Retawes Review: Borderlands 2

Borderlands 2 - 19.3/20

With the high expectations that Gearbox's 'Dungeon Shooter' Borderlands provided, does the second coming of Claptrap save or ruin Pandora?

Story and Setting - 9.8/10

Reflecting back on the original 'loot fest' that was Borderlands, one of its weak points was most definitely its story. Ironically, Pandora's sequel has surfaced the story's originality and created an engaging tale.

In B2, Lilith and Roland are 'together', A.K.A Rolith/Liland

Essentially, the game takes place seamlessly after its predecessor. Set in the vast world of Pandora, the original 'Vault Hunters' (People who seek rare caves filled with treasure known as vaults) have fled from their   fearsome finale (Spoiler Alert!) i.e. being tricked by Angel and escaping from the vault monsters grasp! Each hero has moved on from their adventure and is now defending Pandora's citizens from the game's nemesis, 'Handsome Jack'. Dictator of Pandora and Ruler of Hyperion, Jack desires the rare mineral Eridium for his malicious plot to rid the world of Sanctuary (The Game's main town) 'threat'. This, is where the new vault hunters (Maya, Axton, Zero and Salvador) come in. Upon boarding a train, the heroes are attacked by Handsome Jack's forces and relentlessly defeating gangs and vicious factions to restore Pandora with some help of course!

Sir Hammerlock reporting for duty!

Incidentally, there are a variety of characters that the Vault Hunters encounter. Some of whom include: the iconic dancing robot, Claptrap; the sadistic and psychotic, Doctor Zed; the sexual stripping persona of Moxxi; and the educated 'O'l English clichéd' cyborg, Sir Hammerlock. All of the characters in Pandora, have their own story and personality that is completely different to the next. For instance, the 'Black Market' owner Crazy Earl resembles a schizophrenic person where as the gun shop owner Marcus embodies a 'Wog' theme provided with his design and dialogue.

Speaking of the casts' quotes, the speech of Borderlands 2 is incredibly humorous. Irony, sexual tension and sarcasm are heavily used to provide the 'Tongue in Cheek' aspect. For instance, there is a quest (Given by Marcus) which involves the player endeavouring into a corrosive cavern to retrieve pornographic pictures of Moxxi giving the player the choice of returning it to Moxxi or to Marcus for questionable means. It's quests and side stories similar to this perverted problem that symbolise Borderlands 2's story and environment.

Consecutively, Borderlands 2's environment is vastly unique when compared to it's predecessor. For instance, within a few hours of playing, I had explored a snowy landscape, a notorious gang's stronghold and a desert themed environment appropriately named, 'The Dust'. Exploring different areas is such an enjoyable ease as there are arrays upon arrays of various locations to investigate.

Although it seems that there are no issues with Borderlands 2's cast and creativity, the soundtrack of Borderlands is below my expectations. It's not to say that the tracks are dull or disinteresting, but there wasn't any iconic songs that I can audibly captivate.


Graphics and Gameplay - 9.5/10

With my biased endorsement that the story and setting of Pandora was positive, are the graphics and gameplay on par?


Borderlands 2's texture and graphical identity has most definitely surpassed its predecessor. The original Borderlands was bland and brown where as Pandora's sequel is populated with all shades of rainbows.

Although, Gearbox still haven't fixed their 'Texture Popping' issue. Whenever the player enters a new area, the graphics look incredibly ancient before swiftly reverting to it's original state. Hopefully, this is fixed with an update as they continue to update the character customization.

Speaking of crafting your character, Borderlands 2 provides a 'Character Customization' option that blends a vast amount of skins and head sets acquired throughout the game to shape your character's identity. This crafts a unique quality to your individual character. For instance, I transformed my 'Siren' Maya into a Goth with a communist symbol near her breast where as a friend of mine made his 'Gunserker' Salvador into a 'Mexican cliché'.

Whose your favourite?

