It's not a sequel. It's not a prequel. It's a pre-sequel. In this latest installment of the Borderlands series, players will be taken to that sweet spot right between Borderlands 1 and 2 and explore a whole new area: the moon of Pandora, where the reduced gravity allows for weightless jumps, opening up all new ways to traverse the landscape and avoid enemies.
The new cast of four includes Wilhelm (Handsome Jack's secret weapon from the sequel), duel wielder Nisha, Athena and her Kinectic Aspis shield, and…Claptrap.
On Pandora's moon they'll also find Laser weaponry and a new elemental type known as Cryo, which freezes enemies so they can be blasted into shards, as they fight alongside Handsome Jack in the time before he goes all anti-hero in Borderlands 2.
I got my hands on the demo at E3 and got to test out two of the new characters and reduced gravity for myself. I'm particularly fond of Wilhelm's drones Wolf and Saint, who acted not unlike a pair of double Bloodwings. The gravity effects are fun to play with and definitely put a fun, fresh spin on Borderlands gameplay. The new Laser weapontry and Cryo elemental effects are as inventive as they are gleefully destructive.
Make no mistake though that this is a Borderlands 1.5 game, and does not offer a sequel experience; the changes are welcome but surface at best, and the game is strictly last generation only.
That said, if you're a Borderlands superfan like me, you'll probably think that's fine. This game will serve as a way to buy them some time before the glory that will be Borderlands 3.
The game is due October 14, 2014 on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. If you haven't yet be sure to check out their E3 trailer featuring a dance segment mocapped by Harmonix. You'll find the full set of E3 screen shots below.
