Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

 PC
User Score
6.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1028 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 470 out of 1028
  2. Mixed: 332 out of 1028
  3. Negative: 226 out of 1028
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  1. epeternally
    Jan 8, 2015
    2
    When I first started playing this, I thought it was a pretty decent reskin of Borderlands 2 and a few hours in I gave it a seven. The more I've gotten into it, though, the worse it seems. In addition to feeling like DLC rather than a full new game, almost everything that it does is done poorly. The story, most notably, is horrid, especially when contrasted against the great writing ofWhen I first started playing this, I thought it was a pretty decent reskin of Borderlands 2 and a few hours in I gave it a seven. The more I've gotten into it, though, the worse it seems. In addition to feeling like DLC rather than a full new game, almost everything that it does is done poorly. The story, most notably, is horrid, especially when contrasted against the great writing of Borderlands 2. Instead of cleverness, wit, and endearing characters, we get blandness, incoherence, and a neverending stream of Australian stereotypes. The only good thing here is Moxxi's role in the story, and that gets overshadowed by just how bad the rest of the story is.

    The oxygen mechanics get old quickly and ultimately act to the game's detriment, gameplay feels less satisfying, fast travel stations are painfully infrequent, the level design is bland, the story makes no sense, the pacing is all wrong, so many cheap pit deaths, needlessly large amounts of empty space between everything, a confusing to navigate hub area, moonstone (eridium) chests are annoying since if you don't have forty moonstones you miss out on a large portion of that area's loot, enemy designs are uninteresting, the whole world looks very same-y, the vehicles aren't fun to drive. Outside of the same reasonably solid gunplay, if Borderlands 2 did it well, Borderlands The Pre-Sequel does it poorly. It's not the worst game I've ever played, but it's a sequel that does everything wrong. Unless you're a series die hard or it's $5 with DLC, this is one to avoid. Even for cheap, it's not even really worth your time if you aren't a Borderlands devotee.    … Expand
  2. DanielQuesnelJr
    Jan 6, 2015
    0
    Last time I ever play a game created by Australians. So many glitches, so many reasons to make me delete my character and to uninstall the game. Complete bullcrap of a game. I'm not even going to bother beating this game, wasted my money on the season pass expecting much more than what I payed for.
  3. Sunfire
    Jan 6, 2015
    7
    This game IS Borderlands 2.(an extension for it)
    It is good,it has the morbidly funny BL jokes,nice chars,and adds a few things like low gravity combat.
    Personally i didn't like it,it doesn't feel they worked really hard on it,and the Oz+gravity thingy is just not for me.

    For HC BL fans,buy it!
    Others consider playing BL2 instead.
  4. oDjento
    Jan 3, 2015
    6
    This game seemed unnecessary and it probably is, but its still fun and feel fresh enough to be warrant it's own game and not this **** people staple and games as "dlc games". It's writing is still relatively good, cominf somewhere in between 1&2's writing, and the story is most fun to watch unfold due to it being with Handsome Jack who we've all come to love and hate. The new vehicles, newThis game seemed unnecessary and it probably is, but its still fun and feel fresh enough to be warrant it's own game and not this **** people staple and games as "dlc games". It's writing is still relatively good, cominf somewhere in between 1&2's writing, and the story is most fun to watch unfold due to it being with Handsome Jack who we've all come to love and hate. The new vehicles, new weapons, new locale and the new addition of oxygen tanks and low gravity make the game feel fresh enough to still be fun to play and feels at home with the other games. Fan service? Yeah sure, but it's done right and shouldn't be dismissed as a cash grab. Pick this game us and play it, like the rest of them.… Expand
  5. Draco777
    Dec 31, 2014
    8
    Ok so I was looking down all of these reviews and was reading all of the complaints and I have got to say some that most of those things aren't bugs but simply things that happen when atmosphere is removed, sound cuts out due to nothing being able to carry it, oxygen tanks need to be monitored, and a large some of physics that are on based on normal gravity can't be used. Also I went intoOk so I was looking down all of these reviews and was reading all of the complaints and I have got to say some that most of those things aren't bugs but simply things that happen when atmosphere is removed, sound cuts out due to nothing being able to carry it, oxygen tanks need to be monitored, and a large some of physics that are on based on normal gravity can't be used. Also I went into this game expecting a back story of Jack and got a bit more. This game is harder than the other two and the humor is still there and everywhere I look I see some sort of reference for example, the new psycho's weapons are from tron. The Australian accents are placed about rather randomly a lot of characters have them but they are necessarily annoying rather hard to understand at times.
    I will admit this game isn't worth $60 but it most certainly is much larger than an expansion and carries much more than the average game.
    So to sum it all up the game is a great addition to the BL franchise and is a bit of a challenge and takes a lot of thinking because of the low gravity. I would recommend buying it for $50 or less as long as you don't mind a challenge and enjoy and I mean enjoy the BL franchise.    … Expand
  6. rnendel
    Dec 29, 2014
    10
    I rarely, if ever, post reviews - but for this game I felt I should - given all the negative comments (nonsense) about how it is just "DLC". After playing this game for 7 hours so far, I feel I can actually give an informed opinion regarding the "dlc" factor. (FYI, after 7 hours, I'm just now reaching the main city - exact same as BL1 or BL2 would have handled it, and the story is justI rarely, if ever, post reviews - but for this game I felt I should - given all the negative comments (nonsense) about how it is just "DLC". After playing this game for 7 hours so far, I feel I can actually give an informed opinion regarding the "dlc" factor. (FYI, after 7 hours, I'm just now reaching the main city - exact same as BL1 or BL2 would have handled it, and the story is just starting).

