Weekend Reading: Borderlands 2 and Recognizing Mistakes

Borderlands 2 came out this week and it forced me to remember the good times I had with its predecessor and how much fun it was to explore the gritty planet of Pandora alongside my friends.

But while Borderlands 1 was quite a lot of fun, it had some downsides, from the lackluster feeling of the environment, to the non-existent story or the incredibly tough opponents when playing solo.

Borderlands 2 could have easily ignored these faults and present an all-new adventure on a new world, but it didn't choose the easy way out and for that I congratulate the team at Gearbox Software.

Instead of ignoring the story of the original game, the new one picks up where it left off, admitting that the end of the quest wasn't that impressive.

What's more, the game uses the end of its predecessor to explain a wide array of changes, from the more varied environment on Pandora, caused by a mysterious alien mineral, to the new antagonist, a corporate overlord named Handsome Jack that wants the mineral and its secrets all to himself.

The game also rewards players in better ways for their accomplishments. Instead of merely offering loot or XP, you also get hilarious dialogs with the NPCs and meet some rather unique enemies, especially on side quests, like a midget riding a huge beast.

In the original, you were merely treated with blobs of text and the same old taunts that wore on your nerves ("hey, look at me, I'm dancing!").

Difficulty when playing solo also feels a bit lower, at least in the beginning. While you're still challenged by enemies that respawn over time, you quickly learn shortcuts or detours that go around them so that you don't waste precious ammo and get to new areas faster.

Overall, it's great to see a sequel that owns up to the mistakes of its predecessor and tries to solve them in ways that feel natural.

Did Borderlands 2 manage to improve upon its predecessor or do you think Gearbox fixed something that wasn't broken? Share your thoughts below.