Borderlands 2

 PC
User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3664 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,828 out of 3664
  2. Mixed: 538 out of 3664
  3. Negative: 298 out of 3664
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  1. ChrisPD
    Oct 1, 2012
    6
    Art style and presentation is fantastic. Works very well on PC and, voice acting helps drive the story forward. The decoration of the areas, for want of a better word, is lush and interesting. Character animation when shooting is fun and the ragdoll physics makes the world feel nice and alive.

    However I'm 30 hours in and I can feel the repetitive gameplay become more evident as the    Art style and presentation is fantastic. Works very well on PC and, voice acting helps drive the story forward. The decoration of the areas, for want of a better word, is lush and interesting. Character animation when shooting is fun and the ragdoll physics makes the world feel nice and alive.

    However I'm 30 hours in and I can feel the repetitive gameplay become more evident as the novelty wears off. I didn't play Borderlands 1 and I can imagine if I had I'd be quite bored.

    My main complaint is with the limited scale of the areas. The game world feels cramped, this is no Capital Wasteland. I make the comparison as the scale, complexity and exploration aspects of Fallout 3 is something that I started to crave. Especially as when completing an area, taking up to an hour to advance the story, the next side mission you take often has you going literally around in circles through the same area you've just cleared, fighting instantly respawned enemies, and even respawned bosses. I've come to the conclusion that running through the story missions and actively avoiding side missions is the only way I can keep interest in the game after the 25 hour mark.

    The bipedal enemies are fun in the most part, but the creature enemies I found annoying. They almost always run at you and swarm you, which is doubly annoying when they respawn behind you. And finally the big USP is the limitless amount of guns. This is slightly disingenuous as there are 4 gun classes underneath which all guns are roughly similar. They have randomised stats, and effects which once you've seen them, aren't too interesting. The loot powers up with your level, so you'll never stumble across a great gun early on. Which also makes playing early side missions and going back to early areas after you've levelled up pointless as all the loot is underpowered, and which is another tick against doing side missions.

    This game is pretty but shallow. Which is upsetting as I was hoping for something a bit more subversive, gritty, and epic in scale. If you can live with the repetitiveness and want to get lost in the art style I recommend it. For me I'm counting the days until Firaxis release Xcom.    … Expand
  2. Valerium
    Oct 4, 2012
    6
    I loved borderlands 1, LOVED it, played it 3 times, was great fun every single time, both by yourself and with others. Now I wanted to love Borderlands 2, I truly did, but something about the game was rubbing me the wrong way all the way through. After finishing the second playthrough and clocked over 100 hours, I can say this at least:

    A lot of people, hell almost everyone keeps    I loved borderlands 1, LOVED it, played it 3 times, was great fun every single time, both by yourself and with others. Now I wanted to love Borderlands 2, I truly did, but something about the game was rubbing me the wrong way all the way through. After finishing the second playthrough and clocked over 100 hours, I can say this at least:

    A lot of people, hell almost everyone keeps claiming that Borderlands 2 is a big improvement upon the original and that everything is better then the first, truth is it really isnt true.

    Some of the most important aspects are done poorly, the guns is a big important part of the game and in the original it wasnt hard to find a gun you found to be perfect. a uber shotgun with high accuracy, 30 round drum, fast fire rate, fast reload speed, pretty much the perfect gun. Well let me stop you right here, you will never, EVER find such a gun in Borderlands 2. Every single gun in this game has something negative to it, in fact I'd go as far as saying they only excel at one aspect at best. Either you have a big clip, or you do high damage, or you have high accuracy, but you'll never have them all. This annoyed me greatly. In 100+ hours I never found a good combat rifle, never found that shotgun that felt just right, etc

    Another thing that is done poorly, especially in a game like this that promotes Co-Op so badly, is weapon sharing, it is none existant. in the original game, each character was subtly suggested to use certain weapon types, and this is further encouraged by getting weapon levels after using a type of weapon for a while, which increased the parameters for that type of weapon, for example roland has talents for assault rifles and shotguns, and by using those weapons a lot you get experience in those weapons so you are less likely to pick up other types of weapons and stick with those you specilise in. In BL2 that system is thrown out of the window, everyone is good with all weapon types, which is good, but it also ment I spent 60% of the game with a sniper...as did all of the people I played with, and whenever a weapon chest was opened EVERYONE wanted EVERYTHING, you never heard "hey there is a good smg for you here" or "you take that assault rifle, i speciilize in shotguns" they didnt think that through.

    third, and this is just a opinion but I found the humor just not the same this time around, part of what made borderlands 1 so good was the writing. The random events that happend and the dialogue the NPCs said it just fit really well in the world of pandora, even little things like the vendor machine dialogue this time around the NPCs, most of which are newly introduced characters just arent funny, the cutscenes feel forced, the jokes are pretty lame, I didnt chuckle once at these jokes.