    I played BL1 through twice, BL2 through twice, and now I am enjoying BL3. This is NOT DLC. I'm assuming, at this point, that anyone who states it is DLC simply never played BL1 and moved to BL2. This is the Borderlands universe, the story, and this game fits it well - it is literally the next installment of the Borderlands saga.

    I remember when BL2 came out, I felt it was "DLC" at first (being a noob, as we all were transitioning from BL1 to BL2), because it was the same thing - vault hunting, same graphics, just different characters, classes, and story. Then I realized - OF COURSE IT LOOKS THE SAME - it's a cohesive universe and that's why any fan of Borderlands plays borderlands. I think we'd all hate it if it became something else.

    Borderlands 3 (pre-sequel) is very well done, expansive, engaging, and an excellent third addition to the story. It is to perceive this as "dlc" - only the entitled-minded would believe such a thing. I findi it oddly humorous that people buy the third game in a series and expect it NOT to be the third game in a series. Do we complain that book 3 of The Lord of the Rings is set in exactly the same universe as book 2 of the trilogy? Of course not.

    If you are a Borderlands fan, please, stop reading nonsense posts and buy the game - enjoy it for what it is - another story set in a cohesive universe. BL3 has new heroes, new story, new location, same universe, and uses previous installment heroes to help tell the story - umm, that's EXACTLY what BL2 did, except the different location :) There is no cash grab here, there is no "sell DLC as a game" - this is BL3, plain and simple.

    I almost didn't buy the game, even though I am definitely a Borderlands fan, because of all the BS posts. But, then I decided to see for myself, and I am very happy I did. I hope this installment doesn't suffer from the negative posts by (likely) those who just don't get what Borderlands is - it's a story, let's let it be just that - a great story. I remember my initial disappointment with BL2 - "where the hell are the aliens?!?"?. But once I let that go, BL2 became a great game on its own - let's let this become the great game it can be, by letting it evolve story-wise, instead of just "cosmetic wise".    … Expand
  7. lemans81
    Dec 28, 2014
    4
    I will keep this simple, if you love Borderlands 2 game play this is a success, if you can't imagine Borderlands 2 without the humor then this game is a complete failure. I loved Borderlands and Borderlands 2 is a top 3 game for me, the pre-sequel is a complete miss because of its lack of any humor for me.
  8. EpikRaikku
    Dec 26, 2014
    6
    The game is good but a bit old. The humor is now becoming boring, and everything still appears to be the same. All they did was just put in new characters,story, and new maps. Hell even the checkpoints got worse. The game isn't bad but its not for everyone. Since this is basically borderlands 2 but painted over I will have to say it is better to just return to BL2 instead of playing this.The game is good but a bit old. The humor is now becoming boring, and everything still appears to be the same. All they did was just put in new characters,story, and new maps. Hell even the checkpoints got worse. The game isn't bad but its not for everyone. Since this is basically borderlands 2 but painted over I will have to say it is better to just return to BL2 instead of playing this. Or you can go and play Tales From the Borderlands. I heard that one is good.… Expand
  9. deettis
    Dec 25, 2014
    4
    I just finished the game and to be honest, I was kinda waiting for it to end for the last few hours. I certainly will not play it ever again and I'm glad I didn't buy the season pass I was going to since BL2 DLC's were so good.

