Borderlands 2 releases in North America on the 18th September and in the EU on the 21st September 2012, that is exactly 6 months from today, squeeee.  We thought given this special anniversary we would share what we have been able to find out about Borderlands 2 to date.

Borderlands was set in a desolate wastelands, Borderlands 2 is approaching things differently and the world will seem more vibrant and alive .   The game will still have that apocalyptic feel to it, its just being approached differently to keep the game interesting.

The main character of the game is Salvador the dwarf and the game is set around 5 years after the original. This Gunzerker can dual-wield any weapons in the game, although the dual-wielding ability is limited. We will also see a host of new characters including Salvador the dwarf, Gearbox has added the entire original Borderlands crew to the sequel as NPCs.

The missions in the game will have end of mission bosses as we have seen previously but they will also have mini bosses called badasses. Some that played Borderlands complained that the story lacked story, well this will change in Borderlands 2.  The missions in the game will be much more story driven and the biggest change we will see, is that the missions will have much less of a MMO feel to them and instead will tie in more with the games story. Gearbox have said that   ”The game will be filled with more meaningful activities related to the story.  Everything will be really connected to the universe and sequence of events.”

In the game you will  get to travel to new unexplored regions of Pandora which will have had somewhat of a makeover whilst not loosing its general cell shaded visuals, we will see much more colour, greens, blues, and landscape, mountains, and water.

in respect of gameplay, we will see new enemies, weapons, and equipment the game will be full of loot and things to shoot. Included with the addition of new enemies is better enemy AI. Enemies will now do everything we can, including scaling walls and buildings just to get to us.

What so many love about Borderlands is the online Co-Op, so its unsurprising that this is set to return. For local and online Co Op we will be able to play four player as in Borderlands, but the really exciting addition is for those of us with more that one gamer in the household is we will also see split screen with online play, where 2 people will be able to play locally and jump into an online game, however they wont be able be able to play with 2 other split screeners.

Quest eligibility issues have all been fixed. You’re eligible for any quest that your friend has. If you join a game, and your friend is on the mission of the game, you can still do it with them.

In addition to that, there are four player co-op vehicles, like that from the Secret Armory of General Knoxx.  There’s also a larger focus on skills that help players in co-op.  For instance the Gunzerker can draw aggro, drawing enemies off of other players while the siren has some crowd control abilties.

I think thats enough to wet anybodies appetite, now only 6 months to wait. In the meantime, we will just have to be satisfied with the awesome looking trailer…..