We here at the Lazygamer office have spent more time than we care to admit playing Borderlands 2 – as have many of you. That said, we’re not sure we’re quite ready for a sequel. Good thing there isn’t one. Gearbox’s Randy Pitchord recently said that his studio wasn’t busy making Borderlands 3. He omitted the fact that another studio was making a Borderlands game though.
According to a post from points purveyor GamepointsNow (which has all but been confirmed as embargoed information for PAX that went out prematurely), 2K Games Australia is busy making Borderlands: The Pre Sequel!
In their information-laden post, they say the game will be set on one of Pandora’s moons, and fills in the five-year gap between Borderlands 1 and its sequel. It’s centred around Handsome Jack – then just a lowly programmer named John – hunting for some or other alien artefact.
In it you get to play as one of four of his lieutenants; Athena The Gladiator, Wilhelm The Enforcer, Nisha The Lawbringer and Fragtrap, a militarised claptrap.Ardent Borderlands buffs will recognise a few of those as all but the fragtrap have appeared in Borderlands 2 in some capacity.
Borderlands’ central tenets are all about guns and class powers, and there are new ones to keep fans happy. The game will be getting laser weapons (as you’d expect for something set on a moon base) and a new Cryo class to assault your foes with.
Being set on a moon much like ours, it means Oxygen is a vital resource, and one of the things you’ll need to manage – by looting, of course.
Unfortunately, it won;t be coming to the new systems, and will be stuck on that old generation of consoles…and probably PC, though nothing’s been mentioned for that platform. What do you think? Does this get you excited, or does it seems like a bit of a chance for 2K to rake in some cash?
Last Updated: April 8, 2014
Alien Emperor Trevor
April 8, 2014 at 07:52
368 hours if I remember correctly. As much as I enjoy Borderlands this doesn’t really tickle my fancy, sounds like a quick cash grab.
Half-Minute Hero [Umar]
April 8, 2014 at 07:56
Glad I’m not alone in thinking that. Especially since they’re basing it around Jack which seems to be a popular character amongst the fans
Alien Emperor Trevor
April 8, 2014 at 08:09
Jack was a great villain, but I’ve got no interest in playing through his back story with his cronies.
Half-Minute Hero [Umar]
April 8, 2014 at 08:13
Yeah, really seems like a cash grab….
Mossel
April 8, 2014 at 08:23
I just played the mission where you need to kill his double. That guy is quite hilarious. The way he talks to his subordinates cracks me up everytime!
Alien Emperor Trevor
April 8, 2014 at 08:31
His Butt Stallion story still kills me.
Mossel
April 8, 2014 at 08:33
LOL! Or when he wants to play a soundclip of that phoenix/eagle/pterodactyl thing, but couldn’t find it in time!
Alien Emperor Trevor
April 8, 2014 at 08:36
“Blake! Where’s my damn violin!”
squeaksqueaksqueak.”It would have been funnier if I’d found it sooner.Shut up.”
Mossel
April 8, 2014 at 08:41
Hahaha! Epic.
Half-Minute Hero [Umar]
April 8, 2014 at 07:53
Hmm, I wonder if it’s going to be a full fledged game. They saw Handsome Jack was really popular so now they’re trying to cash in on that……Well, imo that is
Admiral Chief in Space
April 8, 2014 at 08:01
Bond-babe-sideboob
Nice
Mossel
April 8, 2014 at 08:24
*Inner side boob.
Even better!
Hammersteyn
April 8, 2014 at 08:07
Depends on the price. Still playing the B2. Gonna finish it with every character.
Alien Emperor Trevor
April 8, 2014 at 08:08
With one play through per character? Or maxing out levels?
Hammersteyn
April 8, 2014 at 08:11
One play through. But maxing out of levels should happen if you do the side quests (didn’t buy any DLC)
Alien Emperor Trevor
April 8, 2014 at 08:16
Nope. You’ll only end up around lvl 35 or so without playing the DLC on your 1st play through.
