Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!: The Handsome Collection DANCE KITTENS

[Qalbert]

edit: ok so this is a rumor at the moment, we will probably hear an announcement at PAX, but there's a lot of circumstantial evidence pointing to it

https://www.gamepointsnow.com/blog/n...t-on-the-moon/

Borderlands is back, and this time its going to the moon with Borderlands: The Pre-sequel, a full on co-op shooter RPG set in the five year gap between Borderlands 1 & 2 for Xbox 360,PS3 and PC (sorry next gen owners)

We at GamePointsNow have managed to get our hands on some exclusive info regarding the next instalment in the Gearbox’s hit franchise.

Only a month ago Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford announced that his studio were not working on a borderlands sequel but they didn’t mention that 2k Australlia were working on a Pre-Sequel.

Set on the moon of Elpis and Hyperions ominous H shaped moon base, the game sees Handsome Jack in the days when he was just a humble programmer called John, hunting a powerful alien artefact (what else!!). Players will be able to select one of Jack/Johns four lieutenants to play as in Athena The Gladiator, Wilhelm The Enforcer, Nisha The Lawbringer and Fragtrap, a militarised claptrap..

The astute amongst you may recognise some of the names from their appearances in previous instalments, Wilhelm is the half human, half Hyperion Loader boss from Borderlands 2 and Athena made an appearance in the General Knoxx DLC for the first game as a Lance Assassin gone mercenary. Nisha bears a striking resemblance to the seconds games Sheriff of Lynchwood, who was also Jacks girlfriend.

Athena will be a melee focused character able to absorb incoming fire with here kinetic shield while dispatching enemies with her plasma sword. While Wilhelm(sadly before he became a badass loader) will be able to make use of a shoulder mounter cannon and drones which you can call down to aid you in combat.

As you’d expect from any Borderland title there is the usual bazillion weapons to choose from, and with being set on a moon there’s plenty of opportunity to ramp things up a little. There are two whole new weapon types to get your teeth into this time around. Laser weapons and moons go hand in hand so you won’t be disappointed there, but the real fun looks to be in the Cryo class of guns, couple that with the games low gravity setting and it’s a case of set your phasers to fun (sorry) as you freeze and shatter your foes.

Yes Elpis has reduced gravity (it is a moon after all) so tossing bandits into orbit with a well placed grenade is a sure thing. There’s also jetpacks to help you get around the moons surface and outwit your enemies, although this does tie in with another of the games new features to present a whole new challenge for veterans of the series.

Oxygen will play a huge role in the game, in fact it’s actually going to be lootable in the form of OX -Kits.This adds a whole new layer to the combat with you requiring to manage your own oxygen levels while battling your foes, although it does lead to the option of shattering an enemies helmet to instantly deprive them of precious O2 and gain an advantage.

While there is no set release date for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, we at Team GPN would lay our inter galactic cowboy hats on a 2014 release due to it being a 360/PS3 release.

And while this is nothing but a rumour until officially confirmed, we can say we are sure you’ll be hearing (or maybe reading ) something real soon.

[Qalbert]

one thing in favor of the rumor

2K Games will reveal new games from Gearbox Software and Firaxis at PAX East next month, the publisher revealed in an invitation sent to members of the press.

Members of the media are invited to see a “new title from Gearbox Software,” and Firaxis will announce its next game during a panel at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 12.

Read more at http://gematsu.com/2014/03/2k-new-ge...kZcWsKPjHe1.99

[Cail]

Yes please

[Sol-Blackguy]

Some backstory between BL and BL2 would actually be nice.

[Qalbert]

with the exception of the Oxygen mechanic pretty much everything about it sounds great, so I'm really hoping it's legit

[Sol-Blackguy]

with the exception of the Oxygen mechanic pretty much everything about it sounds great, so I'm really hoping it's legit

Yeah, the oxygen mechanic sounds like it's going to be annoying. But if they manage to pull it off in a way that adds extra depth to gameplay without simply being user hostile it could work similar to slagging in BL2. I'm expecting some degree of puzzle solving and hidden loot chests.

[chazzyphizzle]

wait, wilhelm was supposed to be half human? guess i really did not pay attention to the story

[6souls]

wait, wilhelm was supposed to be half human? guess i really did not pay attention to the story

http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...rderlands2.jpg

[chazzyphizzle]

i also did not look at his face

[Sol-Blackguy]

It's funny too because his head is like the size of your torso.

