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. Necrotaur
    Sep 18, 2012
    8
    Borderlands 2 is an improvement over the original Borderlands in nearly every way. Increased gun and enemy types, better environments, and a more coherent story make shooting and looting a lot more fun. The customization is more in-depth this time around, with looted cosmetic items that can change character and vehicle appearance. Pretty cool, except that as an FPS you generally won'tBorderlands 2 is an improvement over the original Borderlands in nearly every way. Increased gun and enemy types, better environments, and a more coherent story make shooting and looting a lot more fun. The customization is more in-depth this time around, with looted cosmetic items that can change character and vehicle appearance. Pretty cool, except that as an FPS you generally won't be seeing yourself all that much. I'm also a little uncomfortable with the pre-order bonus being an entire class, which will likely be sold as separate DLC later. I feel like it punishes those who prefer to wait for reviews before purchasing (and yes, I did preorder).… Expand
  2. ihategames
    Sep 21, 2012
    6
    PROS:
    -Core gameplay is the same, if you enjoyed BL1 in that regard then you'll be happy to know that it's mostly unchanged.
    -More varied gun models and reload/firing animations -More varied landscapes -More enemy types -Better UI/Video options CONS: -Very poor writing -Similarly poor dialogue with no option to skip through it -Constant intrusions from Gearbox's attempt at humor    PROS:
    -Core gameplay is the same, if you enjoyed BL1 in that regard then you'll be happy to know that it's mostly unchanged.
    -More varied gun models and reload/firing animations
    -More varied landscapes
    -More enemy types
    -Better UI/Video options

    CONS:
    -Very poor writing
    -Similarly poor dialogue with no option to skip through it
    -Constant intrusions from Gearbox's attempt at humor in the already lousy dialogue. (Keyword: "attempt")
    -Any sense of mystery you may have felt toward the original game's cast of playable characters has been replaced with their current shallow and uninteresting personalities.
    -No real improvement in the quest department
    -Selling already-developed DLC before the game is even released

    Let's be honest here, I don't think very many people play Borderlands for the story. Core gameplay is what really matters, and as long as you have fun with that then lousy dialogue and a bland story shouldn't hinder your enjoyment, right? Wrong. It's obvious that they spent a lot more time (wasted time, in my opinion) on the story and dialogue, both of which fall flat. Speaking of the dialogue; there's a lot more of it. Not only that, but all of it is injected with unfunny jokes and sprinkled with internet memes and references. Somewhere along the line they must have decided to switch from making the characters' interesting and outlandish personalities carry the humor to a more up-front "ARE YOU LAUGHING YET?" style of humor, which is a real shame. It would have been less of a problem with an option to skip through dialogue.

    Diagnosis? Writers have a malignant case of trying-too-hard, but the gameplay is fine as long as you enjoyed the original game. I was very critical of the story and dialogue because it would be remiss to ignore that in a review of the game as a whole, especially when it's the most glaring change between BL1 and 2.

