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Why Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel's Story Falls Flat and How It Could've Been Better [SPOILERS]


Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!, 

released in 2014, is set chronologically between the games Borderlands and Borderlands 2. When it was released, it was under slight controversy because of the differences between it and it's predecessor, Borderlands 2.

Borderlands: TPS was produced by the Australian subdivision of 2K, the Borderlands series publisher. Since 2K is American, there is a large difference between the values of the studios. Most notably is the fact that the setting of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is more or less Australia in space.

What went wrong?

This wouldn't be that bad if not for 2K Australia's determination for making the game as Australian as possible.

But the game's blatant Australian-ism isn't what does it in, no. I believe the problem lies in the story and the lack of uniqueness and memorability. See, since BL:TPS is set between the first two games, it's seen as a side story, a spinoff of sorts, not a part of the real series. This, unfortunately means that it's generally less memorable in general. However, that isn't the fault of the writing.

The writing does come into play, however, when you look at the game in comparison to Borderlands 2. Borderlands 2 is chock full of unique dialogue, interesting characters, new areas, etc. It's cited as being the best in the series thus far, but that's just an opinion. Borderlands:TPS, since it is technically an aside to the original story, lacks much of the uniqueness that captivated players in Borderlands 1 and 2. The characters and their interest come into question as well. Unfortunately, some character simply fall flat in general. Many characters are seen as "annoying" or "boring" in the eyes of players for one reason or another.

So how could they have done better?

Well, that's hard to say. A fix to the lack of uniqueness and could very well be a more defined and streamlined user experience, but it could also be improved by putting more thought into the dialogue. Much of the dialogue in BL:TPS isn't bad, but compared to BL2 it could've had more work and time put into it.

The characters could very well have been improved by the same solution. By taking more time to define each character's traits, dialogue, motivation, etc. Take one of the game's bosses, The Bosun. The Bosun is an ex-computer programmer who is running the crashed spaceship in which he is fought, but past that he's... Not much. He's misogynistic and generally a mean and crude man, but doesn't have any other defining traits or motivations. By improving characters like this, it may help to improve the game's general sense of worldbuilding and thus help with its uniqueness.

My tip for today: even when in a crunch, take the time to think out ever move deliberately. You may get a pat on the back for a day of good work, but you'll be a legend for a lifetime of it.
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