Borderlands 2

Borderlands was one of those sleeper hits when it came out.  It wasn't good enough to win many Editor's Choice awards, but it was a solid game that a lot of people played, including myself.  I think the game grew in popularity with the longer it was out.  It was a new IP, after all, and such things have trouble getting started in these tough economic times.  Happily, it worked out for Gearbox and now we have Borderlands 2.

I've logged about 10 hours into the game so far, and for the most part it's pretty much the same game as the original.  So, basically, if you loved the first one you'll love this one.  If you didn't, then don't bother.  There are some differences however.  A few of these, I think, actually hurt the game.

First off, the "Revolver" gun type has been eliminated.  In the first game, there was both Pistol and Revolver weapon types.  Pistols were the rapid fire but low damage type of handgun, while the revolvers were the slow firing but high damage type.  There are only pistols in Borderlands 2, and that makes me very sad indeed.  I enjoy the high damage and accuracy that revolvers provided, and in Borderlands 2 I have to satisfy that play-style by using a sniper rifle, instead.  It's not a big deal, but it was something that disappointed me.

Next, they added many, many, many more varieties of guns.  I feel this also hurts the game, because it seems like they were running out of ideas.  Some of them are annoying.  There are varieties of guns that have a crosshair that moves more erratically than a stripper at happy hour, which then settles down the more you fire the gun.  In the hands of a player like me who loves lining up that first shot and picking someone off quickly, that really sucks.  There are also shields that take away health in exchange for having a high capacity.  I hate trading stats in any game.  I will ignore any items that do it if possible, even if it's truly a better choice.  So again, this is my own choice and my own complaint, but I feel it's necessary to mention these things.

Fortunately, there are so many items in this game and so many varieties, it's very easy to ignore the ones that you don't like.  It's just a shame when you get a gun that has that perfect look to it, or has that perfect magazine size, but you hate using it because it has a feature that pisses you off.

But aside from these minor complaints that I have, I really don't have anything else bad to say about it.