Video

Screenshots

These shots are most likely not actually in-game and are more artist concepts, but give you a general idea the direction things are currently heading.

Gameplay

• Co-op returns for up to 4 players
• Some classes/abilities allow for dual wielding
• Skill Tree remains 3 branches
• New pickups include temporary buffs
• Game saves stored in a cloud (PC only?)
• You can go online with 2-player splitscreen
• Class Mods and Artifacts are returning

Eridium

• New element “Eridium” augments other element’s powers
• Eridium is also a currency used to buy the most powerful weapons
• Eridium also can be used as in-battle temporary buffs
• Enemies can use their own Eridium, but it can be shot out of their hands before use

Enemies

• Improved AI and cover usage
• Badass Fire Skags can engulf pups with their flames, giving a buff and fire resistance
• New Druid enemy uses shield and deflects projectiles back at player.
• Druids can heal each other in groups, at the cost of their deflector shield
• New “Bullymong” is a 4-armed ape that climbs structures and throws scenery as projectiles

Vehicles

• All vehicles will have room for 4
• More variety, including one called “Bandit Technical”
• Vehicles can powerslide
• More precise hit detection

Class Mods/Artifacts

• Both are returning with same purposes
• Class Mods are similar, but new wider customization options
• Artifacts will offer massive variety of abilities
• Possible Artifact ability: Giving vehicle health boost aura
• Possible Artifact ability: % chance for shots to not deplete ammo

Classes

Only one class has been confirmed, Salvador the “Gunzerker”

Gunzerker

• Can dual wield any gun for short period of time
• This is the character from the GI cover (and header on 87bazillion.com)
• New Ability: Fire rate increases as trigger is held down
• New Ability: Increased accuracy with same class weapon dual wielding
• New Ability: Double Damage with mixed class weapon dual wielding
• Will have Brick’s powerful Melee capability

Manufacturers

• 8 Manufacturers have been revealed, including 1 new one (Bandit)
• Manufacturers have much greater influence on the behavior of the gun
• S&S, Atlas, and Eridians have not been confirmed as returning, all other gun manufacturers have
• Manufacturers will have much more impact on the visual design of guns
• Weapons can have custom decals and enhancements
• Weapon’s quality can be identified “at a glance” through new material system

Bandit

• New manufacturer features guns made by the bandits of Pandora (the guys from the cover of BL1)
• Ramshackle guns are pieced together bootleg style
• Might have glass bottle instead of scope
• Might have screw instead of ironsight
• Largest Magazines
• Large Magazine = Slow Reload Time

Dahl

• Familiar modern weapons (a la COD/Battlefield)

Hyperion

• Will look similar to Claptrap

Vladof

• Russian vibe with similarities to an AK-47
• All weapons will have minigun barrels as attachments
• Highest fire rate of any manufacturer

Tediore

• Can be thrown like a grenade at any time
• Ammo left in clip increases power of explosion
• “Digistruct” device automatically replaces your gun after explosion

Torgue

• Features most destructive guns
• “Biggest, loudest display of power possible”

Maliwan

• “One of the sleeker options”
• Possible futuristic

Jakobs

• Cross between old west and WW2
• High Damage Stats

Source

Story

• Takes place 5 years after Borderlands 1
• Takes place on Pandora
• New character “Handsome Jack” claims credit for original Vault Hunter’s accomplishments
• Handsome Jack buys Hyperion and appears to be the main villian
• HJ wants to rid the seedy underbelly of Pandora, including Vault Hunters
• Players start in HJ’s Arena, win the tournament, and are betrayed and left in a frozen Tundra
• Players contact the Guardian Angel from first game and are told to save Pandora
• Players will contact the original Vault Hunters who are NPCs in BL2
• Claptrap is returning, and is also fighting Hyperion

Source

• Releases Q2 2012 or later
• Setting will be on Pandora
• “All new characters, skills, environments, enemies, weapons and equipment”
• “New and more diverse environments”
• “Smarter and more powerful enemies”
• “An improved mission system capable of delivering a better story”

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*UPDATE* GBX Community Manager AdamF just confirmed that Game Informer subscribers should be getting the Sept issue in the next few days, where plenty more information is sure to be revealed in the 12-page exclusive spread.

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*UPDATE* Also, recent GBX hire Anthony Burch (@reverendanthony) has confirmed that he is writing Borderlands 2.  If you’d like to get an idea for how funny and smart BL2 can be in his hands, check out the funniest gaming series on the web “Hey Ash Watcha Playin?” and watch him save the world in “Anthony Saves the World“.

Full Press Release:

2K Games and Gearbox Software Announce Borderlands™ 2 in Development

Fans can get their first glimpse of the bold evolution of the Role-Playing Shooter at Gamescom and PAX Prime 2011 this month

New York, NY – August 3, 2011 – 2K Games and Gearbox Software announced today that the sequel to the extravasplosive breakout hit, Borderlands™, is currently in development at world-renowned developer Gearbox Software. Coming to the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC during Take-Two’s fiscal year 2013 beginning on April 1, 2012, Borderlands 2 is the epic sequel to the ultimate four-player Role-Playing Shooter loot fest. Combining invention and evolution, Borderlands 2 features all new characters, skills, environments, enemies, weapons and equipment, which come together in an ambitiously crafted story. Players will reveal secrets, and escalate mysteries of the Borderlands universe as they adventure across the unexplored new areas of Pandora.