    Honestly I feel they focused too much on the wrong things. I can honestly tell you, that the few things that were wrong with the original game are fixed in the sequel. The poorly intigrated multiplayer, the constant wasteland enviroment and the relatively easy difficulty of the original, and in that sense, yes they improved the game, but they also butchered the well executed aspects of the original.

    Long story short, they focused too much on the story, the enemy variety and uniquely looking enviroment, and weapon looks, but the cost was too high, writing is bad in this game, guns never feel good, and because everyone uses the same guns, co-op is almost pointless since everyone wants to use the same guns, and its impossible to decide who gets what this time around.

    I played it for 100 hours so oblivously it wasnt a terrible game, but neither was it exciting.    … Expand
  3. Cytokinesis
    Sep 18, 2012
    5
    Overall thought it was extremely mediocre. If you really liked the first then you will probably like this one, because not much has changed. It's the same formula, just more of it. Everything they did before has been improved, however, but much of the core gameplay remains unchanged and very boring/static. Writing is the same "2 edgy 4 u" **** that panders to the lowest demographic, filledOverall thought it was extremely mediocre. If you really liked the first then you will probably like this one, because not much has changed. It's the same formula, just more of it. Everything they did before has been improved, however, but much of the core gameplay remains unchanged and very boring/static. Writing is the same "2 edgy 4 u" **** that panders to the lowest demographic, filled with pop-culture references and lame jokes. If all you want to do it fetch stuff and shoot things, then this is your game. If you want a game with substance, look somewhere else.… Expand
  4. DrZoidberg1000
    Sep 19, 2012
    5
    I made this second account to write a more neutral, factual review, since unlike many others here, I actually have played Borderlands 2. The first review is more critical of the game on principle, so I wanted to review it as a game with all the additional factors stripped away. I used actual facts from the PC version, like the cluttered inventory system, the lack of dedicated controls forI made this second account to write a more neutral, factual review, since unlike many others here, I actually have played Borderlands 2. The first review is more critical of the game on principle, so I wanted to review it as a game with all the additional factors stripped away. I used actual facts from the PC version, like the cluttered inventory system, the lack of dedicated controls for features like designating weapons as trash/favorites, the existence of day 1 dlc like the monster arenas and the gearbox weapons and keys, the poor humor that relies on tasteless internet culture like arrow to the knee and other references, and the several small improvements to the game such as the addition of new shot and grenade types, the better graphics and color palette, and the minor pc additions in the settings. What do I get for being honest and factual? Review deleted. Buzz off Gearbox, you cannot censor me.… Expand
  5. 48Laws
    Aug 26, 2013
    7
    This game comes off as a more finished version of Borderlands. About 10 hours in, the visuals are nicer, the combat is fun (same), and there seems to be more NPC talking. The killer for me was the decision to replace the Borderlands protagonists with... mutant-twin-copypasta, lame across the board versions of the Borderlands protagonists. It's my fault for not pre-ordering the game, butThis game comes off as a more finished version of Borderlands. About 10 hours in, the visuals are nicer, the combat is fun (same), and there seems to be more NPC talking. The killer for me was the decision to replace the Borderlands protagonists with... mutant-twin-copypasta, lame across the board versions of the Borderlands protagonists. It's my fault for not pre-ordering the game, but I'm now facing the prospect of waiting until mid-October and shelling out another $10 to play as a character that doesn't seem to be eerily familiar (reasonable or not, I almost instantly feel hostile toward developers who do this). During the DLC of Borderlands I started to feel like I was getting tired of exploring Pandora, and though I was excited going in my enthusiasm for Borderlands 2 is quickly waning. Too much focus was put on trying to make the story "better," and the game as a whole suffered. I played Borderlands when I wanted to mindlessly drive around, kill things, and collect guns. I would have honestly been happier with the same playable characters and new adventures.… Expand
  6. djbarker
    Apr 16, 2014
    7
