Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

 Xbox 360
User Score
6.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 231 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 131 out of 231
  2. Mixed: 53 out of 231
  3. Negative: 47 out of 231
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  1. EpicNinjaMan
    Jan 10, 2015
    7
    A reskinned Borderlands 2, this is the first game in the Borderlands series that I didn't play nonstop and it took me awhile to haul myself through this game.
  2. Neth3rtwist
    Oct 18, 2014
    6
    So far (incomplete review) the game is just the same-o same-o. True, there are some new 'features,' if you can even call it that, such as gravity (which in a way seems to just slow the frantic shoot and loot of borderlands down), oxygen (again, who needs to be worrying about finding air when the fun is in finding your next weapon?), main characters who are more involved in the storySo far (incomplete review) the game is just the same-o same-o. True, there are some new 'features,' if you can even call it that, such as gravity (which in a way seems to just slow the frantic shoot and loot of borderlands down), oxygen (again, who needs to be worrying about finding air when the fun is in finding your next weapon?), main characters who are more involved in the story (this I liked- Borderlands was always one that could use some more story and personalization), and a few others mostly revolving around things you'd see in an expansion pack (enemies, skill trees, etc). If all of this doesn't sound all that new and exciting to you, it doesn't seem new and exciting to me either. Borderlands 2 will always be one of my favorite games and Gearbox knows how to crank out the goodies, DLC, and extra content almost up until the point of this game's release, which leaves them quite a bit of room for improvement, which I hope they will utilize.… Expand
  3. CJBailey14
    Nov 4, 2014
    6
    As a big Borderlands fan, I just had to get this game. And it was good, I feel satisfied but was disappointed in the fact that with not very much playing i've completed it within just over 2 weeks of it being released. With BL2 it took me A LOT longer, well over a year of coming back and forth in phases of playing it. This game isn't even the quarter of the size of BL2. But it is worthAs a big Borderlands fan, I just had to get this game. And it was good, I feel satisfied but was disappointed in the fact that with not very much playing i've completed it within just over 2 weeks of it being released. With BL2 it took me A LOT longer, well over a year of coming back and forth in phases of playing it. This game isn't even the quarter of the size of BL2. But it is worth playing. Perhaps wait for the price to drop a little and it'll just be like buying a large expansion pack, which is really what this is. I can't fault this game dramatically because it was fun to play, and it is a good game. But I can't give it a great score because of the size (both length of the game and map sizes).… Expand
  4. Daelus
    Jan 2, 2015
    6
    From a story line perspective, if you have played Borderlands, you know what to expect; story is definitely not their forte, but it is serviceable and always humorous (especially TVHM when Tina gets in on it). For me, I downgraded the rating a full notch for a very, very lazy fail....the story centers around your character....whichever of the 4 you decide to play; however, in theFrom a story line perspective, if you have played Borderlands, you know what to expect; story is definitely not their forte, but it is serviceable and always humorous (especially TVHM when Tina gets in on it). For me, I downgraded the rating a full notch for a very, very lazy fail....the story centers around your character....whichever of the 4 you decide to play; however, in the beginning, the end, and all the parts in the middle when the tale is being recounted, it is told by Athena as if you are playing her....ridiculously lazy fail.

    Gunplay remains the strength; and they have added lasers to the mix; which is good as, IMO, they nerfed the Assault Rifle...literally didn't find a good one through 2+ playthroughs.

    Skill trees are all new and there are some really great ones there...definitely added to the game.

    As always, for me, the loot system is broken. I get that some people just love new loot, but as all new weapons scale to your level, you never keep a weapon more than 1/2 hour.....the Legendary you got at level 10 is worse than a White 5 levels later. Ridonkulous. Grinder is a worthless concept and even worse in practice.

    My last gripe with this company is their Achievements; there are always 2 or 3 mp Achievements thrown in to what is a single player game; they take, literally 15 minutes, to pop all 3...so what's the point??? You have to form a Boosting party to get them as, just 3 months after launch there is no one on....sloppy thinking.....leave that junk for DLC devoted to it.

    ....and stop forcing us to play all characters for several hours or more simply to 100% the game!!!

