Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Reviews
Worth playing for Borderlands fans and newbies alike.
Though low gravity makes combat more interesting, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel's missions and story feel like straight-up filler. This Pre-Sequel is strictly for devoted Vault Hunters.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is a great addition to the series but it does feels more like a very big DLC game because it doesn’t bring in anything substantially new. Where it does pay off however is the humour in the writing and the story arc for the main antagonist – it is amazingly fleshed out to where you see this interesting character transition throughout the course of the game. But in the end there’s loads of content packed in and you’ll have a lot of fun smashing your way through the missions while we all wait for the next act in the Borderlands series to make an appearance.
The appeal lies in the game's simplicity as much as it lies in its alluring wackiness, crazy characters and superb atmosphere. What I often enjoy in Borderlands games is the narrative, which tends to mock itself in so many deliciously unique ways. With entertaining story-driven missions and will all the available content, I think it's safe to say that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is a pretty safe buy. The next addition to the series, however, definitely needs to move things forward. Yep, we would be very sad if the franchise would just end here.
Fortunately, Pre-Sequel is largely more of the same with a few new extras. With the return of the True Vault Hunter Mode from previous games, the first thing you'll want to do after sitting (or skipping) through the credits will be to do it all over again - the biggest sign I can give you that Pre-Sequel is more than just a cut-and-paste copy of past games.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel offers more of the same with some alterations, and that may be enough for fans of Borderlands 2. But if you only have a passing interest, wait until the price is reduced to a more reasonable level.
For the most part, though, crazy-fun skill trees, generous loot, solid gameplay and excellent graphics on previous-gen consoles make the game quite entertaining. If you thoroughly enjoyed Borderlands 2 and it left you clamoring for more, you'll want to give Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel a shot, jack.
A trip to the moon offers some decent new ideas, but also is clearly a stop-gap release.
So what kind of a game is the Pre-Sequel then? If you said 'more Borderlands', you wouldn't be far off. But it is a Borderlands game that feels revitalised thanks to the new gameplay mechanics, enemies, humour and weapons. It plays out like a massive expansion pack, one filled to the brim with more secrets, ideas and a familiar gear-grind for better loot. And more Borderlands is actually a fun idea after all.
'Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel' offers more story for hardcore fans but plays like a dated clone of the older games, trading polish for gimmicks.
The essential gameplay can be reduced to a series of shoot-'em-up fetch quests through hazardous landscapes, but even veterans will have to adapt their FPS techniques to make it through.
If the new additions in The Pre-Sequel! don't ultimately matter, then this is essentially an add-on to Borderlands 2, spread out over desolation. "The Blue Danube" never actually plays, but if it did, it would no longer signify marvel, only déjà vu, the nagging feeling that you've done this before, and it was better the first time.
'Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel' offers just enough content to move out of expansion territory and into full release, but barely. For those who can't get enough Borderlands and relish the opportunity to experience some new characters and abilities, this will tide you over for a few dozen hours. For everyone else, it's not exactly a must-play title.
More of the same? Probably but Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is still a rollicking good time of murder, loot and moon-hopping.
While I admit I had many reservations about Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, I'm very, very pleased with the end result. While there are still some glitches — we had a boss get stuck in the open, unmoving and invulnerable to attack, and some odd interactions with plot NPCs holding quest items out into walls and Fast Travel stations, for instance — it's well-polished, and the errors don't crop up enough to really be a bother.
In many ways, the pre-sequel feels like a pleasant place-holder.
The more we played The Pre-Sequel, the more dubious we became as to whether it warranted a standalone release. Oxygen consumption and verticality were the only fresh elements in the level designs. The new weapons classes—cryo and laser weapons—felt like additions to our arsenal that we could take or leave. The writing was full of references to the previous two games.
Borderlands 2 felt like a huge step on from the original, and it was more colourful, with interesting characters and intense situations. The Pre-Sequel seems to try so, so hard to keep up, but this is not Borderlands 3, and the game – and everyone who plays it – knows that.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel leaves us wanting, due to its overt familiarity. It's a decent game overall, but fails in its attempt at being something great.