    So funny! The fist play through is pure pleasure. But by the second, third and DLC, I was saturated. Coop was sometimes awesome, but insanely powerful loot turned coop into a walk. Because of the crazy loot, many parts have real badasses to fight that are impossible to solo, but a piece of piss in a group. It was nearly fantastic, but then came over leveling, where you can get matched upSo funny! The fist play through is pure pleasure. But by the second, third and DLC, I was saturated. Coop was sometimes awesome, but insanely powerful loot turned coop into a walk. Because of the crazy loot, many parts have real badasses to fight that are impossible to solo, but a piece of piss in a group. It was nearly fantastic, but then came over leveling, where you can get matched up with people 8+ lvls stronger than you, but you cant tell because lvls stop being numeric at 72. I don;t see the point in wandering around a make believe world where your buddies make the enemy evaporate, while you collect stuff. If only the difficulty balancing was done right.… Expand
  7. filthyrichguy
    Feb 25, 2014
    7
    I'm 40 hours into the game but I got bored and ditched it (almost finished it). It's a very good game when compared to the rest of the FPS junk out there. I've finished the original Borderlands twice and this one not even once - both games have a substantially long long play time but the first one, even with the paper thin story was very captivating and had a nice feel of mystery to it.I'm 40 hours into the game but I got bored and ditched it (almost finished it). It's a very good game when compared to the rest of the FPS junk out there. I've finished the original Borderlands twice and this one not even once - both games have a substantially long long play time but the first one, even with the paper thin story was very captivating and had a nice feel of mystery to it. Most great things from the original game are here too, bigger and better. What's the problem then? Well, the few things that are NOT bigger and better, in fact they are abysmall. Humor is almost completely lost, main antagonist is seldom funny and he tries too damn hard, complete with real-life references aimed at mom's basement reddit dwelling teenagers - it definitely kills the mystery. Jokes feel like something that came out of **** constantly poking fun at its own bad writing. The only part of the game that was really immersive and a proper "Borderlands feel" to it was the Caustic Caverns and I think Borderlands fans will agree here, it is the hardest and most fantastic part of the game, it has stunning level design, spectacular monsters and captivating story behind it - the whole place was truly creepy complete with Borderlands' trademark black humor. After that level though, everything else was "meh". What made me quit the game though was the new item system where you get a purple (epic) gun with super short range but a super uber snipe scope - original Borderlands had its "funny weapons", yes, but in amounts of good taste. In this one though, MOST of the stuff is randomly geneated junk and you have an OCEAN of purple/orange items to compare in hopes of finding an ideal gun - this becomes a tedious and boring task. In first BL, ANY orange gun was probably better than what you currently had, in this one though you will have plenty of orange/yellow guns that are completely useless. As you progress in the game this will happen more often. You will end up using a purple weapon 10 levels behind you because all you can find is total junk even aften killing a major boss 5 times. With the "gun skill" attribute removed I was happy thinking now I can use any gun but I just can't FIND any gun that's even remotely usable. With that said I rage quitted the game after I finally found an orange Vladoff minigun but it had some ridiculously extreme attributes that conflicted with each other e.g. over the top precision that you don't need in the first place and too high fire rate but as compensation for those "awesome stats" it had massive recoil effectively making it unusable.… Expand
  8. TitaniumDragon
    Nov 8, 2015
    5
    Borderlands 2 is primarily a multiplayer experience; while the game can be played single player, and I have done so, it simply is not as enjoyable as when you are playing with another person.

    Why? I think the ultimate answer to this is that there is a lot of garbage in the game, and it is easy to get side-tracked and spend a lot of time exploring the (ultimately not that interesting)    Borderlands 2 is primarily a multiplayer experience; while the game can be played single player, and I have done so, it simply is not as enjoyable as when you are playing with another person.

    Why? I think the ultimate answer to this is that there is a lot of garbage in the game, and it is easy to get side-tracked and spend a lot of time exploring the (ultimately not that interesting) environment rather than actually playing the game and killing enemies. Ultimately the best part of the game is the various humorous dialogue dispersed throughout the game as you make your way through, and as a result, the faster you go through the game and the less time you spend doing stupid stuff, the more time you actually spend enjoying yourself and the less time you waste on stuff which isn't ultimately that fulfilling.