    TL;DR: Its still fun to play with friends, just try not to cringe too hard at the miserable dialogue.    … Expand
  3. NuclearBurrito
    Feb 17, 2013
    2
    Borderlands was disappointing.Amazing trailers,cool idead,but it ended up being a boring repetitive shooter where guns had no feel whatsoever.Borderlands 2 is the same game.A long boring hallway praised by the critics.
  4. Prkstnfgl
    Sep 18, 2012
    10
    Excellent game. PC version is well made like Gearbo's support. There's some problems but I trust that developer fixes them, since they already provided PC features that are lacking in other games. Great game, fun to play.
  5. hiphoptherobot
    Dec 28, 2012
    0
    This is MMO-lite. You really need to play with friends online. I was interested in this as an offline, single player game and was severely disappointed. There are a lot of fun character builds that interested me and sure anything is "possible" single player, but its just really not fun by yourself. Reviews and feedback from friends were misleading on how online dependent it is and IThis is MMO-lite. You really need to play with friends online. I was interested in this as an offline, single player game and was severely disappointed. There are a lot of fun character builds that interested me and sure anything is "possible" single player, but its just really not fun by yourself. Reviews and feedback from friends were misleading on how online dependent it is and I felt mislead. Between the pacing, repetitive nature, and a number of solo-challenged builds make this game rely on online far too much if you're not expecting it.… Expand
  6. Khyrid
    May 17, 2013
    0
    Exactly like Borderlands 1. Also boring and repetitive. I only bought this because it was on sale and I heard they improved a lot. They improved nothing. If you like Diablo 3 you will like this game. It's equally repetitive, mindless, pointless and boring. I tried to like this game, but I kept wanting to quit playing, I forced myself to play some more, hoping that the game woudl start toExactly like Borderlands 1. Also boring and repetitive. I only bought this because it was on sale and I heard they improved a lot. They improved nothing. If you like Diablo 3 you will like this game. It's equally repetitive, mindless, pointless and boring. I tried to like this game, but I kept wanting to quit playing, I forced myself to play some more, hoping that the game woudl start to become fun. It didn't. It sucks, borderlands 2 is a sucky game. The fact that so many people like this kind of game is worrying to me, what are gamers becoming?… Expand
  7. Tehemai
    Mar 9, 2019
    2
    Everything you find now will be useless in 15 minutes completely killing your desire for you to pick anything up. There's also a fail safe in the form of "save your life" to check if you've been slaving away at picking up the soon to be useless loot. In general though, don't bother with that one gold in the locker, in 15 minutes, lockers will have 10 times as much gold in them.

    There's    Everything you find now will be useless in 15 minutes completely killing your desire for you to pick anything up. There's also a fail safe in the form of "save your life" to check if you've been slaving away at picking up the soon to be useless loot. In general though, don't bother with that one gold in the locker, in 15 minutes, lockers will have 10 times as much gold in them.

    There's also only one real active skill and the rest are passive useless skills that barely do anything when compared to how quickly your new item damage scales. Put your one point in your active skill and feel free to ignore the rest of your skill tree. The game also requires no skill required.

    Add that all together and you have a perfect little hamster wheel for the simplest of minds. How long will you keep running inside such an artificial wheel is all up to you.

