BL2: First impressions

[mmosu]

The mechromancer was released first, about a week ago was when I downloaded it.  Haven't played her yet but her skill tree looks very, erm . . . cerebral  :o

[Art Blade]

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I got my copy today and I had to auto-patch to v1.1.2. Along with the retail version I got some pre-order boni. I got the golden key, some golden weapons, due to BL1 savegame some bonus skin I believe, some other DLC, the mechromancer girl was available, I remember I've got the prime club or so DLC.. no idea what they do, actually. No real descriptions available.

However, the game installed some other crap like NET framework distributable and visual basic 2004 or some such nonsense which required reboots. After that a few crashes, windows firewall inceptions and exceptions to make and finally.. it worked.

By the way, the retail disc I got basically is just a cover. It started steam and made me download roughly 6 gigs. Why was it retail again, with jewel case and disc?

The game itself runs smoothly and is visually stunning even on an old rig such as mine and you feel immediately at home if you played BL1. You do get what you want and expected, NICE  :) :-X Oh, and for the first time.. I saw the gore  :-D

Of course I met Binnatics just while I learned to walk around in the game and we teamed up for some real co-op game. You do play the SP mission with a friend, up to 4 players in the same game, which is nice. In my case I was lvl 1 and he was lvl35. Kind of fun..  ^-^

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[PZ]

By the way, the retail disc I got basically is just a cover. It started steam and made me download roughly 6 gigs. Why was it retail again, with jewel case and disc?

That's absolutely ridiculous; what if someone had a connection like fragger (sorry fragger, no disrespect intended)!

Even though my Internet connection is quite fast now, I'd still balk at 6 gb.  I hope they advertised that fact on the "jewel" case.  Perhaps it should be renamed to a "coal" case

[Fiach]

Steam, spit, yada yada yada. :)

[Art Blade]

hehe, Fiach  ;D

Well, if it actually was/is on the jewel case they used a fine print of perhaps 0.5 font size and black letters on black background. On the other hand, the whole installation including DLCs and NET and VB plus the first crashes (firewall caused it) only took 30 minutes.

My connection usually allows downloads with 1.6 mb/sec max, but with steam I had an average of 1.7 with a top of 2.0 mb/s. Not bad, not much of a bother. :)

[Binnatics]

I had to read through quite a bit and to get back to the question weather the mecromancer was available with the pre-order pack already, I'd say yes. I started to find case mods for the girl (is it a girl??) in my SP progress after the first patch arrived. Yes, a patch, because there were some issues. One I've been experiencing myself pretty much in fact. There's a mission you get in Sanctuary, given by the lady Tannis, that won't swap to "turn in" when you complete it. So. basically, it remains in your status as an uncompleted mission while all there's left to do is turning it in. After that patch I could finally turn it in as promised and could go on with a few more side missions.

Due to the fact that Steam just updates what it wants and downloads the latter, I have no idea when all got available and what was first or second. I just paid attention to the game itself, and let steam do what it is good at: Downloading and installing gigabytes whenever it thinks it's necessary. I'm blessed with a damn fast connection (60Mb/sec) but I feel sorry for the guys who don't. The installation went smooth and without hiccups of any kind.

Seeing Art's first impressions reminds me of the fact that I had promised to post some screenies. I'll do that in a bit, since I do have a small collection already. What I don't like about steam is the way they store screenies on your PC. It's so damn hard to find them that it is sometimes hard to enthusiasm myself to start sharing them :-[

[Binnatics]

As promised, a first slideshow:


I love the game. I love Claptrap. I love his wife ^-^
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I love the game: Loot, money, how charming the view (if only it were more bucks in that chest)  ::)
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The game starts in the cold. Here's a nice, icy view.
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More treasure chests, oh boy, oh boy ::)
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These gambling machines are nice.....
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Because of this!!! Eridium gives you good ammo upgrades and backpack space, which makes it worth a bet ;)
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Sit back and enjoy the show ^-^
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Nice change of environment:
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Cartoonish, yes. Repetitive patterns in the water, yes. But it still is a nice view!!!!!!
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Oh, why was I here? for promotional purposes of course :-D :-D :-()
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[Art Blade]

Binnatics: take a look  ^-^

[Art Blade]

Today we had some more fun together and later another friend joined us.

The golden key.. I didn't realise I was going to use it (at lvl11) and when I did it was too late. I only got two grenade mods, one of which mysteriously disappeared. Binnatics decided to use his, too, and with lvl35 he got one very impressive rocket launcher.

Else, it is always possible to join a friend's game or to invite friends and it doesn't matter which level they are or how far they are in the story. I joined Binnatics in his current game and my shots dealt 1, yes ONE, damage while he dealt like 500+ damage  However, I gathered quite a lot of XP and other gear, so it was beneficial for my then lvl7 character. I levelled up 5 times due to the co-op game.

