Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is a 2014 action role-playing first-person shooter game developed by 2K Australia with assistance from Gearbox Software and published by 2K. It is the third game in the Borderlands series, and is a spin-off set after 2009's Borderlands and before 2012's Borderlands 2. It was released for Linux, OS X, PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 on 14 October 2014. Updated ports for Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were released as part of Borderlands: The Handsome Collection on 24 March 2015.
The storyline of The Pre-Sequel focuses on Jack, an employee of the Hyperion corporation; after the company's Helios space station is captured by a military unit known as the Lost Legion, he leads a group of four Vault Hunters—all of whom were non-playable characters and bosses in previous Borderlands games—on an expedition to re-gain control of Helios, defeat the Lost Legion, and find the hidden vault on Pandora's moon Elpis. The game expands upon the engine and gameplay of Borderlands 2 and introduces new gameplay mechanics, including low-gravity environments, freeze weapons, and oxygen tanks, which are used to navigate and perform ground slamming attacks.
The Pre-Sequel received positive reviews, being praised for its new gameplay features and character classes, but was criticised for its confusing level design and not providing enough significant deviations from the core mechanics and gameplay of Borderlands 2.
Gameplay Gameplay in The Pre-Sequel is similar to Borderlands 2, but with the addition of new mechanics. Two varieties of items have been added, including laser guns, and items possessing a cryogenic elemental effect, which can be used to slow down and freeze enemies. Enemies that are frozen take increased damage from explosive, melee or critical attacks and are smashed into pieces when killed. The game features low-gravity environments, causing players to jump higher but slower, and items such as loot and dead bodies to float away. O2 kits are added to supply air while in space; oxygen supplies can be replenished using generators, vents, and through oxygen tank items dropped by enemies. The kits can be used like a jetpack to perform double jumps, hovering, and ground slamming attacks; as with other items, different types of O2 kits can provide stat bonuses and affect how ground slams deal damage. A new "Grinder" machine allows players to deposit combinations of existing weapons to receive one of higher rarity. Vehicles were introduced, including a Moon buggy, and the "Stingray"—a type of hoverbike.
As with Borderlands 2, completing the main campaign with a character unlocks "True Vault Hunter Mode", a second playthrough that is higher in difficulty, while beating the mode and reaching level 50 unlocks the third playthrough "Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode".
Synopsis Characters
The Pre-Sequel features four playable characters, each with a different class and abilities. All four of The Pre-Sequels protagonists were non-player characters (NPCs) or bosses in previous Borderlands games.
Athena, "the Gladiator", is a rogue assassin from the Atlas Corporation introduced in the Borderlands DLC campaign The Secret Armory of General Knoxx. As her primary skill, Athena can temporarily use a shield to absorb damage; her skill trees revolve around upgrading the shield, allowing it to be thrown at enemies, and absorb and reflect elemental damage, or towards melee attacks or elemental damage.
Nisha, "the Lawbringer", first appeared in Borderlands 2 as Handsome Jack's girlfriend and the sheriff of the town of Lynchwood. Her primary skill, "Showdown", allows her to automatically aim at enemies for a period of time, increasing gun performance for the duration. Her skill trees revolve around increasing her survivability, Showdown performance, or gun damage.
Claptrap, "the Fragtrap", is the last remaining robot of its kind as of Borderlands 2; his skill "VaultHunter.exe" generates random effects depending on the current situation. These effects can have a positive or negative impact on the player and their party members; among these effects are versions of skills used by the previous playable characters in the franchise.
Wilhelm, "the Enforcer", is a mercenary who becomes increasingly augmented with technology and weaponry over the course of the game, transforming him into Jack's cybernetic minion who is fought in Borderlands 2. He can summon a pair of drones, Wolf and Saint; Wolf serves an offensive role by attacking other enemies, while Saint defends Wilhelm by providing shields and health regeneration.
Two additional playable characters have been released as downloadable content. The first character, Jack, "the Doppelganger", is a man called Timothy Lawrence working as a body double of Jack who can summon digital copies of himself to help in battle. The second, Aurelia, "the Baroness", is the sister of Sir Hammerlock who uses an experimental "Frost Diadem Shard" to deal ice elemental damage to enemies.
Multiple characters from past Borderlands titles also appear. Handsome Jack, the main antagonist of Borderlands 2, appears as a key non-playable character, with the game's story mainly centered around his descent into villainy and rise to power. Additional returning characters include Miss Mad Moxxi, Tiny Tina, Sir Hammerlock, Professor Nakayama, Crazy Earl, and Mr. Torgue. The four playable Vault Hunters from the first game, Lilith, Roland, Brick, and Mordecai, also appear in supporting roles. The Pre-Sequels DLC includes appearances from Borderlands 2s playable Vault Hunters Gaige and Axton, Patricia Tannis, Dr. Zed, Mr. Blake, and T.K. Baha.
