{"id":1042,"date":"2022-02-05T00:00:39","date_gmt":"2022-02-05T05:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/?p=1042"},"modified":"2022-07-17T17:07:47","modified_gmt":"2022-07-17T21:07:47","slug":"borderlands-the-pre-sequel-issue-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2022\/02\/05\/borderlands-the-pre-sequel-issue-40\/","title":{"rendered":"Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel \u2014 Issue 40"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Bor\u00adder\u00adlands: The Pre-Sequel is a lot of retread<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Stop me if you heard this one.<\/span>
\nA group of four boun\u00adty hunters run amok on Pan\u00addo\u00adra and open a trea\u00adsure chest filled to the brim with loot after killing a bunch of things.<\/span>
\nIn fact, you should have stopped me, because you\u2019ve heard that song and dance before. Twice to be pre\u00adcise. It\u2019s because I\u2019ve waxed poet\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly about two oth\u00ader Bor\u00adder\u00adlands titles in pre\u00advi\u00adous issues over the past decade. It was all fine and well, that run\u00adning amok on Pan\u00addo\u00adra. Until it wasn\u2019t. You see, Bor\u00adder\u00adlands has charm and grace, know\u00ading when it\u2019s hit\u00adting its lim\u00adit at the bar. Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2, well, you have to tell it when to stop because it thinks it can han\u00addle its liquor but real\u00adly can\u2019t. Pre-Sequel? Brown liquor gives it courage to talk to folks a cer\u00adtain way, and it winds up get\u00adting thrown out of the bar and Ubered home. It\u2019s because Pre-Sequel thinks it\u2019s some\u00adthing we\u2019ve nev\u00ader seen before, when we all have and we\u2019re not buying.<\/span>
\nBor\u00adder\u00adlands: The Pre-Sequel is set between the events of Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 1 and 2 sto\u00adry\u00adline-wise but was released chrono\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly after Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2. Pre-Sequel tells the parts of the Bor\u00adder\u00adlands saga that we didn\u2019t see hap\u00adpen\u00ading simul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adous\u00adly in the first game and men\u00adtioned in the sec\u00adond game: How Hand\u00adsome Jack dis\u00adcov\u00adered the Vault; took over the Hype\u00adr\u00adi\u00adon Cor\u00adpo\u00adra\u00adtion and, by exten\u00adsion, Pan\u00addo\u00adra; and, cor\u00adralled an ear\u00adli\u00ader group to assist in his nefar\u00adi\u00adous plans of dom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion and galac\u00adtic domin\u00adion. Along for the ride this time are char\u00adac\u00adters we already know from Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2: Nisha Kadam, the future sher\u00adiff of Lynch\u00adwood and Jack\u2019s future girl\u00adfriend; Wil\u00adhelm, pre-cyber\u00adnet\u00adic obses\u00adsion and trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion; Athena, wan\u00adder\u00ading Pan\u00addo\u00adra after the events of the Secret Armory of Gen\u00ader\u00adal Knoxx DLC<\/span> in Bor\u00adder\u00adlands; and, Clap\u00adtrap, who\u2019s assist\u00aded the Pan\u00addo\u00adra Vault Hunters but doesn\u2019t yet know he\u2019s the sac\u00adri\u00adfi\u00adcial lamb of the sto\u00adry. These Vault Hunters are sum\u00admoned through an EchoNet call from Jack to find the Vault on Pandora\u2019s moon, Elpis. <\/span>
\nKnow\u00ading what we know now about Jack and his motives, it\u2019s safe to assume that there will be greed, mon\u00adey and shenani\u00adgans involv\u00ading guns. Those are there, yes, but it\u2019s just Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2 with a slight\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent mask and a lack\u00ading sto\u00adry. Because make no mis\u00adtake: The sto\u00adry is not mov\u00ading for\u00adward here. It\u2019s sole\u00adly meant to fill in some gaps, but it\u2019s obvi\u00adous it\u2019s not meant to be some sort of pitch-shifter that Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2 or Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 3 were and are.<\/span>
\nKnow\u00ading this about the sto\u00adry, what you find when you get to Elpis is def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly a whole lot of typ\u00adi\u00adcal Bor\u00adder\u00adlands skull\u00addug\u00adgery. From the begin\u00adning of the jour\u00adney once you touch down on the plan\u00adet, the new mechan\u00adics of oxy\u00adgen man\u00adage\u00adment and low grav\u00adi\u00adty are a pain to deal with and obnox\u00adious. Yes, you do need some\u00adthing new to spice things up a bit, but it\u2019s not imple\u00adment\u00aded with any type of pre\u00adci\u00adsion or enjoy\u00adment. Con\u00adstant\u00adly hav\u00ading to man\u00adage how much oxy\u00adgen is left while try\u00ading to avoid tak\u00ading dam\u00adage means dis\u00adtrac\u00adtion, and it ruins any sort of sand\u00adbox vibe the game might have been going for. Oxy\u00adgen man\u00adage\u00adment is also tak\u00ading prece\u00addence while work\u00ading through Bor\u00adder\u00adlands Begin\u00adning Syn\u00addrome, or when you start a char\u00adac\u00adter in a Bor\u00adder\u00adlands playthrough with lit\u00adtle to no help. The first few hours of any Bor\u00adder\u00adlands playthrough are slow and a slog with no help, and Pre-Sequel is no excep\u00adtion. All oth\u00ader mechan\u00adics are Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2 based, so <\/span>there\u2019s noth\u00ading else new here of note.<\/span>
\nMuch like the non-new mechan\u00adics, the graph\u00adics are Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2 based as well. So, you\u2019re not going to see new tex\u00adtures, though there are a few new ene\u00admies and NPCs to change things up a bit. The new ene\u00admies are slight\u00adly inter\u00adest\u00ading, as are some of the boss\u00ades. This has always been Bor\u00adder\u00adlands\u2019 strength as fran\u00adchise: Col\u00ador\u00adful char\u00adac\u00adters that leave an impres\u00adsion. Pre-Sequel man\u00adages to cre\u00adate some good\u00adwill with some new char\u00adac\u00adters, but they\u2019re all in the style of Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2. Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2 was ser\u00advice\u00adable in its graph\u00adics as a mar\u00adgin\u00adal\u00adly bet\u00adter upgrade to Bor\u00adder\u00adlands, so you\u2019re get\u00adting that mar\u00adgin\u00adal upgrade here as well. The sound\u00adtrack also is Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2 based, so if you enjoyed that, you\u2019re prob\u00ada\u00adbly going to enjoy this, too. There are a few tracks that stand out, but noth\u00ading spe\u00adcial \u2026 much like every\u00adthing else offered here.<\/span>
\nTake Pre-Sequel for what it is: a stand\u00adalone pack\u00adage that real\u00adly should have been prepara\u00adto\u00adry DLC<\/span> for Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2 or even fol\u00adlow-up DLC<\/span> for that game. It real\u00adly shouldn\u2019t have been held back after Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2 because it works well as a stop\u00adgap mea\u00adsure between Bor\u00adder\u00adlands and Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2. As a front-end sequel game, it\u2019s just more of Bor\u00adder\u00adlands 2 \u2014 down to the reused assets and sound\u00adtrack \u2014 and that doesn\u2019t nec\u00ades\u00adsar\u00adi\u00adly increase its endear\u00ading qual\u00adi\u00adties, no mat\u00adter how much I love Bor\u00adder\u00adlands as a whole. At this point, it\u2019s suf\u00adfer\u00ading from sequel-itis.<\/span><\/p>\n