    Unlike AC, I am not looking forward to the next addition of BL....burnt-out at this point and they would need to something drastically different to rope me back in.    … Expand
  5. dohgeh
    Feb 25, 2015
    6
    BL The Pre-Sequel isn't a bad game, it's just not what we wanted. If you never played BL 2 you'll like this game. If you have, this game is nothing new and a bad setting.
  6. YouHad1Job
    May 6, 2015
    5
    I give this game a 5 because its basically Borderlands 2 but done by 2k Australia and although Borderlands 2 was an amazing game i did want a change not the same game. I've played through the campaign and ts pretty much Borderlands 2 so it's not that enjoyable, the characters aren't as good as they were in Borderlands 2, this game all together was an decent game but not worth the money.
  7. Jellyfish-Games
    Aug 12, 2015
    5
    They tried to do too much with this game and they sorta failed. I loved the first Borderlands and the second one was good too. This game... it puts shame on the series.
  8. somethingguy912
    Dec 10, 2014
    7
    While Borderlands 1 from Borderlands 2 felt like the difference between night and day, Borderlands 2 to the Pre Sequel feels like the difference between High Noon and 1PM. Sure, it has quite a few gimmicky features to try to squeeze new life into the matra of fighting on the **** moon, but it all in all still feels like you are paying for a overpriced DLC of Borderlands 2. The main hype ofWhile Borderlands 1 from Borderlands 2 felt like the difference between night and day, Borderlands 2 to the Pre Sequel feels like the difference between High Noon and 1PM. Sure, it has quite a few gimmicky features to try to squeeze new life into the matra of fighting on the **** moon, but it all in all still feels like you are paying for a overpriced DLC of Borderlands 2. The main hype of this new game was the low gravity, oxygen survival, cryo, and more intimate class character responses related to the quest that they were doing. It does offer all of those things, with some pretty hilarious responses from many of the new classes in regards to their mission, but oxygen ultimately fails at being a prior necessity nor being substantial towards your survival experience, as there are way too many cycle pools, oxygen pits and enemies with oxygen tanks (not that I wouldn't expect that) to actually warrant your concerns for oxygen. As for the story, we get to see the more sympathetic and potentially hero-eclipsing side of "Jack" become the known snarky, sadistic dictator from the Borderlands sequel we all loved to hate, with some surprising amount of subtlety to how Jack became so engrossed in killing the vault hunters as well as how the power got the better of his good intentions. As for the creativity of the classes, this time the classes actually feel like they are in a act of their own, rather than being just major improvements from the previous classes. Nisha's "showdown" action skill will probably be most useful as you can deal massive amounts of damage quite quickly, accurately and with force, but Athena's "Aspis" ability is also useful if you understand the aspects. Wilhelm's dual surveyor bots are helpful, but somewhat echo towards Roland's or Axton's turret like action skills, but Claptrap will no doubt be the most played because of how inexplicably unpredictable his action skill is, as he assumes the role of all other vault hunters up to this point based on the situation around him, which is sometimes not always the good route (I cooped with my friend who got the Psycho die of the action skill when we were primarily shooting at enemies from a distance). Raid Bosses and most enemies seem significantly easier to kill (but still challenging), so if you want to try to go kill some mysterious raid boss it won't be absolutely impossible without a full team to do it and some selective skill point managing. Lazer Weapons are by far going to also be the most used weapon type, as they deal a lot more damage more significantly, especially with how Cryo can render most of your opponents sticks in the mud with sufficient damage. Enemy types are extremely variant, apart from the occasional Stalker and Thresher fights, with even better emphasis on new enemy types than the Big Game Hunt DLC for the previous installment. While I can't say that I didn't get a lot of fun and mileage out of this game, I am definitely aware that the 'new' engine for Borderlands 2 is already starting to show it's age despite only having two installments inheriting it. But perhaps my biggest concern with this game is the noticable attitude of social structures and how most of the characters are blatantly diverse in their sexual orientation. I thought of this as noble in the previous borderlands, but now it's starting to get pretentious in this light. Sure, the game is just poking fun at it because the game is supposed to be silly, but if you make your characters be transsexual or lesbian because you want to give yourself a morality autofellatio because you didn't include any straightforward heterosexual characters, that is undeniably pretentious and the good intentions fly out of the window, much like with Jack's rise to power. not that I don't mind having characters with a rainbow of sexual orientations, but when it's done to the point that they want attention from it, it does become vain and vapid. Apart from that, while I did certainly enjoy the Pre-Sequel of Borderlands, it does have a noticable itch of "still borderlands 2" rather than being a new game in it's own right.… Expand
  9. Stevesitz
    Dec 9, 2014
    6
    Same formula from previous games but with a script that tries to be way too funny for itself. These games have always been a riot but it seems with this one the new ideas ran short. It still a decently fun experience to be had, but it's too often that you are hearing the same 'trying to be funny' lines over and over again which cuts into what makes these games fun. There are a few smallSame formula from previous games but with a script that tries to be way too funny for itself. These games have always been a riot but it seems with this one the new ideas ran short. It still a decently fun experience to be had, but it's too often that you are hearing the same 'trying to be funny' lines over and over again which cuts into what makes these games fun. There are a few small flaws but as everyone else is saying this game really does just feel like a giant DLC more than it's own game. The characters aren't as fun or memorable as those in games past and the fact that you can play as the much loved Clap Trap just proves further that they were really scraping for ideas at this point.… Expand
  10. druid5
    Dec 2, 2014
    6
    Borderlands The Pre-Sequel has it's good points, more Handsome Jack and an expanded universe for those like love the series, and it's bad points, bugs and glitches galore, along with some questionable tweaks and patches from Gearbox. The game and it's story are fine, if a little short on game play and replay-ability, but Gearbox should really start listening to it's faithful communityBorderlands The Pre-Sequel has it's good points, more Handsome Jack and an expanded universe for those like love the series, and it's bad points, bugs and glitches galore, along with some questionable tweaks and patches from Gearbox. The game and it's story are fine, if a little short on game play and replay-ability, but Gearbox should really start listening to it's faithful community about what it wants out of the game, and stop making tweaks that don't fix real issues, and only serve to strip the fun out of the game.… Expand
  11. j_obediah
    Oct 16, 2014
    7
    Since this is the third installment of the series, naturally one has to review this game by comparing it to the last two. What has changed, what is new, what hasn't changed, what should have changed. So If you haven't played, hopefully this will help you decide:

    What's changed: Guns - A lot more guns. Lasers have been added which are a nice change. I like that they made Hyperion    Since this is the third installment of the series, naturally one has to review this game by comparing it to the last two. What has changed, what is new, what hasn't changed, what should have changed. So If you haven't played, hopefully this will help you decide:

    What's changed:

    Guns - A lot more guns. Lasers have been added which are a nice change. I like that they made Hyperion sniper rifles less difficult to control. The amount of loot to gain is absolutely insane. Thing is, for me, this point is bleh. I don't care about loot as much as I care about skill development, but if you're a loot junkie, this game delivers BIG time. And since that's one of the game's major draws, you should, most likely, be happy with this part. Caveat: A lot of the weapons are the same, snipers, pistols, shotguns etc. So you will be getting a lot of the same too.

    Skills Customization: Better in my opinion. In BL2 I played quite a bit as Zero before having to turn over to other characters because he was a lot more work and time than I had to put into the game. This time I went with Athena cause I like swords and she's a lot better than Zero, and from I've experienced online, even Claptrap's power adds something to the game. Over all I think they did a solid job here. If skill customization was your thing, they made a definite improvement here.

    Gameplay: They added the space jump, which makes the game a little more dynamic, HOWEVER, because they didn't change how you interact with the environment, you may get frustrated with it. Depends on your game play. I do a lot of guerrilla style tactics, and your character still doesn't slide around obstacles easily, so it's EXTREMELY annoying when I'm trying to outmaneuver my enemy and I get stuck by a slight change in elevation and have to jump (and keep in mind you have to moon jump now and butt slam if you want to hurry to the ground and keep from being a floating bullseye). They idn't change a single thing in missions. That can be okay or bad (definitely isn't good as some of the missions make you literal traverse the entire span of a convoluted map to get one thing only to have that thing not be the thing you need and so you have to traverse all that terrain again to finally get what you need) They DID change the speed of your down scope movement, and it's really, really slooooowwww. So if you play the game looking through your weapon sites like me, you'll find yourself heaving your controller up and down and all around to get it to move fast. Most frustrating thing I've ever experienced in a game. Anyone know how to speed it up?

    Story: Like Pirates of the Caribean you shouldn't expect a deep logical storyline. You expect funny dialogue and interaction. Your characters do speak, but their dialogue is poorly done and add to the story in some instance and subtract in others. Each player will decide.

    Combat: For some reasons, it seems like the number of enemies and the rate at which they spawn makes coop almost a necessity if you don't want to feel like you're being punished for daring to be a Lone Wolf. Areas that you killed long ago will suddenly spas enemies while you're fighting a new wave and you'll get killed. So watch your back.

