Gearbox Software found themselves with a smash hit on their hands with their ambitious title Borderlands, an FPS/RPG hybrid that put a post-apocalyptic spin on classic dungeon crawling, loot-grabbing games. For the uninitiated (And seriously, how can you not have played Borderlands by now?), up to four players are tasked with exploring an alien wasteland populated by bandits, bugs, and baddies in what plays like a cross between Fallout 3 and Diablo. Fortunately each of the four playable classes have their own unique abilities as well as millions (In terms of varying stats, ammo types, and attachments such as scopes and silencers) of different guns to use.  Seeing as how the game sold very well, it comes as no surprise that Gearbox would release a sequel, Borderlands 2, due out in early-to-mid 2012. And while the original game did well, there’s always more room for improvement. So without further ado here’s a list of features and ideas that hopefully make their way into what will no doubt be one of next-year’s biggest titles.

Double the Classes, Double the Fun

     First and foremost (And probably most obviously), we’re going to want to see some new character classes. While each of the classes were varied enough to allow for really diverse teams  it seemed as though a majority of players would pick Mordecai, the sniper who could send his pet bird to rain hell down upon enemies. In the sequel, there should hopefully be a much larger focus on the team needing specific roles to be filled. For example, how about class that summons A.I based pets to fight alongside you, tanking enemies and providing support to the rest of the team. This would also allow solo-players to at least have a companion to help them lay waste in the wasteland. Or, how about a class that focuses on using powerful elemental abilities more so than guns to destroy enemies. Of course, using just one ability per class isn’t very fun, now is it? That being said, hopefully Borderlands 2 will allow players to choose from several different active skills to use in combat allowing for dynamic battles where you aren’t always relying on your guns. And speaking of guns…

Guns Don’t Kill People…Wait, Yes They Do

     Borderlands 2 will most assuredly have an insane amount of guns. And yes the original game did have A HUGE arsenal (The shotgun that “shoots #$@%ing rockets”, anyone?), however the difference between the SMG you’ve been using versus the new one you just found in a rare chest tends to be a few stats apart. So, let’s hope that Gearbox goes absolutely crazy with the next game’s weaponry. Napalm launchers that do electricity damage? Sure! What about a gun that lays mines which explode on contact and launches an enemy 30ft into the air? Hell, how about a gatling gun that shoots poisonous bees, swarming the enemies and driving them batshit insane. On top of having pre-generated guns, gamers should also get the ability to tune up their existing equipment’s stats, elemental abilities, and attachments with cash or special items found in chests. But what do you do when you realize you’ve wasted all your ammo recreating scenes from Rambo? That’s where melee weapons would come in to play. Aside from Brick’s unique class ability, melee in Borderlands does nothing more than slightly irritate foes. Hopefully, Borderlands 2 will contain some weapons used solely for melee, allowing you to get up-close and personal with your enemies.

Catch A Riiiiiide!

     Borderlands’ vehicles left much to be desired. Players could choose to outfit their vehicles with either a rocket launcher or a machine gun….And that was about it (Although, the DLC The Secret Armory of General Knoxx added three more vehicles). In the sequel, why not let players customize their own wasteland rovers? Special quests or making purchases could allow players to unlock new vehicles, attachments, options, and more to be used in a garage where vehicles could be customized to the player’s liking. This way, driving vehicles could potentially be a bit more fun rather than be a chore. Also, vehicles don’t necessarily need to be restricted to the land. A low-flying hovercraft or even a transport chopper could make for some awesome scenarios where the team rappels/parachutes out the door and on to enemy territory.

Environmental Awareness

     Borderlands is a great looking game and the areas you visit give it a very distinct, yet unique wasteland feel. But in Borderlands 2, the large expanses of desert roads, murky caves, and junk-filled shantytowns just won’t cut it. Pandora is a huge world and while the planet is supposed to be primarily a desert it would be nice to see what the world looks like during its winter season (Which, according to the game’s lore, lasts for seven Earth years while the summer season lasts for three). Pandora also has large expanses of water that could be explored with, say, the aforementioned vehicles? The idea of cruising around on a speedboat and finding a bandit pirate ship (A completely random occurrence, with treasure chests to boot) would be an excellent and extremely fun scenario to play out. Then again, why restrict the game to Pandora? Why not let players think the game takes place solely on the planet, only to reveal that they must travel to other worlds! This opens up tons of new possibilities for the environments where you’ll be killing and looting. This also opens up the possibility of seeing how other people live in the universe and what their settlements are like. Although, who in the universe could replace Pandora’s lovable hicks?

Simply thinking about Borderlands 2 and how far we are away from its release is going to make the wait excruciating. Even with the huge amount of great games that are coming out this year there isn’t anything like Borderlands’, with its addicting co-op gameplay and unique charm. Of what was mentioned above, it’s all merely a list of what would be neat additions from a fan’s viewpoint, although some of it may already be in the game. Gearbox has already announced on the official Borderlands 2 website that the game will contain new characters, skills, environments, enemies, and weapons. Either way we’ll all just have to sit back and pop in a copy of the original Borderlands in order get a fix of some sweet, loot-grabbing goodness until 2012 rolls around.

Do you agree with the proposed ideas? Are there too many guns as it is? Not enough? Or do you have an idea for something completely different? Share your thoughts in the comments or send an e-mail to 4logpc@gmail.com and let us know what you think!

P.S: Gearbox Software, if it isn’t too much to ask you should really put the gatling-gun with bees in the game. Seriously.