Incidentally, there are four classes to play as. They include: the gravity controlling 'Siren' , Maya; the dual wielding 'Gunzerker' , Salvador; the stealthy futuristic 'Assassin', Zero; and the Turret obsessed 'Commando', Axton. Each character provides a different experience to gameplay and when combined to together in Co-Op, they make a mighty team.

~Guns Glorious Guns~

Speaking of teamwork, the multiplayer mechanics of Gearbox's game are essential to the experience. The 'jump in/ jump out' style of gameplay allows players of different levels to team up. Furthermore, Gearbox have added a boosting system where if you join a higher levelled friend's game, you'll level up far more faster than usual in order to catch up to your team mate.

Shooting wise, the specifications of each of the 'BAZILLION' guns in the game are varied. Some demolish enemies with explosive damage, some utilise one of the four elements (Burn, Corrosive, Shock and the element damage enhancing Slag) while others simply 'spray and pray'. There are shields, relics, grenade and class mods as well but they are essentially there to enhance your character and play style with as much variety as the guns.

I specialised in supporting my team by instantly reviving them and dealing  significant elemental damage!

Though all of these damage and statistic enhancers are strengthened by the Skill Trees and 'Badass Rank' mechanics. The skill trees are simple, one tree is support, another damage dealing and another for solo play. The Baddas Rank however, is a new addition to the Pandora franchise. Essentially, the player completes challenges and then rewards themselves with health, damage and shield oriented permanent buffs for all characters.

Conclusion - 19.3/20

Summarising this high achieving experience, Borderlands 2 exceeds in its gameplay, environment and multiplayer functionality. Its surprising story is engaging and Pandora's citizen are vastly different and hilarious none-the-less. The onslaught of hilarity never ruins the serious tone that the game creates. Gearbox have successfully created a deep connection between the player and Pandora. Unfortunately, the game's graphical issues substitute it from perfection. Though, this title should not be missed or replaced with anything else. 

Welcome Back to Pandora...

Big Topic: Continuous Characters Crucify Creativity

In the Video Game world there are hundreds of series and franchises. Some of these spin off spawners release sequels and unrelated titles annually. Yet, do these sequels slaughter the creativity and originality that used to be apart of our modern virtual market. Enter any video game or entertainment store/website and adjust your eyes as originality is now a minority. Infamous series such as 'Call of Duty' and the 'Pokemon' franchise are substantiating small unique 'one trick pony' masterpieces by blocking the industry with the same repetitive content as 4 years ago.

So where did all of the creative developers disappear to? They've been sacked and bankrupt as the average gamer prefers improved old styles of gameplay over completely different mechanics. For instance, the critically despised 'Final Fantasy XIII' sub series has very different layers in all of it's games (Final Fantasy XIII, XIII-2, Lightning Returns) graphically and story wise. Though it isn't the major cause of it's financial failure, having each game's mechanics and world being different provides a new experience unlike the previously stated, repetitive 'COD' franchise.


Although, there have been some titles this year that have bombarded the market with their unique playability and aspects. Games such as 'Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning'; 'Anarchy Reigns'; 'Dragon's Dogma' and several indie games defined their place in this year's creativity drought.

On the other hand, a majority of the games releasing in this half (July-December) of the year are sequels. Capcom's 'Resident Evil 6'; Gearbox's 'Borderlands 2'; the Xbox exclusive 'Halo 4' (Really 7) and Ubisoft's 'Assassin's Creed 3' and 'Far Cry 3' just to name a few. Though, it's not like these games are going to ruin the industry as they look entirely original and incomparably different to their predecessors (Specifically Resident Evil 6 and Far Cry 3).

In the end, the year has been flooded with sequels and prequels alike. Creativity and IPs have been clouded with franchise finishers. However, this struggle for originality will end soon as the steam punk inspired stealth title 'Dishonored' is released next month, reminding us that developers still have unique ideas even 30 years past the first console war.