    Sure, you can say that it has all the elements of Borderlands 2, so it also must be as good of a game. This is not true at all. The basic mechanics of BL are    I just finished the game and to be honest, I was kinda waiting for it to end for the last few hours. I certainly will not play it ever again and I'm glad I didn't buy the season pass I was going to since BL2 DLC's were so good.

    Sure, you can say that it has all the elements of Borderlands 2, so it also must be as good of a game. This is not true at all. The basic mechanics of BL are there and they still are very enjoyable, but fun and interesting campaign are missing. You only find yourself running from one end to another inside many very annoying, maze-like levels. Thats a fine way to add some content (hours) to the game play.    … Expand
  10. waso
    Dec 23, 2014
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Meh.
    This game should have been a dlc. There's just not enough character or story development. I gave it a 5 because I think I'm still in love with BL2.
    The mobs. Jesus you enter an area and a ton of dudes railroad you.
    Jack. He sucks until the third act. Then he gets his funny/psycho thing on.
    If you find it on Steam for cheap, get it as it can still be fun. Especially as Athena and Fragtrap. Just don't pay full price as it's not worth it.    … Expand
  11. MadclownJack
    Dec 22, 2014
    4
    Completely Phoned In. I really don't see a reason to sell this obvious DLC as a complete game. The humor is nice SOMETIMES, but not much else is worth mentioning. They made Borderlands, boring. And that takes skill. The first two games i played over many times, each time more fun than the last one, especially with all of the dlc. This is just...Bad. Like, seriously repetitive even on firstCompletely Phoned In. I really don't see a reason to sell this obvious DLC as a complete game. The humor is nice SOMETIMES, but not much else is worth mentioning. They made Borderlands, boring. And that takes skill. The first two games i played over many times, each time more fun than the last one, especially with all of the dlc. This is just...Bad. Like, seriously repetitive even on first try. I didn't want to finish it, because it was that boring. Everything is boring. Thank god it's quite short.

    What's "new":
    -"Maps" - Read 5-6 areas with the same old grey/moon filter.
    -Laser Weapons (It needs to be mentioned that these were also present in BL2, albeit in a more rudimentary form)
    -A constant cycle between Atmosphere and Zero G areas,which is kind of pointless.
    -O2 bar, to be used for breathing in space and double jump, which is
    -A new "story". Jesus Christ, what the hell were these people thinking...

    Fans will be utterly disappointed by this, and if they really must have it, they should get it on sale, same as everyone else. It's a 10$ title at best.    … Expand
  12. Banhammer0
    Dec 20, 2014
    5
    More of the same. Zero innovation. Should've been a DLC. Less interesting characters.
    Fun because it's the same as Borderlands 2 but overall disappointing. Didn't even finish it, it felt like a really stretched piece of DLC for a full price.
    Not cool Gearbox, not at all. Meh 5/10
  13. comacoma
    Dec 19, 2014
    3
    Bad taste. First game balanced between dark and insane, while being subtle spaghetti western. First game was experiment with experimental DLC (except outsourced last one). Second game decided to ditch everything that was deeper than modern put pop culture and in order to be a safe cash cow to make more money from top to bottom, from dumb revolution romance and plain evil guys to endlessBad taste. First game balanced between dark and insane, while being subtle spaghetti western. First game was experiment with experimental DLC (except outsourced last one). Second game decided to ditch everything that was deeper than modern put pop culture and in order to be a safe cash cow to make more money from top to bottom, from dumb revolution romance and plain evil guys to endless grind and business model. And this 'Pre-Sequel' game is cash cow made from a cash cow. Square of a cash cow, if you wish, exponentially multiplying the issues. this time the result isn't just tasteless burger for wide audience, it's meat is starting to rot. Too safe and too dumb.… Expand
  14. Aerotactics
    Dec 19, 2014
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Couldn't play this game for more than a half hour.

