Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

Crucify me for saying so if you must, but this is easily the best Borderlands game in the entire franchise (provided you've at least played Borderlands 2 beforehand). The writing is exceptionally tight, the humor is a fresh spin on what the franchise is already known for, and the characters are a g*ddamn delight.

While TPS is significantly shorter than BL2, it does in many ways trim the fat, making for an overall tighter gameplay experience. The addition of new elements like low gravity, cryo weapons, and entirely different skillsets than either of the previous games also gives it a certain edge that really nails what makes Borderlands a fun co-op looter shooter RPG series to begin with, especially if you're playing with friends.

But even if you're playing solo, it's the story and presentation that really steal the show here. The entire game takes place not in the familiar Mad Max-inspired desert badlands of Pandora, but on the surface of a mining-scarred moon up in outer space. This radical change in setting is also accompanied by making everyone and everything Australian in nature, making it feel like even more of a unique standout entry in the series, and that's honestly where it gets the bulk of its charm. The writing is cheeky, off-the-wall, and decidedly silly at times, but when the major story beats hit, they hit HARD, and that's a huge factor in why I call this game the strongest of the franchise.

The DLC for TPS is also 100% worth it, as it adds two ludicrously powerful new characters to play as, and a long-form story DLC with an absurdly hilarious meta premise. Again though, the writing seriously delivers, especially for sharp-eyed players who remember the small details from BL1 and 2. And it's funny as all get-out!

The only major caveat is that the game is over 10 years old now, and currently (as of March 2025) suffers a number of small but annoying bugs - mostly related to certain dialog and audio logs not playing correctly. It shouldn't be bad enough to really impact the gameplay for the most part, but seeing as a huge part of the series' draw is its sense of humor and excellent voice over work, it is a bit of a shame when THAT'S the part that bugs out.

But yeah, still strongly recommend picking this one up, especially if you've already played BL2 (and to a lesser extent, BL1 as well). Chronologically the story order is 1 > TPS > 2, but I recommend playing them 1 > 2 > TPS for the best experience. Playing with friends is ideal, just make sure whoever plays Claptrap is someone you already like to yell at, because his skill tree gets super spicy in multiplayer!

After Borderlands 2, I expected more of a subsequent game. Despite the game having lots missions and places to go, walking in zero gravity is very, very annoying. Didn´t like it at all.

Some of the new mechanics and the environment might not be that much fun like in BL1 / BL2, but the story is so damn good. Also this is prolly going to be (so far is) the last Borderlands with such an amazing story... rip bl series and giant thanks to Anthony Burch & co.

Story/world building felt off? Idk there was always something about the game that didn't feel right compared to BL2.

However, I think the mechanics, features, and characters of this game were probably some of the most interesting of the series. I also had quite a bit of good fun with it back in the day so I'll give it a recommendation. Though seeing has how it's been 11 years, there's probably better looter shooters out there.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3445351211

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel :

I was hyped to be able to play as claptrap, I usually chose siren but there's no playable siren option for the Pre-Sequel.

This is the only borderlands where I felt motion sickness, I don't know if its because of the ''game being played in space'' I usually feel like that with VR games.

Anyways my partner changed a few things in the settings and it did help a bit.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel: 100% COMPLETION REVIEW

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If you love completing games, take a look at our curator site.

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Borderlands, but in space! I'm the biggest arse on the moon. *techno music plays*

Despite having been released after Borderlands 2, Pre-Sequel is meant to be played before it in storyline terms. Pre-Sequel is a full Borderlands game that is basically just BL2 but with different content and story. We learn Jack's origins, and he was THIS close to being good, but then the Handsome Jackening happened.

Character skill trees are a bit more complex than in BL2, with multiple types of stacks, elemental damage types that go together, skills that complement each others in different skill trees even, etc. The new cast of characters is probably the wildest of the franchise: we can play as Jack himself, or a Claptrap unit!

