Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel REVIEW!

How does Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel stack up to other games in the franchise without Gearbox Software as its sole developer? Check out Tara's review to find out!
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[@KeatonX92]

Check out those sexy 2006 textures! Maybe my potato PC can run this after all.

[@AlexGrowIBGenius]

If you can run BL2 then yeah you probably can.

[@mraso30]

Was so surprised when she said it was played on PC with those nasty textures I thought for sure this was a PS3 or 360 build she was playing.

[@FletcherVI]

mraso30 she said she played it on pc, she never said she didnt capture the gameplay on console.

[@LemurDawid]

Judging games by graphhics is like judging porn by story.

[@garailac]

Have you seen any maxed out gameplays on PC??? this gameplay is turned down as fuck

[@davidriemaker]

Nice review, tnx Tara. I like that you are not giving it a review score, the review contains all the info we need.

[@SaviorSix]

I was worried there for a second. The textures looked awful, but you guys weren't playing the PC version. Honestly, I got lost and bored of Borderlands 2 and still haven't beaten it... I should go back and complete it.

[@matthatter56]

Wait I thought Tara said she did play the PC version. She said there was a lot of texture pop in. Is that what you were talking about? What version were they showcasing in the review.

[@DJINFERNO806]

matthatter56 as in the other borderlands PC versions, there is a setting to change texture pop in. Its useful for people with low vram or just slow memory bus speeds. This should have been turned off so its her own fault. Also this is indeed the console version as it looks TERRIBLE and thats being nice.

[@1DayVd]

Haha I was just gonna post this, the graphics looked so much more shitty... Im getting it for PC though so hopefully this review was made on consoles

[@pugway]

That looked an awful lot like PC on Low, should've specified that in the review but I bet that's what it is

[@DJINFERNO806]

ASatiricalDalek I am pretty sure that it was not on low. I have run Borderlands 2 on low and it stlll looks better. The extra aliasing and blur is indicative of a 720p or lower resolution, which would be last gen consoles. Why would they chose to review on a garbage PC that can only do low + sub 1080p? Doesnt really make sense you know?

[@cash2200]

I think what a lot of you have to keep in mind is how you play Borderlands. I've played Borderlands 1 by myself, and although fun, couldn't get myself to finish it. As for Borderlands 2, I played w/a couple of friends of mine online and it made a world of difference. Def a great multiplayer game!

[@TGMBraun]

I love that you guys are finally doing your reviews again at Rev3! It was the main reason I watch this channel and I was worried it was being replaced with 'new gamer plays'-stuff.

[@mikethecommentor5432]

What if they r pulling an arkham knight, where a secondary studio is making a last-gen title while the primary studio (gearbox) is hard at work making a full fledged next-gen borderlands?

[@salbarry]

I believe this is true with gearbox confirming they are working on Borderlands 3

[@talkingtomconvos]

Since when did they confirm that they're working on Borderlands 3?

[@gabeeee323]

Theyre releasing a new ip next year. So borderlands 3 should be out in 2017

[@grimrevan4660]

Bennett Sabourin I forget the exact interview, but someone from Gearbox reffered to BL3 as the Big One. That is all I have heard about it. At that point in time he said they had not actually started the project, but all of the story is pretty much finished as it was written a while ago. Well main plot anyways. Lots of room for side stories.

[@TyroPirate]

That final statement told me so much more than a number could ever hope to. The other reviews I was still a bit iffy on this whole system, but now I see I really like it so much more!

[@jellosquishier]

Hey, Whatever happened to that bald guy who use to review for this site? His opinions were refreshing and his English was really fancy.

[@Heibel]

he quit

[@TheFimpish]

He quit the industry. He wrote a sort of mini-memoir on why he left the industry here: kotaku.com/memories-of-my-16-year-career-in-video-games-1580581507

[@grimfandango7135]

Glad you said you reviewed it on pc. The 360 version didnt have those textures missing in those certain parts towards the end kind of a shame.