[Qalbert]

so borderlandsthepresequel.com was registered on march 24th, well before the article was published.
additionally https://twitter.com/DuvalMagic/statu...26108625227776

Randy Pitchford ‏@DuvalMagic

@Kromatik_Krom I expect Athena to make a new Borderlands appearance very soon.

so I'd say it's looking pretty likely now. 6souls (or other mod if they see it) feel free to split off the last several posts into a new thread

[BaneTheBrawler]

neat.

[Cail]

fuck yessssssss

[Qalbert]

Article back up http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/04/09/bo...es-into-space/

http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2014/04/previewtop.jpg
The Borderlands series is probably the best reason, in the unlikely event you still need one, to stop listening to videogame analysts. Rather than being 'sent to die', as one rent-a-mouth famously predicted in 2009, the first game was a hit that spawned a sequel which went on to become 2K's best-ever seller. An avalanche of DLC later, now this: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. It's due out this fall, and as the name suggests it plugs the gap between the previous games. And it's (at least partly) set on Pandora's moon. And you can play as Claptrap. Who wears a beret.

Huh? You want more? More than a witty robot in a beret? Tough crowd. Okay, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is the next project from 2K Australia, who began work immediately after wrapping up on their contribution to Bioshock Infinite. Gearbox is overseeing development, but its main team remains focused on some as yet unannounced next-gen IPs. [You can read our QA with Gearbox and 2K Australia here.] Note that the Pre-Sequel isn't coming to PS4 or Xbox One, which may be a source of disappointment for our console cousins, who probably hoped for an uptick in resolution and/or frame rate, but there are no such worries on PC. The game is being built using the Borderlands 2 engine, which as we know runs buttery smooth at high resolutions when powered by a half-decent GFX card.
http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2014/..._1stPerson.jpg
Watching The Pre-Sequel being played, it's tempting to wonder what the need for much more horsepower would be anyway? A large part of Borderlands success is surely due to its startlingly cool art style, which remains impressive here. The cel-shaded moonscape is a wash of pink and blue pastels over which your co-op buddy bounds along in low gravity. There are four characters to pick from – all of whom are playable for the first time, but will be familiar to fans of the series, and all of whom have new skill trees.

Joining Claptrap, who's now dubbed the Fragtrap, and whose abilities Gearbox won't mention at other than to say he'll have a low-slung camera POV, is Athena, an assassin who was once part of the 'Crimson Lance' (an elite private military company), and who was first introduced in The Secret Armory Of General Knoxx DLC. Her 'Phalanx' skill tree enables you to turn her into a tank thanks to her Aspis shield—which also doubles as an oversized sci-fi discus. There there's Wilhelm, the Enforcer, a Wolverine lookalike who was also the cybernetically-enhanced first boss of Borderlands 2, but here has yet to undergo his transformation. As you upgrade him so he'll become more machine than man. Mwa hah, etc. Last up is Nisha, Handsome Jack's squeeze, and as the Sheriff of Lynchwood represents the Lawbringer class, but who otherwise Gearbox also isn't willing to discuss yet. Because marketing plans.

The Pre-Sequel tells the story of how Jack came to become the villain of Borderlands 2, with you helping his (initially well-meaning) rise to eventual super-villainy. In the demo Athena and Willhelm are trying to storm a Hyperion base in order to stop a giant death-ray that's blasting lumps out of the moon.

The lack of atmosphere has a couple of gameplay implications: Firstly you need to keep your oxygen meter topped up by collecting O2 canisters, which drop in the same way as other loot. Not fun in itself, but you can also vent these to enable double jumps and to power jetpacks. This creates cool platforming opportunities—one massive jump sees the characters land on a pillar of moon rock, below which lava from a laser strike flows—and adds a pleasing verticality to the shootouts as enemies whizz around. You can also shoot out their helmets to rob them of air. As if being shot in the face wasn't already inconvenience enough.

Oxygen-assisted jumps also enable another move: the mid-air ground pound, which is essentially a first-person interpretation of Mario's butt stomp. Pleasingly, you can also give this move an elemental effect, for example unleashing a fiery or electrical aftershock as your rear-end connects with the lunar surface.

Whereas Borderlands 2 only introduced one element type (the enemy-coating, damage-enhancing 'slag') The Pre-Sequel has two significant two additions. Cryo has a freeze effect that gradually encases enemies in crystal, leaving them open to being smashed like so much Ming vase by a melee attack. There there are lasers, a self-explanatory new gun type to add to the already bewildering array of procedurally-generated possibilities. They laser types vary from 'Pew! Pew!'-style blasters through to massive beams, and the effect, when multiple characters are trading fire, is all very Star Wars.
If Star Wars had been made by Australians.

