So with the hugely anticipated sequel Borderlands 2 hitting the shelves on September 18^th (US) and September 21^st (EU) we thought we would look at what Elemental damage effects that we’d love to see get added to the shooter ‘n’ looter. We already know the new element called Slag will be introduced, unfortunate foes being struck by Slag will take increased damage from other weapons, team this up with a couple of other guys and even the toughest of bosses could be taken out easily. But here is our dream list of new elements we would love to see in the Borderlands series. Let us know what you would like to see added in the comments section below.

ICE

With the new Tundra environment in Borderlands 2 we’d love to see Ice or Frost based weapons. This elemental damage could be a snare-styled tactic freezing opponents into place and potentially freezing surrounding enemies too with the more powerful 4x effects. In fairness the enemies within the Tundra themselves would obviously be unaffected by the damage but you could unleash frustration and hell onto the other inhabitants of Pandora around the world.

Another part of the freezing an enemy into place could be an after-effect where when the ice breaks and the target is freed the broken ice fires out shards in a circular attack from the frozen target striking nearby enemies much like the incendiary weapons in the original.

WIND

Now this is an elemental that we think could work very well in Borderlands. There are two different ways the Wind element could come into play with weapons. The first could be a knock back feature that launches enemies into the air and crash to the floor for a huge hit of damage. As the elemental power gets stronger the force of the air blast would be strong, potentially picking up more enemies in an arc in front of the weapon. There were a few weapons in the original with flavoured text (The Legend Lives), that knocked opponents back but we feel this ability could be extended further to be turned into a full blown elemental weapon.

The other way we thought the Wind elemental attacks could work was potentially causing a hurricane sucking the opponent, and depending on the elemental power of the weapon potentially more enemies, up into the air making them immobile for a brief period of time. However we felt this would be too much like Maya’s phaselock ability that she has.

FIRST AID

This idea is something which could be either hugely overpowered or completely useless as a solo run. We’ve had medic classes from Talent Trees become a playable class in the original and there Maya the new siren has a healing tree in the sequel but what if we could turn any character we play as into a viable medic class with guns that heal? Before anyone says anything I know in the original there were a select few weapons which upon hitting an enemy returned a small percentage of health back to the shooter. But with this type of elemental weapon how about they work as a mechanic a bit like the transfusion grenades where they drain out the health of enemies and then heal the most needed member of your team with a percentage of health? There would need to be some sort of scaling rule for the effect though that would stop everyone just getting a beefy machine gun and pumping away round after round at an enemy topping up your health without feeling threatened.

VINES

Let’s be honest for a moment the landscape in the original Borderlands was barren, the colour brown was notorious with the world of Pandora but that’s soon to change with the sequel. We’ve got a vast variety of locations and environments in the sequel ranging from the already mentioned icy Tundra to the lush greenery of the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve and this is where our Vines elemental weapon comes into play. This could be a chance on hit effect which spawns live vines from out the floor slowing down the enemies in their path and also dealing damage as the spiked vines whip down on them. We also thought it could be a grenade mod that upon explosion sprouts the vines and deals additional damage on the opponents.

FLASHBANG

This would more be a grenade modification which still deals damage as a normal grenade but then adds a huge flash of light with the chance of dazing either one target creature or having an area-of-effect attack which momentarily dazes a group of bunched enemies giving you a brief window of opportunity of taking out your confused and stunned foes before they can even react.

RAKK FEED

The craziness of Borderlands is truly shown in this suggestion. Why not fire rounds which are laced with Rakk feed? This is probably the very much least likely of any of the potential new damage effects but this could cause a chance of summoning Rakks out of the air, having been drawn to the area by the Rakk feed, and then attack the unfortunate targets even potentially picking them up and dragging their corpses off into the sunset. As the damage effect increases so does the amount of the Rakks and area-of-effect of the Feed spread. Ok this is one we’ve definitely gone out of the norm for but everyone’s allowed some sort of imagination right?

