Now, now, Borderlands was a phenomenal game by my standards. It was highly addictive and provided some hardcore action and fun for several weeks at a time. However, though the game wasn't perfect and had plenty of room for improvement. As Mike Nuemann, creative director of Borderlands, once said in an interview,
Borderlands 2 is a no-brainer, so it's all I could to do to quickly think up of a few ways that Borderlands 2 could improve on its predeccesor.
A World More Expansive
The barren world of Pandora, the setting of Borderlands, was little more than a series of areas linked together by a series of cyberspace tunnels that somehow magically teleported you from one area to the next. It was just a bit of a nuisance really, but it did prevent the game world from actually feeling connected like other RPG worlds like Fallout and the Elder Scrolls.
A massive game world is not what I'm looking for. The massive scope of Just Cause 2's Panau may be a bit too big for the style of Borderlands, but a moderate-sized area with no load times or connection tunnels would be nice. Also, would it be so bad to add a little of variety to the enviroments in the game. Anymore of those rocky deserts and I think I might just go blind from an overexposure to the color brown. It would be pretty wicked to visit the two other planets mention in the game, Aquarius and Promethesus. Maybe a visit to these other alien planets could actually add a shade of green to the game's color palette. Just think of the intensity of the gunfights if the setting might be a tad more exotic such as a lush jungle perhaps.
Some Variety to the Characters
Borderlands offered four characters which served as the basis of your kickass gunfighter for the next 20 hours. Your choices were the burly and violent Brick, the highly-trained and professional Roland, the mysterious and alluring Lilith and the talented sniper Mordecai. Sure the characters were pretty cool and stuff, but it'd be even cooler to add a bit of character creation to the mix. Maybe even choosing a template, class and gender would do some good to the game.
Around Pandora in 80 Days
In the original game minus the DLC, there was only one drivable vehicle in the game and that was the Runner, an all-around dune buggy with either a mounted rocket launcher or a machine gun. Sure it got the job done, but some more vehicles would be appreciated. Including the additions in the Secret Armory of General Knoxx (if you don't know what this is, then why are you even reading this article?), the next Borderlands would be mighty impressive with some vehicular destruction. I'm thinking a heavily-armored tank and even a speedy motorcycle if you will.
 |
| Behold your ride and all its glory |
An Actual Story, Perhaps?
Probably the weakest link in Borderlands was its lackluster story that told the cliched adventure of a series of treasure hunters searching for power and wealth in the form of a rumored alien Vault created and left behind by a race of aliens, known as the Eridians. In the sequel, a more interesting story would be nice to enjoy. Maybe kickback and munch on some popcorn if you will.
Hey, I'm not saying I expect a Mass Effect-style story here. I don't need some massive epic with branching plot points. No, that would draw away from the action. I'm just wishing for a slightly more interesting story in the mix. I don't know; that's why I'm not a video game designer, but Gearbox's bound to have some creative genius lurking in their studios somewhere.
Probability of my dreams
Hey, I didn't make to big demands, so it could very well be possible that the guys at Gearbox could think of these ideas on their owns, because they're sure as hell not going to get it off of this blog. Oh well, people can dream...