    There is a lot to do in the game, but ultimately the real fun comes out of the humor and out of getting various wacky guns and using them on enemies. The actual game mechanics are fairly mediocre, and only some of the enemies are all that interesting to fight - mostly, the mechanics of the game are just not interesting enough to really pull your interest over other FPS-type games, especially games like the Crysis series.    … Expand
  9. roboticsun
    May 25, 2014
    5
    BL2 is still the same tedious game with countless boring fetch quests. I stopped playing it after jamming 30 hours or so on it. This game basically has no difference with BL1, I just feel my time is totally wasted.
  10. sh4dow
    Mar 9, 2014
    5
    I finally decided to give this a chance because I was really curious about the humor. Figured I'd be in for a lot of action and fun. Well... if killing the same random enemies on dumb fetch quests over and over, getting relatively worthless loot and thus hearing one joke per hour is your kind of fun, maybe this game is for you.
    The respawn mechanics are simply ridiculous. Enemies spawning    I finally decided to give this a chance because I was really curious about the humor. Figured I'd be in for a lot of action and fun. Well... if killing the same random enemies on dumb fetch quests over and over, getting relatively worthless loot and thus hearing one joke per hour is your kind of fun, maybe this game is for you.
    The respawn mechanics are simply ridiculous. Enemies spawning during boss battles - alright. I'm not a fan of it when it happens so much but still. But then having to fight ALL enemies yet again after finishing a boss and backtracking (because why put a fast travel point maybe after a boss battle when you can stretch the game out by having the player go through the same **** multiple times) is unacceptable.
    And the loot system reeks of Torchlight. Within just a couple of hours of playing, you'll probably simply stop picking up white gear because it's useless anyway. There is so much useless loot that it's more of a chore checking it out rather than being excited about what one might get.
    Also, the controls don't really feel all that great. And It seems to me that the cel-shaded graphics make it more difficult to aim when you aim down the sights.
    It feels like a bit like a bad combination of COD and Torchlight to me. I don't understand why on earth people enjoy it that much.    … Expand
  11. Andrew_Paterson
    May 18, 2013
    6
    I found myself becoming bored with Borderlands 2 far to quickly. I've avoided it for ages (finally picked it up on a Steam sale) because I didn't like the artistic direction, funnily enough once I started playing it I then thought the graphics were awesome.

    The issue I had is that every fight is the same or at least similar enough that I lost the urge to see what's over the next hill.    I found myself becoming bored with Borderlands 2 far to quickly. I've avoided it for ages (finally picked it up on a Steam sale) because I didn't like the artistic direction, funnily enough once I started playing it I then thought the graphics were awesome.

    The issue I had is that every fight is the same or at least similar enough that I lost the urge to see what's over the next hill. I'm not exactly sure where it went wrong because on the surface it should be very similar to Fallout 3; and I've probably spent more time in that wasteland than is healthy.

    The quests don't quite keep me entertained, exploring turns up obvious but samey stages, the enemies look different but fight very similarly. They fall on the wrong side of the line between challenge though smart AI and challenge though soaking up bullets.

    Lastly the sound and music lacks impact. Not a broken game by any means but not one I found entertaining.    … Expand
  12. MichaelBarker
    Jul 25, 2013
    5
    Well, this is basically "Wasted Potential: The Game". I disliked the first Borderlands game, and didn't want to play the second one. I also heard it being called "Boredomlands" and "Memelands", so... yeah...
    When I got it for free with GTX660 however, I decided to give it a try. Initially, it all felt ok. But then... Let's sum it up: repetitive fetch/kill quests, frequently respawning    Well, this is basically "Wasted Potential: The Game". I disliked the first Borderlands game, and didn't want to play the second one. I also heard it being called "Boredomlands" and "Memelands", so... yeah...
    When I got it for free with GTX660 however, I decided to give it a try. Initially, it all felt ok. But then... Let's sum it up: repetitive fetch/kill quests, frequently respawning enemies (which considerably messes with completing secondary (and sometimes even primary) quests), idiotic checkpoint placement, horrible map designs (in terms of ease of moving), a lot of content is put into overpriced DLC etc.

    On the upside, it has nice visual designs, variate loot. and big maps.

    In the final accord, game has too many poor design choices to be good    … Expand
  13. Zarniwooop
    Mar 5, 2014
    6
    I tried really hard with this game.

    It looks wonderful and its very flashy, but its just not very interesting. I played a good 10+ hours and didn't really enjoy any of it. The best word I could find to describe this game is "bland". You will do the same thing over, and over, and over... in the same locations over and over and over (they look just the same). Also, the voice acting CAN    I tried really hard with this game.