So there you go; six pretty random potential weapon effects that we thought could be added to Borderlands 2. What do you think? Reckon we’re completely bonkers? Or have a suggestion of what you’d like to see? Let us know in the comments section below:

The bonus digital content with the Deluxe Vault Hunter’s Collectors Edition and the Ultimate Loot Chest Edition.

Included are exclusive heads and skins as well as a special Contraband Sky Rocket Grenade, no words on how that grenade works but we’re guessing it has something to do with flying up in the air.

We’re not the biggest fan of those skins though, the Gunzerker’s hat is pretty sweet but the vibrant orange and yellow designs are a little too bright for us. Put it like this if you’re playing Co-Op your team mates will definitely know you’re on the battlefield of Pandora.

Oh and a bald Maya……

Check out the announcement poster below:

Originally posted on the forums, MentalMars has given us permission to set up a link and get the news out even more with the wallpapers that be found and downloaded below!

Borderlands 2 Wallpaper – Torgue

Size:1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Borderlands 2 Wallpaper – Maliwan

Size:1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Doubleshot Pshyco XL

Size:3840×1080 (2monitors)
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Borderlands 2 Wallpaper – Jakobs

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Borderlands 2 Wallpaper – Hyperion

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Borderlands 2 Wallpaper – Dahl

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Borderlands 2 Icon set #2

File: Zip (with .ico & png)
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Interface v2 – Mechromancer

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Interface v2 – Handsome Jack

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Interface v2 – CL4P-TP

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Interface v2 – Axton

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Interface v2 – Maya

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Interface v2 – Zero

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Interface v2 – Salvador

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Icescape

Size: 1920×1080
Download:
Handsome Jack Version – DOWNLOAD HERE
Maya Version – DOWNLOAD HERE
Mechrmancer Version – DOWNLOAD HERE
The Four

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Mirror of Fame

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Icescape

Size: 1920×1080
Download:
Axton Version – DOWNLOAD HERE
Bandit Version – DOWNLOAD HERE
Claptrap Version – DOWNLOAD HERE
Landscape – Mechromancer

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Blacklist – Facebook covers

Axton Version – DOWNLOAD HERE
CL4P-TP Version – DOWNLOAD HERE
Maya Version – DOWNLOAD HERE
Mecromancer Version – DOWNLOAD HERE
Mordecai Version – DOWNLOAD HERE
Salvador Version – DOWNLOAD HERE
Zero Version – DOWNLOAD HERE
Blacklist – Mechromancer

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Blacklist – Clap-Trap

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Blacklist – Mordecai

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Blacklist – Salvador

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Blacklist – Maya

Size: 1920×1080
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Vintage

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Blacklist – Axton

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Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Facebook Cover – Handsome Jack

Also available with the phrases:
“All your base, Are belong to us”
“Iammmmm KING of the World”
“Pandora’s box is my loot chest”
“Your world is mine”
“Your parents must be proud”
“We come in peace”
*(there is also a blank one, so you can put in your own phrase)
Gallery: [URL="http://mentalmars.deviantart.com/gallery/36856757"]Here”> DOWNLOAD HERE
Blacklist – Zero

Size: 1920×1080
Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Iphone Pack 3 – Iporange

Download Full Pack: DOWNLOAD HERE
Separate Files View Gallery: <a href="http://mentalmars.deviantart.com/gallery/37916195"%5D DOWNLOAD HERE
NPC

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Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Doubleshot Psycho

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MoonStrike

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Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Team Photo

Download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Mecromancer

Size: 1920×1080
Download Orange: DOWNLOAD HERE
Download Blue: DOWNLOAD HERE
Download Purple: DOWNLOAD HERE
5 Facebook Covers – ZER0 MATRIX

Availible Colors :[COLOR="Blue"]Blue[/COLOR] – [COLOR="SeaGreen"]Green[/COLOR] – [COLOR="Yellow"]Yellow[/COLOR] – [COLOR="Red"]Red[/COLOR] – [COLOR="DarkOrchid"]Purple[/COLOR]
See Gallery : DOWNLOAD HERE
25 Facebook Covers – CL4P-TP