Plot The Pre-Sequel begins on Sanctuary after the events of Borderlands 2 and Episode 3 of Tales from the Borderlands, where Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai interrogate the captured Athena. Athena recounts her story via flashback, starting after the death of General Knoxx in the first game, when she received an offer to find a Vault on Pandora's moon, Elpis, from a Hyperion programmer named Jack. She joins fellow Vault Hunters Claptrap, Nisha, Wilhelm, Timothy, and Aurelia on a spaceship headed for the Hyperion moon base Helios. On the way they are ambushed by the Lost Legion, an army of former Dahl marines led by Tungsteena Zarpedon, and crash-land onto Helios. After meeting up with Jack, they try to use Helios' defense system against the Lost Legion, but there is a jamming signal coming from Elpis. They attempt to escape but are stopped by Zarpedon and a mysterious alien, so Jack stays behind and sends the Vault Hunters to Elpis via a moonshot rocket.
On Elpis, the Vault Hunters are guided by the junk dealer Janey Springs to the spaceport town Concordia. There, they request help from Jack's ex-girlfriend Moxxi to disable the jamming signal. They discover that the signal was put up by the Meriff, a former subordinate of Jack who is now in charge of Concordia. Meanwhile, Zarpedon uses Helios' primary weapon, the Eye of Helios, to fire upon Elpis, intending to destroy it to stop Jack from opening the Vault. Jack kills the Meriff, then decides to build a robot army to retake Helios.
The team infiltrates a Lost Legion base run by two Dahl officers, the Bosun and the Skipper, in search of a military artificial intelligence. After defeating the Bosun, the Skipper, who renames herself Felicity, is revealed to be the A.I. they seek. The Vault Hunters travel to a robot production facility, where Jack enlists Gladstone, a Hyperion scientist, to build his army. Gladstone suggests using his prototype robot, the Constructor, which can build an infinite number of robots. Felicity agrees to become the A.I. for the Constructor, but hesitates upon witnessing the violence she has to go through. She is forced into the Constructor, but takes control of it and battles the Vault Hunters. Felicity is defeated and her personality is deleted from the Constructor.
With his robot army, Jack and the Vault Hunters travel to Helios with the aid of Moxxi and former Vault Hunters Roland and Lilith. On Helios, Jack kills Gladstone and his team of scientists, suspecting one of them to be a Lost Legion spy. The Vault Hunters defeat Zarpedon and proceed to reboot the Eye of Helios, which is revealed to be the eye of the Destroyer from the first game, turned into a weapon by Jack. Moxxi, Roland, and Lilith betray Jack and destroy the Eye to prevent him from gaining its power. Seeking revenge, Jack and the Vault Hunters travel back to Elpis, where they find its Vault already opened. They battle the Vault's alien forces and defeat its guardian, the Empyrean Sentinel.
Jack enters the Vault but finds nothing of value, other than a mysterious floating symbol. As he interacts with it, the symbol shows Jack a vision of the Warrior. However, he is interrupted by Lilith who destroys the Vault symbol, burning it onto Jack's face and disfiguring him. She teleports away, leaving a scarred and insane Jack behind, who swears vengeance on Lilith and all the "bandits" on Pandora. Seeing how low Jack has fallen, Athena leaves his employ.
After listening to Athena's story, Lilith orders the Crimson Raiders to execute her against Brick and Mordecai's protests. However, as they open fire on her, Athena is saved by the alien previously seen on Helios, revealed to be an Eridian. The Eridian warns the Vault Hunters of an imminent war, and that they will need "all the Vault Hunters they can get".
During the credits, several scenes reveal what became of the Vault Hunters afterwards. Wilhelm and Nisha join Jack; Wilhelm is transformed further into a machine and destroys the settlement of New Haven while Nisha is made Lynchwood's sheriff and hooks up with Jack; Athena discards the money given to her by Jack and leaves Elpis; Claptrap is dismantled and left for dead by Jack. In a post-credit scene, Jack, now calling himself "Handsome Jack" and wearing a synthetic mask, murders his CEO Harold Tassiter and replaces him as the new head of Hyperion.
Claptastic Voyage The Claptastic Voyage story add-on continues shortly after Handsome Jack's takeover of Hyperion, as he discovers a secret program called the H-Source, containing all of Hyperion's secrets. However, it was hidden inside the "Fragtrap" unit by Tassiter. Jack employs his Vault Hunters once more to be digitally scanned and sent into Claptrap's mind in order to retrieve the H-Source. In the process, the Vault Hunters are tricked into releasing 5H4D0W-TP, a subroutine representing Claptrap's inner evil side, who attempts to use the H-Source for his own gains. As the group pursues 5H4D0W-TP, they delve deeper into Claptrap's mind, learning of his origin and the reasons for his quirky behavior. Eventually, the group defeats 5H4D0W-TP and retrieve the H-Source for Jack. Jack reveals his plan to use the H-Source to wipe out all existing CL4P-TP units, including Claptrap himself. All CL4P-TP units are disabled and dumped in Windshear Waste; however, 5H4D0W-TP, who still remains alive within Claptrap, sacrifices himself to revive Claptrap, allowing him to be found and saved by Sir Hammerlock.
Development