    It looks wonderful and its very flashy, but its just not very interesting.

    I played a good 10+ hours and didn't really enjoy any of it. The best word I could find to describe this game is "bland". You will do the same thing over, and over, and over... in the same locations over and over and over (they look just the same). Also, the voice acting CAN become incredibly irritating and juvenile.

    It's a shame. Because the look of the game was really interesting. I could only recommend this to people that play nothing but bland console games and don't know any better, or teenage kids who might find the subject matter amusing.    … Expand
  14. Type4101
    Sep 8, 2013
    6
    Borderlands 2 is a good game that fails to reach its full potential due to design choices that limit the enjoyment of single-player gamers. The game is great, even for single-players, until the plot has ended, and the extras begin. Then, the game becomes unplayable unless you join a multiplayer group, because the post-game enemies can't be defeated alone, and require group mates. ThisBorderlands 2 is a good game that fails to reach its full potential due to design choices that limit the enjoyment of single-player gamers. The game is great, even for single-players, until the plot has ended, and the extras begin. Then, the game becomes unplayable unless you join a multiplayer group, because the post-game enemies can't be defeated alone, and require group mates. This means that many players will be left out in the cold, and the money they spent on all the DLC will be wasted. An ok game, but should have been complete for both single and multi-players. Otherwise, it should just advertise itself as multiplayer, and not try to fool single player gamers into buying it.… Expand
  15. MetalHeadCrab
    Aug 1, 2013
    7
    Its a slight improvement to the original game. There's nothing particularly mind blowing about either title. Its cheap fun, with graphics and artwork that remind me of comic books.
  16. AWG
    Aug 13, 2013
    7
    Never played the first one but I was intrigued by the critical acclaim Borderlands 2 received so I tried it up.
    My opinion is that it's a good game, but it's not a masterpiece. Graphics are awesome and some missions are really well designed but the overall story is not that intriguing and the neverending blabbering by Clap Trap is annoying as hell.
  17. fhouse
    Jul 25, 2013
    7
    Don't play this game alone! Bring at least one friend, otherwise it becomes boring real fast. This was made for Co-op play.
    Otherwise this game is much better in every aspect compared to the first:
    Multiplayer is now handled trough Steam and not gamespy. Locations are bigger, look nicer. If you have nVidia, you can turn on some cool PhysX particle effects. There are much more kinds of    Don't play this game alone! Bring at least one friend, otherwise it becomes boring real fast. This was made for Co-op play.
    Otherwise this game is much better in every aspect compared to the first:
    Multiplayer is now handled trough Steam and not gamespy. Locations are bigger, look nicer. If you have nVidia, you can turn on some cool PhysX particle effects. There are much more kinds of guns, everyone can find their favorite.
    Finally, the game has a much more detailed and more interesting storyline than the first. Yes, there are some stupid 9gag level jokes, but they can be ignored. Other than these stupid references, the writing is relatively smart, and entertaining.
    And last but not least there is the fantastic soundtrack, which is much less irritating than in the first game. I didn't want to turn it off after several hours, and that's a plus.    … Expand
  18. CPES
    Nov 17, 2012
    7
    Borderlands 2 is better then Borderlands. But it feels disappointing. There are funny characters and the people you play as have some meaning. The graphics with the cartoon is amazing and cool. The issues with this game is that is DAMN BORING. Many quests are rinse and repeat and the guns do low damage to a lot of enemies i put 10 hours and i couldn't crack a smile with this game. LaterBorderlands 2 is better then Borderlands. But it feels disappointing. There are funny characters and the people you play as have some meaning. The graphics with the cartoon is amazing and cool. The issues with this game is that is DAMN BORING. Many quests are rinse and repeat and the guns do low damage to a lot of enemies i put 10 hours and i couldn't crack a smile with this game. Later when you get closer to handsome jack the story get's better but i think i could have been more. Many of the guns are also the same. Being a PC and Xbox player, the PC has connection issues. Also when you play with your friends, whoever hosts say if your level 5 and your friend is level 12 all the guns will require level 12. The port is good. and easy to learn. I hoped Borderlands 2 would be godlike but it fell short. I… Expand
  19. Sybelius
    Nov 7, 2012
    5
    Ok, I admit i reviewed the game without having tried it a little. So I gave it a 9. I was wrong. The game itself is not bad, but - the gore has been toned down, no dismemberments or very rare
    - the maps are smaller that in Borderlands 1
    - the humor is very often silly, childish, not fun - many maps are extremely linear if compared to the ones of the first episode - in my opinion the    Ok, I admit i reviewed the game without having tried it a little. So I gave it a 9. I was wrong. The game itself is not bad, but - the gore has been toned down, no dismemberments or very rare
    - the maps are smaller that in Borderlands 1
    - the humor is very often silly, childish, not fun
    - many maps are extremely linear if compared to the ones of the first episode
    - in my opinion the voice acting of many enemies is obscene, with midgets crying like little babies when they die, goliaths shouting as demented "looney tunes" cartoon characters, et cetera.
    - difficulty is quite variable, from incredibly easy to very tough depending on same level quests, - inventory is too much reduced,
    - quality loot is extremely rare, and unlike in Borderlands 1 enemies rarely drop the guns they are using during the battles. the last 2 feature are not a huge problem, but if we consider the overall tone of the game, the result is very much a delusion.
    I'm very sorry to write this, but it is what I really think after playing Borderlands 2. There are anyway some good features, as
    - the variety of the classes - the variety of situation the player has to face during the campaign quests and the side quests. - The environment is quite beautiful and the cars available are really fun to use. - Claptrap is as always a funny egocentric robot, the only part of the game that made me smile a little bit. This is it. More objectively, the game is not worth its price, even if the DLCs have been quickly dispatched from gearbox right after a few weeks.    … Expand
  20. 0235
    Sep 22, 2012
    7
    at the time of writing this i am vry annoyed at the game. so far every boss fight i have done has bugged out, and i therefore have to do it again, the texture loading is messed up, and they suddenly decided that a smart thing to do would be to make every gun in the game look as ugly as they could possibly make them.