Pre-Sequel has many problems that drag it down however, making it an inferior game compared to BL2. One should loathe entering a vehicle in this game, since there's way too many chasms to fall on. Stingray mandatory jumps are infuriating to say the least! Then there's the very, very bad problem: side quests constantly overlap, and characters interrupt each others. One can lose chunks of dialogue several times throughout the game. Quest objectives and locations shouldn't have been concentrated in the same areas. It's a huge flaw in quest design, and it's wack how the developers couldn't foresee something so simple. Claptrap's Claptastic Voyage however, is one of the best DLCs of the entire franchise! It's fun, and we enter Claptrap's mind. Hope and self-esteem can get you anywhere, that's the main lesson we learned, I guess. The road to LVL 50 however, is a herculean task not for the faint of heart.

Pre-Sequel should definitely be played by any fan of the Borderlands series, it's a solid entry, while not on par with Borderlands 2. Here's an achievement guide: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=413515219

I have somehow managed to play 3 borderlands games from 1, 2 to Pre-sequal and i have to say, this was one of the most boring. There are a few likable things like the environment, new types of guns, elements and most importantly new vault hunters that are hired by Handsome Jack. I have also heard that Claptrap has his own DLC, which seems to be great, although i do not own that atm.

Some things i disliked.
The story is straight forward as all those borderlands' games. You have to find the vault and open it, but nothing ever goes according to plans. Whilst you are doing the main missions, you simultaneously have to complete side-quests for some experience and then levels, but for some reason they just feel like chores. The voice acting is goofy, corny and weird. I, personally, do not dislike the accent, although, in this game, they somehow made me hate it. They talk too much, their voices are annoying and they are constantly in your head. Leveling up is also like exhausting. it took me nearly 30 hours to hit level 25 (barely hit that level too). Final bosses are great, but the amount of LVL i need to beat them is just insane. I must be around lvl28 to beat the final boss and that lvl would have taken me extra 5-6 hours, which i was not planning to put into this game, so, i modded the game to beat the last boss.
I ended up playing as Nisha, who is some sort of a Cowboy, she was nice, but her ability would annoy me more than it would help me. It locks at random enemies, almost like Aim-lock, but most of the time, it was distracting me from hitting a boss. her voice-lines are also cringe, especially at the end, where she is almost flirting with Handsome Jack. Everything he does, even if it is a horrible deed, she is like "Oh my god, Jack, that was so hot, im am wet". That i did not appreciate. There were some minor bugs too, but nothing too significant. It just felt boring for me. Even borderlands 1 was much better.

Only great thing about it, besides guns and atmosphere, was the story of Handsome Jack. You understand what kind of person he was and what became of him afterwards. You also get to know him at the deeper level, which will help you during the playthought of 2nd game. This story introduces the fact to what happened to his face and why he is wearing a mask.

Overall, The game is dull, but the story was alright. I would give it 5/10

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is a fantastic addition to the series! It delivers everything you love about Borderlands—hilarious characters, action-packed gameplay, and tons of loot—set on the moon with a cool new twist. The low-gravity mechanics are a fun change, and the new characters and abilities keep things fresh. The story dives into the origins of some of the series' most iconic characters, and the humor is top-notch. A must-play for any Borderlands fan looking for more of the chaos and fun we all love!

I just completed the game on normal mode with every character and, in my opinion, the most fun character was Nisha. If i play in the future it will probably play TVHM with Nisha.

Love all the boarderland games. This one was fun as it had the breathing mechanic and low gravity

ADHD type of gameplay... rush all story-related missions... die alot because your level could not match the enemy's level... keep respawning... this is fast paced... so... anything you're missing on, Gearbox Software? it is alright... gotta give credit to "Assasin's Creed: Odyssey", though... it forced you to do all side-quests to gain EXP to be able to fight on tougher enemies in order to finish story-mode by Ubisoft...

in game-money currency is made nearly worthless thanks to the game designers making it so you get better guns while fighting enemies or opening random biggest loot-containers without requiring a SHIFT-code aka via golden keys to cheat your way into getting stupid & pointless good looking/social status kind of vibe... feel-maker guns... "The Black Market" shop is only useful to have more slots in your backpack to carry more things... eh... it is okay to try new things for a start... i only have to spend money when im in dire need of ammo...

the maps are too bigger that is only focused on "4 players only- CO-OP..." might as well tell your entire team to play "SNIPER-ONLY!" and voila... hardest game to finish? think again... they should not have made shotguns usable in this video game... "Borderlands" nickname is very fitting for this kind of theme anyways...

NOTE: this review is about the game series in general... will take a peek at borderlands 4 when the time comes... to see if they learned anything from their prior experience...