[@TheSpiderGuy93]

I agree with most of the things this person said but I don't think she really tried to get into the main thing about borderlands which is the loot. One of the things they added is called a grinder which allows you to breakdown three items for a chance to get something better which is awesome because what you usually had to do was just sell the crappy items for money which would usually ends up being useless unless you vendor farm and got lucky on finding a legendary but the bad thing about the grinder is that it feels like the game puts too much effort on it. using the grinder you can get legendary equipment which is still cool but what really breaks the game for me is that most of the bosses you can't farm which is one of the main things in borderlands(unless you dashboard but ends up being a waste). So now that the farming is out of the game what does everyone do? they farm the exact same boss over and over again which seems to have a very high chance of dropping its legendary taking two of this legendary to the grinder as well as one purple say a SMG and getting a legendary SMG.

[@Teddybearjenkins69]

Would love to hear a review from Nick about Bayonetta 2....I feel like that game would resonate with him greatly.

[@Rev3Games]

Stay tuned. :) -Nick

[@PlaceNameHeere]

I really like that you guys dont do number scored reviews but you need more people on the team! You should review every big game for all platforms (including nintendo ones) and do more opinion pieces instead of just gameplays. But you definately need maybe 2 or 3 flagship people on the rev3games team. To replace Max, Anthony, Zack and Sess

[@Sjono]

Still a reason to keep past gen consoles around

[@heavyssandvich1272]

But there were also many other reasons to.

[@Sjono]

That 10 year plan doesn't seem so ridiculous now

[@Alex1130]

Great review, Im happy to see you kept with your Sessler era scoreless reviews!

[@pugway]

Very good review, certainly confirmed my "More Borderlands" theory, I'm sure I'll love this game just as much as Borderlands 2 as the only thing keeping me from putting even more time into that game is that I've seen all it has to offer so many times.

[@UltraPrimeHunter]

You got the title wrong, it's "Borderlads" - IGN

[@Zagardal]

Nice review, Tara. I think I'll check out the game, you sold me on 2 and this looks entertaining enough. Love the hair cut, btw.

[@kyuelol]

hey tara, thanks for being honest about this game. They hyped it sort of in a weird way anyways and tried hard to overshadow the fact that it's propably a recycling which capitalizes on the franchises success. Being just "good" is certainly not enough for a borderlands game imo.

[@endplanets]

2:27 "...the first time in the history of the series working alongside the enemy" Except for the first third of BL2 and the entirety of BL1. Ok, not alongside but for. Great review. Bummer that the game isn't a big leap forward.

[@rafarga1980]

Borderlands, feels like I'm going to lose my mind. You just keep on pushin' my love over the borderlands. ROFL! I love this game.

[@muckymucks]

"Capitalize on the franchise's success.' That explains the miles long list of DLC starting with Borderlands 2.

[@midamultitool1387]

Who's watching this in 2017 and still waiting for a new borderlands?

[@angelscross9026]

I don't get why so many people hate the art design of Borderlands so much. I'm okay with it, and it also looks a lot like Bioshock at times.

[@paradoxacres1063]

It's pretty unique. I definitely prefer art design that does its own thing, rather than try to be super-realistic.

[@rekalty4477]

What settings was the review footage recorded on? It looks very low-res and jagged. I was half-hoping it was reviewed on consoles, but if this is how the PC version looks...

[@ResidentReveler]

It should be max settings. Review channels big as these won't have poor PCs.

[@thegaminglard2203]

There on x box 360

[@BlakeCodGuy1]

+TheGaming Lard no its not it pc on min

[@BlakeCodGuy1]

+TheGaming Lard no its not it pc on min

[@BlakeCodGuy1]

+TheGaming Lard no its not it pc on min

[@brianfountain1]

Nice review!

[@Tekshipie]

Hmm, with the way she worded some of her main complaints, do you think people who haven't played the other two Borderlands games would enjoy this one more than a fan of the series, simply because they aren't being exposed to more of the same? If so, that's a bit of a shame really.

[@paradoxacres1063]

I've read a few reviews and they all seem to indicate that *no*, this won't convince non-fans to love the Borderlands franchise. If you're already a fan? Then it's definitely worth a buy, as it's pretty much more of the same stuff.

