New Borderlands Game Announced

Surprised? I certainly am! It seems like only last week (mainly because it was!) that I was browsing through a website that categorically stated that we will not be seeing any sort of Borderlands game in the near future. This is because despite having a couple of ideas the team behind the game really did not know how to execute the idea. Well, today a new Borderlands game has been announced. This game is set to expand the lore of the RPG-FPS. It is not a sequel though. It is a prequel. If you love Claptrap (you know, that annoying little robot?) then you are going to absolutely love this nifty little game.

The game is a standalone game (i.e. for the first time in a long while we are going to get Borderlands related content which is not DLC…fantastic, right?). The game is a joint effort between Gearbox and 2K Australia. How this partnership works out remains to be seen.

The game is set in between the two games. You will not be on Pandora this time though. Instead you will be on Pandora’s moon (more on that soon!). Here you are working for Handsome Jack. It basically details his journey to power. If you have played Borderlands 2 then I am sure that you are more than well acquainted with this devilishly evil person so far.

So, we are on Pandora’s moon. This is great. Plenty of things to explore up there. Of course, like most moons (and most planets for that matter) there is no oxygen on Pandora’s moon. What does this mean? Well, the developers have come up with a cool little mechanic which depletes your oxygen when you travel outside on the planet’s surface (I say cool, it is likely to become annoying after a while). If you head outside of the main base and you do not regularly replenish your oxygen then you are going to die. Of course, there is an up side. Gravity is pretty much non-existent on this moon. This means that you can jump incredibly high and there are now all sorts of ‘aerial’ attacks that you can launch upon your opponents. Make sure you grab the loot that your enemies drop quickly though otherwise you will be watching them float into space.

You have plenty of different characters to play as in this game (and most likely more to be added via downloadable content in the future). One returning character is Claptrap, and yes, he is going to be playable. He is by all accounts going to offer a unique perspective on the game world (a lower cam for starters)

The game has been dubbed ‘Borderlands – The Pre Sequel’. It will not be hitting any next generation platforms. It should land on the Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 during the latter half of 2014.