Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
Discussion
I bought this on the X360 originally (having played the other two on PC only) thinking that after Destiny I had finally adapted to playing FPS on consoles. How wrong was I, absolutely useless and all over the place. Then I got to the first boss (Deadlift) and literally gave up on the game after being thrashed over and over - couldn't put a dent in the guy.
Bought the game via Steam for PC (being a fan of the series) and blasted through the same boss first time, completely different game for me on the PC compared to the X360
Slight spoiler: for those that are struggling with him, do the side missions in the main area first as one of them gives you a electrical sniper rifle that really helps to strip his shields.
Bought the game via Steam for PC (being a fan of the series) and blasted through the same boss first time, completely different game for me on the PC compared to the X360
Slight spoiler: for those that are struggling with him, do the side missions in the main area first as one of them gives you a electrical sniper rifle that really helps to strip his shields.
I got killed by Deadlift once, and then found a nice hiding place where I could snipe/grenade from without getting attacked.
Was very slow though, as I had to wait for the characters to come into the right place before I could shoot them.
It was also a good idea to wait until they were by shock barrels as this seemed to remove their shields and make the sniping much more effective.
Was very slow though, as I had to wait for the characters to come into the right place before I could shoot them.
It was also a good idea to wait until they were by shock barrels as this seemed to remove their shields and make the sniping much more effective.
The boss balancing in this game is waaaaay off. I've not known it be so bad in a Borderlands game before. I thought Deadlift was hard just because I was playing as a low level Claptrap, with limited abilities and largely randomised stats. I've just fought The Bosun, who was another complete chore. Luckily, his shield regen turrets can be knocked out one by one and don't respawn when you're killed, but you'll still die a few times as you grind them down and wipe out his lunatic swarms. I've got some good kit and I'm over-levelled at this point too.
Also, the map is complete garbage. It can barely cope with flat landscapes, but now that there is an element of vertical travel it is completely outclassed. There is also often very little direction as to what you're supposed to do as well, which can be irritating. The quest that starts immediately at the conclusion of the Drakenburg mission called "a secret chamber" is evidence of this. The map is completely f
king useless, making finding the three ECHO devices harder than it should be, and I flapped around for ages trying to figure out how to make the jump to the top deck, before discovering completely accident that shock damage can charge the jump booster and make you fly further off it. I wonder, if I hadn't had a shock damage buttslam attack, how long I would have been stuck there!
In spite of these issues though, it is great fun.
Also, the map is complete garbage. It can barely cope with flat landscapes, but now that there is an element of vertical travel it is completely outclassed. There is also often very little direction as to what you're supposed to do as well, which can be irritating. The quest that starts immediately at the conclusion of the Drakenburg mission called "a secret chamber" is evidence of this. The map is completely f
king useless, making finding the three ECHO devices harder than it should be, and I flapped around for ages trying to figure out how to make the jump to the top deck, before discovering completely accident that shock damage can charge the jump booster and make you fly further off it. I wonder, if I hadn't had a shock damage buttslam attack, how long I would have been stuck there!In spite of these issues though, it is great fun.
Baryonyx said:
The boss balancing in this game is waaaaay off. I've not known it be so bad in a Borderlands game before. I thought Deadlift was hard just because I was playing as a low level Claptrap, with limited abilities and largely randomised stats. I've just fought The Bosun, who was another complete chore. Luckily, his shield regen turrets can be knocked out one by one and don't respawn when you're killed, but you'll still die a few times as you grind them down and wipe out his lunatic swarms. I've got some good kit and I'm over-levelled at this point too.
Also, the map is complete garbage. It can barely cope with flat landscapes, but now that there is an element of vertical travel it is completely outclassed. There is also often very little direction as to what you're supposed to do as well, which can be irritating. The quest that starts immediately at the conclusion of the Drakenburg mission called "a secret chamber" is evidence of this. The map is completely fking useless, making finding the three ECHO devices harder than it should be, and I flapped around for ages trying to figure out how to make the jump to the top deck, before discovering completely accident that shock damage can charge the jump booster and make you fly further off it. I wonder, if I hadn't had a shock damage buttslam attack, how long I would have been stuck there!
In spite of these issues though, it is great fun.
