Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

 PlayStation 3
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 218 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 127 out of 218
  2. Mixed: 51 out of 218
  3. Negative: 40 out of 218
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  1. Madtv43
    Oct 29, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's good... not great by any means, but pretty enjoyable. Better than Destiny, but not as good as Borderlands 2. Most people aren't big fans of the low-grav system but I have thoroughly enjoyed it, and it is not nearly as difficult to control as they would have you believe. Sure the world has less fast travel and lots of walking around, but you can move much more quickly than in the previous games with low-grav. This does have its downsides though. I went through most missions with little to no combat, and even with doing all the side missions I was pretty underleveled at times.

    I did enjoy playing as recognizable characters, and the addition of character specific dialogue was wonderful. Wilhelm is a lot of fun, sure his active is essentially the same as Gaige's, but slowly turning into a robot (and his voice changes all robotic) is really cool. Claptrap is really great if you are playing online, and the dialogue responding to him, particularly from Jack, is often pretty funny.

    I did not run into any major bugs other than one where some enemies fell through the floor. Luckily Wolf was more than capable of taking care of it.

    The humor is all pretty much intact, but there is far too much sexualization of characters. Pretty much every character you are introduced to in this game is gay or a child, and it is fully up to your discretion to decide on if some are both. Did anyone need to know if Hammerlock was gay or not? Definitely not, it doesn't add anything to his character, and is overall worthless information. Then there is Janey Springs who every time she is involved with dialogue is either saying she's a lesbian or hitting on any and every female character in the game. As a whole I do like her character, the children's stories are enjoyable. I just figured they were building up to some joke or something with the overt homosexuality, but it didn't go anywhere.

    I am waiting anxiously for the DLC, and lets hope Gearbox edges out 2K australia as time goes on. Not that the game isn't enjoyable, but as far as Borderlands titles go this is a pretty weak entry. I would say it is better than the first one if say both came out at the same time, but this game should have shown many years of progress that the first one didn't need.

    Anyway quick list
    the good
    Low grav (not to everyone, but for my own list it is a good addition)
    Laser and cryo weaponry
    typical Borderlands humor and pop-culture references
    The new characters are enjoyable
    I like the backstory on Jack and his hatred of Vault Hunters

    The Bad
    Not enough difference to make it a good standalone title
    Attempts to be unnecessarily political (you and I both know that was the intent)
    Although few in number some bugs can be damn near game-breaking. I was lucky to be Wilhelm.
    Not releasing on the new consoles will severely limit the games potential
    Some pop-culture references feel very forced and as such lose a lot of the humor
    To me Australian accents can sound abrasive.

    In conclusion

    "Screw you Toby Van Adobe, you have my only soap"    … Expand
  2. lambor
    Jan 30, 2015
    6
    Played through with friends, then went back to BL2 which has a better cast, bigger and better maps, story & missions. I didn't care for Handsome Jack's backstory. He can never be forgiven for what he does in BL 2, every time I could, I was shooting him for Bloodwing's sake.
  3. GamergodsFail
    Jun 30, 2015
    7
    This was a very fun game with some cool features introduced in the series, but it didn't equal up to the quality of the first two games. I really liked the story and Handsome Jack's dynamic role in this game, but the game itself needed more polish.
  4. BaronMonaco
    Dec 16, 2016
    7
    This third episode of the franchise chose not to follow the events of Borderlands 2 but to tell us the rise of Handsome Jack, the charismatic villain of this previous episode. It also was one of the last game made exclusively for the old-gen. Does it live up to the expectations ?

    Technically the game is alright with no major issues except some minor framerate drops but nothing harmful    This third episode of the franchise chose not to follow the events of Borderlands 2 but to tell us the rise of Handsome Jack, the charismatic villain of this previous episode. It also was one of the last game made exclusively for the old-gen. Does it live up to the expectations ?