Borderlands with floaty physics and a double jump and everyone is an Aussie. late game isn't the best if you were into the whole OP thing in BL2, but the story and guns and stuff are fun

Fun game, had some interesting mechanics, held true to the Borderlands feel with endless loot and a solid story. Would recommend.

This game builds on it's predecessors. more crazy guns, more legendary weapons, more enemies, more areas, more ways to smash, shoot, slice and kill everyone. the story is fun, bombastic and strangely entertaining as always. the characters are annoying as hell, which is kinda the point of Borderlands games. overall, i strongly recommend playing this game if you're into Looter Shooters.

Some of the best vault haunters in the series are in this game, so if you enjoy playing the BL games for the abilities then this one is a must.

As a big Borderlands fan I thought this game was an absolute gem.
Not as good as some of the other entries in the series. I am usually not a fan of space-themed games.
But I really enjoyed my co-op adventure. Playing Claptrap brought my experience to a whole new level.

I enjoy this game a lot. i think its quite fun gameplay wise and defo a massive jump from the previous game borderlands 2, as all the gun play just feels a bit more solid and less airy than before. but the plot is extremely contrived in many areas and to be honest the progression is quite frustrating. i have found myself dying much more in this game than Borderlands 1, 2 or 3.

this game is very middle of the road. worth a shot though, just wait on a sale as i did

Good game. Not as good as 2 or 3. Fun story. Poor late-game gameplay.

oz system sucks dick and is annoying and enemies jumping ontop of you and running at you at mock ten speeds makes this game suck ass not to mention the amount of times random knockbacks or mis timed jumps kill you any other bl is 100x better

Runs amazingly on the deck, needs to be launched via "-nolauncher -nostartupmovies" and needs to be run via proton, linux port is broken and won't sync with cloud nor connect to servers.

With a Nvidia gpu, recommend turning off physx (and fully under a rtx 50 series gpu) due to heavy performance overhead.

I know not many care for this one, but honestly, it was well made for a team that didn't work on the first or second games and ties everything together nicely. Bringing in a "survival" aspect to the typical Borderlands gameplay was and is still fun and I love it. Definitely better with friends, but still a great game.

I have refused to play this game for years because I thought it was a glorified DLC but truly plays like its own game, gives good background, funny missions very on brand for Borderlands franchise. I enjoyed it as I found it more challenging than BL1. If you like BL2 I would highly recommend. Especially if you played the Knoxx DLC with Athena in BL1! Lastly, the season pass with Claptrap dlc is a spunky fever dream.

This is the 3rd game in my Borderlands franchise playthrough

Why be more effective when you can be +25% more handsome?

Finished at Level 51 - TVHM Finished - Jack's double @ 56.7 Hours. I'll come back to complete UVHM

Introduction of Cyro & Air Slam
Cryo - Love this Element but it's OP much like Slag is in Borderlands 2 however it's not needed for game completion like slag is.
Air Slam - Finally! something else to use my mouse buttons on lol . I miss this version from Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, When you slammed it opened all chests within radius. speaking of that please bring back this & punching chests open for BL4

The story is fine but way better than BL1, we learn about the events between BL1 & BL2, The rise of Handsome Jack,

DLC -

Claptrap's back story (that everything is our fault). Glitch guns (Pink) are amazing!!

Holodome is 100% better than Moxxi's solely on the fact you earn EXP during the rounds.

I always loved the borderlands series. and this is one has always been an underrated gem.

Much improved from my last Borderlands experience

Overall, it's a pretty decent game, especially if you pick it up on sale.
My biggest annoyances with previous entries were cringy dialogue and time wasting; both have been addressed here.
In addition, there have been small improvements to gun-play, UI and story.

I would probably finish up here by saying something about how the franchise is heading in the right direction, but I have already played B3 on console, and they doubled down on the cringe and time wasting.
Unless they shake up this formula, I won't be playing any more Borderlands.

The Gameplay features added into this addition of borderlands makes for the most grueling and painful experiences playing as a single player. So far my worst borderlands experience which is sad cause the setting seems cool but i find myself faced with bs scenarios on a constant basis and needing to over level just to not die from not being able to move quickly at all.

eff you all, this has way way better balance and classes than bl2. Also play with mods pls, bl2 is almost impossible to enjoy for people with toc without the use of mods

This game is bad. It's boring as hell. Comparing to other instalments in the series I rank it as the worst. Do not waste your time and money at any circumstance!

