When you hear “Wimoweh”/”The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds, you’re most likely reminded of The Lion King or perhaps a true childhood classic in The Sandlot. If you’d like to keep that correlation alive and kicking, don’t watch the latest Borderlands 2 trailer. Otherwise, you might now associate the song with the cel-shaded art style and bloody running-and-gunning of Borderlands.
The new trailer showcases some of the new additions that’ll be appearing in Borderlands 2 including the four new characters and re-worked vehicular combat. Not new but still clearly ever-present, is the chaotic, comedic FPS-RPG gameplay that has come to embody the franchise. What other game could pull off blending violent gunplay and South African doo-wop so stylishly?
William and I were able to go hands-on with Borderlands 2 back at E3, and our short time with it gave us the notion that the game will be bigger and better than its predecessor in every way imaginable. Most notably, the AI have been heavily improved upon. In our demo time, enemies could clearly be seen working together to take us out in the most efficient way possible. They’d heal downed comrades, boost each other’s shields, and advance upon us in a surprisingly strategic manner. The fact that we both had to revive the other numerous times is a testament to how Gearbox has successfully upgraded enemy combatants. Then again, it could just be that we suck (Nevertheless, we beat the demo, so ha!).