Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

I thought I understood Borderlands. Then gravity stopped working. The Pre-Sequel takes everything you know and launches it into low gravity, which means more jumping, more chaos, and somehow more ways to die. Oxygen is now a resource, so even breathing feels like a side quest. The characters are fun, the story fills in some gaps, and yes, the moon physics are cool until you float off a cliff like an idiot. Lasers are everywhere and they’re actually great. If you like Borderlands humor, loot, and experimenting with movement, this one is worth playing. If you hate floaty combat and managing oxygen, it might test your patience. At least the moon looks nice.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel feels like a mix between the first 2 games, but with its own weird moon-themed shenanigans. The biggest difference is the low-gravity gameplay, which lets you jump huge distances, slam into enemies, and move around fights much faster. It makes combat feel more vertical and chaotic, especially once you start using laser and cryo weapons. The atmosphere is also surprisingly strong. Elpis, the moon of Pandora, feels cold, empty, and isolated in a way that sometimes brings back the lonely sci-fi western vibe of the first game. The soundtrack helps a lot too, with ambient electronic music that fits the space setting really well. Compared to Borderlands 2, the tone feels a little quieter and less overwhelming.  One of the best parts of the game is seeing Handsome Jack before he fully becomes the villain everyone knows. Instead of already being completely insane, you slowly watch him become more ruthless and unstable over the course of the story. That makes him feel more human and, honestly, a bit tragic at times, even if he is clearly heading in a bad direction. The playable characters are also interesting, as you've met all of them before: Athena appeared in the first game, in a DLC fighting the Atlas Corporation; the ever-present Claptrap has appeared in all the games and is as annoying (or charming) as ever; and Wilhelm and Nisha are both bosses in BL2. There are also 2 DLC characters, both of whom will appear in BL3: Jack the Doppelganger and Lady Aurelia Hammerlock (the sister of the posh, Victorian-era hunter, Sir Hammerlock). The hero characters are still fun and memorable, each with their own quips and quotes, and fit perfectly with the strange world of the game. The game still has some problems, though. A lot of areas can feel repetitive, the oxygen system is more annoying than interesting, and overall it does not feel as big or polished as Borderlands 2. Even so, The Pre-Sequel is underrated in a lot of ways. It may not reach the highs of Borderlands 2, but the movement, atmosphere, and character builds make it a really fun game for Borderlands fans, even if at times it feels more of the same.

[h1]Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel: A Good Game Stuck in Borderlands 2's Shadow[/h1] [h2]TL;DR[/h2] Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is a good Borderlands game, but coming directly after Borderlands 2 makes its shortcomings difficult to ignore. Low gravity, Cryo weapons, lasers, Oz kits, and some excellent Vault Hunters give the formula enough new ideas to feel worthwhile. The story also provides an interesting look at Handsome Jack before Borderlands 2. Unfortunately, Elpis is less interesting to explore than Pandora, missions drag more often, the humor and supporting cast are less consistent, and there simply is not as much worthwhile content. [b]7/10: Definitely a step down from Borderlands 2, but still a good time.[/b] [hr][/hr] [h2]Gameplay & Vault Hunters[/h2] The Pre-Sequel is fundamentally built on Borderlands 2, which gives it an excellent foundation. The shooting, randomized loot, skill trees, co-op, and general progression are immediately familiar. The biggest changes come from Elpis itself. Low gravity lets you stay airborne longer, Oz kits provide bonuses and oxygen, and ground slams add another option during combat. Oxygen sounds annoying on paper, but it is plentiful enough that I rarely found it intrusive. [b]Cryo might be my favorite addition.[/b] Freezing enemies solid and shattering them is incredibly satisfying, while laser weapons add some genuinely fun options to the arsenal. The Vault Hunters are also excellent. Athena, Wilhelm, Nisha, Claptrap, Doppelganger Jack, and Aurelia all offer distinct playstyles, and their personalities come through more during missions because they actually respond to other characters. The downside is that much of Borderlands 2's jank remains. Vehicles are awkward, enemy AI has its moments, and inventory management is still clunky. [hr][/hr] [h2]Elpis & Mission Design[/h2] Elpis is a great idea for a setting. Looking back at Pandora from its moon while bouncing across low-gravity landscapes immediately gives the game a different identity. [b]Unfortunately, the world itself is not nearly as memorable as Borderlands 2's Pandora.[/b] Some locations stand out, especially when Hyperion technology becomes more prominent, but large portions of the moon blend together. Gray lunar terrain and industrial environments simply do not have the same variety. Mission pacing makes this worse. There is too much traveling back and forth, waiting for dialogue to finish, and completing extra steps before reaching the interesting part. Low gravity makes traversal more enjoyable mechanically, but it cannot completely hide how much time you spend just getting somewhere. [hr][/hr] [h2]Story & Handsome Jack[/h2] The story is probably The Pre-Sequel's biggest reason to exist. Rather than fighting Handsome Jack, you work for him and watch the events that gradually push him toward the person he becomes in Borderlands 2. Familiar characters such as Athena, Wilhelm, and Nisha also gain more context. [b]Jack is once again the strongest character in the game.[/b] Watching his personality change is interesting, although some parts of his transformation feel more abrupt than they should. Where the game falls behind is the supporting cast and humor. There are still plenty of funny moments, but considerably more jokes failed to land for me, and few new characters left the same impression as Borderlands 2's cast. The story adds worthwhile context to the series, even if it never reaches the same highs. [hr][/hr] [h2]Content & Claptastic Voyage[/h2] The Pre-Sequel also feels noticeably smaller than Borderlands 2. There is still plenty to do through multiple characters, higher difficulty modes, side quests, farming, challenges, and co-op, but the game never received the same depth of post-launch support. [b]Claptastic Voyage is the major exception.[/b] Going inside Claptrap's mind allows the DLC to become visually bizarre, mechanically creative, and surprisingly personal. It explores a character usually treated as comic relief while still delivering the ridiculous combat and loot the series is built around. It is easily the standout expansion and some of the best content in the entire game. [hr][/hr] [h2]Final Thoughts[/h2] The Pre-Sequel introduces several ideas I genuinely love. Cryo is fantastic, low gravity gives combat a different rhythm, the Vault Hunters are some of the series' most entertaining to play, and seeing another side of Handsome Jack makes the story worthwhile. [b]It just never comes together as well as Borderlands 2.[/b] Elpis lacks the same environmental variety, missions drag more often, the supporting cast is weaker, and there is less content to keep returning to once everything is finished. That does not make it a bad Borderlands game. If you enjoy Borderlands 2, there is plenty here worth experiencing, especially with Claptastic Voyage included. [b]7/10: A good Borderlands game and an interesting prequel, but a clear step down from Borderlands 2.[/b]

