14 DAY TRIAL // After unleashing an impressive video yesterday about its upcoming Borderlands 2 video game, developer Gearbox Software has now presented some more details about the characters in the role playing shooter and how they can be developed by the players in any way they want through special Action Skills.
Borderlands made lots of gamers fall in love with it, thanks to its impressive visual style, its weapon variety and the intense gameplay focused on the four-player co-operative mode.
With the sequel, the team at Gearbox Software wants to improve the experience across the board. We saw the game in action yesterday, when a release date and a special video were revealed.
Now, Gearbox community manager Chris Faylor has talked about the special Action Skills that are available in the new game, which give players special powers that can be leveled up as they experience the game with their own character.
“Each character has their own unique Action Skill at the root of their multi-tiered Skill Trees, and as you complete more quests and kill more enemies and gain the necessary experience to start working down those Skill Trees, you’ll come across skills that do more than just add passive stats and perks — they change the way that character plays,” Faylor said.
The Gearbox developer exemplified his statement by talking about Salvador, who represents the new Gunzerker class. He has a special Action Skill that allows him to temporarily dual wield any weapon in the game. Besides this Action Skill, players can take Salvador into any direction they want.
“If you just want to run and gun and blow everything up and cause as much chaos and destruction as possible, there’s a Skill Tree for that. Or if you want to make him more of a tactician and focus on nailing that one perfect shot for ridiculous damage and money, there’s a Skill Tree for that as well.”
Other characters, like Maya the Siren, can also be used in different ways, according to Faylor.
“Maya’s Skill Trees and the way they alter her Phaselock Action Skill likewise enable players to customize the way she plays and the role she takes in battle, as do those of Axton and Zero,” he concluded.
Borderlands 2 is out on September 18, in North America, and September 21, in Europe, for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.