    Let's start from the beginning. As a Big fan of BL and BL2, I had hope for this game, and gave it an open-mind. Through some Gearbox discussion, I heard about this game way back when, and was excited for it. I thought it would be fun.

    From the beginning, before the game starts, the famous "skag scene" for this game was less than exciting. In the previous titles, the opening scene with a skag always set the beginning of the game in my opinion, and that scene was decent in BL2, but was inadequate in this title. You're looking at the skag, then the skag has bandits around it, that's the opening.

    The start of gameplay shows you meeting ClapTrap, but not even that lasts the time it did in previous titles. The base is immediately under attack, ClapTrap tosses you a kit, you already have a gun for some reason, and you're in battle within a couple minute. There's no entrance whatsoever. No storyline, just you getting gear and fighting.

    Oh, then you get to fight FOR the **** that took over Hyperion. I understand this is before the second game, and he hasn't quite taken over yet. It is still a great big middle finger to the player if they've followed the story line of the second game.

    You're then launched onto the moon, where you meet the first quest giver there. You're then asked to travel without air and unlock a locked building. This is where I happen to run across those new...geo-lizard things, died a few times in front of that door because of my noob weapons, finally cleared it out long enough to get inside and get an Oxygen mask.

    Then after that you're asked to go kill someone. Simple enough right? Wrong. On the way there, you are required to fight several enemies without any cover, all you get to do is jump around avoiding fire, and trying to ground-pound, then running and refilling your oxygen while being shot at.

    When I finally reached the guy you have to kill, I gave up after several deaths, realizing I couldn't defeat him with the new mechanics, as well as the fact he has baddies spawning all over, is constantly making the ground electrified, and has an overpowered weapon.

    That's the first 30 minutes (or more) of game play, from my perspective.    … Expand
  15. Jonathan117
    Dec 13, 2014
    9
    I might be an odd one but.. I actually preferred this Borderlands to 2 and 1, the location, the characters and the new weapons in my opinion make it the best Borderlands as of yet, refining all the good things that were in the original and the sequel.
    Pros:
    - Characters - Story - Jack, Jack, Jack - Claptrap (Hilarious but annoying) - Gunplay - Location Cons: - Re-used weapons -    I might be an odd one but.. I actually preferred this Borderlands to 2 and 1, the location, the characters and the new weapons in my opinion make it the best Borderlands as of yet, refining all the good things that were in the original and the sequel.
    Pros:
    - Characters
    - Story
    - Jack, Jack, Jack
    - Claptrap (Hilarious but annoying)
    - Gunplay
    - Location
    Cons:
    - Re-used weapons
    - Some boring areas    … Expand
  16. Bananamash
    Dec 13, 2014
    8
    Borderlands:The Pre-Sequel a great game excellent pc port with a little bug that drops frame rate on certain part on the map but.... the story is boring and I think it is just great if it just to be an expansion pack.Still a great game though.
  17. sscott0829tw
    Dec 10, 2014
    7
    borderlands:The Pre-Sequel has a beautiful view of space,and has every feature that borderlands2 has.But it just change so little.Like they copy a lot of stuff form 2,But the new power and the low gravity fight is still pretty entertaining.Its not a best game,but still a good game.
  18. abeyaranaika
    Dec 9, 2014
    3
    It's fun and can keep you playeing for hours
    but characters aren't interesting
    end-game raid are not balanced(low legendary drop)
    I cannot say if it's worth 60bucks or not
  19. Saoshiba
    Dec 9, 2014
    10
    The Pre Sequel is here, the game has been greatly improved since the days of Borderlands 2 the graphics are better the AI is better and (In my opinion) the most important thing was the character development other then the echo you start with, the characters have dialog specifically for them and they actually speak back to the mission. All in all this game may have flaws with a more slowThe Pre Sequel is here, the game has been greatly improved since the days of Borderlands 2 the graphics are better the AI is better and (In my opinion) the most important thing was the character development other then the echo you start with, the characters have dialog specifically for them and they actually speak back to the mission. All in all this game may have flaws with a more slow paced fighting style but I still love it!… Expand
  20. andarial6670
    Dec 7, 2014
    1
    This game sucks. Everything that was fun about Borderlands 2 is either repeated word for word in this game, or toned down. The loot system is the exact same, the enemies are still identical in function but with different names and graphics; Skags are replaced by space skags called Kraggons, bandits are replaced by space bandits with oxygen masks... the slag element is replaced by lasers.This game sucks. Everything that was fun about Borderlands 2 is either repeated word for word in this game, or toned down. The loot system is the exact same, the enemies are still identical in function but with different names and graphics; Skags are replaced by space skags called Kraggons, bandits are replaced by space bandits with oxygen masks... the slag element is replaced by lasers. If anything, content wise, the presequel is roughly half the content of BL2. The game engine is identical to the one used in BL2, so this game feels more of an expansion pack than a standalone game. The characters this time around are also generic reskins of the standard team in past BL games. The humor is lackluster and more slapstick than ever before. There seems to be less quests and less things to do.