[@Blake110]

May I ask how you select which games you're all going to review these days? As I see a review for this and Bayonetta 2, but not one for The Evil Within or Alien Isolation last week? Not criticising, just wondering if there's been a push to not focus on certain titles or certain genres or something with your reviews?

[@CaptainShiny5000]

That was a very good review! Very informative in all the right places. I don't think the humor will click with me since I found Borderlands 1+2 not very funny at all, but the low gravity and the the oxygen mechanics are interesting enough to get it on sale at some point. Oh, and thank you so much for mentioning the glitches and pop-in in the PC version - most reviewers just ignore the PC version alltogether so that's a huge plus!

[@TeddyBearAssassin]

They removed the lead writer of Borderlands 2 for the Pre Sequel. Part of their advertising was even that there are "no more memes". Thats what sold me.

[@KOL-PRIT]

dude the game is fucking wicked, playing it with the low gravity is fucking gnarly bro

[@Psydelic666]

pretty good almost as good as 2 in my book. finished it in 19 hours with all the side quests done. So there are more than enough of content

[@jessejones2799]

If your an Aussie this game is the best in the franchise. I understand Americans don't get Australian humor. But all Aussies must get this game!

[@craig1287]

I just got don playing the PC version for an hour on ultra settings and that includes Physx, I had zero bugs/glitches. I guess the PC version got fixed. Game looks and runs great.

[@ResidentReveler]

Are there any noticeable improvements in the graphics over BL2 ?

[@craig1287]

***** From a technical level, not really. The Physx is more intense, but textures and such are the same. From a visual/aesthetic level, it does look really cool. There are some cool solar effects and such going on.

[@gabeplg]

Borderlands gets old fast. I bought B2 for dirt cheap on Steam and can't bring myself to finish it. It just gets so damn repetitive. It blows my mind the amount of praise these games get, to be honest. Borderlands 2 a masterpiece? Are you guys for real?

[@TheMrConfetti]

I 100% completely agree with you

[@Stonegoal]

Whenever I hear people talk about Destiny I start thinking about playing Borderlands again. I had low expectations for Destiny but from what I'm hearing Boarderlands is so much better.

[@Scottynet8]

Great review Tara! :)

[@VinceMiniscalco]

Nice and thorough. Great review

[@SirJamesDTech]

Wait a minute, was there no actual score given to this game in the review...or did I just miss it? At least give it something...a Must Buy or Pass On It.

[@989chewey]

That's not how they review games on this channel. Don't tell them what to do just because it doesn't fit what you want. They don't owe you anything so don't be so self entitled.

[@SirJamesDTech]

Chewey989 Who pissed in your beer? Not about what I want but it's not a REVIEW if there's no score or recommendation at the end. It's just an OVERVIEW. And BTW up yours for saying I'm self-entitled.

[@Dresdenstl]

Make your own decision based on what she said.

[@989chewey]

SirJamesDTech You are clearly self entitled if you honestly think you can just go to random channels and tell them to change their video format just because you don't like it. A review doesn't need a numerical score, she formulated her thoughts and opinions well and shared them with us. That is a review. Only a true idiot would be able to watch this video and not understand if the game is good or bad. She gave her opinion and she doesn't need to use a numerical score to display it. There are plenty of other reviewers that do that on KZbin, so if you have a problem with it go watch one of them.

[@hiphopfanatic4088]

Yeah they felt that Adam Sessler was old and out of touch, now their reviews get worse and worse.

[@Bannockburn111]

I very much agree with your comments across the board. Story? Borderlands 1 had better story, it's worse than I thought it would be. That said you are quite right, Borderlands is about guns and even melee combat on the right characters and that's what I think players would do well to focus on. Thanks for your excellent review (and I'm not just saying that because I agree with you, your reviews are of typically high quality). :)

[@RabidKanid]

Either I missed it, or they stopped doing Review Scores in place for a summation sentence that encapsulates a general idea of the game. ... Thank you.

[@TBTrade]

If Claptrap wasn't in this, I'm pretty sure I'd pass it up.

