You can now read our full review of Borderlands 2 VR.
Borderlands 2 VR on PSVR is just a few days away as it’s set to release later this week. Soon, PSVR owners will be able to return to Pandora six years later after the original game released and re-explore the psycho-ravaged landscapes once again. Even though Borderlands 2 VR won’t include any of the extensive post-launch DLC content or any multiplayer, it’s shaping up to be one of the most robust and feature-rich VR games to date.
We already know about a handful of things that will be exclusive to the VR edition of Borderlands 2. For example, you can slow down time with any of the four classes, you can teleport to move or use smooth locomotion, there are new single-player-focused skills, and new driving mechanics. But what about the actual game and its 30-50 hours of content, depending on how much time you spend on extra side missions and secrets? That’s what this list focuses on.
Based on prior knowledge of having played through the hilarity that is Borderlands 2, this is out list of 10 things we can’t wait to do when revisiting the adventure in VR later this week.
Meeting Claptrap For The First Time
Love him or hate him, Claptrap is one of the most iconic characters of the modern gaming era. His high-pitched nasally tone, relentlessly upbeat personality, and knack for injecting expertly timed humor into any situation, makes him an endearing and lovable companion.
Borderlands 2 is, in my opinion, one of the funniest games ever made and Claptrap is a huge part of that. At the start of the game he treats you as his minion and bosses you around and observing how all of the side characters interact with him is a serious joy. Now in VR we’ll be able to get closer to him than ever before.
Visiting Sanctuary
Sanctuary acts as the central hub of your adventures in Borderlands 2 so you’ll spend a lot of time in and around this relatively small but bustling city. From Mad Moxxi and her gambling ways to Dr. Zed’s disturbing medical practices, it’s overflowing with NPCs to talk and laugh with.
Borderlands, and as a result Borderlands 2, are well-regarded as some of the first great/popular looter shooter games, directly inspiring the likes of Destiny and even several VR shooters such as Gunheart, so going back to the hub that helped kickstart it all will be a great blast from the past.
Scoring Headshots
Landing a headshot is business as usual in most first-person shooters, but you’ll quickly realize upon playing Borderlands 2 that gore, dismemberment, and gratuitous violence are cause for celebration.
The first time you come across some raiders and land a headshot with that satisfying “pop!” sound, the red words “Critical!” popping into view with money and ammo spewing out like confetti, you’ll get it.
Tiny Tina’s Tea Party
Tiny Tiny is, without a doubt, my favorite character in Borderlands 2. In fact, I’d go so far as to say she’s one of my all-time favorite characters in any game ever. Her spunky attitude and completely psychotic mind provide a lot of humor and the juxtaposition of her cute demeanor and voice really drive home the irony.
Specifically, her Tea Party is a great moment. All of her writing is hilarious and when she sends you out to round up a guest of honor for her shindig and then proceeds to turn it into a twisted game of revenge, it’s pretty special.
Claptrap’s Birthday
Remember how I said Claptrap is one of the funniest characters in all of video games? A big part of that is how well-written he is and that’s on display no better than at his birthday party.
After helping him setup for what is sure to be a huge event, no one shows up other than you, the player. His sadness is painful at first, but quickly becomes hilarious. This moment is only rivaled by Claptrap’s confrontation with a staircase.
Splinter Group Mission
Borderlands 2 is jam-packed full of Easter Eggs pulling in references to several elements of pop culture and video games, but my favorite has got to be the Splinter Group mission.
In this mission you’re sent down into the sewers to take out some mutant enemies with names like “Ralph” as part of a “Splinter” Group. If you didn’t grow up watching the Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles that might not mean anything to you, but for me and other 90s-kids it warms the hearts.
All The Other Easter Eggs
The Ninja Turtles bit is great, but it’s far from the only awesome Easter Egg in Borderlands 2. There’s of course the mining blocks and Creepers found in the Caustic Caverns and the use of the Konami code to enable Extra Wub Mode in the options as well.
Borderlands 2 is so completely full of Easter Eggs that it’d likely take far too long to list them all. When you visit the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve, look out for savage enemies like Pimon and Tumbaa.
Handsome Jack’s Pestering
Handsome Jack is often regarded as one of the best video game villains of all-time. The entire premise of the Borderlands games is that you are a Vault Hunter dispatched to the ruined world of Pandora to track down and uncover the secrets and riches found within its ancient, valuable vault. Jack wants to stop you, but that doesn’t make either of you the “hero” or “villain” — at least not really.
This moral grey area is a huge part of focus for Borderland 2 and despite the game’s humor and abundance of silly gore, it actually digs into some deep topics. You just have to read between the lines (and one-liners) to really appreciate Jack’s complexity as a character.
Relieving Face McShooty
You’ll stumble across an NPC (pictured above) known as Face McShooty partway through the game in the Thousand Cuts region. Aside from having the most aggressively excited voice actor in the history of video games, this psycho grants you what is perhaps the simplest, yet most surprising, quest in all of Borderlands 2.
As his name suggests, he just really, really wants you to shoot him in the face. If you come across this deranged guy, I highly recommend waiting to grant his wish until all of his dialogue is finished. It’s far too enthusiastic and hilarious to not listen to it all the way through. His final words are what made me laugh hysterically the first time I played this game.
Driving Like A Mad Man
Borderlands 2 is and always has-been a first-person shooter, but in the game’s original release the camera perspective zoomed out to third-person when you entered a vehicle. Not this time. In Borderlands 2 VR you’ll take the wheel in first-person and actually drive vehicles like you would in real life if using the PS Move controllers.
According to the PS Blog announcement post, “for the first time ever, you’ll be driving vehicles and racking up the roadkill count from a first-person perspective. While accelerating and steering with the PlayStation Move motion controllers, players will be able to aim the vehicle’s guns with their headset. Experience firsthand the sublime exhilaration of driving one way and looking another! Lose yourself in the roar of the engine, the Pandoran landscape, the wind and viscera in your hair as you mow down your enemies—all from the comfort of your own home!”
That just sounds way too awesome.
What are you most excited to do or see in Borderlands 2 VR? Let us know down in the comments below!