2K Games and Gearbox Software are taking this show on the road, and fans and media will be able to get their first look at the game at Gamescom 2011 from August 17 – August 21, and at PAX Prime (Booth #3417) from August 26 – August 28. Eager gamers can learn more about Borderlands 2 right now by picking up the latest issue of Game Informer Magazine, which has the worldwide exclusive cover story on the title. Readers will find many game details inside the issue, including the first reveal of one of the several new character classes being introduced in Borderlands 2.

About Borderlands

Taking the gaming world by storm, Borderlands delivered its unique flavor of humorous and lovable characters and addictive non-stop collaborative loot-hunting gameplay on an unsuspecting populace. The critically acclaimed and best-selling Role-Playing-Shooter, as well as its four downloadable expansion packs, captured the imagination and attention of single-player and cooperative gamers around the world.

Borderlands 2 is not yet rated by the ESRB.

Long story short:

• Get To MINAC
• Hide behind a rock near the respawn area
• Go to bed
• Wake up to hundreds of claptrap drops

Xbox 360 Note: Make sure you are using a wired controller or a play n charge kit with the battery pack removed, or your game may pause when the controller goes to sleep.

A little more explanation:

To start off, you are farming for the following items: 25 Oil Cans, 15 Claptrap Bobble-heads, 5 3D Glasses, 5 Panties, 5 Clapfish, and 15 Pizza.  The 15 Bobbleheads will take the longest because of their low drop rate, followed by the Oil Cans, and Pizza.  You may have to use this method two or three times before you get everything, but it takes minimal effort, just a lot of time (don’t worry, you will probably be sleeping).

The idea here is to farm the MINAC, the last boss of DLC4.  If all you want is achievements, it is best to do this on Playthrough 1, since it will be very easy to run a high level character to the end of the DLC.  Even if you haven’t completed Playthrough 1 on DLC4, you should do this for the extra skill point. It is a very quick (30-45 minute process) to get to the end with a high level character.

You can also knock out the “The Collector” achievement by doing the above method multiple times and turning in the quest each time at Tannis.

It really is best to let your game sit over night for 7-10 hours, but if you are getting close collecting enough Bobbleheads/Oil Cans, you can do shorter intervals.

The best spot to sit is going to be behind the rocks here:

The turrets may still be able to hit you, but if you are on Playthrough 1 with any decent shield and a high level character, it shouldn’t be enough to kill you.  If you want to be safe, you can simply take out the turrets on the MINAC before you do your hide-n-sleep.

When you return, there will be gobs of claptrap parts and quest drops all over the place.  If you want them to be in a neater pile, you can stand near the respawn area and the claptraps will typically come and explode in that area, but I find the framerate drop and higher occurrence of freezing with all that loot in one area to be a little annoying. Also, if you don’t hide behind the rocks, you will be constantly dying so you’ll lose your bazillions, though getting money is about the easiest thing you can do in Borderlands.

It’s obviously easiest to simply go to bed and return multiple hours later, but you can come back periodically and pick up the drops, then return to hiding if you don’t find enough.  It took me around 20 hours of idling to get all of my items (2 nights of sleep and some periodic checking in on a third day), but I had already found quite a bit from the normal playthroughs.  The drops are random, and like I mentioned above, the Bobbleheads, Oil Cans, and Pizza are going to take the longest and have the lowest drop rate.  If you want to speed up the process, you can actively kill the spawning claptraps, or do a youtube search for MINAC farming for some slightly different methods, but many of them require modding or don’t really increase the rate fast enough to make up for the fact that you simply put your controller down and go to sleep for the above method.

Thanks to this thread at xbox360achievements.org for the original find.

Preorder

http://www.feralinteractive.com/?section=buy&game=borderlands

Price:

$49.95 for North America

£34.95 for the UK

€39.95 throughout Europe

Minimum Specs

• 1.8 GHz Intel Mac
• 2 GB RAM
• 128 MB or better graphics card
• DVD drive
• Mac OS X v10.6.4 or later
• The following cards are NOT supported: ATI X1xxx series, NVIDIA 7xxx series and Intel GMA series.

Title Update 1.41 Notes:

Level cap increase of 8 levels for all players.
(Original Borderlands players will now be able to achieve level 58.
(Owners of The Secret Armory of General Knoxx can achieve a record setting increase to a maximum level of 69)

Enemies now scale to new level caps throughout the whole game as long as playthrough 2 has been completed

Item drops (with the exception of COM Decks) will now scale to new enemy level caps.

DLC4 Achievement/Trophy glitches that have affected some users will now properly award players for obtaining these achievements.

Retail PC Users can download the update HERE (1.41 link at bottom of page)

DLC: Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution

	Tourist	10
	Find all 6 Claptrap Statues
	Muerte la robo-lución	70
	Kill the INAC
	The Collector	50
	Complete a crazy request for Tannis
	The Lubricator	10
	Find 25 oil cans
	Bobble-Trap	10
	Collect 15 claptrap bobbleheads
	It’s so realistic!	10
	Collect 5 3D glasses
	What a party!	30
	Collect 3 panties, 5 fish in a bag, and 15 pizzas

Secret Achievements

	Ned-Trap	20
	Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.
	Steele-Trap	20
	Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.
	Knoxx-Trap	20
	Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

New Information

• New guns and items in the DLC
• Patch balances game across all DLC, includes new weapons and SPECS (what does that mean?)
• No release date for patch, GBX hoping for DLC4 release (Sept 28), likely to be closer to GOTY (Oct 12)
• Avatar items are coming
• Claptrap toy coming out in October most likely
• DLC may not be last

Articles

Destructoid Hands-on

Destructoid Patch Info

IGN Article

Screenshots

Video

Gamespot

Giant Bomb

Game Trailers

G4