I was one of the lucky dozens of people that had the honor to be the first to get some hands-on gameplay with Borderlands 2 at E3. Before we entered the room, the 2K Games staff informed us of the contest that they had going on. We were to partner with another member of the media to join forces to get through the demo. Sound simple enough, right?
Once we got to our stations and picked up the Xbox 360 controller, I knew I would have a slightly harder time, since I played Borderlands on the PC. We were then allowed to select the character best suited to us, and since I played as Brick in the first one, it was only natural that I would play as Salvador the Gunzerker—and so did my partner. You would think that having two Gunzerkers would tear the place up. Not so much, in our case.
The AI has been greatly improved over Borderlands—enemies both organic and mechanical took cover and advanced at the both of us. The AI would team up and open fire on us if we weren’t careful, which happened to us multiple times. My partner was completely useless, as he was doing his own thing and not helping lay waste on the enemies. I found myself at the brink of death many times and luckily I manages to get my second wind to continue fighting. What I got out of this exercise is that in Borderlands 2, you will need work together to survive.
How the Gunzerker dual-wield works is this: the current weapon you are using and the weapon you have on quick switch will both come into play when the dual-wield ability is activated. If, for example, you used a Bazooka then switched over to a Shotgun, you will find yourself using both when you activate your dual-wield ability. Choosing which weapons you want to dual-wield will be important so that you don’t get caught with your pants down.
When robotic enemies entered the fray, I found that my pistols and machine guns were ineffective. When I was using the shotgun, though, I was able to unleash some real devastation on the mechs.
Overall Gearbox have improved their unique, cartoon-esque cel-shaded graphics—it looks much sharper. Each weapon that I picked up—from Pistols to Sniper Rifles—was unique, in true Borderlands style. No two guns looked or felt the same. I did not get a chance to craft any weapons or use any of the vehicles.
Fans of the first Borderlands will not be disappointed with Borderlands 2. Borderlands 2 is due to released on September 18,2012.
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