.  Maybe the critics are right to be a bit underwhelmed at the new trailer--it does appear that there are a lot of very familiar aspects--or maybe the critics are just being overly critical?  It remains to be seen.  One of my major fears for the series is that the obsession with making everything "BATTLE ROYALE!!!!" will spill over into the new game.

Another piece of exciting news accompanied the trailer--owners of the previous games will be getting a free, remastered version of all three!  The remaster will add in improved graphics for all three games, but will see the most changes coming to the original Borderlands.  The first game will get some of the better features of the later games--swappable character heads and skins, a better inventory system (with easy flagging for selling items and favorites), a minimap, and golden key chests.  These new features should make playing the first game, which is the weakest, more enjoyable.

The remastered games release on Steam on April 3rd, so mark your calendars and get ready for some lootin' shootin' fun!

Fragtrapped

My virtual gaming ADD, which lately has seen me unable to settle on playing a specific game, has finally settled down.  Last week I wrote about how I was hopping around a few different games with no real dedication to one title.  Strangely, after I had written that post, I ended up feeling a weird pull toward a very unlikely title that I've always felt more than a little ambivalent about--Borderlands:  The Pre-Sequel.  I decided that I would start it up and see exactly where I had left off and go from there.

Claptrap is basically a rolling roulette wheel.

My new-old B:TP-S game had ended on a playthrough with a level 6 Claptrap--yes, I had decided to stop playing as the world's most annoying robot.  Being at level 6 was perfect for where I wanted to start--it wasn't a brand new playthrough so I didn't have to drool through all the tutorials, but there were still a few left to help refresh my memory after a long period away.  I decided to stick with Clappy and keep going.

As one of the vault hunters, Claptrap offers a bit of variety.  He doesn't really have a set action skill and, according to the game, his software helps him analyze the situation and pick the best choice for a specific situation.  After vaulthunter.exe has finished its analysis, you could wind up with any number of abilities popping up such as:

1.) Funzerker--Clappy will wield two weapons and fire constantly for the duration of the action.  This is inspired by the gunzerker character and skill from Borderlands 2.  It's a huge ammo drain, but it's handy for clearing out large groups of enemies or throwing down a bunch of damage on a badass.

2.) Meat Unicycle--Clappy takes on a psycho personality and wields a melee weapon.  Melee damage is massively increased and you cannot use your guns.  Mostly, you get shot a lot.

3.) Miniontrap--Clappy turns invisible and drops a smaller claptrap that can shoot rockets.  This ability is very useful for low-health situations.  Being invisible means you aren't getting attacked and your mini-minion actually does a decent amount of damage.

4.) Mechromancer--A mini-mechcromancer minion flies around and attacks enemies for the duration of this skill.  It's good for groups of enemies.

5.) Blightbot--Another mini-minion that is similar to the mechromancer but that flies around dealing corrosive and fire damage.

6.) Rubber ducky--Clappy is riding a giant rubber duck and will bounce in the air for the duration of the skill.  Bullets are deflected so it's sort of like a short period of invincibility...but it's really hard to attack when you're bouncing in the air.

There are probably some that I'm missing, but the point is that Claptrap's action skill is a total toss up and you never know exactly which one you're going to get.  It definitely keeps you on your toes and does offer some humor and variety.

Claptrap's talents also seem to be built around making everything completely chaotic.  One tree offers the ability to gain a fire and reload speed (and possibly damage) buff but the type of weapon changes every 100 seconds.  I took this talent and am constantly switching weapons--it's kind of fun and doesn't allow you to settle on a specific weapon type.

It's very odd that I settled back on The Pre-Sequel because I've found it to be one of the weaker entries in the series.  They tried to spice the game up by adding in low-gravity, freeze weapons, butt slamming, and lasers, but all these minor novelties can't make up for the boring story that is lacking the fun characters from the other games.  For some reason, I've been more entertained than in my past playthroughs--maybe the chaos of Clappy is just right?

Whatever the reason, I'm planning on finishing the final missions with my friendly little Claptrap.  Sometimes the weirdest games just have a way of grabbing you.