Borderlands 2 Sixth Character is a “Reformed” Bandit

Not content with allowing one spec of dust to hit your copy of loot happy FPS, Gearbox is giving players a new reason to tour Pandora.

Meet your new Vault Hunter: Krieg the Psycho.  Once apart of the psycho bandits roaming the terrain of Pandora — you know, the shouting creeps you have so much fun shooting at — Krieg is an escaped experiment with a love for melee combat.  Controlling him is a game of risk versus reward, where charging the front lines and getting up close and personal to crack enemy skulls actually heals Krieg.

Krieg’s skill trees, below, serve to endorse his unusual and  fantastically brutal play style:

• Bloodlust: Combat bonuses are alotted for melee kills using your Buzz Axe.
• Hellborn: Ups fire damage and, incredibly, increases lethality when you’re on goddamn fire.
• Mania: Take damage and your damage output is bolstered.

This badass addition to the game’s roster will cost you $10 when he arrives as DLC sometime in May.  While Krieg doesn’t seem to be included with the Borderlands 2 Season Pass, a confirmed fourth campaign add-on (scheduled for June) is.

Watch the Playable Psycho Bandit’s Announcement Trailer hereabouts.

Aliens: Colonial Marines Tester Sheds Light on the Game’s Dark History

Hardly a week since its release the internet has been swept up by the behind-the-scenes controversy encircling Gearbox Software’s licensed abomination, Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Following the anonymous allegation that Gearbox outsourced the majority of the title to different studios, namely TimeGate Studios (Section 8, F.E.A.R. Files), a recently yanked Reddit AMA with a “confirmed” Sega employed tester has been brought to light.  Obviously breaking their non-disclosure agreement in two, user “soetester” not only says Colonial Marines was handed over to TimeGate early on, but also claims Gearbox was using Sega’s Aliens financing to secretly fund both Borderlands installments.

More shocking, soetester says the title didn’t degrade from the promising E3 2012 demo that sent fans’ hopes skyward.  In fact, the tester alleges Sega never got their hands on anything like that demo, that the gameplay shown wasn’t even running on Unreal 3 (like the final game), and lambasts the footage as “100% false advertising.”

While the AMA was removed — giving it an air of inadvertent legitimacy — you can still view a capture of the session here.  Below are some highlights:

• The game wasn’t released under the pretense it was anything more than awful.  By the time Gearbox turned its attention on it “the damage was done.”
• Sega only received it to test in the middle of last year.  Unwilling to delay it further (and lose more money), the game released as you see it today.
• soetester posits Sega may take legal action against Gearbox.
• The Wii U version may very well be “the worst” of them all.  Framerate issues, slow texture loading, and poorly conceived GamePad mini-games may keep the Wii U A:CM from seeing the light of day.
• Gearbox “did much more of the game than [TimeGate]” evidently.  soetester admits TimeGate’s contribution left the game in a horrid state, though.
• Cutscenes better explaining some of the game’s shittier plot choices were cut; interactive parts of the game including a proper, playable introduction to the marines and the Sephora were folded into cutscenes.
• In response to how much the tester enjoyed the game: “I hate it.”
  

In more hopeful news, the Sega tester also claims they’ve seen a build of Creative Assembly’s Alien game which is intended for next-gen hardware.  The tester says their game’s shaping up to be dark, atmospheric, and “slow paced (in a good way).”  I think after this disaster, the gaming public would openly embrace more horror and less horrible.

If you need another stern warning against Colonial Marines, check out my review.

Aliens: Colonial Marines (PC/PS3/Wii U/X360) - February 12th, 2013

You’re looking at a game built from the ground up on fan service.  From the multitude of xenomorph designs including H.R. Giger’s original palpitation inducing concept and Cameron’s spiney, perpetually pissed off war machines to the hulking derelict wreck prevalent in Ridley Scott’s Alien and Prometheus…Even the sound design is plucked directly from the films for authenticity’s sake.  This is the Aliens game we’ve been craving since we first heard the hollow sputter of a pulse rifle burst and, more than that, pre-release buzz has it that this one’s an extreme amount of fun.

Gearbox, you have my trust and, soon, you’ll have my money.

Here’s a “scoop” posted by Gearbox’s own Randy Pitchford.  This ain’t some simple cosplaying here.  They look like they’re gearing up some live action Borderlands, if you ask me.

I’m going to have to put a “keep your eyes open as this story develops” right about here, which undoubtedly means: “I don’t know what the hell they’re up to.”

Borderlands 2 (PC/PS3/X360 - September 18th)

As far as my must-have’s list goes, this summer is proving to be, fittingly, a bit of a dry spell.  The air will once more be tolerable by the time Borderlands 2 comes out, but even a drop in temperature will fall short of how refreshing it’ll be to jump right back into Gearbox’s comic styled, gun-crazed, loot hoarding universe.

What Gearbox was happily willing to share over the weekend’s Comic-Con blitz showed signs of a tighter, thought-out sequel that almost seems obsessed in bettering every one of the first game’s ills.  From little improvements like cross-character perks that better your entire cast instead of just one, to big renovations like centralizing where you get and cash-in missions into a single hub.  Having a hub base is going to do you a world of good since Pandora is roughly twice as large as our first visit.

There was certainly a lot to love about Borderlands, but even this early out, there looks like a lot more to love about Borderlands 2 (and I’m pretty sure that’s impossible).

Aliens: Colonial Marines (PC/PS3/X360 - Feb. 12th, Wii U -TBA)

Even though I don’t agree with the concept of seeing things I can’t immediately have — it’s unfair and it’s fucked — but here’s a little bit more of Gearbox’s sci-fi horror magnum opus.  Randy Pitchford claims the very best looking version of the game can only be found on the Nintendo Wii U.  He must’ve forgot they’re putting it on the PC.

Borderlands 2 (PC/PS3/X360 - September 18th)

Anyone that has trouble with their loot addiction should seek help from Gearbox today as live streams the internet over will have Borderlands 2 in action.  Help is scheduled for you about 9:00PM EST.  Until then, let these screens tide over your shakes.