    Everything that was bad about Borderlands 2 is repeated word for word in this game. A quest will require you to go from point A to point B, and then insert obstacle C for you to make a boring and senseless detour around. Oh hey! Kill this guy for no reason other than he's a dick(a LITERAL example of how deep and interesting the plot is, taken from the actual game) Oh no! He destroyed the only launchpad to get to him! Walk 30 seconds around the map to a conveniently placed fuse charge to undo his efforts! This quest formula was notoriously plentiful in BL1 and BL2. It occurs more in Presequel. As with all iterations of the game, there is still no improvement on quality of life. You still have to accept a quest, finish it, and then travel all the way back to turn it in. You still have to travel all the way back to the main city to organize all your items. You still have to travel all the way across the map if you're going to places that don't have a travel point. I'm just save-quitting the game because that's a faster way to get to where I want to go sometimes. There are so many inconvenient, non-fun, time-consuming grinding experiences in this game.

    The setting of the game is set on the moon. Boring as hell. If you thought the environment in past iterations was on the bland side, wait til you see this. The story is so simple and the plot so meaningless. Handsome Jack from BL2 was in my opinion one of the greatest game villains of all time. He made you hate him and he did such a wonderful job doing it. Presequel downplays his characteristics and tries to make him seem more misunderstood and victimized in a way. It presents a different perspective that views Lilith and the other main cast members of BL as more of villains than heroes.

    And Claptrap is just boring retarded this time around. The whole game feels like you've done it before and there's just no sense of novelty or inspiration. Some games come out feeling unfinished and cut up so that developers could get more money out of it; this game is the satanic reincarnation of that idea. This is "bad" DLC for Borderlands 2 that is somehow worth the full price of a new, standalone game.

    I hate this game so much, and I really enjoyed BL1 and BL2. I don't think you'll find this game fun whether you liked the previous iterations or not. Even if BL1 and BL2 didn't exist, this game by itself is a horrible. Like, golf ball sized hemorrhoids horrible. The whole concept of this game rides so hard on the coattails of BL2 that it couldn't be seen as anything else besides an expansion. I played through the entire game hoping it would get better or interesting at some point, but it never did, it just abruptly ended and then asked me if I wanted a second playthrough. This is why people pirate games.    … Expand
  21. alilsneaky
    Dec 2, 2014
    5
    More of the same, but also a lot less fun.

    +gunplay improved (many guns feel better and this was much needed blands gunplay was always very weak) +some nice hit reactions (exploding heads etc that feel like good feedback, also ties into gunplay -tons of backtracking and chores through bland boring environments -low gravity just makes movement feel even more sluggish than it already    More of the same, but also a lot less fun.

    +gunplay improved (many guns feel better and this was much needed blands gunplay was always very weak)
    +some nice hit reactions (exploding heads etc that feel like good feedback, also ties into gunplay

    -tons of backtracking and chores through bland boring environments
    -low gravity just makes movement feel even more sluggish than it already was, remove the sprint crap and make sprint the base movement speed.
    -forgettable characters
    -mostly boring enemies and encounters
    -loot is super dull
    -opening 454456446 lockers and boxes got boring by the end of fallout 3 , like 7 years have passed since then, it's more of a chore than ever.