Availible Colors :[COLOR="Blue"]Blue[/COLOR] – [COLOR="SeaGreen"]Green[/COLOR] – [COLOR="Yellow"]Yellow[/COLOR] – [COLOR="DarkOrange"]Orange[/COLOR] – [COLOR="DarkOrchid"]Purple[/COLOR]
96.5 % MORE WUB WUB
GREETINGS TRAVELER
WELCOME TO MY BOUNTY BOARD
870 GIJILLION GUNS
INTERPLANETARY NINJA ASSASSIN
See Gallery : DOWNLOAD HERE
Landscape

Size: 1920×1080
Gallery : DOWNLOAD HERE
5 Facebook Covers – Maya Phaselock

Availible Colors :[COLOR="Blue"]Blue[/COLOR] – [COLOR="red"]Red[/COLOR] – [COLOR="Yellow"]Yellow[/COLOR] – [COLOR="DarkOrange"]Orange[/COLOR] – [COLOR="DarkOrchid"]Purple[/COLOR]
See Gallery : DOWNLOAD HERE
24 Facebook Covers

Availible Colors :[COLOR="Blue"]Blue[/COLOR] – [COLOR="red"]Red[/COLOR] – [COLOR="Yellow"]Yellow[/COLOR] – [COLOR="DarkOrange"]Orange[/COLOR] – [COLOR="DarkOrchid"]Purple[/COLOR]
Availible Characters: Zero – Maya – Salvador – Axton – Claptrap
See Gallery : DOWNLOAD HERE
Salvador

Size: 1920×1080
Download : DOWNLOAD HERE
Also available with: Axton – Maya – Zero – Claptrap – Bandit – Handsome Jack [URL="http://mentalmars.deviantart.com/gallery/"]Here”> DOWNLOAD HERE
D374-TP

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Zero Orange

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Download : DOWNLOAD HERE
Zero Shield

Size: 1920×1080
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CL4P-TP Iphone Pack

Download : DOWNLOAD HERE
Pandora

Size: 1920×1080
Download : DOWNLOAD HERE
Interface


Axton UI wallpaper pack DOWNLOAD HERE
CL4P-TP UI wallpaper pack DOWNLOAD HERE
Maya UI wallpaper pack DOWNLOAD HERE
Salvador UI wallpaper pack DOWNLOAD HERE
Zer0 UI wallpaper pack DOWNLOAD HERE

ICON PACK DOWNLOAD HERE
Crossing the Territories

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Download : DOWNLOAD HERE
5 IPhone Backgrounds

download: DOWNLOAD HERE
Axton

Size: 1920×1080
Download : DOWNLOAD HERE
Zer0 Cloak

Size: 1920×1080
Download : DOWNLOAD HERE
Zer0

Size: 1920×1080
Download : DOWNLOAD HERE
Maya PINK As requested

Size: 1920×1080
Download : DOWNLOAD HERE
Maya

Size: 1920×1080
Download : DOWNLOAD HERE
Crossing the Lines

Size: 1920×1080
Download : DOWNLOAD HERE
Four Heros

Size: 1920×1080
Download : DOWNLOAD HERE[/QUOTE]

The guys compare the sequel to the original, look at the exploration and gear based mechanics of the shooter ‘n’ looter.

Check out the full preview below (original article found at Dusty Cartridge):

I had somewhat of an odd first encounter with the original Borderlands. A couple of friends and I were in the city, intoxicated and looking for something to do. At this point, any reasonable person would look to hit up a club or continue drinking until they’ve passed out in someone’s garden. As gamers, we instead chose to take the high ground, or lower ground rather, as we sought refuge in a LAN cafe situated in the basement of a McDonalds.

Not knowing what to play, we randomly came to the conclusion that Borderlands was a suitable choice. It had all the right elements of a pick-up-and-play title for three unassuming gamers: guns, co-op and dancing robots. At the time I didn’t give much thought to the FPS action RPG, but boy was that soon to change.