Hammersteyn
April 8, 2014 at 08:17
Right you are. I remember now.
Matthew Holliday
April 8, 2014 at 09:12
playthrough one has a max level of 39, playthrough two has a max on 50, three on 61 and four on 72.
Hammersteyn
April 8, 2014 at 09:21
cool beans
geelslang
April 8, 2014 at 10:59
Whoa, wish I had that much time to play games.
Rince
April 8, 2014 at 08:36
You mean ‘maxing out levels you have to pay for’ 🙁
Alien Emperor Trevor
April 8, 2014 at 08:41
Too soon.
Mossel
April 8, 2014 at 08:25
I only started playing it recently and I can confimr I’m fairly addicted.
Hammersteyn
April 8, 2014 at 08:36
It’s the guns. I think I spent the most time comparing guns I picked up with the ones I have equipped
Mossel
April 8, 2014 at 08:41
True, I just stand there looking at the stats while war is raging around me!
Matthew Holliday
April 8, 2014 at 10:28
if/when you start the captain scarlet campagn, one of the main missions for that DLC gives you a gun called a sandhawk, make sure you keep that one for if/when you get a Bee shield.
Bee shield gives you amp damage without draining your shield and the sandhawk is an 8 projectile SMG, the amp damage is applied individually to all projectiles, so the damage output is crazy high.
its arguably the best combo in the game.
heres how to get the Bee, takes a bit of grinding, but ultimately worth it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc3IX2oS4rw
Hammersteyn
April 8, 2014 at 10:33
O_o I had no idea. Thanks man!
Matthew Holliday
April 8, 2014 at 09:11
good luck with that, but id suggest playing it through to level 72 with one instead.
by the time you get 1 to 72, you tend to get a bit edgy about starting a new playthrough.
Ryanza
April 8, 2014 at 08:21
After Borderlands 2, there is really nothing new they can give, unless they seriously up the graphics.
Borderlands 2 is a solid game, so another Borderlands game will just be more of the same.
And, I just can’t forget when Gearbox got another studio to make a game (Aliens), so expect the next Borderlands game to look much worse than Borderlands 2. You might be paying for DLC for Borderlands 1.
melodicmizery
April 8, 2014 at 11:38
i could be wrong but wasnt it the other way around? someone got gearbox to finish aliens and they didnt make anything from it they did it more or less as a favor and it came back to bite them
melodicmizery
April 8, 2014 at 11:44
actually i was thinking of duke nukem i think, but this article kind of tells about aliens falling apart and kinda the same deal http://kotaku.com/5984068/how-aliens-colonial-marines-fell-apart
Axon1988
April 8, 2014 at 08:23
Eh… Whenever they say something like: “Only on older generation consoles and PC.” It almost always means it’s going to be mediocre.
ToshZA
April 8, 2014 at 09:50
Dark Souls 2 says hi.
Axon1988
April 8, 2014 at 09:56
Aren’t they developing it for new consoles though? Either way… good point. I still need to play it though.
Matthew Holliday
April 8, 2014 at 10:37
unless theyr working on a new engine, they dont need to use the new consoles, the potential of the new consoles would be wasted on a game like borderlands.
pretty sure we’ll see a ps4/xbox1 release for the games sometime in the future though.
not sure if that means it will be mediocre, we’re only getting a new story and new setting, thats why its being released so soon after they finished the DLC.
Axon1988
April 8, 2014 at 10:40
Another fair point. It’s becoming obvious that I know nothing. Jon Snow…
Rince
April 8, 2014 at 08:36
Sounds like Randy is keeping himself away from this, cash cow enter! Not sure we need another right now. I mean they are stilling servicing the bloody fine Borderlands 2, give it some time already. Absolutely love the game though!
Alien Emperor Trevor
April 8, 2014 at 08:53
I’m thinking this is being made using ideas discarded from Borderlands 2.
Rince
April 8, 2014 at 08:56
Yeah. Pity.