Not to mention the fact that one of the NPC's mentions it as part of the voiceover and subtitles are on by default?Also, the map is complete garbage. It can barely cope with flat landscapes, but now that there is an element of vertical travel it is completely outclassed. There is also often very little direction as to what you're supposed to do as well, which can be irritating. The quest that starts immediately at the conclusion of the Drakenburg mission called "a secret chamber" is evidence of this. The map is completely f
king useless, making finding the three ECHO devices harder than it should be, and I flapped around for ages trying to figure out how to make the jump to the top deck, before discovering completely accident that shock damage can charge the jump booster and make you fly further off it. I wonder, if I hadn't had a shock damage buttslam attack, how long I would have been stuck there!In spite of these issues though, it is great fun.
The dialogue in this is excellent as ever, Jack using the phrase "pedo-tasche" had me chortling.
Also, I can't be the only one feeling like fire damage has had a nerf? Probably because in the last 2 Borderlands games, so many enemies were susceptible to fire damage that a fire weapon was OP compared to the other elemental types since it worked with devastating effectiveness against the majority of enemies. This time around, the fire only works in atmosphere, and with so much of the game taking place outside of atmosphere it feels piss weak most of the time. In the rare occasions I set someone on fire inside an atmosphere bubble, they can just walk outside it to put the fire out.
Also, I can't be the only one feeling like fire damage has had a nerf? Probably because in the last 2 Borderlands games, so many enemies were susceptible to fire damage that a fire weapon was OP compared to the other elemental types since it worked with devastating effectiveness against the majority of enemies. This time around, the fire only works in atmosphere, and with so much of the game taking place outside of atmosphere it feels piss weak most of the time. In the rare occasions I set someone on fire inside an atmosphere bubble, they can just walk outside it to put the fire out.
MissChief said:
How can something burn without oxygen? Get them into a bubble, over a vent or inside and they'll burn away quite happily.
Did you actually read my post? That is exactly the point I was making - as the atmosphere environments are comparatively uncommon the fire weapons aren't the powerhouses they used to be, as there is less opportunity to use them in general, and when fighting in atmosphere bubbles the enemies can just jump out of the bubble and they're ok again.In the last BL games, a good fire weapon could destroy just about everything you point it at, but this time around they've been marginalised to the point of near irrelevancy. Perhaps they have more use for other characters, but for Claptrap, who needs to keep switching weapon to maximise his DPM output based on his subroutine, often you're not going into a fight choosing a weapon based on it's elemental type, but purely by the type of weapon it as, as his subroutine buffs massively outweigh elemental buffs once you get about halfway down his Fragtrap tree.
MissChief said:
I've always preferred corrosive and explosive weapons myself. Also the ice weapons are very handy as well.
Explosive weapons seem considerably less useful now, mainly because there are so many enemies who fly or move quickly. A lot of the slow moving damage tanks from the previous games seem to have been cut right back to making rare appearances. I've rarely bothered with an explosive weapon so far, and the explosive 'minigun' style rifles are fking hopeless unless you're two feet away from your enemy, or you really want to get rid of all your ammunition. Mind you, I'm on the Helios station now, which has an atmosphere and I've had some success with fire weapons here, which are a lot more prevalent than they are planetside! I've just done the quest to cool down 'Dean'. I can only assume this is some sort of developer in-joke, saying as it's so short and judging by some of the things he says when you meet him. I spent ages looking for an ice weapon then remembered the ammo stores sell grenades, luckily they had an ice grenade in stock and I was able to buy that and finish that pesky quest!
Having just wrapped up the main and side quests on the Helios station, I can safely say the "Veins of Helios" area and the quests in it stand out as some of the worst game design I've seen in the last 20 years or so. A flat, 2D map with no elevation-based shading cannot cope with a a 3D area like the Veins of Helios map, and the quests there are terrible.
In particular, one annoying quest for a bloke called Lazlo is bugged if you are playing as Claptrap, and you have the cryogenic manifold skill. If you have it, you can't finish a quest where an objective is to butt-slam some targets, as the game registers it as a cryogenic manifold attack and not as a butt-slam. This lead to me trekking all the way back to a fast travel station to Concordia to repsec my character to just before I purchased the cryo manifold skill, then go and finish the quest, then spend the rest of my ability points to unlock the skill. This wouldn't be such a headache, if the Veins of Helios area wasn't such a massive pain in the arse to navigate.
Otherwise, it's very enjoyable and another great Borderlands game. This is one of those franchises where the developers just got it so damn right.