Even in this short demo there are some cute nods to the guest developer's homeland, from a boss character called Red Belly who's armoured up like the outlaw Ned Kelly, to the impish scavs which all yammer at you with Aussie accents. Gunning them down will be a joy for cricket fans the world over, or anyone who's not a fan of Mel Gibson's output. The demo ends with Athena being blasted out of the moon base and into low orbit by Red Belly, from where flips the bird with both hands back. It's essentially Gravity remade by a madman.
http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2014/...meArt_lava.jpg
At first glance, Borderlands – The Pre-Sequel looks like a halfway house sort of follow up. It feels faithful to its super popular predecessor, offering plenty of new content but without attempting to reinvent the formula that made it successful in the first place. In that sense, the obvious comparison would be with Batman: Arkham Origins, which also stuck to old-gen consoles while serving up a prequel storyline. In either case it seems churlish to complain about what's likely to be a solid piece of fan service. And ultimately: more Borderlands is more Borderlands. In a beret.

[Qalbert]

https://twitter.com/PlayStation/stat...65179949047808

@PlayStation

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel coming to PS3: http://bit.ly/OCoSfc Witness the rise of Handsome Jack, play as Claptrap

[6souls]

That delicious Bioshock 2-like Experience

Spoiler: show

It’s set between the narratives of Borderlands and Borderlands 2. Hence: The Pre-Sequel – prequel to one, sequel to other. You could also read the title as a play on the fact that this is a game coming out ‘previous’ to the inevitable Borderlands 3, but we’re not that cynical.

Whatever the case, it’s a name choice that favours structure over clarity.

The interim story told here – and developed by 2K Australia, in association with Gearbox – centres on the rise and evolution of Handsome Jack, the dictator antagonist of Borderlands 2 and (in)arguably the series’ most arresting and memorable character to date. Pre-Sequel Jack is neither antagonist nor dictator, instead he seems positively trustworthy. Not benevolent, perhaps, but at least decent – so it’ll be interesting to see just how the plot shines light onto his transition over to the dark side.

Jack acts as the primary driving force behind a narrative that guides four new playable characters through further bouts of questing, looting and shooting. The mission we’re shown sees us sent to shut down a communications facility on the moon that is blocking an inter-planetary signal network set up by Jack. Jack wants rid of it, so we get rid of it. Sir, yes, Sir and all that…

Traversing the surface of the moon is not without its quirks. Reduced gravity affects a number of things, from being able to jump higher and further to altering the way in which combat plays out. Discharge a grenade or detonate a handily-placed explosive barrel in the vicinity of enemies, for example, and the resulting blast can be powerful enough to send them shooting away from the celestial body and into the stifling emptiness of space.

Even if you’re not lucky enough to dispatch enemies in such cinematic style, these blasts, coupled with the gravity reduction, can cause them to hang suspended in air until they’ve regained their senses and overcome the shock. Time enough for you take out at least a couple before they recover.

The most efficient way to combat the bad guys on the moon is to shoot the helmet from their heads, robbing them of oxygen and lowering your ammo spend. Oxygen is something you yourself need to be equally wary of however, as, whenever outside the confines of a designated ‘moon base’ you’ll be consuming the stuff with every step (although we did see a few Oxygen Generators positioned in barren places to keep you from dying in the wilderness too often).

Additionally, should you choose to employ it, you’ve also got a jetpack strapped to your back which eats oxygen as fuel. The jetpack allows you to hover and float for as long as your oxygen supply lasts… just keep in mind that a jetpack is no good to someone without a lungful of O.

To keep your oxygen levels at liveable readings a new equipment slot has been added to each character allowing them to equip ‘Oz Kits’. At their most basic these merely keep you alive and breathing, but further down the line they come coupled with powerful perks that buff your weapons and skills. One example provided you with the ability to, no matter which weapons you have equipped, apply extra elemental (read: magic) damage to your attacks.

How much of the game is set on the moon is unknown, 2K staying coy on the details of further locations other than to tell us to expect environmental diversity. Surprisingly, perhaps, even the small section we’re shown (roughly 40 minutes in length) features a visual variety of the likes not usually associated with the rock famous for hosting Neil Armstrong’s bootprint. The silvery-grey landscape is punctuated by lava-filled valleys which cast an orange-pink glow over the surrounding area, while moon bases (like the aforementioned communication facility) set an altogether more industrial, polluted tone.

