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Gamescom 2011: Borderlands 2 preview

The co-op RPG shooter is back with a new skill system, new enemies and the same brand of twisted humour
Borderlands ... will the sequel appeal to fans?

[Update]: We have added lots of fresh detail to our preview. Come back and read it again!

In very few games will you be confronted by a mid-level boss who has an angry midget strapped to his shield. It just doesn't often happen, I don't know why. Yet, here it is, halfway through the Borderlands 2 demo at Gamescom. The midget is squealing with fury. It turns out, these two characters don't get on.

There is an irony at the heart of Borderlands 2 that will no doubt strike a chord with other developers of slightly off-beat games. As Gearbox's Steve Gibson explains at the start of the Gamescom demo: "When we were here with the original Borderlands in 2009, we were pleading with the press – please show gamers that there are other things beside sequels; there are fresh things happening. We were quite successful with that ... And so we made a sequel."

But Gibson is quick to clarify. "We weren't talking about people getting to return to the same worlds and genres; our real problem with sequels, and what was happening in our industry, was what we like to call content dumps. This is when a team designs a game and then a year later, they throw in a bunch of new levels, put a '2' on the box and ask for money. We felt that for a true sequel you have to dig in and do something much more ambitious, you have to treat it like a new game."

Hence, when it ships in 2012, Borderlands 2 will have been the product of a three-year development period. Gibson says they've re-thought every element of the game, including the AI, vehicle, weapons and quest systems – "it's all been entirely gutted and majorly changed," he assures us.

Set five years after the events of the first title, and still on the wretchedly inhospitable planet of Pandora, Borderlands 2 revolves around a new dictator Handsome Jack. After some kind of armed confrontation he has dumped you out in the Arctic tundra. Immediately, there is a rampaging pack of ape-like beasts named bullymongs to deal with. Yes, bullymongs. You couldn't make it up... because Gearbox has already made it up for you.

Once again, players pick up XP for shooting enemies, giving them access to weapons, parts and items from a variety of fictitious manufacturers. Gibson shows off a handy disposable assault rifle; once the mag is empty you can just chuck the thing at a bad guy, stunning him in the process. The planet's roving bandits make their own weapons nowadays too, fashioning them out of any old scrap and parts they can find. These monstrous Heath Robinson-esque contraptions often have wildly exaggerated features, such as enormous ammo clips, so they're worth trying out.

But the enemies can be just as resourceful. Improved AI means they'll look for higher ground to gain an advantage in any fire fight, and they'll flank you – apparently it's going to be important to figure out how they work together. Shooting the nearest guy isn't always the smartest option.

Everyone is more resourceful this time round. Bullymongs will even pick up great handfuls of ice to chuck in your general direction. Gearbox says it wants the player to feel like they're an intruder in a living world, so in Borderlands 2, every one is doing something: bandit factions are fighting each other, Hyperion troopers are fighting bandits... it can all work to the player's advantage.

In the mission we see, 'A Dam Fine Rescue', the player must release Roland, one of the lead characters from the first title, who has got himself incarcerated in a bandit camp, a mass of corrugated iron shacks that seems to have taken most of its town planning cues from Mad Max 2. This level is an insane romp through screaming psychos, smart marauders and Hyperion troops stamping about in militarised mech loaders. Apparently quests will now feel more connected and natural – as do the environments. From a high point in the camp, we can look out over the sprawling town and the landscape beyond. It's all seamlessly explorable, apparently.

Elsewhere, co-op has been re-jigged to allow players to drop more easily into each other's games. Car handling has been improved (adding power slides!), and there are new group vehicles, allowing four players to jump into a jeep together. Gearbox wouldn't talk about competitive multiplayer, but it seems the team is preparing a huge character customisation element.

The visuals, though, are what you remember, just sharper and more expansive. The game still has its cell-shaded sheen; a stylistic redress to the world's obsession with military realism. And it has a baddie, the Nomad Torturer, who has a midget strapped to his shield. Just in case you forgot. Because, I certainly can't.

PS3, Xbox 360, PC; released 2012

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