Borderlands The Pre-Sequel is a fine game. It doesn't have the highs of Borderlands 2 nor does it have the newness of Borderlands 1. It was made by 2K Australia, and should be recognized as an EXTREMELY Australian game. Lets talk about the good parts. First off, it is more borderlands, and if you liked two and one then you'll probably enjoy the gun play of this one. It introduces something interesting new mechanics such as O2, slamming, and laser weapons. All of those introduce ways to spice up the gameplay. It also has a very compelling main story where you see the rise of Jack and get to experience playing as some of the people you know from Borderlands 2 (and possibly killed). The DLC The Claptastic Voyage is fantastic, and is likely one of the best DLCs in the entire franchise. The player characters talk in this one which opens up new personalities and fun replayability moments to see how people reacted differently. Jack, the playable character, is likely one of my favorite from the entire series.

Lets talk about the bad though, and there is quite a bit of it. First, it is nice to see Australian games and having the moon of Pandora essentially just be Australia was neat...for a while. Eventually every person you meet is Australian and you see they reused a lot of voice actors constantly. Whoever 2KA had writing their main story obviously had nothing to do with their side quests. The side missions must have been written by the B team or interns, they're so bad and so incredibly grating to have to go through sometimes. The map levels make going back to do side missions so annoying. The maps are beautiful if you don't mind looking at blue and purple over and over again, and the level design is annoying at best. The grinder is forced on you if you want any hope of getting legendary gear, and it felt like they reduced enemy variety a lot. There are maybe 3 bosses in the entire game that had personality that was compelling.

The game feels like it was written by a lot of millennial Australians that thought that 2 was too vulgar and offensive. They made fun of Americans and threw in a ton of references to make up for it which fell flat to me. The game is fine, and has its moments, if you only played the main missions and the DLC then you'd have a great time. But if you try to do everything, you're going to feel annoyed after a while with how they handle everything. Ultimately, if you like Borderlands, play this one, it has a lot going for it and can be a lot of fun. They laid the groundwork for a LOT, from improvements to characters and gunplay to story setups which are used in Tales from the Borderlands. The game is fine, but I wouldn't recommend buying it until it is on sale. If you get it on sale, you'll likely get your money's worth.

literally all of my reviews thus far have been me glazing these games to no end.
and this is no exception.

the idea that this game is considered the earliest black sheep of the series by some genuinely confuses me, it's basically just borderlands 2 with oxygen mechanics! if you hate oxygen so much, play as claptrap! i did! and i don't even hate oxygen! it's barely an issue, a lot of the game is indoors with spaces filled with it! cowards!

also, the ability to play as claptrap... just yes. claptrap is one of my favourites. even if the series takes every opportunity it can to screw with him, it definitely felt like they wanted pre-sequel's dlc to expand on his character in a way that would be permanently reflected onwards... of course, we're not going to talk about the series onwards right now or else i'll get distracted from my review.

the story, while a little less memorable than 2's, was still very, very entertaining, and i in no way expected it to be able to top what 2 did. genuinely, a very fun time... and then... claptastic voyage... my sweetie darling sugarplum honey beloved little dlc. if i could marry a dlc it would be claptastic voyage. yes, PLEASE, expand on claptrap. pre-sequel is worth playing for claptastic voyage alone, there were multiple moments where i just had to sit there and process what i had witnessed. it gave me such a deeper appreciation for claptrap as a character. this level of writing deserved so much more time to flourish, it's really such a shame that there was only ONE major dlc story at a capacity this expansive... and i still have the damn catchy song stuck in my head!!!

and that final boss... DAMN. that was the kind of final boss i had been DESPERATE for... and then the raid boss after it? ok i know some people might find it underwhelming, but i found it so enticing that i did it solo... took me half an hour. on my second attempt. but beating that has become such a great memory for me for this entire series, feeling confident enough to take on such a stupid challenge to do solo and actually pulling it off. it felt so rewarding.

negatives? i wanted more, and it left me high and dry. and maybe some of the sidequests were just slightly a little bit tedious and all...

