Gearbox Software began as a company in the late 90s made up of programmers that had recently left jobs at defunct companies. They joined together to start their first projects, creating mods for the original Half-Life. Its developers had key roles on blue shift and opposing forces and later went on to work on beloved franchises such as Halo, Left 4 Dead, and Duke Nukem (which is kinda irrelevant now). the game I’m choosing to focus on for this week is their second game of the Borderlands franchise and in my personal opinion the best of the three that exist as of now. With Borderlands 3 announced and around the corner it is a good time to reflect on the franchise. Borderlands 2 created something truly special with his outlandish sense of humor seemingly infinite replayability and masterful combination of RPG elements and high action gameplay. but it has managed to stay fresh over the years through the abundance of DLC variety of play between the characters, and online multiplayer that is a ton of fun you’re able to get some friends together.
Borderlands 2 is a game I’ve spent countless hours on. I’ve completed the main story on all 4 characters and all 3 difficulties. I distinctly remember playing with a friend of mine, author of https://therecordshelf.home.blog/ in the 6th grade only to have his entire save data wiped immediately before the final fight of the game. It was a sad day for all. I can genuinely say that without a doubt all of the hours were worth it. Combat is fun and diverse with ranges of enemies, weapons, and character abilities. The shooting feels good. The RPG elements give a fun incentive without feeling grindy and every skill point feels like it makes an actual impact on the way you play.
The original soundtrack for Borderlands 2 is a modernized take on classic american western music with an odd blend of electronic beats and acoustic guitar. While there is nothing inherently wrong with the soundtrack it starts to get a bit repetitive after a decent amount of hours. This week I decided to swap the soundtrack in exchange for Beck’s debut album mellow gold. The album was recorded originally on an 8 track and features a lot of the grime and societal dissatisfaction that the punk genre offers with a distinctively southwestern vibe to the tracks. The slide guitar on tracks like Loser has the perfect twang without being tinny. The bass is surprisingly active for an album of this nature and his sample/general noise usage is solid. For as good as the game and album are on their own, the album tends to get somber on a lot of the tracks which doesn’t pair all too well with the game.
Sned Supply 