Fast forward an unspecified amount of time and I find Borderlands with all it’s DLC on sale on Steam (bless you Steam). I wasn’t aware at the time, but the next few weeks were about to be consumed by this single purchase.

The gang from the original Borderlands.

Luckily I wasn’t alone in my endeavour. We’d put together a rag-tag group of 4 ready to dominate the barren planes of Pandora. What ensued next would aptly be described as an epic adventure. I very rarely describe myself as gamer in the traditional sense but this game had me questioning that. I was hooked.

The game was a playground of havoc. So many missions to complete, so many enemies to conquer, so many items to collect and so much territory to explore. We’d have at it as much as our schedules would allow, often resulting in five to six hour stints on a weekday after work.

Lets cut the narrative short though and delve into what makes the franchise so compelling and why the sequel will only improve on this.

Compare the Pair

For those who like to digest their information in a neatly organised fashion, you’re most certainly in luck as I’ve scoured the internet for every tidbit regarding the upcoming title. For reference sake this information is compared to the original Borderlands, enjoy!

Note: The below table contains information about an unreleased game, so take this information with a grain of salt.

Mechanic	Borderlands 1	Borderlands 2
Vehicles:	Maximum of 2 players per vehicle.	New vehicles with ability to transport up to 4 players.
Quests:	Basic objectives and missions.	More dynamic missions, ones that affect the overall storyline depending on the outcome (think Fable). Time limits introduced for certain objectives.
AI:	Basic AI.	Higher level enemies will evade attacks, encourage teamwork and can use special abilities such as shielding and healing their allies.
Damage:	Basic damage mechanics.	Targeting specific parts of the enemy’s body will have different outcomes on how they take damage. Stunning and crippling will occur under certain circumstances.
Item Trading:	N/A.	A trading interface will allow players to exchange or sell items to each other.
Character customization:	Limited.	Skins, gear and custom “heads” are available.

A Looters Paradise

One the franchise’s most redeeming qualities is it’s looting opportunities. You’d happily go on a killing spree, searching far and wide for an enemy that would provide that one super epic weapon.Borderlands is one of the few franchises that really understood the value of varying their item drops. Not only are they varied, but such an incredible amount of detail is put into the design of the items themselves.

One of the more interesting aspects is that the in-game weapon manufacturers play a big role in deciding how you want to play out the game. Jakobs is one such manufacturer, renowned for their heavy hitting weaponry which often has a slow firing rate. Surprisingly enough, this simple inclusion really adds a meaningful layer of depth to the overall gameplay.

Borderlands 2 is set to expand on this, not only adding new weapon manufacturers but also adding new characteristics and abilities to the weapons themselves.

Exploration at it’s Finest

If you’re a sucker for an open world you’re most certainly in luck here. While not being as vast as franchises such as GTA, Borderlands certainly has it’s fair share of terrain to traverse.

This means uncovering a number of secret side missions. These can range from the simple “collect 10 x” or “kill this dude” type missions, to more involved quests. In any case, completing quests often results in more experience, sick loot or wads of cash; so the more the merrier.

The Borderlands 2 crew.

Luckily, you’ll have multiple modes of transport at your disposal. Included are various off road offensive vehicles that’ll get you from point A to point B, destroying anything that dares to cross your path. Waypoints compliment the vehicles, allowing you to jump to certain areas in Pandora providing you had previously activated them.

It’s much more than just going around killing things though, as sneakily hidden around the map is an abundance of treasure chests filled to the brim with spoils. One of the interesting aspects of looting with a party is deciding who gets to keep the loot. This will often be decided by the player’s class and speciality of the weapon but sometimes boils down to the sacred “finders keepers” rule.

Borderlands 2 will still be set on Pandora but will have you facing off against a new foe, Handsome Jack. The title will also take advantage of a modified Unreal Engine 3, meaning we’ll be battling Jack in glorious brand new graphics.

Level Up!