    It's not even the borderlands formula getting stale, it just isn't a very well made borderlands sequel, was this by the same developer?
    Except for the gunplay it feels like a B team made it (not that blands was ever anything more than a 7/10 game series)    … Expand
  22. Halefire
    Nov 30, 2014
    6
    It's a decent game, but even as a diehard lover of the Borderlands series I found this one hard to engage with. There's just something about this game that leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. I find none of the characters particularly fun to play, and even the most interesting player character here is less interesting than the least interesting player character in other games. When youIt's a decent game, but even as a diehard lover of the Borderlands series I found this one hard to engage with. There's just something about this game that leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. I find none of the characters particularly fun to play, and even the most interesting player character here is less interesting than the least interesting player character in other games. When you lose out in personality to Salvador the Gunzerker, that's really a problem.

    The thing is, as much as I felt like I would have liked "more Borderlands 2", for a game that deserved to be so much more the Pre-Sequel just disappoints me. As much as I liked Handsome Jack as a character, I never felt so interested in him that I felt his backstory deserved an entire full-length game to flesh out. The game suffers the same faults as its predecessors, which I'll do my best to summarize quickly:

    -side quest overload. Not to say that there's too many, but rather too many are necessary simply to progress in the story. It is absolutely paradoxical that the writers will work so hard to create a main story that players will want to progress in then SLAM them back down at every mission or two to say NO! Too low level, go grind some side missions that are usually far less interesting. With every passing Borderlands game I find this more and more infuriating.

    -singleplayer vs coop paradox: in singleplayer, you get the distinct feeling that the number of enemies is balanced for multiplayer, as you quickly get swarmed by a dozen enemies ALL shooting at you when normally that would be spread among a few more players. In multiplayer however, the enemies become such bullet sponges (bosses especially) that you lose any feeling of your weapons having weight or impact. It's the same issue that Destiny has, where bosses can soak up thousands of bullets. Can you even call them bullets at that point?

    Other than these two major ones, I still enjoy the writing, and I greatly enjoy how player banter is increased several times over. This is one feature that I feel needs to make it into the inevitable Borderlands 3, because player characters could certainly feel lifeless in past games (which was why it was such a shock--an awesome shock--to see how much character they actually had when they appeared as NPCs in BL2).    … Expand
  23. Illijixz
    Nov 30, 2014
    4
    Im a die hard borderlands fun and gonna cut it short .

    The good: Low gravity and oxygen system improve game play in a new fashion. Good story explaining between borderlands 1 and 2. Lots of guns and ability to craft your own weapons with a new rng system. The bad: Too few enemies to kill. You spend most of your time running and backtracking. Combat is not satisfying enough you will    Im a die hard borderlands fun and gonna cut it short .

    The good: Low gravity and oxygen system improve game play in a new fashion. Good story explaining between borderlands 1 and 2. Lots of guns and ability to craft your own weapons with a new rng system.

    The bad: Too few enemies to kill. You spend most of your time running and backtracking. Combat is not satisfying enough you will miss the critical strike points of enemies in BL2, arms dropping, crippling etc. all maps look like each other and more backtracking. incredibly repetitive. No end game content.

    I tried hard to love this game a lot but got bored as soon as tvhm started.
    I would suggest waiting for huge discount and some DLC content to be available otherwise you will have 20-25 hours of game play before you realize you are forcing yourself to play it.    … Expand
  24. mosti
    Nov 29, 2014
    2
    After waiting for the release of this game, I was sorely disappointed. Borderlands The Pre-Sequel has ruined the franchise for me. It's a "AAA" game which feels and plays like an expansion of some sort.

    The whole space concept is just plain retarded and distasteful. The atmosphere and running along a giant red crater and then along the same looking crater except covered in ice really    After waiting for the release of this game, I was sorely disappointed. Borderlands The Pre-Sequel has ruined the franchise for me. It's a "AAA" game which feels and plays like an expansion of some sort.

