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Preview: Borderlands: The Pre-sequel!

Set between the first and second games in the franchise, Borderlands: The Pre-sequel! has you working for the “bad guy”, Handsome Jack, on the moon.

Yep.

Adding a jetpack and oxygen helmet to your arsenal of weapons means you can zoom around in the low gravity, putting Sandra Bullock to shame.

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The low gravity can turn any firefight into a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-style wired battle. There are jump pads and busted air vents all over the moon that allow you to launch yourself hundreds of feet into the air. This is obviously a lot of fun but it brings with it a tactical advantage in the form of an attack. If you crouch while in the air you are sent hurtling back to the surface with impressive speed. This can be helpful while navigating the world if you overshoot a jump but the shockwave you create when you hit the ground is also a very powerful attack. It’s so much fun in fact that I had to keep reminding myself that this attack alone is a terrible way to take out enemies. Lucky for me the guns are just as fun.

My two favorites are the Cryo and acid guns. Acid is pretty self-explanatory but that doesn’t take away any of the enjoyment that comes from shooting acid at unsuspecting monsters and baddies. You could probably also guess what Cryo is all about and its taking everything I have to hold back and not let loose a ridiculous amount of Arnold Schwarzenegger Mr. Freeze quotes because they all apply. Remember when freezing somebody and then smashing them into a million pieces was so brutal it was one of Sub-Zero’s fatalities? Well, that’s no longer the case as you can do it with any enemy with the Cryo gun and show the world just how desensitised to violence you are as you chuckle away at your victim’s misfortune.

There are so many ways to exploit the low gravity for your own enjoyment. I found that equipping a high-powered sniper rifle, launching myself into the air and trying to make a headshot before I hit the ground to be an amazing distraction from whatever my current mission was. There is plenty of structure if that’s what you’re into, but you can easily make your own fun.

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The E3 show floor rarely represents the optimal playing environment but we’re all professionals and make it work. For my co-op playthrough I was paired with a random guy — as is usually the case — and he promptly disappeared as soon as the game loaded. I was left there playing through a co-op campaign solo as a result. It was a bit harder than it should have been, but that just made it more fun. This says a lot about how well made the game is when a total failure leads to an improvement in another area.

Whether you’re flying in from up high and doing some damage up close and personal with the new weapons or sniping targets from afar Borderlands: The Pre-sequel! is pure fun and non-stop action. The only thing that will ever slow you down is the human body’s annoying reliance on oxygen for continued existence. Your air supply doesn’t last forever so periodically you’ll have to get to one of the oxygen filled basses scattered around the moon’s surface. You objectives are usually located in one of these basses so unless you’re taking too long in a firefight out in the open you will rarely have a problem with running out of air. It also stops you from exploring to far from your missions destination unless you can find some oxygen on the way.

I had an amazing time with Borderlands: The Pre-sequel! and I can’t wait to jump back into the near weightless battlegrounds. Launching on 14 October in the US and 17 October internationally for PS3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC, it won’t be too long until I’m shooting acid again with the best of them. Borderlands, you leave me breathless.


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About the author

Shane Wall

I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe. A game geek turned audio engineer/musician. Shane's life is a delicate balance of video games, music and science fiction.