Borderlands: The Pre-sequel serves as a way for the franchise to tie events in between their first and second titles, and show the beginning of Jack's meteoric rise to the top of Hyperion with his attempt to save Elpis, the moon of Pandora. The characters are entertaining as always, with Jack himself being the focus of the story, as opposed to a vault or vault hunters as before. This game features the most character development of the franchise, and the addition of responses and voice lines from the Vault Hunters make the world much more lively. The game is not without its flaws, like the shorter run time, and more grindy side missions, but it more than makes up for it with everything else.

O mais legal aqui é ver a transformação do Jack. Jogar “do lado dele” muda bastante a forma como você enxerga os acontecimentos, principalmente se você já jogou o 2. A gameplay muda bastante por causa da gravidade da lua. Pular mais alto, usar o boost e dar aquele slam no chão deixa o combate mais solto e até mais divertido em alguns momentos. O gelo também é um destaque, congelar inimigo e quebrar depois é satisfatório demais. As classes são bem diferentes entre si. Jogar com personagens que antes eram NPCs ou inimigos dá uma sensação diferente, e o Claptrap é puro caos, do jeito que tem que ser. No geral, achei um jogo um pouco menor que o 2, mas ainda assim bem divertido. Pra quem curtiu o Borderlands 2 e quer mais daquele mundo, ele vale bastante, principalmente pela história.

I’ve played every Borderlands game, and honestly Borderlands: The Pre Sequel is one of the most underrated entries in the entire franchise. A lot of people skipped it or dismissed it because it wasn’t “Borderlands 3” at the time, but that’s a mistake. First thing that stands out is the setting. Most Borderlands games are set largely on Pandora, which is basically a giant desert wasteland. It works for the tone of the series, but visually it can get repetitive. The Pre-Sequel takes place on Pandora’s moon, Elpis, and that change alone makes a massive difference. The environments feel alien, the skyboxes are incredible, and the scenery has a completely different atmosphere compared to the other games. The low-gravity environments, the huge space vistas, the industrial moon bases — it gives the game a unique look that the other titles don’t really have. Then there’s the low-gravity gameplay. You can jump higher, float through the air and use boost mechanics during combat. It changes how fights play out and adds verticality to the gunplay. Later games in the series used similar mechanics in certain areas, but The Pre-Sequel was really where that idea was pushed properly. Another system that was genuinely interesting was the Grinder. You could take unwanted weapons, throw them into a machine, and it would spit out a new item of higher quality. It was a clever way of recycling loot and experimenting with gear. No other Borderlands game really did this in the same way. And then there’s the story, which is probably the most important part of this game. The Pre-Sequel shows how Handsome Jack becomes the villain we know from Borderlands 2. At the beginning he’s not the monster people remember. He starts out trying to do what he believes is right, and the events of the story slowly push him down a darker path. Seeing that transformation actually puts the entire Borderlands timeline into perspective. By the end you understand exactly how the series ended up where it did. It’s also worth mentioning the development team. The game was primarily developed by 2K Australia, and they did a fantastic job capturing the Borderlands feel while still introducing new ideas. Was the game perfect? No. But the atmosphere, the mechanics, and the way it expands the lore of the series make it a really important part of the Borderlands universe. If you’re a fan of the franchise and skipped this one, you’re missing out on a game that adds a lot more to the series than people give it credit for. It deserves far more respect than it got.

Its still fun but definitely considering playing the rest of the game with the dialog muted and I'm not even like halfway through playthrough one Edit: Yea you're gonna wanna go ahead and do that it helped