Fans of western RPGs will feel right at home with the Borderlands franchise. Skill points are rewarded upon levelling your character, these points can be assigned to class specific skills which unlock special activated abilities and passive abilities. The skill tree and overall system feels very Diablo 2-ish, which works to it’s favour as it’s an extremely common mechanic that many players are used to by now.

The all new skill selection screen in Borderlands 2.

Borderlands is heavily focused on it’s character classes, meaning your weapon choices, skill point allocation and overall play style will initially be determined by the class you choose. This is what makes party play so involving in the franchise, with each character playing a specific role within battles. A common party setup is to have one member sniping enemies from afar, one engaging in close quarters combat, one mowing down enemies from medium range and one backstabbing and planting traps. The real beauty is that there’s no rules hard-set rules that govern your party setup. You could very easily have your team comprised of 4 snipers or even ditch the team all together and run it solo – the choice is yours.

Borderlands 2 brings a brand new set of character classes and with it all new special abilities. The Gunzerker character class, for example, has the ability to temporarily wield two weapons at the same time.

It’s safe to say we’re hyped for the release of Borderlands 2, we’re hoping it will exceed our expectations. Do you agree with our choice, if not what’s your pick for game of the year 2012, let us know in the comment section below.

Borderlands 2 is out September 18, get your trigger fingers ready.

We are currently in the process of creating a weekly feature called The Loot Chest.

It’s going to feature the best weapons dropped in Borderlands 1 and 2, not just the highest level items but also some of the best gear no matter what level you are.

This is where YOU the reader comes in! Along with our own finds we need you to send us your best gear for us to review and talk about in The Loot Chest!

If you’d like to help us out and join in the fun, all we need is the following emailed to talespandora@gmail.com

• Current Level
• Class
• Where You Found the Item
• Then a picture of the Item

In the future if we get enough help from you our loyal readers we’ll be doing weekly or monthly giveaways to the best gear out there.

So get hunting Vault Hunters and let us see your best weapons!

The helpful guide sums up the past years worth of information in one handy article, including the characters of  Borderlands 2, levelling up, the different pre-order editions among other things.

Check out the full article below (originally published on Game Informer):

We’re just about a month away from Gearbox’s massive Borderlands 2, and now would be a good time to start clearing your calendar for the week of September 18. If its predecessor is any indication, we’re in for a skag-shooting, loot-grabbing co-op adventure that can easily result in 100+ hour playtimes. Almost one year ago, we revealed the game’s existence on our September cover. Since then, we’ve talked to Randy Pitchford about the game, detailed Pandora’s variety of weapon manufacturers, shown off concept art, detailed the origins of the series, and played it firsthand at PAX East and E3. You’d think we’d be experiencing Borderlands 2 overload at this point, but we’re still chomping at the bit for its impending release. To get you up to speed, we’ve put together a primer for this bigger and better sequel.

Playable Characters:

Axton (Soldier Class)

Special Ability: Scorpio Turret 2.0

Taking over Roland’s class from the first game, the soldier Axton inherits the Scorpio turret as his special ability. Depending on whether you choose the Guerrilla, Gunpowder, or Survival skill trees, you can alter it in numerous ways. You can add extra guns to the turret, allow it to be teleported rather than thrown, and enable it to stick to walls and ceilings. If you’re looking for even more firepower, you can eventually gain access to a second turret that can be deployed along with the first. We expect Axton to be an extremely helpful component for teams, as his versatile turret(s) distract enemies and simultaneously damage them.

Maya (Siren Class)

Special Ability: Phaselock

While Axton’s ability is similar to Roland’s from the first game, Maya’s is considerably different than Lilith’s. Whereas the latter darted around Pandora with her Phasewalk ability, Maya’s skill is called Phaselock. On its own, this ability locks enemies in a floating bubble that prevents them from attacking. If you’re looking to make it a more useful tool, you’ll want to travel down the Harmony, Motion, and Cataclysm skill trees. By spending skill points on the ability, you can eventually make it pull enemies towards you, explode upon expiration, slam foes to the ground, or cause them to change allegiance and fight for you. We can just imagine how much trouble an enemy will be in if they’re Phaselocked while one (or two) of Axton’s turrets are currently on the battlefield.