    borderlands 2 should have been an addon to the first. seeming as the    at the time of writing this i am vry annoyed at the game. so far every boss fight i have done has bugged out, and i therefore have to do it again, the texture loading is messed up, and they suddenly decided that a smart thing to do would be to make every gun in the game look as ugly as they could possibly make them.

    borderlands 2 should have been an addon to the first. seeming as the first games DLC was spectacular, and they decided to change hardly anything for the second game.

    then again, could that be a good thing, countless games second installments rarely live up to its predecessors, yet this feels so naturally borderlands that its like playing the same game. i would therefore say that it porbarbl is an improvement.

    its not helped by deciding to start you in the ugly barrand snowwy peaks which are just awful to look at.

    as for the love letter from claptrap, yes it has nice options, but i was still expecting more, i dont just want an option of "low medium and high" i want to choose the precice distance. anything that is in that .ini file, i want as an option!

    the PhysX is rarther nice though, just adding that little sparkle, but none of the Physx effect fit in with the rest of the game. the style is all wrong, so it just looks unatural.

    and of course my biggest gripe. since the underdome addon i think it was brutaly clear that this game is heavily focused on multiplayer co-op. by all means, we need more co-op gaes out there, but dont punish me for being a single player. its not quite EA's level of ONLINE IS NUMBER ONE, ONLINE MUST DOMINATE" but as a single player i would like to be able to have some automatic function that if i do get downed, i can pay to revive myself on the spot, not have to go through a new you station and therefore reset all the enemies in that level, to simply die the same way as before. it feels as though 2K just didnt listen to a single person, and simply went their own way creating what is even worse than what activision do with their call of duty franchise.

    and my final gripe is the classes. by al means, add new classes, but dont mess up our previous classes. i had to run with the boring soldier, as there was no hunter with the formidable and amazing bloodwing.

