Uros' review of Borderlands 2- Xbox 360 Edition

Gearbox Software created a new genre with the release of the first Borderlands. For the first time, Gearbox managed to successfully blend RPG elements with FPS gameplay and the result was a massive cult hit. Borderlands succeeded with over-the-top action with a massive world and a chaotic cast of characters. The game was mostly regarded as widely successful with a few minor gripes and Gearbox now returns with Borderlands 2. Have they managed to improve on the first Borderlands? Let's find out.

Regarding the cast of characters, you're given a new set of vault hunters to choose from instead of being able to jump back into the shoes of the heroes from the first game. You're given the choice between four new classes to choose from this time around; Axton the Soldier, Zero the Assassin, Maya the Siren and Salvador the Gunzerker. For the most part, they all play relatively the same in regards to what weapons you can use, but it's their unique skills that sets them apart. Axton on one hand is able to toss down a turret, which once upgraded can blow apart your enemies with deadly rocket launchers or even spawn a second turret. On the other hand, the Gunzerker can duel wield weapons and every kill he racks up, improves his durability, speed and strength. Having all these unique skills for each class makes it quite the challenge picking between each character.

As for the supporting cast, Borderlands 2 assumes that the gamer has played the majority of the previous games DLC's and includes characters from the respective added content. Luckily, none of it is needed to truly understand what goes on in the game's main plot as Borderlands 2 explains all that is needed to know about their history. An additional surprise that Gearbox threw in is the return of the four Vault hunters from the original Borderlands; Lilith, Roland, Mordecai, and Brick. While they are un-playable, they serve as the leaders of the resistance and essentially guide you in your efforts to take down the maniacal Handsome Jack. You'll find yourself fighting against them from time to time, but for the most part, they remain as quest-givers.

The plot itself barely goes behind a revenge story. Handsome Jack has taken control of the Hyperion Corporation and as such, has declared himself the leader of Pandora. Wiping out all resistance in his path and utilizing Pandora's resources to his advantage, the people of Pandora group together to form the Crimson Raiders, bent on eliminating Jack's control on their home. One of the weak points of the original was the lack of a proper story and while Borderlands 2 makes a slightly better effort this time around, it's not a notable one. Luckily, the supporting cast is interesting enough to carry the dull plot and keeps you interested enough to keep pressing forward until the end. The game does boast it's own set of collectibles in the form of audio recordings. Some will tell the story of Pandora in between the games and through the words of the heroes of the original game, while others will focus on the leading cast of Vault Hunters.

The mission structure in Borderlands 2 will be familiar for fans of RPG's. You speak with a specific character to receive a quest and are sent off at their request to do them a favour. One of the biggest annoyances while making my way through the side quests is the constantly recurring "fetch" quests you're sent on. The world is enormous, there is no doubting that, but when you're sent running back and forth across portions of the map only to grab the most redundant items, it becomes a chore.

Easily the most redeeming quality of Borderlands 2 this time around is the absolutely comical dialogue. The conversations to be over-heard between the cast of characters is simply priceless and you can't help but chuckle at some of the topics being discussed. The cel-shaded visuals make a return and while they haven't improved much over the original, the style remains unique and a pleasure to look at.

In accordance with the popular tagline, Borderlands 2 returns with 98 Bajillion more guns for your pure enjoyment and it's here that Gearbox truly succeeds. While there is only a certain amount of weapons to choose from; Assault Rifles, Pistols, Shotguns, Snipers, etc, almost each weapon you find while looting has it's own set of statistics that set it apart from one another and it's almost guaranteed that you won't find another gun identical to the other. The gameplay remains the same and quite honestly for the better as the gunplay was arguably the best part of the series and it's enjoyed even further with a group of friends by your side, eliminating everything in your path.

Borderlands 2 and Gearbox deliver again with the award winning gameplay and ridiculous cast of characters that will keep you occupied for hours on end and while the story might fail to grip the gamer, it does a better job that it's predecessor.

Final Score: 8.5

First Thoughts on Resident Evil 6

Resident Evil is a series that has seen a variety of changes throughout the years to it's once award-winning formula. Everything changed once Resident Evil 4 hit in 2005, changing the face of the series as we know it. Long gone was the camera controlled action along with slowly creeping around corners and newly introduced was a massive dose of third-person shooting while maintaining it's popular survival horror elements. Resident Evil 4 was critically acclaimed along the board and was believed to have inspired some of the more popular third-person action shooters of today. Capcom attempted to replicate this success with Resident Evil 5 and was treated with slightly mixed results albeit it was still mostly positive even when the game dropped the survival horror element for bigger action sequences and co-op, which was a first for Resident Evil.

Resident Evil 6 is now out and the amount of mixed results are staggering. The reviews range from near perfect scores to absolutely abysmal reviews that just rip the game apart limb from limb. Obviously, a reviewers opinion is his own and should only be taken with a grain of salt as if you're still curious, you should check it out for yourself, but here are my thoughts on a few hours in the game with each campaign.

There are three separate campaigns with two of them following arguably the series' two most popular characters: Leon Kennedy and Chris Redfield. The last follows a brand new character Jake Muller with connections with another major character but I'll leave out the spoilers.

First off is Leon's campaign. It attempts to harken back to Resident Evil games of old with creepy, dark corridors and even tossing in the traditional zombies again. Chris' campaign is basically Resident Evil 5 again. It boasts massive action sequences, with gun-wielding foes and enormous BOW's to face. As for Jake, his campaign is mostly similar to Chris' with a twist. The campaign takes a major focus on chase sequences where you sprint away from a massive BOW on a hunt for Jake and his partner Sherry Birkin.

Each campaign has it's own style in one sense or another but they all play relatively the same to one another. As for the gameplay, it takes a giant leap from the previous installments in the series with the biggest change of all: being able to move while shooting. Overall, the game takes a more action oriented focus when it comes to gun-play, allowing you to roll and dive around and newly introduced is the camera being able to fully rotate around the character instead of being locked to the shoulder. As with Resident Evil 5, this game re-introduces a cover system which is arguably one of most unusual additions to the series as it doesn't work at all. It's glitchy, you often find yourself not even being attached whatever surface you are up against and end up being shot up completely.

Capcom tried to re-integrate survival horror elements into the series by reducing the amount of ammo you receive and with that said, it's a ridiculous mistake due to the games massive action focus and you'll find yourself wasting the majority of your ammo quite quickly and being helpless especially in Chris or Jake's campaigns. Also a new addition is melee attacks. With a tap of a button, the character can initiate separate melee attacks that are limited by a small energy gauge. Sadly, melee attacks are far more effective than actually shooting your enemy in the head.

On top of that, weapon upgrades are now completely removed and the health system has been revamped. You get stuck with a set of weapons for each campaign, and while you can find a new weapon or two along the way, you can't choose what you want to use. Instead, a skill upgrade system has been chosen to replace weapon upgrades and to be quite frank, it's a lazy and boring mechanic. From what I saw, you had three slots to choose from and a massive list of skills to select, but still had to be bought or unlocked. They range from critical hits to improved piercing damage or even stronger melee attacks against certain enemies. As for the health system, you still pick up the different coloured herbs, but instead of using them as spray's, they now become ingested in pill form and each pill only fills a single block of health at a time.

As for the story, there are a large amount of cutscenes to be seen and while they are well produced, they occur far too often and break apart whatever tension there is in the gameplay. While the game remains enjoyable and has a decent control system for the most part, some of the new additions and changes are a little irritating and you'll find yourself dying... a lot. Although, you'll be interested to see how the story plays out and how each character interacts with one another.