The Good vs Bad when it comes down to Borderlands 2
As for the good things about Borderlands 2: Right after you press start, you already receive a warm welcome to the game with its intriguing new interface, which can be interacted with and shows what your friends are up to in their games. You can also join these friends without having to go through other menus or even having the slightest bit of difficulties.
While on the topic of new interfaces, the HUD has been upgraded. It now includes a mini-map (as opposed to a compass), a cleaner quest section, and a much fancier health/xp bar. But wait, there's more! Your 'select' menu (which includes things like your inventory, map, quests, etc.) is also a lot more sharp and easier to navigate through. You can also see your character whenever you're in the select menu, which may not mean much to some people, but I find it pretty cool. This is especially the cool to me due to the many customization options available. Oh, and there's also a new section called "Baddass Rank", which rewards you for completing challenges throughout the game with coins that can upgrade your stats.
I personally found the environments in the first Borderlands quite boring and often repetitive. I mean sure, I accepted it and played through due to the game being so massive, but the world around me seemed pretty dull and I remember going through certain areas with the feeling that I've been there before. In Borderlands 2, there's a much wider variety in the environments that you will be exploring and the game is much more open. I've yet to notice any copy and paste or areas that even look slightly similar to any others in the game.
Speaking of repetition, I also felt this way about the enemies in the first game. Though it was great fun killing them all and going for loot, it felt as if the same 9 or 10 enemies were coming at me with different colors and slight name variations. Thankfully, enemies now appear in many more different species, shapes, colors, and sizes this time around. They even react differently when they are low on health by either limping, calling for assistance, or even leveling up to their next form. These enemies also have a huge effect the games difficultly, which has a noticeable increase in comparison to the first Borderlands. There are more enemies attacking you at once and with so many different kinds of enemies, you will be downed or even die quite often.
As far as the quests are concerned for this game, every person (and thing) that has a quest for you is now marked with a yellow exclamation point on your mini-map, including bounty boards. Once the quest is completed, a green question mark will appear on your mini-map showing where the quest is to be turned in. Borderlands 2 also introduces quests that you can fail to the franchise, as well as those that come with optional requirements. Doing these will get you extra rewards, but they aren't at all necessary for completing the quest.
If you've played the first Borderlands, do you remember how there were tons of guns in it? Well, there are even more guns in this game and they're actually much more diverse than before. There are more skins, specific hand gestures for certain guns, more special bullets, special reloads, and there are even some guns that have personalities. Yeah you heard me: personalities. Like… They will actually talk to you and stuff.
The game's humor is still strong, and so is just about everything that you left behind in your adventure through Pandora in the first Borderlands. Even just about every character from the first game can be found within the second as long as they didn't die or anything before. Speaking of humor, there are more Easter Eggs in this game than one would expect! Can you find them all? I sure couldn't, but the ones I did find gave me a few good laughs.
Borderlands 2 doesn't just have an amazing story, but it clears up a lot of questions gamers had after playing the first game. In fact, it actually gives the first Borderlands more of a story than it had to begin with, so you're technically getting two stories in one here. There are also side-quests that reveal the histories of major characters in the game.
Ah, and one last thing for you gamers out there who like to replay amazing games from the beginning. Unlike the last Borderlands, there isn't a new game plus. There's actually something much better than that called True Vault Hunter Mode. This mode starts you from the beginning of the game with all of your equipment and stats, but quite a bit changes. The game is more difficult, loot is more rare, new enemies appear, and the rewards you get for quests change.
As for the bad things about Borderlands 2: I find the dialogue for a game really important, especially in games such as this where you can get a good laugh and an interesting story. Unfortunately, there are many moments in this game where I couldn't quite understand what was being said due to numerous characters speaking (or screaming) at once.
Overall, Borderlands 2 has indeed met my expectations and is the first real sequel I have played in quite some time. If you've played and enjoyed the first game, pick this game up as soon as you can! If you haven't played the first game or didn't enjoy it, I'd recommend picking this beauty up anyways and giving it a shot, especially if you have friends with the game. Borderlands 2 gets a 9.5 out of 10!
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(Review based on Xbox 360 version.)