    Technically the game is alright with no major issues except some minor framerate drops but nothing harmful for the gameplay. The graphics keep the same art direction of the franchise and it doesn't brings a lot of improvements or new visuals with the same design of monsters, weapons and characters.

    Gameplay wise it's the same than the previous games with an open-world FPS with an emphasis on loot and coop, they tried to innovate with the low gravity (obvious given the fact that the action is on the moon) but it really doesn't change much (you'll never have oxygen troubles and the high jumps don't serve for anything ). But once again the main feeling is that it could be an expansion for Borderlands 2 and not a new episode.

    The story is certainly the most interesting point of the game, I think everybody loved Handsome Jack and his background was interesting but they relied too much on him and it lacks more charismatic characters. But at least the side quests are developed and full of pop culture references and you'll want to do them. To finish the game (campaign and side quests) you can expect around 25 hours which is good for the genre.

    In conclusion Borderlands The Pre-Sequel is certainly a fun game, specially with friends, but the lack of innovations is a major let down and if you already played the first two games you might end a bit bored despite the funny writing. I'll advise it only for big fans of the licence, if it's not your case you better expect Borderlands 3 on PS4/Xbox One.    … Expand
  5. GeorgeOrwell
    Nov 11, 2014
    7
    I enjoyed this entry into the Borderlands series, but the style and look of it are aging to me. It feels a bit like they are riding the popularity rather than expanding the game outwards. I am glad this studio has a new title out, because they need to keep developing new I.P. They are good at it.
  6. mmrventricle
    Oct 14, 2014
    7
    Borderlands the Pre-sequel is in a weird spot: veteran borderlands player who like borderlands for all the crazy guns (ie all borderlands fans) are not appealed because it reuses legendaries from the last game. New players would not need to buy it because them can pay less to get more from bl2 goty. It's sort of like Destiny: Like it or hate it. Except this game has content.

    pros: 4    Borderlands the Pre-sequel is in a weird spot: veteran borderlands player who like borderlands for all the crazy guns (ie all borderlands fans) are not appealed because it reuses legendaries from the last game. New players would not need to buy it because them can pay less to get more from bl2 goty. It's sort of like Destiny: Like it or hate it. Except this game has content.

    pros:
    4 very interesting classes as you probably already know;
    Good-ol' shoot and loot. (did i spell that right?);
    Its Jack! this time he Is the good guy and you will get to know more about him! (for new players, you will get many interesting characters);
    Player characters finally got dialogues with NPCs;
    ps: metacritic wouldnt let me use a list. sorry!
    con:
    This game reuses gears from bl2. idk if there is new legendary or unique gears for weapon classes other than laser, but this is definitely upsetting as it robs old player of the novelty, the best part about getting awesome loots. maybe except killing stuff with them.
    Graphics is not improved. at all. or maybe its the console port.
    Texture sometimes takes time to pop in, and I have experienced mysterious frame rate drop once. Hopefully will be fixed soon.
    Low gravity can be a pain, as the game deliberately ask you to do parkour (or really double jump) by putting mission trigger points at high places. But the double jump mechanic is bad. The boost is slow and you cant reach very high (2 times the height of jumping once at best) and gets old really quickly. It takes a bit of getting used to to reach higher platform, and also make you unclear whether some terrain is reachable or not.