Salvador (Gunzerker Class)

Special Ability: Gunzerking

Our September 2011 cover boy isn’t one for subtlety. His Gunzerker special ability allows him to dual wield any weapons in his inventory and go into a rage that would make Rambo blush. If you feel like getting especially uncouth with the scum of Pandora, you can invest in the “Come at me, Bro!” skill. Once he’s equipped with it, he begins his rampage by flipping his enemies dual middle-fingers, sending them into a rage. Their anger won’t get them far, however, as Salvadore will have full health and boosted defenses while this ability is running. If you want to cause even more carnage, you can increase the ability’s duration, reduce its cooldown, or allow it to be used while you’re downed. This class won’t be for fans of sniping or cautious defense, as the large majority of his upgrades focus on pure firepower.

Zer0 (Assassin Class)

Special Ability: Deception

Considering Zer0 is a sweet robot ninja assassin, we’re expecting to see plenty of Borderlands fans picking him right out of the gate. Luckily, he’s got plenty of substance to back up his bad-ass look. His Deception skill allows him to disappear, leaving enemies distracted by a hologram. While they’re wasting their time going after his doppleganger, Zer0 can resurface in an ideal sniping spot or move in close for some deadly melee attacks. Upgrades allow his decoy to explode when it expires, grant extra melee damage for some up-close stealthy kills, or increase the odds of a critical hit when attacking from the sides or back. With his mix of long-range accuracy and deadly melee attacks, this assassin is one of the most unique Borderlands classes we’ve seen.

Other Characters:

Handsome Jack

Borderlands 2’s new antagonist has assumed control of the Hyperion corporation, taken credit for the vault hunters’ work in the first game, and erected statues of himself across Pandora. His menacing orbital base is omnipresent, and capable of beaming enemies down to the planet’s surface. Considering his face appears to be attached to his head via metal hinges, we wonder if his true appearance is as handsome as his name implies.

Claptrap

After the events of Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution, Handsome Jack ordered a genocide of the lovable machine’s kind. We got our first glimpse of him in Borderlands 2 during our E3 demo, which saw Claptrap ordering the playable characters around. Our little buddy views himself as the hero this time around, and the players as his sidekicks. While communicating with us over the intercom, Claptrap led us on a quest to destroy several of Handsome Jack’s statues. Starting a revolution with petty vandalism may not be the most effective way to bring down a dictator, but the player classes are certainly packing enough firepower to handle themselves when the real battles go down.

Vault Hunters

Fans of the original four vault hunters shouldn’t fret, as they’ll all be a part of the sequel. While they won’t be playable, Gearbox plans to explore their personalities a bit more this time around. On our cover trip, the team explained that they didn’t want the vault hunters to speak too much so that players could immerse themselves in their characters as much as possible. Now that these old favorites are just along for the ride, we’ll be hearing plenty more from them. In our playable demos, we’ve led an assault to free Roland from Constructors and gone on a search for Mordecai’s missing hawk Bloodwing. Lilith and Brick are also back, although we’ve yet to see what role they’ll be playing in the story.

Leveling Up

If you thought the first Borderlands offered a wide variety of ways to build your character, you haven’t seen anything yet. In addition to the millions of guns, you’re now able to customize your character in more ways than ever before. Take a look at the image above. As you’re assigning skill points to the Gunzerker’s skill tree, you’ll have 32 abilities and perks to choose between. Compare that to the Berserker from the first game, which featured 21 entries on the skill tree. There’s also a new way you can personalize your class that wasn’t in the original…

Character Customization

At PAX East, Gearbox announced that it would be introducing a brand new form of loot in Borderlands 2. On top of tons of weapons, shields, and relics, players can collect new gear, costume pieces, and custom heads for their characters. Completing missions and challenges rewards players with these new wardrobe accessories, which are purely cosmetic. Owners of the original Borderlands will be gifted an exclusive head and skin if a save file is present on their console.

