Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Just plain fun"

Stop me if you've heard this one: A commando, an assassin, a siren and a gunzerker all walk into a bar in Sanctuary...

The first Borderlands back in 2009 by developer Gearbox Software blindsided everyone that loved a good frag-fest with a uniuqe graphical style and tongue in cheek MadMax-esque no-man's land vibe. It was shoot and loot mash-up on a psychotic world of mercenaries and maniacs, a new take on shooters we didn't know we wanted (or maybe even needed) until it landed in our consoles/pcs. It was adoringly obnoxious and after the skag dust ceared it begged for a sequel.

As the Vault Hunters would have it, we were thankfully given a second tour of Pandora with more of everything - more colorful Vault hunters, more customization, more loot, more missions, more environments, monsters, money, motorsports, mongloids - and yes of course: GUNS. The beauty of Borderlands to other than it;s achingly beautiful comic book stylized art is it's unabashed self-exploitation of it's greatest feature, it's guns. The shooting feels smooth as butter whether it be a simple rapid fire repeater of a slag-infused sniper rifle. Skill trees actually have some weight to them this time around and different characters special abilities don't feel tacked on. The writing is incredible and the lead villain is an unforgettable narcissist with a great name: Handsome Jack. And oh yes, lest we forget: Co-op play. The only thing better than the satisfaction of a dying gurgling pygmy bandit is you and a compadre laying to waste Pandora's flora and fauna together.

So, if you are close to being burnt out on first person shooters and have risen to the Call of Duty enough times to make you puke, visit the the dimentia-riddled Borderlands, pack your favorite corrosive assault rifle and get to work filling things full of holes. Oh,and avoid Scooter unless you need the Catch-a-Ride. I think that intergalactic hillbilly has a case of the grabby hands.

Borderlands two expands upon an already-unique universe and perfects every bit of mayhem that came before. 9.5/10.