Of the four new characters, we’re only made intimate with two and shown how to play as just one. Her name is Athena and 2K is describing her as the ‘tank’ class, her skills centred around grabbing the attentions of enemies, absorbing damage and healing herself. Athena first appeared in the original Borderlands’ The Secret Armory of General Knoxx DLC, so she’s sure to tug at the nostalgia strings of those players that have played through that particular dose of extra-curricular content.

Getting stuck in is very much Athena’s order of the day. To help her survive the inevitable onslaughts she can employ a Kinetic Aspis, a shield that charges itself full of energy by absorbing ordnance fired at her. Once powered up you can throw it at a foe, dealing significant damage before it boomerangs straight back to your arm. In practise, it works in a not too dissimilar fashion to the Vortex Shield available to Titanfall’s Titans.

This being Borderlands, the Kinetic Aspis (along with everything else) can be upgraded and modified through spending points across various skill trees. You can, for instance, advance the Aspis to a point where it ricochets off multiple enemies in a single throw – allowing you take out small squads before receiving it back.

Accompanying Athena on this particular mission-for-Jack is Wilhelm, whom you may recall took the honour of being the first ‘real’ boss of Borderlands 2′s campaign. In Borderlands 2 he was a robot working, essentially, as one of Handsome Jack’s bodyguards, but here in Pre-Sequel he’s all man. At least to begin with, there’s not a piston in sight.

Levelling up Wilhelm results in him taking on more and more cybernetic components, until he’s eventually transformed into the questionably-human form he takes in Borderlands 2.

In addition to these two are Nisha, a Law Bringer class character who we’ve not yet seen an image of, and the series’ ever-popular mascot Claptrap. Disappointingly, there is no info on either of these characters’ skills, class focus or special abilities.

No matter who you play as you’ve access to the expectedly enormous array of weapons, equipment and ammunition types. Cryo and Laser elemental ammunition types are new to Pre-Sequel, joining the likes of Corrosive, Fire and Slag that have made the jump from previous games.

Cryo-type weapons give you a chance at freezing opponents with every shot, with them eventually shattering once they’re fully chilled. Laser weapons offer more direct damage, but take a number of forms – from small bursts a la Han Solo’s Blaster, to bigger, messier, prolonged beams the likes of which are more readily associated with a Tesla Coil.

It’s the Cryo weapons that dealt most damage in our demo, with the dangerous, space-suited Badass Outlaws succumbing time and again to a cocoon of ice. Immediately following one of these encounters our heroes-at-Jack’s-behest were ambushed by a boss character, a tiny little man of pear-like proportions with his very own cocoon of red armour. He goes by the name of Red Belly, but we didn’t see him fight.

As he jumps at us a blast from the very same Hyperion space station that orbited Borderlands 2′s planet of Pandora sends a shockwave over the moon and propels us into the purgatorial vacuum. Mission failed? Did the blast also destroy the communications facility we were sent to decommission? Cliffhanger.

This being Borderlands, as Athena is blasted into space she can’t help but give the giant space station a dual-handed two-finger salute. Fade to black. Pre-sequel successfully teased.

http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/09/bord...f-weak-filler/

[Qalbert]

[6souls]

[Shenrien]

I wonder if I'll be able to throw $60 at this and have 200-300hrs sucked from my life again, BL2 was sooo much fun in co-op, hell even playing solo I had lots of fun.

[Qalbert]

http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/9/5593...ds-3-interview

Gearbox's Randy Pitchford was very clear that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel won't be coming to next-gen consoles. Here's why:

"The game will launch on the platforms that all Borderlands customers are familiar with," he said. "So it's Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, and there is not a next-gen version of this. One hundred percent of the budget and the investment and the resources and the talent that have been invested into Borderlands Pre-Sequel have been spent to create content, have been spent to iterate technology from the Borderlands 2 engine. So none of the investment has gone toward creating new technology. None of the investment has gone towards figuring out how new platforms work. It's all about creating, focusing that energy on creation of entertainment and playable entertainment.

"The advantage of course is we know that all the people that played any of the Borderlands games before has these platforms, right. There's over 150 million installed PlayStation 3's and Xbox 360's. There are currently fewer PlayStation 4 and Xbox One's than the sold copies of Borderlands 2, and we do not expect a better than that tie-in rate. So it was a really natural decision for us to prioritize the platforms that are customers are on. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to make sure no one confused our energies as something that you might imagine a Borderlands 3 to be."