It must be some sort of developer's purgatory.can't even imagine how boring it would have been to churn out cod sequels each year.
I beat it solo. I enjoyed it. I've only played a little bit with friends but with schedules and everything we could never all agree on a time to play. I may go through again. Never realized how much hate it received on here. My lord.They kind of did, but not really.
It's bigger and better and more Borderlands, but if you don't like the formula in the first place it's still a pretty boring, repetitive game. I was completely bored by Level 20, and I was playing multiplayer with friends over Skype. I can't even imagine what playing that game by yourself is like, and I don't want to. It seems like a dark, depressing, lonely place.
I don't hate it, I just think it's boring as shit. In fact, it's one of the most boring "quality" shooters I've ever played.I beat it solo. I enjoyed it. I've only played a little bit with friends but with schedules and everything we could never all agree on a time to play. I may go through again. Never realized how much hate it received on here. My lord.
Snuggler's list isn't eloquent. It's a bunch of bald assertions with virtually no supporting evidence. I'll try to make a few counterarguments here anyways.More seriously, what's your point here? It doesn't deflect the criticisms I've lobbed against the game and, while people have attempted to take me to task, no one has even touched Snuggler's eloquent breakdown of the problems the game has that I reposted on the last page. I'll drop it again because I'm interested in seeing how some of his complaints are answered:
Say what you may, I think it's more fun than developing annual sports games. At least they get to think of a story, script, locations and create the characters.can't even imagine how boring it would have been to churn out cod sequels each year.
Are they, though? Borderlands 2 doesn't prove it.
I hated the first Borderlands and really enjoyed the second. The second is an across-the-board drastic improvement in every way.If it's anything like the first, it's immensely boring after five minutes. The shooting was unsatisfying and the loot wasn't good. I know they fixed the later, but don't know if they fixed the former.
Here's the problem: Activision doesn't WANT an inventive Call of Duty game. Or at least, they want the inventiveness to be as safe a bet as possible. They want as much innovation as it takes to keep players interested, but no more.Pitchford's reply is bullshit. Creative individuals make a difference. That Gearbox don't have those creative individuals on staff is/has become painfully obvious.
Heck, PM me Activision. I'm in Germany. There are loads of super-talented people around here. Give us 10 million. Put me in charge. And we'll built you a more inventive, fun Call of Duty title than Gearbox could ever hope to.
Activision have so many internal COD studios why would they outsource to gearbox?
I guess this was years ago? Pre COD4?
I hated the first Borderlands and really enjoyed the second. The second is an across-the-board drastic improvement in every way.
This is probably the first time this has happened to me on the Internet. In celebration of this glorious occasion I would like to say that I definitely understand your position and appreciate that you considered mine.You know what, your're right. At the end of the day, the guy is being honest. If he feels that CoD is beneath him or he just doesn't like the CoD franchise or whatever, he should be able to say that and I believe that's respectable.
I also agree with the doubts that Activision will give them the freedom they would want.
I did while playing Borderlands 2. I choked the whole fucking turd down while everyone else was clanging their knives and forks together asking for more.
So much hate for BL2? I got it for Christmas and am enjoying it immensely.
I hated the first Borderlands and really enjoyed the second. The second is an across-the-board drastic improvement in every way.
How so? I didn't find anything improved.
- The shooting is every bit as awful as the first.
- The loot is every bit as poorly designed as the first.
- The interface is even worse, if such a thing is even possible.
- The missions are as bland and boring as the first.
- The enemies and AI are as boring as the first.
It's literally Borderlands Too.
This is all true. I can easily see how someone who loved the first Borderlands loves the sequel, but I fail to understand how 2 improved over 1 enough for someone who didn't like 1 to see 2 as a different game.How so? I didn't find anything improved.
- The shooting is every bit as awful as the first.
- The loot is every bit as poorly designed as the first.
- The interface is even worse, if such a thing is even possible.
- The missions are as bland and boring as the first.
- The enemies and AI are as boring as the first.
It's literally Borderlands Too.
I don't understand why they would drop that. Even if they made the worst COD game they could bring in enough money to finance two to three more games from it.
It's an opportunity with a pretty much guaranteed payoff ... why would a company not take that?
I... I don't even know where to begin. It's a million refinements and improvements to the formula, not a whole new formula.How so? I didn't find anything improved.
- The shooting is every bit as awful as the first.
- The loot is every bit as poorly designed as the first.
- The interface is even worse, if such a thing is even possible.
- The missions are as bland and boring as the first.
- The enemies and AI are as boring as the first.
It's literally Borderlands Too.
Because you agree so wholeheartedly with every point?I... I don't even know where to begin.
Read my earlier post in reply to morningbus. I've addressed all of these points, except for the interface thing.How so? I didn't find anything improved.
- The shooting is every bit as awful as the first.
- The loot is every bit as poorly designed as the first.
- The interface is even worse, if such a thing is even possible.
- The missions are as bland and boring as the first.
- The enemies and AI are as boring as the first.
It's literally Borderlands Too.