DLC

New outfits weren’t the only Borderlands 2 announcement at PAX East, as Gearbox also teased their first bit of DLC for the game. A new class known as the Mechromancer will become available at an unspecified point after the game’s release, and is free for pre-order customers (others have to buy the class separately). Little is known about her at this time outside of the concept art above and the fact that she controls a large robot known as D374-TP (Deathtrap).

Special Editions

Borderlands has quickly built a hardcore fan base, and these players can receive tons of bonus content if they’re willing to spring for special editions of the sequel. Three tiers of special editions will be available when the game launches:

Premiere Club (standard price, with pre-order)

• Gearbox Gun Pack
• Golden Key (unlocks a rare in-game item in the Golden Sanctuary Loot Chest)
• Vault Hunter’s Relic (boosts your gear-hunting fortune)
• Mechromancer character class

Deluxe Vault Hunter’s Collectors Edition ($99.99)

• Marcus Kincaid bobblehead
• Inside the Vault: The Art & Design of Borderlands 2 book
• Sticker set
• Map of Pandora
• Download code for digital comic
• Unspecified bonus DLC

Ultimate Loot Chest: Limited Edition ($149.99)

• Everything from the Deluxe Vault Hunter’s Collectors Edition
• Replica loot chest
• Steel book case
• Creatures of Pandora ID chart
• Lithograph postcard set
• Field notes from Sir Hammerlock
• Cloth map of Pandora
• Numbered certificate of authenticity

Borderlands 2 is going to be a massive game, and is sure to be one of the most talked-about titles of the holiday season. In just over a month, players can finally dive into Gearbox’s ambitious return to Pandora.

Borderlands 2 Commando class Axton was meant to be Bisexual but it was canned due to the fear of backlash.

Revealed in the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine (available in newsagents today), the trivia piece for Axton revealed Gearbox had planned to make Axton bisexual.

However the team eventually decided to scrap the plan as they thought the potential backlash would be too much of a risk.

Would you have minded Axton being bisexual? Let us know in the comments below!

The revelation was apart of the big Borderlands 2 blow-out in the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine (available today).

Zer0 has been based on loner characters such as Metal Gear Solid’s iconic Gray Fox and when you compare the two characters below you can see the character similarities.

Borderlands 2 – Zer0

Metal Gear Solid – Gray Fox

It has been revealed Borderlands 2 will feature brand new enemies and mechanics in Playthrough 2 compared to the first playthrough.

Speaking in the latest issue of the Official Xbox Magazine, Gearbox’s art director Jeramy Cooke confirmed that players will most likely have to re-spec their characters after the first playthrough to accomodate the different features in Playthrough 2.

Cooke promised, ”New mechanics and new creatures will appear that you’re [sic] wont see on your first run.”

This could be like the original where creatures were more powerful variants of that of the first playthrough.

He added, “You can dig deep down in the skill trees and find skills that you haven’t been able to access before, combining these things together with your gear. Super rare gear can sometimes change the way you play the game – you might, for example, find that gun that fires forever.”

We cannot wait for Borderlands 2, the game hits shelves on September 18th (US) and September 21st (EU). The latest of issue of Official Xbox Magazine is available from today in most newsagents in the UK.

It’s a rather simple run down of the location, characters involved and the planned DLC for the game which hits September 18th (US)/September 21st (UK) but it’s a great introduction to the game if you’ve been living under a rock for the last year or so.

Check out the full preview below (original source – eGamer):

The original Borderlands rocked gamers’ faces off back in 2009. It’s 2012 and we’re in for some more role playing mixed together with some chaotic shooting action.