    (Updated for spelling)    … Expand
  8. Hemiovoid
    Sep 21, 2012
    7
    Borderlands 2 has the same plusses and minuses as Left 4 Dead 2; it adds new characters, gameplay mechanics and such, but it feels too much like the original game to feel like anything more than a DLC bundle. If you liked Borderlands, you'll still like this, but if you're short on cash, don't start saving your pocket change for it.
  9. xisailuo
    Sep 19, 2012
    7
    Too little ammo, too unbalanced skilled, too monotonous level and when some one's level is higher on you, they will kick your ass to your dead. Although it is faster, tougher, bigger than borderlands1, I don't think it is a much better game than borderlands1. It makes players very tired
    　 　
  10. punk_and_goth
    Sep 19, 2012
    10
    PC Makes A Difference
    When it comes to first-person shooters, there are going to be (loud) arguments from console and PC supporters about why their platform is superior. Gearbox released a
  11. Tharren
    Sep 19, 2012
    10
    Borderlands 2 is an absolutely phenomenal game that features many aspects of the original with some added tweaks and improvements + a fresh story line. The game is a hands down 9, 10 in my case since I was a big fan of the original and I'm happy they didn't try to fix a system that wasn't broken. I'd like to address the dissenters who are complaining about the game and through that, alsoBorderlands 2 is an absolutely phenomenal game that features many aspects of the original with some added tweaks and improvements + a fresh story line. The game is a hands down 9, 10 in my case since I was a big fan of the original and I'm happy they didn't try to fix a system that wasn't broken. I'd like to address the dissenters who are complaining about the game and through that, also point out the positives of the game. First of all, if Metacritic is deleting your reviews, it's because you are giving a game a "0" that is clearly a 7 at bare minimum. I honestly can't think of any game I've ever played literally being a "0," and honestly I don't think the dissenters have either. Over exaggeration and trolling should be deleted. It's good they are deleting your reviews, because to be honest, you're just trolling and damaging the reputation of a company based on your own obnoxious behavior. No one has time to put up with little 15 year olds and their complaining. In regards to the complaints about the game as a PC port, the game was ported over very well. The controls are great and they give you a large amount of personal customization. I find it funny people are calling it a bad port, yet have no reasons for making this assertion. The graphics are excellent as well, it is a cell shaded game, so if you dislike cell shading, then you won't like these graphics. However, to say the game has bad graphics is a lie, because for what it is, the graphics are detailed, crisp, and vibrant. I'm playing on a 1080p display with the graphics maxed and visually, it is very pleasing. Even on the lower graphic levels, the game is still better than the graphics on the original and looks better than any console game. I've also seen people complain about day 1 DLC, however, this is entirely false. There is no DLC released for Borderlands 2 yet, and most of it, if any, won't be released until 2013. What 2k is offering is a season pass, meaning if you buy the season pass, which will include access to ALL DLC released for this game FOREVER, you can buy the DLC at one low cost. It's basically a way for fans of the game to get large quantities of future DLC at a lower cost then buying individually. Think bulk purchase. If you were to be upset about that, then it seems your general complaint is about DLC in general, which is an absolutely foolish complaint. The game play mostly consists of shooting, looting, and questing. I personally enjoy that, and it if sounds appealing to you, then you will probably like this game. If not, then oh well. I've had my share of complaints regarding Metacritic in the past, such as with Diablo 3, however, on this one, Metacritic is spot on.… Expand
  12. defektiv
    Sep 24, 2012
    10
    This is the second game of the summer to hit a sequel out of the park. The slightly comic book, gritty graphic style has stayed but has seen some nice detailed improvements. The UI has seen incredible improvements but still struggles to keep everything organized when you're comparing things in a store. This is a very enjoyable FPS action adventure that will have you laughing and enjoyingThis is the second game of the summer to hit a sequel out of the park. The slightly comic book, gritty graphic style has stayed but has seen some nice detailed improvements. The UI has seen incredible improvements but still struggles to keep everything organized when you're comparing things in a store. This is a very enjoyable FPS action adventure that will have you laughing and enjoying yourself, provided you're not so uptight that you can't laugh at a bit of facetious throwback humor. Developers take note on sequels from this and TL2 this summer.. if it's not broke, don't fix it.… Expand
  13. Havocs
    Oct 30, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Borderlands 2 is a decent game. Unfortunately it finds itself in the uncomfortable situation of being compared to Borderlands. The world is small, the enemies are repetitive and few in variation. You spend half the time fighting one type of enemy and the other half another type. Every now and then you come across some animals to fight. The weapons and shields were designed so that children would go crazy, because the higher the numbers the better. When an average weapons does 20.000+ damage, things get silly. What's wrong with weapons doing at best around 400 damage? When you create your character you find yourself on a train, that explodes. Apparently some bad guy named Jack blew it up because he don't want vault hunters on the planet. The planet is a in a crisis. A huge crisis. Hyperion is taking over. Apparently Atlas, a company richer than any nation went bankrupt. General Knoxx and the Crimson Lance were defeated in a Borderlands DLC. I've never heard of a nation going bankrupt because they lost a battle. Anyways, Jack is bad and is threatening Pandora. Things are really bad. Where is this feel of a threat? Nowhere. Borderlands 2 tells you how bad things are, but doesn't show it or make you feel it the slightest. The weapons are linear and dull. Everything in Borderlands 2 is dull at best. But they did something right. I honestly don't know what it is. If you consider playing Borderlands 2, make sure you don't play Borderlands first, because Borderlands will completely ruin the Borderlands 2 experience.… Expand
  14. NotGearbox
    Sep 18, 2012
    10
    Game of the year, if not the greatest game of all time. Probably the greatest FPSRPG of all time. Absolutely perfect in every way imaginable. Improves on every single aspect of Borderlands 1. GG guys, gg.
  15. Dethstar
    Nov 5, 2012
    5
    I started off liking this game a lot. Borderlands 2 has the same fundamental issue as BL 1 for me. Namely, it is a console port. Generally, you can forget that on BL2 because it is extremely well put together but it has the cardinal sin of all console games which for me rules consoles out entirely. The extremely narrow field of view makes me extremely ill. I have seen masses of threadsI started off liking this game a lot. Borderlands 2 has the same fundamental issue as BL 1 for me. Namely, it is a console port. Generally, you can forget that on BL2 because it is extremely well put together but it has the cardinal sin of all console games which for me rules consoles out entirely. The extremely narrow field of view makes me extremely ill. I have seen masses of threads on this as statistically a significant number of people. The result is that until the hack or crack comes out I cannot play for long before feeling very ill. I have had BL 2 since launch and have played less than 2 hours because of this. Catastrophic failure to address one of the same issues people complained like hell about last time. Nothing says console port issues like playing while looking through a mailbox. Waiting for a mod to fix it.… Expand
  16. NOAHOXP2
    Sep 29, 2012
    3
    The game moves very slow. I like to call it "Borederlands 2." This game simply doesn't appeal to me. They needed more time to fix it and fill in empty spaces.
  17. Cytheria
    Sep 24, 2012
    5
    I'd love to slap a great big 10 on this title and say its a great game, but in trying to do so, I'd be giving up a great deal of my integrity.

