This preview is derived from the few Borderlands 2 trailers already released, as well as an the comments of Borderlands 2 Lead Writer Anthony Burch as presented by IGN.
The original Borderlands was a surprise hit that seemed to resonate with a lot of gamers. In terms of story, it had a lot going for it. The game was funny, charming, had some great characters and some truly unique visuals. However, the game did some very critical things wrong when it comes to the actual plot and narrative.
Now before you brand me a heretic know that Lead Writer for Borderlands 2, Anthony Burch, also recognizes the original game’s shortcomings. He specifically noted that “the ending sucked” and that players had a lack of connection to the protagonists.
Borderlands 2 hopes to rectify that emotional disconnect by filling in gaps of what those characters were up to since the end of Borderlands and giving them a relationship to one another that they can play off of. Already the quality of secondary characters in Borderlands 2 seems to be improved.
Burch explains that by making the player feel like their a part of a story instead of just crossing objectives off their list, they will be more invested to the characters and plot. Where Borderlands forced you to read each side mission’s explanation to understand the backstory of certain characters, Borderlands 2 will give each character 3-5 sidequests that fill in their backstory.
The main improvement in these missions will be the method the story is told. As Burch puts it, “Communicating with the player using these character interactions, audio logs, radio transmissions, and environmental storytelling is crucial to strengthening Borderlands 2.”
This is all good news, as that feeling of just crossing off objectives on a list dominated any kind of plot the original had going. Hearing this kind of focus from the lead writer of Borderlands 2 is certainly reassuring.
Borderlands 2 is set 5 years after the original Borderlands and will have 4 characters, Axton, Salvador, Zer0, and Maya fighting against Handsome Jack, the leader of the Hyperion corporation. Borderlands 2 is set to release on September 18th in the US, and September 21st in the UK.
GameYarn.com 