[@antonioferr_]

thanks for the review tara!

[@turbo_co27]

I really liked the story, but the glitches set me off a little. Not to mention the gimmicks like the Grinder, which could have been expanded upon more.

[@totalanthony]

HOLY CRAP they've actually reviewed a game!

[@Hypno_BPM]

should go back to number ratings.

[@989chewey]

No they shouldn't.

[@MrCleanundies]

An arbitrary number to quantify ones opinion? no thanks.

[@PredatorCharlie]

NO WAY! Surely Rev3games changed that when Adam Sessler worked for them, he hated strongly a number rating doing game reviews!!!

[@IronMessican]

I give that comment a 2/10 would not read again.

[@Hypno_BPM]

stop being a bunch of hipsters, every critic in movies tv shows games all use number ratings so stfu

[@bchamness6]

It is nice to Rev3Games doing reviews again.

[@Andriodacg17]

Was it just me or when Tara said "duel-wield" as she was describing Nisha at 2:44, she said "duel-wield" with a bit of disgust or dislike?

[@Stunlokked]

i miss goliaths ;_;

[@TheHanshotfirst]

Wait, after the disaster otherwise known as Aliens: Colonial Marines, Gearbox isn't even working on their own IP anymore? Just what the hell *are* they doing?

[@monstir32]

Stuff

[@icosiel]

I feared as much for the game, looks like one for the steam sale list.

[@salamander333]

Brinhs me back to the days of the original dtoid show

[@josenova3898]

I love this channel and the reviews, but I seriously can't stand that they don't use numerical score ratings anymore.

[@paradoxacres1063]

Yes, I like the 5 star rating, too. But you know what? If they're not comfortable with it (a lot of critics feel that way) then they shouldn't score their reviews. I'm just glad we got a review, at all.

[@josenova3898]

Chewey989 It's just personal opinion, besides, both have their pros and cons.

[@TheLoboFairchild]

Borderlands and Borderlands 2 are games I can keep revisiting, but this one I can't, it just feels off, like it should have been DLC content for Borderlands 2, also, speaking of DLC's, I have yet to check out any of the DLC's for the Pre Sequel, maybe I should check them out, but I just can't bring myself to revisit the game. Maybe someday.

[@GrantDeezNutz]

Wow... an actual Rev3 Game Review. I thought they didn't do reviews anymore. Never been a Borderlands fan. Don't really dig it's genre or design and it's a nightmare to play alone and I've never liked Loot games. Still... better than Destiny.

[@zackhage5814]

MOAR REVIEWS PLEASE

[@tobymcdaid1061]

I think I'll wait for it to go on Steam sale, the game doesn't offer enough change from Borderlands 2 to make it worth full price.

[@buzzie96]

Tara

[@TheFlyinSquirrel]

I certainly hope claptrap has ninja abilities

[@beartusk420]

oh he does lmfao.....along with every other random fricken ability u can think of....if u like randomness you'll love playing with claptrap

[@sleepygame1]

I buy the game when the price go down to 30$ to 20$ . At 60$ is twice the amount I spend for a game like this

[@CholoCPC]

Seriously? They couldnt even get bothered to reskin the menus ..with all the large DLC that BL2 has had you really feel this "game" justify a $60 purchase? Since this is just a re-hash i assume it has a lot of content as the original had over 100+ hours of unique contents .. this better beat that at that price. Oh, and im sure everyone else will agree that we are very happy that Gearbox themselves didnt touch this after their A:CM mediocre 5h game.

[@puritech1609]

There is quite a decent amount of content and I've already gotten about 16 hours out of the game, and still haven't finished. Disappointed with the story, as it really didn't seem too interesting, that is until close to the end. I know that the low gravity may just seem like a silly addition and just some gimmick but it REALLY does change the game for the better. Like this reviewer said, the verticality being added to combat makes this game a hell of a lot more fun. Also, the character skill trees are waaaaaay better. They actually add some game changing mechanics and elements to your character which is really great. But yeah... Probably not worth $60 IMO, but luckily I didn't spend that much and I got the season pass for free, so i'm not too disappointed. I'd definitely wait until a GOTY and try get it cheaper. I reckon I could get another ~20 hours easily since I loved BL2, but it's still a solid game.

