Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!

Overview

Set in between the end of Borderlands and the beginning of Borderlands 2, before Handsome Jack became the CEO of Hyperion, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel stars a new team of four unique Vault Hunters, all of whom are under the employ of a humble programmer named Jack, assisting him in his secret plans for power. However, in a new twist for the series, the classes are all pre-existing characters from within the universe, which includes the playable debut of series mascot ClapTrap.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel was developed primarily by 2K Australia, though Gearbox--developers of the previous two games in the series--pitched in as well.

Gameplay

Overview

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel plays very similarly to Borderlands 2 as a loot-driven, first-person shooter RPG, and once again includes online cooperative play for up to 4-players. What really sets it apart from previous Borderlands games is its setting, being Pandora's moon, Elpis. Because there's no atmosphere, this allows players to jump significantly higher than usual and have better "air" control. While off the ground, players can also then press the crouch button to do a powerful Butt Slam attack, sending them flinging towards the ground at high speed.

The caveat to now being on the moon is that players have but a limited supply of oxygen when exploring outside - except for ClapTrap, who doesn't need to breathe, being a robot.

Playable Characters

The four new playable character classes are all familiar faces from the Borderlands universe:

• Athena the Gladiator - A former Atlas soldier-turned-mercenary from the "The Secret Armory of General Knoxx" DLC for Borderlands.

• Wilhelm the Enforcer - The Hyperion engineer and personal bodyguard to Handsome Jack in Borderlands 2, killed in a boss battle by the player.

• Nisha the Lawbringer - The Sheriff of Lynchwood and Handsome Jack's girlfriend from Borderlands 2, killed in a boss battle by the player.

• ClapTrap the FragTrap - Formerly the Interplanetary Ninja Assassin ClapTrap militarized by Hyperion in the "ClapTrap's New Robot Revolution" DLC for Borderlands 1, and eventually the last remaining ClapTrap, a comic relief sidekick in Borderlands 2.

Development

While not a direct numbered sequel, the high sales and positive reception to Borderlands 2 lead to the development of another Borderlands game, though one that went through a much quicker development schedule than between the first two games. However due to Gearbox currently working on different projects, it was handed over to 2K Australia to lead the development.

Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox, claimed during the game's announcement on 04/09/14 that they do not wish to develop the game for PlayStation 4 or Xbox One for economical reasons, and believes that they'd rather focus exclusively on the previous generation due to the higher install-base.

The Pre-Sequel eventually became available to play on PS4 and XB1 via the Handsome Collection alongside Borderlands 2.

System requirements