Borderlands 2

pro

The game brings four new vault hunters into a fun and engaging story filled to the brim with environments as colorful as some of the characters your meet. Text-only mission briefings are replaced with voice overs, helping you to stay immersed while you roam Pandora in search for that next kick ass weapon to take with you into your adventure. It improves upon every aspect that made the first Borderlands such a great game.

pro

Even though it's an action RPG you will rarely, if ever, find yourself having to grind to be able to cope with whatever new challenges you face. That doesn't mean the game isn't challenging - there are more than enough badasses around to put you in your place - but it makes it easier to focus on the fun stuff.

pro

The side missions are better than ever. There are tons of them and most of them are pretty damn great. It seems extra care has been taken to make them more diverse and they all contain your usual batch of characters ranging from quirky to bat shit insane.

pro

Not only does it feature lots of new enemies, they now make your life a bit harder by dodging and hiding from your bullet storm. The second playthrough - called True vaulter Hunter mode - will bring even more new enemies to the mix making that second go a lot more tempting. When you are done with the second playthrough the game ups the ante by leveling up all left over side missions, rewards and enemies.

pro

The hallmarks of Borderlands are still intact. A never ending stream of loot to acquire and 4 player co-op with 2 player split-screen makes this a game that will last. The list of pop-cultural references never ends, and while you might not recognize or even find most of them, they are almost without exception brilliant. Future DLC will expand on an already huge world and further strengthen Borderlands 2 as a great contender for game of the year. It's greatest strength is still the addiction to find THAT special piece of gear to wreak havoc with.

con

It never feels like a fully fledged sequel. This is not necessarily that bad, but I kept longing for something that would make the experience feel fresher.

con

While the music is familiar and fine, a game this scale deserves more of it.