    Borderlands 2 picks up a few years later from where the original dropped us off, and I suspect that's a big part of the problem. Nothing's really changed. After it's original success the games industry has learned from Borderlands, and a lot of    I'd love to slap a great big 10 on this title and say its a great game, but in trying to do so, I'd be giving up a great deal of my integrity.

    Borderlands 2 picks up a few years later from where the original dropped us off, and I suspect that's a big part of the problem. Nothing's really changed. After it's original success the games industry has learned from Borderlands, and a lot of games have borrowed from it, innovated around it and developed it all since then. Borderlands 2 feels more like an expansion to the original than a new game. It's been polished a bit, but overall in their efforts to maintain the look and feel in the sequel, you get the overwhelming feeling that 2K were too afraid to innovate or try anything especially new.

    Whilst I've not accounted for it in my score, it's also worth noting that at launch the game comes complete with a bug that renders the game impossible to play for a large number of users with multi-core AMD processors. 2K/Gearbox themselves won't even acknowledge the fault and the only advice that anyone seems to be able to get about the issue is to flash your motherboard bios with the latest firmware. Whilst this process isn't so inherently dangerous as it used to be, it's still a pretty extreme fix to make up for poor coding and Q&A. The fact that for many users this fix either doesn't work or is impossible (because a user has the latest bios files) is especially painful for some, and has forced others, myself included, to download 3rd party apps like Orochi-CEG to correct the problem (which at the time of writing can only be found by googling for dubious download links from random forums)

    Needless to say, caveat emptor, the game may not work and may leave you feeling a little underwhelmed if it does. It might be worth your while waiting until the devs release a few patches (assuming they ever acknowledge the issues people are trying to report to them) or possibly even a GOTY edition before sinking money into this product. I'd also suggest waiting for a sale, so that you can pick this up for the kind of price you'd pay for a good expansion pack, because in all honesty, that's all you're getting.    … Expand
  18. BLK1349MTL
    Sep 19, 2012
    9
    My opinion/review is simple. BUY IT! If you like FPS+RPG+endless loot this is for you. If you don't like long, in depth games DON'T BUY IT! This game is highly recommended by myself and is much easier than the 1st one and looks/feels better too! Keep in mind this is based on opinion and not fact. This is from my own personal experiences. ENJOY!!!
  19. Hatred
    Oct 5, 2012
    3
    *pros* *the game runs well*
    *Graphically they really tried and you can see that over the first game*
    *some intense moments* *nice range of bosses* *Dlcs to come Cons* *slow moving* *pointless a-b missions to fill plot gap* *tedious to play* *boring after a short while* *bazillion guns? pff there all just a few models with different stats( like the first game)* *the ending seemed    *pros* *the game runs well*
    *Graphically they really tried and you can see that over the first game*
    *some intense moments*
    *nice range of bosses*
    *Dlcs to come Cons*
    *slow moving*
    *pointless a-b missions to fill plot gap*
    *tedious to play*
    *boring after a short while*
    *bazillion guns? pff there all just a few models with different stats( like the first game)*
    *the ending seemed better then last game but still dissapointing*
    *some of the characters skills have not been well thought out*
    *item menu, glitchy scroll lock ups are regular* *Conclusion worth £29.99? erm...no.. not to me*
    *seems more like a huge dlc for the first game then a brand new game*    … Expand
  20. JimCorbett
    Aug 24, 2013
    4
    I'm sure this review will get bombarded with downvotes by blind fanboys, but the truth must be told.