In particular, one annoying quest for a bloke called Lazlo is bugged if you are playing as Claptrap, and you have the cryogenic manifold skill. If you have it, you can't finish a quest where an objective is to butt-slam some targets, as the game registers it as a cryogenic manifold attack and not as a butt-slam. This lead to me trekking all the way back to a fast travel station to Concordia to repsec my character to just before I purchased the cryo manifold skill, then go and finish the quest, then spend the rest of my ability points to unlock the skill. This wouldn't be such a headache, if the Veins of Helios area wasn't such a massive pain in the arse to navigate.
Otherwise, it's very enjoyable and another great Borderlands game. This is one of those franchises where the developers just got it so damn right.
I finished it yesterday afternoon, fully cheating of course (infinite health etc). Now I'm going to finished all the side missions.
I do agree about the map, it's pretty useless. I found a couple of bugs, where something has not happened when it should so you have to exit and restart the level and then the thing gets triggered and off you go again.
I do agree about the map, it's pretty useless. I found a couple of bugs, where something has not happened when it should so you have to exit and restart the level and then the thing gets triggered and off you go again.
Moog72 said:
For those who have beaten "The Bosun", did you get a legendary rocket launcher drop? I read somewhere that this boss should drop one but he didn't for me, that or I simply missed it of course.
Just wondered how other folks got on
Legendary drop rates are something of an unknown quantity. Some sources say the drop rate is 1/75, others say it's 1/30 or 1/10. The drop rate for the 'Thingy' rocket launcher for the secret boss is meant to be 11%, but I've knocked him flat at least 12 times and no sign of it yet. I'll have to keep trying then, or maybe try a save loop at the robot manufacturing plant, as the gun shop there is supposed to have a good chance of stocking a legendary pistol (and is quicker than beating the secret boss). I've got the Excalibur weapon from the stone at Stanton's Liver, and once I get another legendary weapon I'll be making a save and grinding them for the 'legendary grinder' achievement. Just wondered how other folks got on
I finished this last night and I'm on the mop up now. I'll definitely give it another go, though whether or not I'll see it through all the way on a second run remains to be seen. Certainly, until Level 50 and then put to one side for the DLC. I'm going to be partying up tonight to try and beat the invincible Sentinel, so fingers crossed we can knock that into a cocked hat (I'm sure we will).
Overall, it's far from Borderlands' finest hour but it's definitely a great game and worth a play. It misses out slightly on Borderlands typical fantastic humour; there are some great laughs and great lines, particularly between Claptrap and Jack but the Australian development influence shows, particularly with some gags that miss the mark (the flag raising Captain Chef, the cricket mission and the Steve Irwin parodies were pretty naff).
The map continues to be an issue as the game goes on, though it really hits the nadir around the Veins of Helios and the jump platform section. If I hadn't used a guide I'd have spent hours looking for a way to get to the sensor array. Next time, they definitely need to overhaul the map.
The balancing is also way, way off in places which is odd for a Borderlands game. Some bosses will let you tank them, dying over and over and grinding them down. Then some reset their health when you die. Things like the air ship boss, what a pain in the arse. There was no way I could beat it going toe to toe when I was alone. Instead, I had to hide inside the lift bay, shooting it with my most powerful weapon until the ammo ran out, then going to the machine to restock and starting over. It was a painfully slow process and I'm sure, not how the developers wanted the boss to be played at all. Maybe if it was just the air ship and no other enemies, it would seem a fairer fight!
Continuing with the balancing issues, some of the guns are whack. The E-Gun continues to be overpowered throughout most of the game, countering the other weapons which often seem quite underpowered. It's not until after the last boss that the game's loot seems to level out and you get guns that feel slightly ahead of the curve (other than the E-gun, which can wipe out Iwajima in about a minute flat, despite having been with me for most of the game!). And the difficulty spikes don't help matters, especially at the end of the game where it feels like a grind, approaching enemies, throwing everything you have at them, being killed and trying again. Especially since now in FFYL mode, a lot of the enemies seem to turn and run as soon as they put you down!
Anyway, other than a few minor gripes it's been great and I look forward to seeing what comes next with it. The developers have said that this was an interesting chance to see the back story to Borderlands 2, but they're not sure where the series will go next. Undoubtedly, there will be another Borderlands game and it'll be fittingly designed on current gen technology (porting issues prevented a crossover this time). So, very exciting stuff.
And judging by the appearance of the Empyrean Sentinel at the end of credits, they're already setting up the next round of Borderlands!
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