[@nonfinale685]

dude, gearbox made bl2, it was fantastic, and they made duke nukem forever the year prior, they know how to develop bl.

[@Cmoze]

what are you playing this on? the steam screenshots didn't look anywhere near that low rez

[@989chewey]

The review is on console.

[@Cmoze]

Chewey989 thanks

[@BlakeCodGuy1]

Nah its pc on min

[@paradoxacres1063]

Doth my eyes deceive me? A Rev3Games review? Seriously, though. Great review.

[@johnniemeredith9141]

I thought they were making Handsome Jack playable? Guess not.

[@Cl04d]

Why the hell didnt u mention the new weapon elements..

[@GamingRobioto]

I love Borderlands but I've rarely found the game or characters funny and I certainly don't play for the story. So your main complaints don't really affect me. Can't wait to play this.

[@PGMT22]

You failed to discuss the most important aspect of the game, the loot system. Why bother reviewing a game if youre going to overlook the biggest factor in the game?

[@Ragucci25]

Borderlands: The Randy Pitchford Cash Grab

[@segastationx]

This is like the first review in months.

[@PlaceNameHeere]

Nice review Bayonetta 2 review next?

[@tr3vis123]

how can anyone hate borderlands its extremely hard for a game to TRULY appeal to me in terms of being a masterpiece and borderlands 2 and dark souls are the only 2 masterpieces i ever played. and thats coming from someone who hated borderlands 1

[@Trunks252JM]

I never even imagined anyone thought BL1 was the best in the series. Personally I thought it was a good game, but the story and characters were garbage, except Zed and Moxxi. The final boss was a complete disaster. Not only was it a giant vagina monster with no loot, but you could legit stand in one place and shoot it until it dies. All the environments were the same and boring, the story was boring, art style was boring...Basically the only thing great about the game was the game-play. Which was phenomenal, but a little unbalanced. Borderlands 2 may not be a masterpiece (although personally I think it is), but it is the best game in the series. And it has the best DLC I've ever played, Dragon Keep.

[@Wobbey363]

I love BL2 so much more than the first one (which is still a great game). I only played the 2 by myself so far and I'm had a blast. Can't wait to get home, so I can play it with a friend.

[@Sethnotasithsr]

Love Tara!

[@BloodyBulletShellz]

the jokes have been falling flat for me since the first game and i still spent 100 hours in borderlands 2. im probably going to spend a lot more in the pre-sequel.

[@ArtemusWolfwood]

Gotta wonder if the amount of content is at least on par with the other two games or not. Seems like a lot of the environments are pretty samey.

[@Dingoes8MeBabies]

Pitchford said it has about the same amount of content as BL1 but not as much as BL2. It's hard to justify a $60 purchase.

[@HonestToCritic]

U guys still review games?!

[@jacobmonroe3899]

I actually prefer pre sequel for the skill trees alone.

[@cheeveramesesler6779]

pre-loaded, stoked

[@drtran1112]

So you guys hate doing reviews because it takes so much time to do, but when you actually put some out its for games the 95% of those getting it won't even look at a review beforehand because they know they will like it.

[@isirlaughsalot2675]

So......why didn't you guys review Destiny?

[@ErgoDog]

They skip a ton of games. Get over it.

[@FletcherVI]

because they review games that are fun to play.

[@donaldlloyd3318]

Fletcher Stanton Such intelligence, much edge, wow.

[@Petey0707]

***** How about you go fuck yourself? Douchebag.

[@ErgoDog]

tehrehdwel You're so sensitive.

[@cheeseburgur817]

*****Mild Spoilers***** I absolutely loved this to pieces. What they did for the entire BL story along with additions to combat was immense... However, who the fuck designed the quest regarding The Bosun? It was one of the worst quests I have ever played in any game as The Bosun himself was a horrible character, that kid that gives you the quest is more annoying than claptrap, along with the amount of backtracking one had to do within the quest was mind-numbingly tedious. This was still one of the best games I've played this year, I fucking adored it, but that quest was a plague as the game took a while to liven up after it.