    Being a huge fan of Borderlands 1, i couldn't wait to try out BL2. A few hours into the game, however, I realized this wasn't the sequel I was hoping for. In fact, it is much, much worse than i could have anticipated. I'll start off with the good: The graphics are upgraded and the    I'm sure this review will get bombarded with downvotes by blind fanboys, but the truth must be told.

    Being a huge fan of Borderlands 1, i couldn't wait to try out BL2. A few hours into the game, however, I realized this wasn't the sequel I was hoping for. In fact, it is much, much worse than i could have anticipated. I'll start off with the good: The graphics are upgraded and the locations are more varied and stylized than BL1. The story is better and the characters are more likeable. Weapon variety is increased and there are even more weird bonuses to keep your weapons interesting. And that's about where the good ends. Everything else in BL2 is a downgrade from BL1.

    Yes the story is good, but it tries to be emotional but the nature of this game doesn't support it. There is so much childish humor and stupid jokes that I can't take what's happening seriously at all. They totally wasted the effort of the story writers by making this game so childish. Normally I can take a joke or two, but every other minute you're bombarded with toilet humor that it just ends up getting annoying and it's a shame. Enemy AI has been seriously screwed with. Enemies move around so erratically that it makes landing shots on them more of a chore than an enjoyment. There are also enemy spawns everywhere and Gearbox made absolutely no effort whatsoever to hide them. See a black abyss? That's a spawn, you better watch your back! This game was released in 2012, there is absolutely NO excuse for this crap. I can't even count how many times a suicide enemy spawned right next to me and cost me a death. Speaking of deaths, they come so cheaply, especially in singleplayer, that you'll often feel cheated. You'll rarely have a "good" weapon, and if you do, it's by pure luck. So you'll either have to waste tons and tons of ammo on enemies, or spend hours farming bosses.

    The game is also clearly designed only for Coop. The difficulty for someone going solo is so immense, it's ridiculous. You'll have to spend hours upon hours farming good weapons to advance in the story on the harder difficulties. I can't remember any point in BL1 where i felt the need to actually farm a boss for a good weapon because i had nothing that could take out enemies that were the same level as me. Grindlands 2 would more a more proper name for this title.

    PC optimization is terrible. I have a mid-range PC and it struggles to keep the framerate above 10. I viewed forums and this is a common theme I've found. The ingame UI (which is supposedly made for PCs) is insanely glitchy and frustrating to use. There are tons of bugs and glitches present, I've been caught in the ground, fallen through terrain, etc, so many times i can't even count. The sad part is that this has happened right along the quest route for main missions. There has been little to no effort put into ironing out these bugs. There's more flaws I'd love to mention, but I'm running out of room in this review.