Hammersteyn
April 8, 2014 at 09:08
Though all their ideas has been pretty good.
Matthew Holliday
April 8, 2014 at 12:27
I think its more fanservice than discarded ideas.
the borderlands community has been crying for a moon base DLC since the game was released.
I was hoping theyd do something like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan or that old Battle Moons animation cartoon thing with it.
Comandeer the moon and become space vault hunters.
but it just looks like we’ll be getting it as a new setting instead.
hairyknees
April 8, 2014 at 08:59
Meh I dono… I’ve played kak loads of #2 but this doesn’t really appeal to me 😡 I would have to see some details first.
Matthew Holliday
April 8, 2014 at 09:09
Randy Pitchfords words were “we are not making a Borderlands sequel”
said nothing about a prequel though, heuhuehueuhe
John Van Rensburg
April 8, 2014 at 10:09
you had me up until “Claptrap”
SargonTheGreatPandaOfAkkad
April 8, 2014 at 10:35
I see a great many people saying that they’re not going to play this game. Or that it’s possibly a cash grab. Part of me, though, is really interested to see where they go with this. I’m not opposed to another Borderlands, which I’m sure will be rich in a great and engaging story. I’m going to wait and see how this turns out before I decide. They deserve some love for the great work they’ve done thus far.
Alien Emperor Trevor
April 8, 2014 at 11:17
Their DLC milking of B2 has turned me off. I’m more interested in the Telltale adventure game than this.
melodicmizery
April 8, 2014 at 11:36
usually i agree with this but the amount of content they give with there maps for the price wasnt to bad, charging for peddley crap was a little bit bogus but for the most part they gave pretty good sized maps. plus they did alot of support compared to other games. the legandary boss hunt they had a few months ago was really fun where everyday a new boss dropped a legandary weapon
Alien Emperor Trevor
April 8, 2014 at 11:41
The season pass was worth it. It was all the stuff over & above that which annoyed me – especially for level cap increases.
melodicmizery
April 8, 2014 at 11:44
yah that ticked me off as well
Matthew Holliday
April 8, 2014 at 12:18
The main DLC was well worth it, but the headhunter packs were just an attempt at keeping people interested, at like 1.99$ it wasnt enough to really phase me tbh.
by the time overlevelling came in i was pretty much over it.
but overall, i thought the DLC was pretty succesfull. in total it pretty much doubled the content of the game, with weapons and loot that made it generally worth it.
It felt like DLC done right.
Brady miaau
April 8, 2014 at 10:58
Wow. Another Borderlands?
This is sort of like Fallout 3 and so forth. too much, not again, much time must pass before I can play borderlands again.
Fallout, a new one, I can play now. Taken a year and a half break before I could say that.
melodicmizery
April 8, 2014 at 11:40
i had to quit playing because the bosses were just totally fucking annihilating me, i completed every single thing there was except a few of the bosses which kill me instantly. so i had to restart on easy. that sort of killed the game for me getting stonewalled. i like playing solo which is almost impossible at some points. after doing all that work i just gave up. id play this but im sort of all borderlands out at the moment.
Brady miaau
April 8, 2014 at 11:59
I completed the game solo. Some of the bosses were insane, but most were ok. Just run and gun, I found, run and gun. Also Youtube videos for some tricks also helped in some places, like Doc Mercy, first time. Level 10. I could hardly damage him.
The “special” bosses from the DLC’s. Now those I have not yet killed. The ones for Seraph coins. Crap, they toasted me,
Matthew Holliday
April 8, 2014 at 12:12
some of them are raid bosses, terramorphous, hyperious and pyro pete are REALLY tough to solo, need to right gear, sandhawks, bee shields, norfleets etc.
I got to the point where solo Pyro Pete was pretty easy, could total Terramorphous with like a 50% success rate, but Hyperius, meh, mission.
Choffel
April 8, 2014 at 14:30
“In it you get to play as ….Fragtrap, a militarised claptrap.” SOLD