    The whole space concept is just plain retarded and distasteful. The atmosphere and running along a giant red crater and then along the same looking crater except covered in ice really bored me within the first few hours. The whole oxygen thing is useless and a waste of design. Can't even use your vehicle to travel across the boring environment because the ramps they've set out to clear giant death cracks in the surface don't propel you enough distance to clear the gap! So you then end up getting out on foot, double jumping with your crappy oxygen pack and wait 20seconds to land back on the surface of the crappy crater.

    Seriously, this game was a major disappointment. Borderland fans, look past this game and save your cash. Serious waste of time.    … Expand
  25. jimbobslimbob
    Nov 24, 2014
    5
    Borderlands The Pre-Sequel Review

    This is an extremely difficult review to write, because I am very conflicted over this game. On the one side, it's a *fairly* solid FPS shooter with loot in abundance, some good humour and great co-op gaming. One that I am sure you will enjoy playing with a few friends. On the other hand, it feels like an expensive Borderlands 2 DLC and a blatant cash    Borderlands The Pre-Sequel Review

    This is an extremely difficult review to write, because I am very conflicted over this game. On the one side, it's a *fairly* solid FPS shooter with loot in abundance, some good humour and great co-op gaming. One that I am sure you will enjoy playing with a few friends. On the other hand, it feels like an expensive Borderlands 2 DLC and a blatant cash grab (they will be bringing out MORE DLC for this one too, if you are so inclined).

    Cons
    All the little annoyances and bugs from number 2 got carried over, without so much as a look at getting them fixed or changed. I have already experienced sound randomly disappearing for no reason, only to come back after I die (a bug that plagued the previous game as well). I have also had an NPC glitch on the tutorial mission, making it impossible to finish without exiting the game and coming back in.

    Then there is the horrendous amount of back tracking through the same old levels - surely they could just add more fast travel locations to the game? How about some form of teleport device - since we seem to be able to constantly cheat death and respawn nearby anyway? The menus are still horrendous to navigate - a remnant of it being a console port, no doubt. Boring fetch-this and go-there quests seem as abundant as ever too, I really wish there was a bit more depth to the multitude of side-quests.

    The new low gravity / O2 mechanic is really just a gimmick and does nothing to improve the game. All it seems to do is make for bunny-hopping gun-fights. The classes are also not that interesting. Claptrap is a completely useless character in single or co-op, Wilhelm is basically Axton from the previous game and the last two characters are nothing special either.

    Borderlands games have always advertised themselves as a fusion of FPS and RPG, but I was kind of hoping a little more of the RPG side of things would be brought into the games as time went on. This is sadly not the case. Customisation is limited to poor skill trees and throw-away skins that do nothing but change the basic colours of your character. The bad-♥♥♥ system is a neat idea, but never really seems to do much for you and I can't help but wonder if more could have also been done here as well.

    The humour and general feel of Borderlands 2 is here - so it is really just more of the same. This is its biggest problem. It brings nothing new to the table and looks and feels like you are playing Borderlands 2. Most of the points I have mentioned so far could be forgiven in BL2, but 2 years later, to bring out this "expansion pack" and try palming it off as a separate game without addressing any of its predecessors issues is just a bit much.

    Pros
    Moving on to the positives: it's more Borderlands, which surely cannot be a bad thing in itself. It's still a great co-op game that gets better with more people playing. The graphics look as good as ever and it has Handsome Jack before he was Handsome Jack - who was always one of my favourite characters in the last game. The story seems acceptable but nothing ground-breaking. It is nice to see previous characters making a come-back to fill in some gaps.

    The game is still great fun to play co-op, where a full-team of vault hunters is much more enjoyable than wondering around alone. The guns and loot is as crazy and fun as ever. There is also a new laser-class weapon, which is a welcome addition. "Slag" seems to have been replaced with "Cryo" weapons, which is a welcome addition, since Slag weapons became more and more essential as you levelled up in number 2 - and limited your options.

    Summary
    So, to summarise, it's an overpriced, underdeveloped slog through similar territory - a cash-grab by lazy developers. If you can see past this and enjoyed Borderlands 2 then that will be of no consequence and you can ignore most of the cons in this review. If you, like me, expected more, then you have come to the wrong place and should wait for Borderlands 3 instead. Still, this is Gearbox afterall - who gave us Duke Nukem Forever and Colonial Marines - I guess I shouldn't have expected too much from them. It's a fairly decent game that will keep diehard fans of the franchise happy, but you can't help but wonder what more could have been done.