    I've read all these positive reviews by critics and users and I find it surprising that so few people are able to realize the flaws in this game. People should be ashamed of themselves for rating this crap above a 5/10. It's reasons like this that this industry is lacking initiative and individuality. If people keep praising broken garbage like Borderlands 2, we'll keep receiving the same recycled crap year after year. In closing, if you're interested in this game, get Borderlands 1 instead. If you already own Borderlands 1, stick with it and forget about this "game."    … Expand
  21. Renrawr
    Sep 20, 2012
    10
    Damn near perfect, even for a console port. It is early on launch day yet it feels crisp and clean. Controlling your character is far easier this time around as the control are much better developed for the PC. The humor is dark, although the story is a little more serious this time around. About an hour in to the game you really want to kill Handsome Jack, and if you still think he is aDamn near perfect, even for a console port. It is early on launch day yet it feels crisp and clean. Controlling your character is far easier this time around as the control are much better developed for the PC. The humor is dark, although the story is a little more serious this time around. About an hour in to the game you really want to kill Handsome Jack, and if you still think he is a cool dude by then you're pretty **** up. If you liked Borderlands you will find that this is a true sequel that lives up to the hype. They did a great job of melding the story of Borderlands with Borderlands 2. I know, I know they are sequels but GearBox didn't really set the first game up for having a sequel. I guess since the story in the original was kinda of lacking it makes sense that it was easy to mold the two together. Overall Borderlands 2 is a great improvement on the original connecting with friends is far easier now that Steam has been fully integrated, even though it is still a little buggy when connecting initially. Maybe the best improvement they have made is the size of the game. The world feels large and looks large, not the mention it is beautiful. I can run this game on almost the highest setting on my laptop. (Note: I do have a ASUS RoG laptop designed for games but it is kind of dated) If you have a computer that can handle CoD you will be fine.… Expand
  22. Jon2011
    Sep 19, 2012
    9
    This is a vast improvement over BL1. Definitely a great port, almost as good as a pc exclusive title. Gameplay is fun, environment is more lively, and new characters are awesome. BL2 is hilarious, so many great punchlines. Originally, the game crashed and I couldn't play. Had to update my BIOS. (AMD/Gigabyte)
    But that does not warrant for a lower rating.

    9/10
  23. CraigL
    Dec 15, 2012
    1
    Very silly game. Really (like, really) enjoyed the first version, this one though, makes being killed multiple times a part of the game. Not much fun really. Obviously, one dies, but here, it seems like it's designed to do that, as opposed to you feeling like you could have actually done it without your character dying.
    Very disappointing, spent $120 on copies for my daughter and I;    Very silly game. Really (like, really) enjoyed the first version, this one though, makes being killed multiple times a part of the game. Not much fun really. Obviously, one dies, but here, it seems like it's designed to do that, as opposed to you feeling like you could have actually done it without your character dying.
    Very disappointing, spent $120 on copies for my daughter and I; really, really wish I'd tested it out from torrent first, as it's just not a very fun game at all, and we totally wasted our money.    … Expand
  24. yogibbear
    Sep 23, 2012
    9
    Slick. Polished. Addictive in a good way. Basically diablo 2 with guns and physx particles flying everywhere. And no stupid RMAH that destroys any addiction to the loot system. I'm 30 hrs in to the game, playing it drop in / out co-op with steam friends and it is very very awesome. FOV is right. .ini settings work. This is a decent PC version. The storyline is actually interesting andSlick. Polished. Addictive in a good way. Basically diablo 2 with guns and physx particles flying everywhere. And no stupid RMAH that destroys any addiction to the loot system. I'm 30 hrs in to the game, playing it drop in / out co-op with steam friends and it is very very awesome. FOV is right. .ini settings work. This is a decent PC version. The storyline is actually interesting and there's lots of nice visual moments in the game along with a brilliant cast and accompanying dialogue that can be funny in all sorts of ways (whether it's because it's soo not funny that it is, or because they sometimes nail taking the piss out of another game/movie/reference.). Definitely recommend it, especially if you have other steam friends to play it with.… Expand
  25. TomSEA
    Sep 22, 2012
    9
    Really enjoyable game. Not sure why people are complaining, "it's more of Borderlands." Well yeah, it is. That's what we wanted and asked for. Only this one is very polished and frankly hella fun. I can't put it down (was up until 3:40am last night playing).

    Just an extremely engaging comic-book style run and gun game. How can you be disappointed about a million guns, a million    Really enjoyable game. Not sure why people are complaining, "it's more of Borderlands." Well yeah, it is. That's what we wanted and asked for. Only this one is very polished and frankly hella fun. I can't put it down (was up until 3:40am last night playing).