    all i can say is i fear that i will once again bugg out after spending 40 grueling minutes trying to fight a boss that was designed to be killed with 4 players (cough crawmarex the invincible cough), and simply get responses of "well maybey you should just play some c-op with friends"    … Expand
  21. AlienSpaceBats
    Sep 6, 2013
    7
    Pretty standard FPS fare that demands to be played co-op, the solo experience tends to be a little monotonous; go here, kill this, repeat. Has some neat customization and funny dialogue but often feels as though it's fishing for memes.
  22. Razznor
    Sep 24, 2012
    5
    Still working my way through this one, but a really obvious shortcoming is the coop mode which offers no gameplay changes at all to singleplayer. There are some combos that could be used to greater effect in a team, but so far it seems like everyone does his own thing. The lack of team-direction and team specific content means you rush through the singleplayer campaign at the average speedStill working my way through this one, but a really obvious shortcoming is the coop mode which offers no gameplay changes at all to singleplayer. There are some combos that could be used to greater effect in a team, but so far it seems like everyone does his own thing. The lack of team-direction and team specific content means you rush through the singleplayer campaign at the average speed of your team, not your own pace, leaving you with a far weaker experience. The increase in AI unit health that balances out the number of players can feel rather silly and forces you to forget the better damage feedback you got from solo play. Also, it can feel very unsocial to pick up loot in the face of your teammates. Hard to give more than 5 points with such an average impression after 6h of solo play and another couple in coop, especially when comparing it to other shooters or games with a similar theme.… Expand
  23. arakis99
    Oct 7, 2012
    5
    This is a great game that is brought down by some bad design decisions. First off the 3d inventory and skill menus are horrid. The 2d menus from BL1 worked just fine. BL1 was criticized, perhaps justly, for being too easy. To counter this Gearbox, evidently, decided to make BL2 harder. The problem is that it is a bit too hard in spots for many gamers in play through one. InThis is a great game that is brought down by some bad design decisions. First off the 3d inventory and skill menus are horrid. The 2d menus from BL1 worked just fine. BL1 was criticized, perhaps justly, for being too easy. To counter this Gearbox, evidently, decided to make BL2 harder. The problem is that it is a bit too hard in spots for many gamers in play through one. In play-through 2, labeled True Vault Hunter Mode, it gets far, far harder. I have heard many complaints on this mode. Since you don't get to fill out all the skill trees for your character in play-through one, closing this mode off to some of your player base is disturbing. The game also requires a lot of farming because drop rates of good equipment are low enough to require it to progress. No, you won't be playing the game organically, you have to meta game. Don't get me wrong, this is a great game at its heart. It just isn't consistently fun and there are plenty of games out there nowadays that are.… Expand
  24. youlouz
    Nov 11, 2014
    7
    Amazing shooter with outstanding graphics and nice gameplay

    PROS
    -outstanding graphics
    -bizarre guns
    -Fun gameplay
    -Easily caught onto
    -Nice Story

    CONS
    -Tends to be boring at times
    -Frustrating if your not the right level for a mission
  25. Fresh3gg
    Nov 4, 2015
    7
    Like other games Far Cry 3 & Dead Space this has unlockable skill levels as you plays on. Look like Halo & Final Fantasy games - visuals look cartoon like, though 3D. Fortress & camps layout like Far Cry 3.

    Navigations & mission systems are of the game STALKER's. Some part of this is like Serious Sam. And ... Deus Ex was a once high score game, could someone point to me which part of    Like other games Far Cry 3 & Dead Space this has unlockable skill levels as you plays on. Look like Halo & Final Fantasy games - visuals look cartoon like, though 3D. Fortress & camps layout like Far Cry 3.

    Navigations & mission systems are of the game STALKER's. Some part of this is like Serious Sam. And ... Deus Ex was a once high score game, could someone point to me which part of this game has resemblance to it? May be it's weapon systems that has a lot of selections?

    Look childish & console based, that's how Halo sells so well. But mixing it with cruelty & some little horror theme? Confusing!

    Takes a good mind to learn how to use the inventory system, swap guns. Finding waypoints that went way out of the mapped map view with no pointed arrow ... huh?! Went into a new region that player don't has enough XP points and Level to venture on, impossible to kill anything in the new region, but able to break mineral rocks to collect level 30 XP weapons that can be sold for over $1,000 while back in the "normal" region you only get to pick up $1 to $3 from cabinets?

    Too much works put into this one, end up with not such a big mess. Playable, but knew better why other game makers wont' venture down this kind of path since it's not cost effective & less in revenue return.    … Expand
  26. BleedingKnee
    May 20, 2013
    5
    Boring, mindless shooter. Has the same qualities as BL1 but brings nothing new. I bought it on Steam sale for $13 and think it a waste of money. Got 4 hours out of before getting totally bored.
  27. deb0
    Dec 4, 2012
    6
    After playing around 30 hours in the game, It's beggining to get boring. While the graphics, stability and performance is better than the first, the game feels too much like a cross of Rage and Borderlands. Too much "go here, do that, come back, do this" Multiplayer is where the fun is at, but the game does little to reinforce the importance of teamplay. Selfish players go on their ownAfter playing around 30 hours in the game, It's beggining to get boring. While the graphics, stability and performance is better than the first, the game feels too much like a cross of Rage and Borderlands. Too much "go here, do that, come back, do this" Multiplayer is where the fun is at, but the game does little to reinforce the importance of teamplay. Selfish players go on their own with no consequence. The game does little to nothing in awarding team oriented actions, and punish the lone rangers (monster spawns for lagging players would be very effective). The guns and the AI personalities are the most interesting points of the game. Network connections are buggy, and host based. If the host bails from a story/mission, the game ends. And finally, the graphics. Borderlands2 could have done a much better job at graphics, but they took the easy way out. The cartoon/art graphics is unique, but woefully inadequate in comparison to today's video capabilities that developers can exploit.