    My Jimbo Rating on this game will differ based on two important factors, shown below.

    If you wanted more from the new Borderlands game than a lazy, copy-paste clone:
    Jimbo Rating: 5/10 - "Not Recommended"

    If you simply wanted more Borderlands 2 and are a diehard fan that has cash to throw at the lazy devs:
    Jimbo Rating: 7/10 - "Recommended"

    For me, this game falls in the first category, making it a 5/10.    … Expand
  26. poppunkreviews
    Nov 22, 2014
    10
    Borderlands 1 and 2 where okay, i got bored of them in a matter of hours because of the repetition of fighting. In Borderlands pre squeal (I've played about 2 hours) I would have to say I love playing it and haven't got bored or ever thought this game is bad. Great port. Humorous fun. Clap trap ftw!
  27. Dree74
    Nov 18, 2014
    6
    I would rate Borderlands 1 as 9/10 and borderlands 2 as perfect 10/10, this game sadly doesn't par with either. The main quest flows like borderlands 2, but the writing and dialogues are way inferior. The graphic, gameplay, UI are all same as Borderlands 2 (throughout the whole game, I felt like playing one of long Borderlands 2 DLC).
  28. eyb0ss
    Nov 18, 2014
    8
    Sigh.
    I am so disappointed in Gearbox. Talk about a flop, this is without a doubt the worst game in the series. Nothing is as good as it was in the past games. BL1 did balance better. BL2 did dialog, story, and weapon diversity better. The story COULD have been great, if we had a central funny and love/hate-able villain like BL2 did. The only reason BL2 worked as well as it did is    Sigh.
    I am so disappointed in Gearbox. Talk about a flop, this is without a doubt the worst game in the series. Nothing is as good as it was in the past games. BL1 did balance better. BL2 did dialog, story, and weapon diversity better. The story COULD have been great, if we had a central funny and love/hate-able villain like BL2 did. The only reason BL2 worked as well as it did is Handsome Jack. In the pre-sequel we were given the promise of more handsome jack, the cocky, funny, ego-maniac that we all loved to hate. None-the-less borderlands is still a great formula and the gameplay is hella fun and interesting. I will say, however, if you didn't like the past Borderlands, this game will do nothing to dissuade you. It has a new world with new areas and is honestly only a few hours longer than Tiny Tinas DLC in Borderlands 2. The game is fine and fun, but if you are tired of borderlands, or never warmed up to the series in the first place, This game is a waste of your money.    … Expand
  29. ozymandias79
    Nov 18, 2014
    4
    Not as good as Borderlands 2. I get the Aussie angle but the accents are exaggerated and annoying. The jetpack platforming is also annoying. The whole oxygen mechanic is frustrating not innovative. The humor is nonexistent. It feels repetitive. Level design is uninspired. On the plus side, leveling up seems to be quicker. That's about it. Instead of buying this, get the DLC for Borderlands 2.
  30. donnk
    Nov 17, 2014
    0
    bland, boring, unbalanced characters (nisha and jack is broken as hell). Can't stand the prevalent, annoying aussie accent. Minus points for not having more MALE playable characters. Nobody wants to play as some broken AIMBOT girl
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Awards & Rankings

28
#28 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
13
#13 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 55 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 55
  3. Negative: 0 out of 55
  1. CD-Action
    Dec 13, 2014
    75
    Derivative, but also colorful, absurd and fun. If you played one Borderlands game, you played them all. [Dec 2014, p.56]
  2. Digital Trends
    Nov 25, 2014
    50
    There isn’t a AAA game out there that doesn’t exist to make money, but Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel stumps for dollars in a brazenly insipid way. It’s a paint-by-numbers effort, almost from top to bottom.
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  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Nov 25, 2014
    76
    2K delivered exactly what it promised: a derivative game which nevertheless deserves to be completed in single-player for the story. And then maybe one more play through with a friend or two, just to shoot stuff and kid around, before setting Pre-Sequel aside until DLCs come. Just as it always is with Borderlands. [Dec 2014, p.64]
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