I... I don't even know where to begin. It's a million refinements and improvements to the formula, not a whole new formula.
It must be some sort of developer's purgatory.
So does any sequel when you didn't spend quality time in the first game.And yet it feels like the same game.
Hah, well lets just pretend that if it makes things better ;P The game is obviously not for everybody, but for most of those who had a good time with Borderlands, Borderlands 2 was amazing.Because you agree so wholeheartedly with every point?
I applaud Randy's decision- although it does seem like an easy pass at an Activision payday. Developers with some integrity left?!
As far as the Borderlands criticism goes, I'll say this- the shooting feels fantastic. Guns react in so many different ways, and each has a unique feel. It is a loot game- the fetch quests feel repetitive- but the writing is great. I think playing with others helps mask a lot of the issues- casually strolling, killing everything and sharing loot appropriately has a lot of charm.
I think they can make a good Duke game- not some slapdash collection of older designs stitched together like Forever. I think their Aliens games have some amazing multiplayer ideas. It'll be great to see what projects they'll be working on that have nothing to do with COD.
Believe me, I feel the same way, but on the other side. Is there a full moon out or something? Did somebody shift the polarity of the stuff?I really must have stepped into another dimension this morning. How anybody who has played a decent shooter can say this is beyond my understanding.
1. A game that tries and fails to be humorous and edgy with it's crass and unfunny characters and dialog.
No argument here. Not because I agree, but because this particular point is hard to debate. Either you find the writing funny and engaging or you don't. Personally, I enjoyed it. In a year where video game writing was generally horrible, I'd put it near the top.
2. An open world game with a large, but barren map with no incentive to explore.
There's plenty of incentive to explore, if for no other reason than the existence of quests that take you to many corners of the game world. I'm also not sure why "barren" is a criticism. It's a particular type of world and atmosphere. Finally, it's pretty clear that there's lots of environmental variety, both indoor and outdoor. There might not be a compelling loot reason to explore, but seeing new visuals can be compelling in itself.
3. An RPG with fairly limited and binary character building and predictable, MMO-esque quest design.
There's nothing binary about the character building. I mean, each character has three skill trees; that immediately shuts down the "binary" idea. On top of that, skills aren't simple on/off toggles. You can pump fewer or more points into each one, varying the degree of usefulness of each skill. On top of that, skills interact heavily with which weaponry and items you're using. Your skill choices can be usefully changed whether you're going with close combat vs. long-range combat, or quick-charging shields vs. slow-charging but enemy-damaging shields, or a host of other item choices. Hell, Borderlands 2 has more meaningful character building choices than most straight-up RPGs in the last few years.
The quest design is uneven, sure. If Borderlands 2 was an MMO, with a typical boring MMO combat system, it would be unremarkable. But because the core gameplay of Borderlands 2 is a highly competent FPS, doing ordinary quests is fine. That said, there was definitely some variety in the quest design, in terms of locations (cramped corridors, wide-open plains, vertically-oriented towns, places with lots of cover, etc.) and enemy variety.
4. A first person shooter with monster closets out the ass and brain dead AI. There's no thought put into encounter design and combat often feels like a mindless slog.
The AI was extremely interesting. Borderlands 2 had lots of enemy variety, but more importantly, the enemies had many different behaviours. Some charged you, like typical dumb enemies, but many had alternative approaches. When you fought groups of mixed enemies, all with different AI behaviours, the encounter design was downright excellent, because these emergent combinations of behaviour would lead to a vast range of unique encounters.
I'd also venture to say that if combat was a slog for you, you weren't playing right. Enemies don't have excessive amounts of health.
5. A co-op game that doesn't allow players to work together in any meaningful way.
I never played co-op, so I can't comment on this. That said, the single-player was tactically interesting on its own. I can only imagine co-op would improve things.
6. What is there to like, aside from the loot? And even then, so much of it is junk, aside from the novelty of collecting guns as loot it's not a particularly great loot game.
I can't think of a better loot game (that said, I generally hate loot games). Loot that lets you immediately feel a difference by using it, like Borderlands 2 does with its massive variety of guns, is far superior to loot that merely increments stats.
I don't know, I don't even really like Borderlands, but I think the shooting mechanics are good enough. I don't know what makes them bad.
I thought it was ZzzzZzzerlands as well, but I don't agree about weapon feedback at all.It might be the almost non-existant weapons or enemy feedback but I'd have to stay awake after firing a shot to give you a final verdict.
I don't know, I don't even really like Borderlands, but I think the shooting mechanics are good enough. I don't know what makes them bad.
Ok, now THAT I can fucking agree with. Holy shit.Health bars that make guns feel like they are shooting marshmellows.
The only time they feel good is when you are over-leveled.
Or you stun, stagger, shock, beat down, disintegrate, incinerate or explode them. Using the right weaponry does wonders.Health bars that make guns feel like they are shooting marshmellows.
The only time they feel good is when you are over-leveled.
Or you stun, stagger, shock, beat down, disintegrate, incinerate or explode them. Using the right weaponry does wonders.