    Shooting monsters is the fun part, when you can actually get to them. Outside of that, mass boredom.    … Expand
  28. Xradus
    Dec 11, 2012
    6
    I'm suprised the game got so many good reviews from websites. I played Borderlands 1 for over 50 hours, and compared to Borderlands 2 in which i spent probably 20-30 hours already, it's exactly the same game with some improvements. Yes it is better than the first one but if you played the first one you're gonna get bored quickly, it really feels like gearing and leveling up all over againI'm suprised the game got so many good reviews from websites. I played Borderlands 1 for over 50 hours, and compared to Borderlands 2 in which i spent probably 20-30 hours already, it's exactly the same game with some improvements. Yes it is better than the first one but if you played the first one you're gonna get bored quickly, it really feels like gearing and leveling up all over again with nothing new to expect. You're gonna face the same enemies over and over again, along with a story you're already gonna know what's going to happen before finishing it. The characters have some personality but most of them are annoying because they're trying too hard to be funny, like the little girl acting all ghetto, claptrap is probably the only good one. I expected a lot more from this game but it didn't live up to the hype it got. If there's gonna be a third part they sure need to come up with new stuff. I would rather have more challenging enemies than a horde of idiots you're gonna kill anyway, the enemies sure get annoying, the robots are probably the worst. I'll give it a 6, after all it's still a solid game and improvement from the first Borderlands, but it's nothing new.… Expand
  29. naus
    Oct 15, 2013
    7
    Decent gameplay, but a single active skill is a bit of a waste of a skill-tree system, which means that the characters aren't all that different from each other (can limit replay value). Also, the game is somewhat obsessed with squeezing you for money. The season pass includes neither the game itself, nor even all of the DLC.
  30. Its_Nice_In_RW
    Sep 29, 2012
    6
    Feels like a fan made Mod of Borderlands 1.
    Do I like it? that would be yes only because I liked the first one. If I knew that nothing had really improved much would I have bought the game again? Then that would be a no :)
    If you like the first game keep playing it your missing out on nothing IMO. The first game with mildly better graphics (still poor for todays games though) a few    Feels like a fan made Mod of Borderlands 1.
    Do I like it? that would be yes only because I liked the first one. If I knew that nothing had really improved much would I have bought the game again? Then that would be a no :)
    If you like the first game keep playing it your missing out on nothing IMO. The first game with mildly better graphics (still poor for todays games though) a few slightly different class changes, bigger maps and bigger yet still annoying scripts. 6/10 and only because I still play the first game now and again.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

6
#6 Best PC Game of 2012
8
#8 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
7
#7 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
89

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 38
  3. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Feb 6, 2013
    92
    It’s addicting, full of creative gags and amazing battles (especially in co-op mode) and it keeps dangling that loot-carrot in front of your face. Add that crazy humor on top and you have a synonymous for the world ‘entertainment’. [November 2012]
  2. RPG Fan
    Dec 3, 2012
    90
    If you're looking for something with a ponderous story full of morality and contemplation – one best savored alone – then you'll need to look elsewhere. Borderlands 2 delivers tons of lighthearted, occasionally juvenile fun with immense replayability, and is best approached with a few buddies in tow. It doesn't revolutionize the concept pioneered by its forebear, but it refines it to a razor-sharp edge and offers some of the most fun you can have in a cooperative action RPG this side of Diablo II. And if nothing else, it's got lots of Claptrap.
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  3. Gamers' Temple
    Oct 30, 2012
    94
    The moment at which my endearingly annoying robot companion Claptrap fashioned himself a Mohawk out of some animal fur I collected he earned a spot on my all-time favorite robot list.
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