The Pre-Sequel!0/10 i like the size of this game's mainframe.

This is one of my favorite borderlands games, so much fun and good gameplay.

Good game, but I spent the whole game wanting to throw Jack into an industrial sized trash compactor. I'd better be able to kill him soon. :D

Worth for Claptastic Voyage, best DLC in all borderlands, the rest of the game can EXPLODE

i've finished every other mainline borderlands game once or twice, but whenever talking about the borderlands franchise i make sure to mention that this one does not exist

Broken POS that constantly softlocks you. Terrible map design and geometry that is easy to get stuck on. Moon controls are clunky at best. Lacks online play and higher resolution textures on the native Linux version; Proton version still has all the other problems.

I honestly don't remember this game being so fucked before. I don't even feel like trying the DLC, even though I have it.

2k should be forced to fix this BS.

I absolutely adore the story line. The mechanics of the game work smoothly with a few bugs that are easily fixed by just restarting the game.

I beat this with my Dad several times on console. I love the story. The gameplay is meh. Its a looter shooter but getting the rarest guns is too hard. Some bosses only show up once. The first Borderlands also had this problem until you could loot the armory over and over. I like the skill trees but they dont actually help the player much. Its more show than actual help. This makes building a character kinda boring. Because the gameplay is meh, its hard for me to keep playing it, despite the amazing characters and world. I feel like with a touch or two, this game couldve been amazing. As it is, its a let down. I did get it for less than 5 dollars, so I will give it a recommend.

This game gets a lot of flak... some of it is deserved. On sale for $7? It is worth it if you liked Borderlands 2 and want to see some more story mostly featuring Handsome Jack. However I would NEVER get it at full price. $70 for base game + DLC? That's just bonkers.. the game is more than a decade old now, and the season pass only includes ONE campaign-style dlc.

Runs absolutely horribly on a modern PC. Froze twice on a 12 min unskipable intro. I got into game, finally, and couldn't move even after checking keybindings/reloading. With over 30 minutes spent just getting to an unplayable dead-end I asked for a refund.

When this game came out it got a lot of undeserved hate, because "it's not Borderlands 3", and "it has the same engine", and "this could have been a DLC", etc.

But, at least to me, this is like a 'Borderlands: New Vegas'. I really like the story, the character portrayals, the vault hunters and their skill trees, the environments. Heck, I think I even like it more than BL2. I'm not saying it is the better game, because BL2 is a great game, but I really, really enjoyed this game and feel a bit sad about the bad rap it got and still gets sometime.

Absolutely a recommend from me.

It's a nice fun game with fun characters who have enjoyable dialogue. The gameplay is very similar to BL2 with the added damage type of Cryo and with Slag removed.

Borderlands pre-sequel feels gun wise and gameplay wise like Borderlands 2 but extra content. It's not bad but a step down. Space is kind of cool, kind of whatever. I'd still recommend on sale i's good enough for the series. (Ending parts are cool)

6/10

the game looks good, its fun to play, would recomend

good, connects in to borderlands 2 nicely. (not as good as 2 tho) most characters are good, some characters can be annoying, a few preachy bits in it. weapons play just like borderlands 2. story enjoyable, funny in places.

Another good game in the series. The Pre-Sequel is very similar to the first game but with a variety of new features to be familiar and still interesting at the same time. The new cast of characters in this game are a little more serious than the first game with some humor sprinkled in. Only had a couple problems with crashing on PC but nothing game breaking.

Such a fun story line and great gameplay

If you're a Borderlands fan then there is one mechanic that makes this game stand out from the others: the Grinder. Taking weapons that you aren't using and getting a second chance to get something useful was a lot of fun.

It plays like a Borderlands 2.5 (or like a large DLC for BL2), though obviously the story is between 1 and 2. It does some fun fan service and filling out the Borderlands universe. I think it helps not to take it too seriously (which is kind of true of the whole franchise but moreso w/this one).

Do a playthrough as Jack if you get the DLC, or Claptrap if you don't, just for the vibe.

favourite game out of the borderlands series extremely under rated and slept on

Not as good as part 2. The narrowed cast leads to simplistic comedic dialog, but still very entertaining. If you enjoyed the first 2 than you'll enjoy this one, but Borderlands 2 remains the best.