Retawes Let's Play: Guild Wars 2

Retawes Review: Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs - 14/20
With the announcement of 'Grand Theft Auto: 5/V', does Sleeping Dogs have the originality and play-ability that sets it apart from other open world games?


Story and Setting - 7/10

Sleeping Dogs' plot revolves around protagonist Wei Shen. Wei, an undercover cop with a vendetta against the Sun On Yee gang, must disguise himself as a new recruit of the infamous offenders and exploit it's weaknesses and objectives. Throughout the game, the player has the option of aiding the Sun On Yee or the Hong Kong Police Force. Within these choices, Wei meets a vast of characters from both the eastern trickery tribe and crime fighting club such as his childhood friend Jackie Ma and Wei's police consultant Inspector Jade Teng.

Although, it isn't all black and white in Hong Kong. Within Wei's adventure, there are several hidden secrets and dangerous paths being discovered and revealed as time goes on. For instance, there is a constant border dispute between Sun On Yee members Dogeyes and Winston as these two malicious crooks maintain their power over Hong Kong.

Speaking of the eastern market city, developers Square Enix have enlarged the stereotypical zone with arrays of local activity to create the illusion that the world is enticingly real. There are streets upon streets of citizens interacting with one another and Wei, offering tasks and errands to be completed for Police and Sun On Yee fame.

Though be warned as playing on the fence will result in both sides wanting your head!

Musically, the game is rather dis-interesting. There aren't any tracks that bring the 'outstanding piece' factor to the game. Sure, SD gives you the opportunity to switch radio stations while on the road similar to Grand Theft Auto yet the songs and stations feel vastly bland and have very little variety. Unfortunately, the music is so dull and bland to me, that the composer of the game, Jeff Tymoschuck has placed a very judge-mental view of his quality of music in my head.

Incidentally, the sound effects and voice acting in Sleeping Dogs is the exact opposite. When Wei punches an enemy or jumps over a wall, you hear exactly what you would hear in a film. Though, the famous actors who voiced some of the iconic characters stole the show overall. Stars such as Lucy Lui, Emma Stone and Total Recall's Will Yun Lee are just a minority of the excellent A ranked quality of voices in this eastern mafia tale.



Graphics and Gameplay - 7/10


Graphically speaking, Sleeping Dogs isn't as 'show and tell' worthy as one would expect. On console, the game suffers from rare frame rate issues and rendering dramas. Furthermore the graphics seem like something one would see in a 2010 title. Hell, even the first Assassin's Creed was more alluring.

However, when you play SD on PC, you forget about the console conundrums and realize that it isn't Square Enix's engine that causes rendering issues or aged graphics, but the console copies of Hong Kong have been graphically summarized. In the PC edition, their is perfect shadow effects, water reflections, proper models and sleek design that all assist in creating an immersible atmosphere derived from the eastern market society.

Gameplay wise, Sleeping Dogs doesn't do anything that differs from the open world road. Sure, there is a variety  of combat options from tackling enemies and breaking their legs (Brutal) to throwing them into running fans or a humongous bowl of boiling oil and the assorts of mini games (Chicken Fighting, Arena battles, Drug busts, Chase scenes, hacking devices, etc) are there yet the game just feels like GTA set in Hong Kong. The whole essence of SD just feels pushed and bombarded with the 'experience' that the story and triple A voice acting produces.

Overall - 14/20

In the end, Sleeping Dogs does very little to peek from the open world box. Whether you are looking from a graphical or gameplay wise perspective, the game is rather typical. Square Enix have heavily persuaded customers with their superior cast yet, the whole game feels as if it isn't complete and that it was edited from start to finish. Though, with such a rugged development cycle that this game has had, it doesn't surprised me. As you can guess, I am rather disappointed with this title. I didn't expect to play an 18-20/20 game, but I didn't expect to pick up a illogically bland and sheer cardboard copy of the Grand Theft Auto formula.

EDIT: My apologies for the lack of images in this review, but I was so guttered and frustrated with this bland title that I decided not to devote time to capturing pictures.