Borderlands 2

Similar to its predecessor, Borderlands 2 is a first-person shooter with elements drawn from role-playing video games. Four playable character classes are available in the base game, each with their own unique Action Skill: Axton, "the Commando", can summon a turret to provide offensive support. Maya, "the Siren", can "phaselock" enemies by trapping them in a sphere of energy for a few seconds. Zer0, "the Assassin", can temporarily become invisible and spawn a hologram decoy to distract enemies.

Salvador, "the Gunzerker", can use his titular ability to temporarily dual-wield weapons. Action Skills have a cooldown time during which the player must wait before they can use the skill again. Similarly to the original, completing the main story campaign unlocks "True Vault Hunter Mode", a New Game Plus which increases the difficulty of the game by making enemies stronger, improves the probability of finding rare and higher-quality items, and allows the player's character to reach level 50.

Five years have passed since the events of Borderlands, when four Vault Hunters—Roland, Mordecai, Lilith, and Brick—were guided by a mysterious entity known as "The Guardian Angel" to the Vault, an ancient alien structure that was rumored to hold exotic technology and riches. On entering the Vault, they were instead confronted by an alien abomination known as "The Destroyer". After defeating The Destroyer, a valuable mineral called "Eridium" started flourishing through Pandora's crust. Handsome Jack (voiced by Dameon Clarke), CEO of the Hyperion Corporation, secures this new resource and makes use of it to attempt to "bring peace" to the planet.

Now, Handsome Jack rules over the inhabitants of Pandora with an iron fist from his massive space station, Helios. Meanwhile, rumors spread of an even larger Vault, drawing a new group of Vault Hunters who search for it.

Following the release of the first Borderlands, developer Gearbox Software was simultaneously working on three distinct projects: finishing Duke Nukem Forever, creating Aliens: Colonial Marines, and working on a sequel to the original Borderlands. The initial goal was to create a sequel similar in scale to the first game, but Borderlands' unexpected success enabled the team to expand their budget during the development of Borderlands 2, allowing them to expand their scope and create more content. The development budget ultimately grew to $30–$35 million. Paul Hellquist served as the game's creative director, Jeramy Cooke as its art director, and Anthony Burch as its writer.

Sascha Dikiciyan, Cris Velasco, and Jesper Kyd worked together to craft the game's original soundtracks, while Gearbox's Raison Varner provided additional music. The game's development was completed on August 20, 2012, with Gearbox confirming that it was being prepared for duplication and release.

The game received generally positive reviews upon release, according to review aggregator platform Metacritic. Many reviewers agreed that the game is a notable improvement over the original.

Allistair Pinsof, writing for Destructoid, praised the gunplay and the variety of guns, which can change the gameplay experience as different weapons force players to approach combat differently. However, he was disappointed by the conservative mission design, especially for a game that features over-the-top characters. Christian Donlan from Eurogamer liked how distinct the gun manufacturers are, and felt that they have successfully modified the pace of play. He also lauded the extensive customisation options, and the enemy variety.