    Just an extremely engaging comic-book style run and gun game. How can you be disappointed about a million guns, a million enemies, funny writing and more quests than you can shake a stick at?

    Well deserving of a "9" score.    … Expand
  26. smi1ey
    Sep 20, 2012
    9
    As someone who did not play the original Borderlands, I really didn't know what to expect from the sequel. In fact, the only reason I even started playing Borderlands 2 on PC was that I got it for free when I bought a new Nvidia video card. I don't know how the original compares, but my friends and I are having an absolute blast shooting our way through the planet of Pandora!

    From what    As someone who did not play the original Borderlands, I really didn't know what to expect from the sequel. In fact, the only reason I even started playing Borderlands 2 on PC was that I got it for free when I bought a new Nvidia video card. I don't know how the original compares, but my friends and I are having an absolute blast shooting our way through the planet of Pandora!

    From what I've heard, the original game was a rather pathetic PC port, but the sequel brings the joy with a huge amount of graphical options and tweaks, including PhysX support for liquids. This also is one of the first PC games I've seen that let you completely customize Xbox controls. Seriously, I don't know why ALL games, console or PC, include this option. There are a lot of little features like this that have surprised and delighted me throughout the game.

    Sure, the game looks gorgeous, despite it's "simplified" cel-shading, but the real appeal of Borderlands 2 is the characters, writing, and most of all, the GUNS. The characters are often absolutely hilarious, and some of the dialogue and missions have just been outright wrong- in a good way! But the massive variety of guns are really what cause B2 to shine. In most RPGs, back tracking to past mission areas sucks, but in Borderlands 2 when you back track you're generally far enough along that you're doing so with a completely different set of weapons. This changes your experience dramatically. In fact, one thing that really impressed me about B2's gunplay is the fact that so many different fights require different gun tactics. You're going to have a tough time with different encounters if you always lean on one gun. I always found myself using my entire arsenal in different situations. It's this variety that really sets B2 apart from many other shooters, and especially from RPGs that tend to get very repetitive.

    I could go on about the fun character design, unique enemies, challenging "badasses" and bosses, fantastic vehicle combat, or any number of other features, but this review would grow too long. If there was one thing I could say that was remotely negative, it would be an improved matchmaking system. At the moment it takes quite some time to load the list of games to join, and oftentimes when trying to join a game, the connection will time out. This could be related to network setups on the people I have been trying to join, but I know that my own network isn't the issue (ethernet with fiber 50down/75up). Not sure if anyone will actually read this review, but I have to say that if you didn't try out the original game, like me, don't miss out on this one. It's fun as hell! If there's one tip I have for you, it's to play the game with a friend, or two, or three. Playing with randoms is fun for alternate characters, but for the main class you plan on playing through the story with, I suggest doing so with someone you know. It makes the game that much more fun.    … Expand
  27. starsh3ro
    Sep 23, 2012
    8
    its an amazing game!
    the graphics are very nice, even more when you enable the physics,too.
    the sound effects and voices are well made, also the music is exactly fitting to the events. i liked it even more than borderlands 1 and it has to be said that borderlands 2 is as long as borderlands 1 including dlcs, ( took 35 hours to do all quests and sidemissions on bl2 now) and many    its an amazing game!
    the graphics are very nice, even more when you enable the physics,too.
    the sound effects and voices are well made, also the music is exactly fitting to the events.
    i liked it even more than borderlands 1 and it has to be said that borderlands 2 is as long as borderlands 1 including dlcs, ( took 35 hours to do all quests and sidemissions on bl2 now) and many locations and characters will remind you on borderlands1.
    you will find some interesting people and situations and have a lot of fun in singleplayer or coop.