For everyone not familiar with the world of Borderlands, here’s a quick summary: You’re on planet Pandora. A planet filled to the brim with bloodthirsty bandits, ravaging wildlife and all sorts of madness. Everyone is after The Vault; a monumentally mysterious treasure trove that would set you up for life without having the need to ever work or loot a day in your life ever again. The story begins with four bounty hunters setting out to find this mysterious vault. After a long and interesting journey in search of this vault, you and your companions will have a new story to tell.

However in the sequel, the players will have the choice to select four other characters that are new to the Borderlands universe with a whole new prize in store.

The Setting:

Five years have passed since the events of the first Borderlands game. A new villain dubbed Handsome Jack has taken credit for the secrets of the Eridian vault, and manages to overthrow and take control of the Hyperion Corporation. Thanks to this he manages to gain an iron fist over all of planet Pandora. Handsome Jack promises to wipe the planet clean of all lawlessness. He, however, has some ulterior motives planned for the planet of Pandora. What does he want to do? Exterminate all colonies and life to industrialize the planet.

The Plot:

The sequel to Borderlands kicks off by putting the player into a fight to the death situation, promised a priceless cache containing loot if he / she succeeds. These gladiator fights are held for Handsome Jack’s twisted personal amusement. After winning, the player(s) will be being denied their prize and marked by Handsome Jack as a threat to him and his reputation. He leaves the player(s) for dead. Being guided once again by the mysterious “Guardian Angel”, they are told to kill Handsome Jack and rescue the four Vault Hunters from the first game. News has been circling that handsome Jack plans to find an ancient evil known only as “The Warrior”.

Meet The Gang:

Slavador The “Gunzerker”

Much like the first game’s Heavy-class; Brick, Salvador is also one strong and bulky individual. He has the ability to dual-wield any combination of guns found on the planet. He looks to be of great use to those of us that like to go in guns blazing. Speaking of guns; this game has a lot of guns. A quote: “According to Gearbox, there are over 17,750,000 different variations of weapons, as of release. The game uses a procedural process to generate its various guns in certain classes, such as handguns, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and more, but with many variations of firing speed, reload speed, damage type and more.”

Maya The Siren

Lilith was our trusty Siren from the original Borderlands, and now that role is being filled by the new and pulchritudinous looking, Maya. Her unique ability is called Phaselock. This ability is something that sounds really useful. It temporarily locks an enemy in a different dimension, resulting in them being stuck and not being able to attack for a short amount of time. If an enemy is too strong or too large for Phaselock to have an effect, regular damage is dealt to the enemy.

Zero The Assassin

Zero is the new Mordecai. Slick, fast and deadly. Zero can create a holographic decoy of himself, make himself invisible whilst causing havoc with his trusty sword and / or  guns. While Zero is cloaked he can see the weakspots of enemies, highlighted in blue, and to make him even more deadly (read: awesome), the longer he stays in cloak mode the more damage he will be able to deal. He will still be able to take damage while in cloak mode, so be careful.

Axton The Commando

The commando class is probably the most flexible character when looking at all these examples. While most classes would be more useful using only, let’s say, just sniper rifles or just shotguns, the soldier / commando class will be able to wield all weaponry with more ease. While assault rifles may be his forte, all weapons will be handy in the hands of the commando after spending some time and getting familiar with them. Also, the Scorpio Turret makes a return: the Scorpio Turret 2.0 will have players spraying bullets or projectiles in bucket loads. Want to spray a lot of bullets and absorb a lot of them as well? The commando will be a fine choice.

Post-Launch DLC Mechromancer

There’s definitely a lot of speculation regarding post-launch DLC, and without choosing any sides, there will be an extra class to download somewhere within 60 – 90 days after the main game has been released. The fifth playable character doesn’t have a name at this time, the class is being identified as a “Mechromancer”. She will be able to take control of mechs and to make things even better, she’ll also get to take control of a mech that has me all giddy and excited, aptly named : D374-TP (Deathtrap).

All character classes will have multiple skill-trees that will support various styles of play. And to make things even more interesting, our four beloved Vault Hunters will return as NPCs. In the mood for having conversations with your former self?

Have you already decided on a favourite character class?