Courtesy of Gearbox
Before I go into anything, note there’s spoilers in this post. If you haven’t finished Borderlands 2, go play and come back.
Inasmuch as anything, saying Borderlands 2 has the framework of a functioning story is utterly strange. The first game was notable for its subtle narrative–strictly as a mechanism to keep the chaos going–so to declare Gearbox actually devised a working plot is spectacular. Not even remotely good, just a spectacle.
The use of ECHO transmissions to relay important details, like Handsome Jack’s intentions or Mordecai’s reaction after Bloodwing’s demise, ruins whatever story there is because the transmissions often play over combat. Players are too distracted shooting to catch every detail, or hear the intensity in a character’s voice which is the only portrayal of real emotion on Pandora.
The story of Borderlands 2 is nearly an upheaval of Borderlands, but with several promising moments that ultimately fall short. It’s indeed remarkable Gearbox managed to concoct a comprehensive plot around the ECHO transmissions, similarly tying in the first cast of Vault Hunters to play a vital role. Connecting the two games was paramount to anchoring Borderlands as a sustainable franchise, and even mildly pondering about what could happen in a third game–as sales indicate it’ll be a threequel–leads to amazing possibilities.
For how awesomely perverse the game is with humour, notable transgressions take away from validating the plot. Like playing as Maya, for example, upon first meeting Lilith (who has full reign on her Siren powers through Eridium), neither Maya or Lilith has questions. And that was their sole reason coming to Pandora, to find answers of who they were as Sirens. How Sirens came to be is revealed later on as Angel is actually another Siren–and Handsome Jack’s daughter no less–but strangely no interaction. These NPCs feed the player information without even a forethought.
The old Vault Hunters are heard profusely throughout Borderlands 2, thus the characters are given personality. But having the new Vault Hunters mute except for an ECHO transmission in the very beginning–their reason to come to Pandora–isn’t telling and seems like an afterthought. We see Roland is brooding with confidence, that Lilith is scared and therefore not in control, that Mordecai is consistently drunk and sarcastic, and Brick is his usual insane self. We can’t pinpoint the same with either Axton, Maya, Salvador or Zer0.
There were many opportunities for character development or story building in Borderlands 2, but Gearbox showed promise to build for a third game. Borderlands 3 won’t be here for a while, though let the speculation begin.
To the reader: Were you disappointed or thrilled by Gearbox’s storytelling ability in Borderlands 2? Did the game’s story justify the purchase or is it still about the loot?
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Debby BoomBoom
