
Announced a couple days ago and officially unveiled today, the next Borderlands has been revealed to not be Borderlands 3, but a "midquel", taking place between the two previous games. The name itself reflects this, with the appropriately oddball subtitle "The Pre-Sequel". Furthermore, in addition to not being a true sequel, the game will also be releasing on last-generation consoles rather than the Xbox One and PS4 and will use an updated version of the Borderlands 2 engine (which in turn a heavily modified version of Unreal 3). It will also not be developed by Gearbox, but rather 2K Australia. Now all together some people might be worried, but despite this all Gearbox and 2K assure this will be a full, brand new Borderlands title (promised to be as longer than the first game), and so far early previews back this up.
Immediately setting this game apart from the previous titles is the fact that the game features four completely new classes that are not alterations of the existing core classes. Not only that, but these characters won't be Vault Hunters. Instead you'll be playing as one of four high ranking soldiers of Handsome Jack himself:
Athena (previously featured in The Secret Armory of General Knoxx) who utilizes a damage absorbing and dispersing, Captain America-style shield.
Wilhelm, whose skill trees slowly alter him into the giant mech seen in Borderlands 2.
Nisha the Lawbringer, before she became the Sheriff of Lynchwood.
And perhaps most excitingly, CL4P-TP (aka Claptrap) himself.
Another major stand-out? We'll finally be going to the Hyperion Moon Base, which is revealed to have been accidentally crashed into moon by Jack. This will have all sorts of effects on gameplay, including new mechanics surrounding O2, a new manageable resource. Rather than constantly needing to be collected in order to breath though, O2 will be used to power new abilities, such as double jumps and ground pounds. Special gear can also be collected to alter how O2 is used, such as adding elemental effects to ground pounds. And on the topic of dealing damage, The Pre-Sequel will feature even more guns than Borderlands 2, along with weapon classes such as laser weapons and new elemental effect in the form of cryo.
As stated above, Jack will be a big part of this game, with the story closely following his transition from lowly Hyperion employee to the maniacal villain we know and love. As part of this, we'll see a lot more of why Jack is the way he is, and even learn just why Jack feels he's the true hero of the story.
Borederlands: The Pre-Sequel will be releasing this fall.
http://www.ign.com/a...-the-pre-sequel