    negative in my opinion is that you sometimes get stuck in the map or objects, then all you can do is restarting the game.
    also i find the story a bit unimaginative. many quests and happenings are just the same as on borderlands1. it could have been even better with NEW ideas and not just alternating the old stuff.
    anyway, still worth the money and a lot of fun, you should buy it.    … Expand
  28. CJx101
    Sep 20, 2012
    10
    Okay, so why did I give it a 10? Because in my opinion it's everything I loved from the first one with everything a sequel should have. Brand new everything, weapon types, new element type, too many enemy types to think of, brand new locales... Everything. I can't stress how much this game was worth the money I paid for it enough. This isn't some crappy rehash of the first game. It's aOkay, so why did I give it a 10? Because in my opinion it's everything I loved from the first one with everything a sequel should have. Brand new everything, weapon types, new element type, too many enemy types to think of, brand new locales... Everything. I can't stress how much this game was worth the money I paid for it enough. This isn't some crappy rehash of the first game. It's a sequel and it's a damn good one. I can't believe I'm even taking time to write this, but I'm tired and I just went through one of the most gripping scenes in a video game that I can remember. To prove that I am a freaking gamer who loves this game my steam id is CJx101. Please add me if you think I'm from gearbox or some crap. Anyways, when something garners this much attention it's bound to draw the haters, the people who complain over really stupid **** or the people who didn't like the first one and say the same crap about this one. The graphics are slightly better, not a selling point nor should it be a buying point. The gameplay is where the game shines, everything has been improved, the loot system, god boring technical details, so eff that. The game is awesome, if you liked the first one you will love this one. It's not a **** expansion and you shouldn't feel freaking ripped off when everything in the goddamn game is different than the first one, that doesn't even make sense. If you've played the first and then this one, there are so few similarities in locales, enemies, and the variety of guns that you can't even claim that as an argument. and the story is just awesome, no spoilers, but it's waaaayyyy better than the first one, and is actually probably my biggest reason for loving this game so much. I cannot wait (very close) to the minute I blow Handsome Jack's **** head off. That's all I wanted to say, now back to Borderlands 2 and ignore the negative responses, people can find anything to **** about.… Expand
  29. DeiCide
    Oct 23, 2012
    8
    I played the first Borderlands and loved it. The humour was fresh and funny. Now in Borderlands 2 it seems its lost it's edge, the dev's have catered more for teens and gone for a more 'immature' theme. Even after turning player callouts off, I still get the annoyingly loud *grunt* every time I melee. This alone has me put the dialog volume really low, which sort of ruins the cut scenesI played the first Borderlands and loved it. The humour was fresh and funny. Now in Borderlands 2 it seems its lost it's edge, the dev's have catered more for teens and gone for a more 'immature' theme. Even after turning player callouts off, I still get the annoyingly loud *grunt* every time I melee. This alone has me put the dialog volume really low, which sort of ruins the cut scenes but damn that mech chick just won't shutup! Overall I enjoyed the game but MOST of the voice acting really puts me off. The game itself is excellent and worth picking up, but if your like me unfortunately get ready for some mind-numbing stupid 14 year old screaming how good her bot is all the time.… Expand
  30. Wolfbanes
    Sep 21, 2012
    10
    This game might not be for everyone, but it sure as heck is for a lot of them. The graphics are unique and not at all following the main trend of, "It must be realistic!" Which is always a good thing. The humor is rather dark, and it will at least make you crack a smile. The gameplay is more suited for hardcore and not for casual players. If someone who's not very good with games thatThis game might not be for everyone, but it sure as heck is for a lot of them. The graphics are unique and not at all following the main trend of, "It must be realistic!" Which is always a good thing. The humor is rather dark, and it will at least make you crack a smile. The gameplay is more suited for hardcore and not for casual players. If someone who's not very good with games that require accurate mouse movement and constant movement around the map, they should play with a friend. The story is better than the Borderlands 1, along many other things, but it the questions of what the story is lingers. In this one, it's much more straight forward than the last; kill Handsome Jack. I've played about 5 hours and I'm loving it. It's moving a bit slow for my taste, but that's actually good. Only because it's got more content to go through, and they planned it out for you to level up as you go.

    On the edge of buying this game? Buy it.
    Didn't like the first one at all? Buy this one.
    Thinking the negative reviews are true? They're not.

    (I made an account just to give this game a better rating, if that says anything.)    … 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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