    Score. This game got the score I gave it because a lot of the fixes should have been no brainers, but they chose not to fix them and instead expected gamers to "get over it." Good thing for them my score means JACK SQUAT!!! But at least I get to air my opinion.    … Expand
  12. Somecthemes
    Feb 2, 2015
    6
    Here's the skinny as simply as I can put it, calling it a pre-sequel perfectly places it in hierarchy to the rest of the series. Better than BL1, worse than BL2. Of course with the game of the year editions available for both at less than the cost of this title new, I'd highly recommend those as less costly alternatives.

    Gameplay: it's all Borderlands with randomized loot and carnage.    Here's the skinny as simply as I can put it, calling it a pre-sequel perfectly places it in hierarchy to the rest of the series. Better than BL1, worse than BL2. Of course with the game of the year editions available for both at less than the cost of this title new, I'd highly recommend those as less costly alternatives.

    Gameplay: it's all Borderlands with randomized loot and carnage. With the inclusion of laser weapons, the light show will sometimes occlude the action, but it's usually over before it becomes a annoyance, which sadly is part of the annoyance. While it's nice that the light show doesn't make it impossible to play, for the most part battles will be over rather quickly and seem sparse compared to BL2 action.

    BL1 was able to get away with the desolate atmosphere by having interesting platforming areas that encouraged exploration to find out of the way chests. BL2 had some of this, but usually you were taking fire from 3 sources as you were hunting, while BLPS is a lot of space with few enemies and a system by which the player is discouraged from hunting with a oxygen resource that depletes. To combat this and ensure I wouldn't spite the game for this alone, I played as Clap-Trap's character.

    Unfortunately free exploration without the oxygen bother just exhibits how empty the world is. To that end, the game is less rpg than it's predecessors and would be hard to suggest to any single players out there. Thus if you're not continuously connected to the internet on your console, I'd say BL1 or BL2: GOtY would be a much better investment.

    If you're playing co-op, however, note that this game includes much more co-op friendly skills for your teams to build around, thus it might be a even better time had than the actual sequel. I've read that many players forsake the ground pounding and jumping in favor of using cover, so in this regard co-op plays like BL2 once in a fight.

    Some reviews seemed to have issue with the accents or some of the openly gay characters, but to be honest it didn't even come to my notice. If you've ever watched House and were able to deal with the occasional Aussie slips from one of the characters, you'll hardly notice these in game. As to the relations of the characters, you'll here maybe 3 or 4 lines, but I think they were trying for a joke that I didn't get, either way it's hardly a reason to avoid getting the game.

    Especially when there's a real reason like having to run through entire areas, made desolate by your first pass though, on your way to a out of the way fast travel station. Seriously, 3 loading screens and 5 minutes on a vehicle just to fast travel back to the city is a bit much, repeating it a couple times any you'll just want to quit playing.