    Other things you should know: the entire game is actually a story told by Athena to Lilith, meaning she, Brick and Mordecai will sometimes commentate on the situation, much like Tiny Tina dlc in bl2.
    Some ignorance on basic physics, eg everyone hang around in vacuum with arms and legs exposed. But borderlands isnt a game about making sense anyway. Because... reasons!    … Expand
  7. Sethtifer
    Oct 28, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm a bit late to the party, but all I can say is I was generally impressed with This iteration of Borderlands. The humor was there and the story was there. However, the game play was not. A stupid learning curve for the gravity mechanics, bad level balancing, and boss battles that were either too hard or too easy brought it down for me. While I enjoyed it overall, I can tell that Gearbox did not make this. I hope when Borderlands 3 comes (which it has to be) Gearbox takes the mantle back up. 2K Australia has whetted my appetite for Borderlands, but not satisfied it.… Expand
  8. ballatwork
    Oct 27, 2014
    5
    This is Borderlands which is good and bad. Of the three games this would rank third. Unfortunately all the momentum from Borderlands 2 goes away with the new gravity system. This adds unneeded frustration with jumps and is plain out tedious. I was very excited for this game as I easily put in 120+ hours into Borderlands 2. This game is a step backwards for the franchise and feels likeThis is Borderlands which is good and bad. Of the three games this would rank third. Unfortunately all the momentum from Borderlands 2 goes away with the new gravity system. This adds unneeded frustration with jumps and is plain out tedious. I was very excited for this game as I easily put in 120+ hours into Borderlands 2. This game is a step backwards for the franchise and feels like it was intended to be some type of lengthy DLC content..… Expand
  9. ninjack
    Oct 14, 2014
    5
    the good news , yes its borderlands!, the bad news is its yet another borderlands game. following the excellent B2, this is a disappointment...relatively few & often stupid side-quests, smaller world, uninspired main story, same ol weapons + lasers and gravity.., i play nisha and she has a boring skill tree.. let me be clear: its not bad, if it was any other title, i'd give it a slightlythe good news , yes its borderlands!, the bad news is its yet another borderlands game. following the excellent B2, this is a disappointment...relatively few & often stupid side-quests, smaller world, uninspired main story, same ol weapons + lasers and gravity.., i play nisha and she has a boring skill tree.. let me be clear: its not bad, if it was any other title, i'd give it a slightly higher score, however i expected much more from this franchise.. still waiting for an open world borderlands, with crafting and extensive rpg elements.... definitely not worth the price… Expand
  10. loppygamerBR
    Nov 17, 2014
    6
    Foi um jogo que eu esperei bastante pra sair pq eu sou completamente apoixonado pelo borderlands 2 e gosto muito do 1 e nao bem como explicar mais esse faltou alguma coisa tipo aquilo que faz viciar assim como o borderlands 2.
  11. ThatOneCritic
    Nov 11, 2014
    6
    Well this game has it's ups and downs.
    It's story is great. Although it's better if you play the first and second instalments.
    Umm it has a wide variety of weapons and gear to choose from. But farming. The loot is what Borderlands is all about. But sadly some enemies aren't farmable so you need to alt+F4 (Dashboard, or quit) This makes the game really frustrating for farmers trying to    Well this game has it's ups and downs.
    It's story is great. Although it's better if you play the first and second instalments.
    Umm it has a wide variety of weapons and gear to choose from.
    But farming. The loot is what Borderlands is all about. But sadly some enemies aren't farmable so you need to
    alt+F4 (Dashboard, or quit) This makes the game really frustrating for farmers trying to get these weapons, that's the main reason why I'm giving it a six.
    Umm Cryo element is a really good replacement of the slag element and was an addition I really enjoyed.

    So to sum it up, It's a game that you'll enjoy. The only thing is you should buy it when the price is lowered.    … Expand
  12. Spo0kyGhosts
    Nov 29, 2014
    7
    Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is nice way, if you're a borderlands fanatic, to hold you over, Until Borderlands 3 anyways. If, however you want to try borderlands, I recommend Borderlands 2 as it as more story as well as gameplay. In general, Borderlands: Pre-Sequel has no new things to offer really. Worth the price, No. Waiting for a deal or sale up to 40 dollars would be more worth this game.
  13. starburns
    Apr 5, 2016
    5
    They just copy and pasted borderlands 2 on the moon, gave everyone a ridiculously thick Australian accent, added an O2 meter which adds virtually nothing, never told you what to do in the quests which left me running around, in an area they told me to go, not knowing what i was supposed to do when i got there, and just making the game all around very short in comparison to it'sThey just copy and pasted borderlands 2 on the moon, gave everyone a ridiculously thick Australian accent, added an O2 meter which adds virtually nothing, never told you what to do in the quests which left me running around, in an area they told me to go, not knowing what i was supposed to do when i got there, and just making the game all around very short in comparison to it's predecessor. Borderlands 2 is easily my favorite game of all time, but this is a slap in the face to any real fans of the series. They should have never made this, and focused all their attention on making borderlands 3.