Binnatics then decided to create a 2nd character and used the Mechromancer girl :)

[smg id=4751 type=link align=center width=500 caption="BL2 2012 10 19 00003"]
[smg id=4752 type=link align=center width=500 caption="BL2 2012 10 19 00004"]
[smg id=4753 type=link align=center width=500 caption="BL2 2012 10 19 00005"]

[Fiach]

Whats the Mech like to play?

[Binnatics]

So far, Fiach, I didn't get the difference with Zero. But when I check the Skill Tree I see differences. She seems to be pretty good with elemental influences and I bought a nice upgrade that makes me regenerate health once my gun magazine is full :)

[Fiach]

So far, Fiach, I didn't get the difference with Zero. But when I check the Skill Tree I see differences. She seems to be pretty good with elemental influences and I bought a nice upgrade that makes me regenerate health once my gun magazine is full :)

Thats cool, I like elemental stuff with the siren, cheers :)

[Art Blade]

When I come to think of it, I admit that the elemental stuff is what I use most (i.e. the most powerful weapons all have elemental damage). Sniping is cool but in the end I need elemental damage. I have a few cool shields that react to melee attacks: if someone touches me, the shields shoot spikes into the attacker. I have three shields with either corrosive, explosive or burning spikes. It is extremely useful in CQC (close quarters combat) when reloading while under attack or when being attacked by multiple enemies, especially when attacked from behind. The weapons (including those spikes) that deal "long lasting" elemental effects such as fire or acid are what I like best: The enemies keep taking damage for a while which often means they run for cover and out of sight after they got hit but hey, they croak around the corner anyway while I'm sitting in a safe spot :-()

I might try her, too (after my current Zero career) :)

[fragger]

That's absolutely ridiculous; what if someone had a connection like fragger (sorry fragger, no disrespect intended)!

None taken :-D

Geez, I nearly had a fit when I read about that 6 gig Steam DL. What's the point of buying a flipping disk? :-\\

I nearly picked up BL2 the other day when I was in the shop (even though I've never played BL). Maybe I'm glad I didn't - that DL would have taken me about twelve hours to get down...

Nice screenies, Binn and AB :-X Every time I see a BL cap I think of Heavy Metal comics :-() I'm sure they must have been an inspiration for the look of the graphics in these games.

[mmosu]

Glad to see there are so many Assassins in the mix  :-X

I'm now at level 26 and about to enter the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve for the first time, and feeling pretty confident about how things are going.  I've got a pretty good loadout, and the skill tree is developing nicely as well  :-X  Overall, I think Gearbox hit this one out of the park!  The game is improved in nearly every way, and I'm astonished by the amount of content there is to sift through - so many missions, challenges, guns, and a full DLC out already (they finished the game so ahead of schedule that they started working on the first DLC before the game itself had even released), I'm gonna be playing this thing for years!!!  The snarky, juvenile humor, wacky characters, fart noises, etc. have all successfully made the jump and overall Pandora feels much more alive, diverse, and fleshed-out this time around.  And while the LOL moments are even more abundant, the combat is still solid and very satisfying. 
I'm finding that drive I had from the first game to keep grinding, level up one more time and open one more chest is back.  One of the things I'm chasing the hardest are the alternate heads and skins, which I'm having a lot of fun with  :-X  And PS - Zero is one of the coolest guys ever, in case anyone was wondering.  I've built him into a meat-eating super-killer with a stabby mean streak that just won't quit, and there's nothing more fun then hacking down a buffed goliath with a swift and accurate sword-strike in the back  >:D  I've also started a second character, using Zero to power-level a Salvador build to lvl 13 in one sitting, while my daughter (yes, my 5 year old, who is become frighteningly adept at FPS's) is working up a Maya build with some co-op help from her dear old dad  ;)

[Art Blade]

kind of a very "early adopter," your kiddo :) The game is rated PG18 here..  8-X

[mmosu]

Yeah, she doesn't care . . .  ^-^

Cracks me up watching her run around phase-locking stuff, she loves her some Maya 

[Art Blade]

heh, phase-locking kiddo  :-() Well, as long as you're always around when she plays that game I think it's OK. :)

[KingRat]

4 years later; still playing on PC, 360 and xbone. Oh, and I still hate rabid stalkers :D

[Art Blade]

see you in four.  :-()

[KingRat]

see you in four.  :-()

:-X Hopefully playing Borderlands 3 ;)

[Art Blade]

 :-D

[PZ]

 :-X ^-^

[fragger]

Well done, KingRat :-X :) It's nice to get your money's worth out of a game, isn't it? 8)

[Binnatics]

BL2 is one of the best games I've played since I joined OWG. I somehow got distracted from it, by other games if I remember correctly, but I have CRITICAL memories on the gameplay which are hard to forget :-D

I'm hoping for a BL4 or whatever that will drag my attention again ;)