[@iKatray]

sweet you get to play the cyborg dbag that comes out the train in borderlands 2 before he got an upgrade

[@cludo88]

bl2 sucked on console, on pc however it was spectacular, ultra textures, ambient occlusion, and best of all physex which added stuff like fabrics blowing in the wind fluttering realistic when you shot them, icicles falling on the floor and rolling about, dirt churning up from the ground and rolling along the floor, amazing particle effects on explosions, blood coming out of your victims and acting like a real liquid as it ran along the floor

[@TheHIOJK]

It was fun on consoles too, hate to break it to ya.

[@everythingissogreen6748]

The graphics seem to be a little blurry. I think BL2 had better graphics.The colors seem to be off or something. Still looks fun though.

[@beri4138]

It has the same graphics. The problem is the new areas are a bit dull.

[@TheGundamsword]

I love it. If your expecting something completely new, play another game. It's called "Borderlands" for a reason.

[@gabrielreyes4425]

So this is what graphics can do in 2014?

[@PcGaming1080p]

Been playing it Using claptrap on pc

[@slopokee9267]

Why do most Americans call Australia - Aauwstralia.

[@RequiemRhythmXIII]

I'm not trying to hate but I must say the character models look very low res in gameplay, like borderline PSVita Borderlands II resolution, I guess it just looks like it lacks the polish Borderlands II had but granted more time was spent on that game

[@lifeinthaboot]

Tara, just play on PC and not on a old console. That solves your texture problem right there. ;)

[@Dotoku14]

They fucked Handsome Jack hard in this game. He feels like a completely different character.. Jack acts like a nerdy surfer dude up until the last second of this game, then he ALL OF A SUDDEN, turns evil. Gearbox, why did you have to give the rights to 2K Kangaroo?

[@blooddiamond187]

wait since when does rev3 review games? i thought this was a lets play streaming channel?

[@saine-grey]

Is it just me or did it seem like Tara was talking really slow or something? She seemed really bored or tired or something.

[@ocaxeman]

Huge Borderlands/BL2 Fan~and I will be getting this game for sure...but there is NO way in hell I am layin down 60 fucking clams for it right now,that is way too much cash for what seems to me like a BL2.5,will just keep playin my beloved BL2 till the price drops to 25 bucks or so,not knockin this title whatsoever,looks like some really gr8 stuff here...just not $60.00 worth of gr8 stuff imho;]

[@SPACENOMADMALEV]

Those Textures?? What is going on? I know it's a ps3 game but damn..

[@kacman11]

a review???!!! ON REV3?? WHAT IS THIS BLASPHEMY

[@ACanadianPenguin]

360p max resolution...? Your kidding right...

[@simpsnfan1204]

It was just uploaded. The video is still being processed by KZbin and HD will be available later

[@ACanadianPenguin]

Gabriel Cadalzo Ok thats good to know, thanks

[@thediabeetle8823]

That's what I'm saying. The review was great, as usual, but 360p?? Hopefully this is just a mistake on their part and they'll re-upload it at a higher resolution.

[@LAUDENE]

TheDiabeetle Did you people just discover youtube yesterday or what?

[@thisscreensucks]

shit guys, ....first time on youtube?

[@symol30872]

Game is a lot of fun, really loved it.

[@Lik_Wit]

If someone hasn't played any of the Borderlands should they get the Pre-sequel? They might enjoy it more than veteran Borderlands players. Or, should they get Borderlands 2?

[@splatterface9]

You must play bl1 and 2 or you won't understand the pre sequal, or at leaste beat bl1

[@steveperry7799]

Listen to TOM LEYKIS!!!

[@brodylockwood14]

Yeah...Straya mate!

[@MyPancho2012]

Why didn't they review forza horizon 2, shadow of mordor, Sherlock Holmes, driveclub, alien isolation.

[@HardcoreGrady]

5:00 wtf is up with those textures

[@benmcc6825]

looks like it was being played on a 3DS