    The only reason this game gets a 5 is because it does still has the same formula that made borderland 2 great. If they had even just changed the HUD i would have given a higher score, but they couldn't even do that. I've spent 2 years playing borderlands 2 and loved every second of the 1000+ hours i spent leveling up every character to 60 and even getting krieg and axton to 72.

    As far as character development, this did a great job telling the story of Handsome Jack, but if that's all gearbox and 2K were trying to do, then they should have priced it at $30 and called it a dlc, not make us pay full price for a terrible version of borderlands 2    … Expand
  14. mackenzie129
    Aug 17, 2016
    5
    I cannot give it higher nor lower than a 5 here's why. If you really like borderlands 2 stick to it, this game is eccentrically an exact clone of that same combat, same style boss fights. same same same same...
    PROS
    - New/Old Characters with new abilities - New places to visit - New weapons - Moxii CONS - Claptrap - O2 meter is annoying - The characters are not as funny as they    I cannot give it higher nor lower than a 5 here's why. If you really like borderlands 2 stick to it, this game is eccentrically an exact clone of that same combat, same style boss fights. same same same same...
    PROS
    - New/Old Characters with new abilities
    - New places to visit
    - New weapons
    - Moxii
    CONS
    - Claptrap
    - O2 meter is annoying
    - The characters are not as funny as they were in previous games nor are they as likable.
    - I beat the raid boss alone....
    - It brings barely anything new to the table
    - The side missions are even worse
    - So boring.    … Expand
  15. RAILANDERSON
    May 27, 2022
    7
    A franquia já mostrou sinais de desgastes aqui, sua mecânica de RPG com FPS ainda é boa, mas o jogo é só mais do mesmo, e joguei já nem se importando com a história e oque estava acontecendo, só joguei o jogo, ainda sim me diverti bastante, mas me frustrei tbm, pois tem muitas partes chatas, poucos lugares de viagem rápida, fazendo com que a gente perca muito tempo pra lá e pra cá. amoA franquia já mostrou sinais de desgastes aqui, sua mecânica de RPG com FPS ainda é boa, mas o jogo é só mais do mesmo, e joguei já nem se importando com a história e oque estava acontecendo, só joguei o jogo, ainda sim me diverti bastante, mas me frustrei tbm, pois tem muitas partes chatas, poucos lugares de viagem rápida, fazendo com que a gente perca muito tempo pra lá e pra cá. amo jogos longos, mas esse parece que alongou um pouco mais do que precisava também a ponto de vc perder o interesse depois de um tempo. pois é sempre mais do mesmo, mesmo que o mais do mesmo seja muito bom.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

23
#23 Best PS3 Game of 2014
12
#12 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2014
19
#19 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. Thunderbolt
    Jan 7, 2015
    70
    If you’re not on board with the series’ mashing of shooting and RPG elements, there’s nothing here that’s going to dissuade, and even casual fans might not feel the need to pick up this interquel after they’re still stuffed from Borderlands 2, but for the hardcore fan it’s hard to deny the formula is still plenty of fun and taking things to the moon provides enough of a difference in the mechanics to justify a play-through.
    Read full review
  2. Games Master UK
    Dec 21, 2014
    79
    More a remix of the series' successful elements than a giant leap for shooterkind, but still hugely fun. [Christmas 2014, p.66]
  3. Gamestyle
    Nov 23, 2014
    80
    If you like Borderlands, then you'll like Borderlands The Pre-Sequel. It's simply more Borderlands.
    Read full review
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