    I'd say rent or borrow as you might find yourself wishing you'd invested the $50-60 on the previous titles.    … Expand
  13. Khaosom
    Mar 15, 2015
    7
    Borderlands fans rejoiced when announced, and then wept after purchasing and playing this title. The story from 1 and 2 was epic. The gameplay unique and fun, considering the age of realistic shooters, we have an off the wall one like this series that scores high. Then comes this game, not only does it seem off that some weapons in the PRE-SEQUEL aren't in 2 which makes poor sense, theBorderlands fans rejoiced when announced, and then wept after purchasing and playing this title. The story from 1 and 2 was epic. The gameplay unique and fun, considering the age of realistic shooters, we have an off the wall one like this series that scores high. Then comes this game, not only does it seem off that some weapons in the PRE-SEQUEL aren't in 2 which makes poor sense, the main added feature, the butt bomb, is rarely used. Add the fact that Crap...I mean Clap Trap is the worst choice for multiplayer, and add characters that don't feel like heroes, and a semi retarded storyline well you get the point. For fans of the series and added over the top violence, pick up this game, if you're new to Borderlands, don't get this game..… Expand
  14. 2MStyle
    Apr 17, 2016
    5
    Realmente éste juego es divertido pero no es la gran cosa , si me divirtió un rato pero luego se me hacía repetitivo y cansino, me costó mucho terminarlo no por la dificultad si no porque se me hacía cansino, al final lo terminé y me gustó pero no es un juego que recordaré.
  15. TheArchetypes
    Sep 9, 2016
    7
    While Borderlands 1 from Borderlands 2 felt like the difference between night and day, Borderlands 2 to the Pre Sequel feels like the difference between High Noon and 1PM. Sure, it has quite a few gimmicky features to try to squeeze new life into the matra of fighting on the **** moon, but it all in all still feels like you are paying for a overpriced DLC of Borderlands 2. The main hype ofWhile Borderlands 1 from Borderlands 2 felt like the difference between night and day, Borderlands 2 to the Pre Sequel feels like the difference between High Noon and 1PM. Sure, it has quite a few gimmicky features to try to squeeze new life into the matra of fighting on the **** moon, but it all in all still feels like you are paying for a overpriced DLC of Borderlands 2. The main hype of this new game was the low gravity, oxygen survival, cryo, and more intimate class character responses related to the quest that they were doing. It does offer all of those things, with some pretty hilarious responses from many of the new classes in regards to their mission, but oxygen ultimately fails at being a prior necessity nor being substantial towards your survival experience, as there are way too many cycle pools, oxygen pits and enemies with oxygen tanks (not that I wouldn't expect that) to actually warrant your concerns for oxygen. As for the story, we get to see the more sympathetic and potentially hero-eclipsing side of "Jack" become the known snarky, sadistic dictator from the Borderlands sequel we all loved to hate, with some surprising amount of subtlety to how Jack became so engrossed in killing the vault hunters as well as how the power got the better of his good intentions. As for the creativity of the classes, this time the classes actually feel like they are in a act of their own, rather than being just major improvements from the previous classes. Nisha's "showdown" action skill will probably be most useful as you can deal massive amounts of damage quite quickly, accurately and with force, but Athena's "Aspis" ability is also useful if you understand the aspects. Wilhelm's dual surveyor bots are helpful, but somewhat echo towards Roland's or Axton's turret like action skills, but Claptrap will no doubt be the most played because of how inexplicably unpredictable his action skill is, as he assumes the role of all other vault hunters up to this point based on the situation around him, which is sometimes not always the good route (I cooped with my friend who got the Psycho die of the action skill when we were primarily shooting at enemies from a distance). Raid Bosses and most enemies seem significantly easier to kill (but still challenging), so if you want to try to go kill some mysterious raid boss it won't be absolutely impossible without a full team to do it and some selective skill point managing. Lazer Weapons are by far going to also be the most used weapon type, as they deal a lot more damage more significantly, especially with how Cryo can render most of your opponents sticks in the mud with sufficient damage. Enemy types are extremely variant, apart from the occasional Stalker and Thresher fights, with even better emphasis on new enemy types than the Big Game Hunt DLC for the previous installments. While I can't say that I didn't get a lot of fun and mileage out of this game, I am definitely aware that the 'new' engine for Borderlands 2 is already starting to show it's age despite only having two installments inheriting it. But perhaps my biggest concern with this game is the noticeable attitude of social structures and how most of the characters are blatantly diverse in their sexual orientation. I thought of this as noble in the previous borderlands, but now it's starting to get pretentious in this light. Sure, the game is just poking fun at it because the game is supposed to be silly, but if you make your characters be transsexual or lesbian because you want to give yourself a morality autofellatio because you didn't include any straightforward heterosexual characters, that is undeniably pretentious and the good intentions fly out of the window, much like with Jack's rise to power. not that I don't mind having characters with a rainbow of sexual orientations, but when it's done to the point that they want attention from it, it does become vain and vapid. Apart from that, while I did certainly enjoy the Pre-Sequel of Borderlands, it does have a noticeable itch of "still borderlands 2" rather than being a new game in it's own right.… Expand
  16. tom974
    Sep 24, 2022
    7
    A nice game with an underexploited potential and way too many repetitive/ boring sidequests making you go back and forth again and again. Besides, it's still a nice Borderlands game with no surprise. The 4K patch works wonder and the coop mechanic still works great.
  17. tmdrzk
    Dec 11, 2021
    6
    While maintaining it's dry humor and decent gameplay, the story was lackluster compared to the second part of the game, but it's hard to imagine they could top it off.
    I finished the game, but would not consider a new game plus and I played Borderlands 2 six times in a row.

Awards & Rankings

20
#20 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2014
9
#9 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2014
2
#2 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Hyper Magazine
    Dec 2, 2014
    80
    The Pre-Sequel hits a sweet spot where it isn't cringe worthy but rather a celebration of the Australian sense of humour. [Issue#255, p.39]
  2. X-ONE Magazine UK
    Dec 2, 2014
    60
    Even with its low-gravity exploits, it's leagues behind the other loot shooter out this year. [Issue#118, p.67]
  3. games(TM)
    Nov 17, 2014
    60
    We expect good gunplay and loot from a Borderlands game, and we still got that with The Pre-Sequel. But by expecting a little more, we seem to have set ourselves up for disappointment. Strewth.
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