Let's be real for a second. Mentioning Borderlands The Pre Sequel in a room full of Gearbox fans is basically asking for a fight. Half the room will groan about the lack of "endgame" content at launch, while the other half will start raving about how the laser weapons were the best thing to ever happen to the franchise. It’s a polarizing game. It sits in this strange, low-gravity limbo between the heights of Borderlands 2 and the refined mechanics of Borderlands 3.
But honestly? History has been way too hard on this game.
Developed by 2K Australia before the studio unfortunately shut its doors, the game was never meant to be a full-blown "Borderlands 3." It was an experiment. It took us to Elpis, Pandora’s moon, and tried to explain exactly how a somewhat charming, albeit arrogant, programmer named Jack turned into the universe's most hated dictator. It’s a tragedy wrapped in a comedy, covered in space dust.
The Oxygen Problem and Why It Actually Worked
When you first boot up Borderlands The Pre Sequel, the "Oz Kit" mechanic feels like a chore. You’re constantly looking at a blue bar, hunting for "O2" vents, and panicking when your screen starts turning red. People hated it at first. It felt like an unnecessary survival mechanic in a game that’s supposed to be about looting and shooting.
However, once you get the hang of the verticality, everything changes.
The low gravity isn't just a visual gimmick; it fundamentally redefines how you approach combat. In the previous games, you were mostly grounded. In the Pre-Sequel, you’re a projectile. You can double jump, hover, and—best of all—perform a "Slam" attack. Crushing a Scav from forty feet up while dealing elemental damage is a high that the grounded entries in the series just don’t provide. It turned the battlefield into a 3D space. Suddenly, cover didn't matter as much because you could literally leap over it.
The oxygen management also forces a specific kind of aggression. You can't just sit back and snipe forever; you have to move. You have to find that next pocket of air. It keeps the pace frantic in a way that feels distinctly "Australian" in its grit—which makes sense, given who made it.
Jack Wasn't Always the Villain
Most sequels (or prequels, in this case) struggle with "origin story" fatigue. We've seen it a million times. But Borderlands The Pre Sequel actually pulls off a nuanced character arc for Handsome Jack. When we meet him here, he’s just Jack. He’s a middle-manager with a hero complex.
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You see the cracks form in real-time.
It’s not one big moment that breaks him; it’s a series of betrayals. Watching characters like Lilith and Roland—who we loved in the first game—make morally questionable choices that push Jack over the edge is brilliant storytelling. It makes you feel slightly dirty for being the one helping him. You are his hired muscle. You are the reason he gains control of the Helios station.
The voice acting by Dameon Clarke really carries the weight here. He starts the game sounding genuinely desperate to save the world. By the end, that desperation has curdled into the narcissistic psychopathy we see in Borderlands 2. It’s rare for a looter-shooter to actually make you think about the ethics of your quest markers, but this game does it.
The Vault Hunters: A Better Class of Weirdos
Let's talk about the playable characters. In most Borderlands games, you have your standard archetypes: the Siren, the Soldier, the Assassin. Borderlands The Pre Sequel threw that out the window.
- Athena the Gladiator: Her Kinetic Aspis shield is arguably the most fun "action skill" in the entire franchise. Absorbing bullets and then throwing the shield like Captain America never gets old.
- Nisha the Lawbringer: She’s basically a walking aimbot. Her "Showdown" skill is pure power fantasy, letting you snap to targets and clear a room in seconds.
- Wilhelm the Enforcer: He’s the "summoner" of the group, but his progression is fascinating. As you invest in his skill trees, his voice actually becomes more robotic. He loses his humanity to become the cyborg boss we killed in the second game.
- Claptrap the Fragtrap: Playing as Claptrap is pure chaos. His action skill, VaultHunter.exe, analyzes the battlefield and gives you a random ability—sometimes it’s a giant bomb, sometimes it’s a disco ball that forces everyone to dance. It’s annoying. It’s hilarious. It’s perfectly Claptrap.
The skill trees in this game were significantly more creative than those in Borderlands 2. They introduced "Cryo" damage, which replaced the "Slag" mechanic. Thank goodness for that. Slag was a balancing nightmare that made the late-game of Borderlands 2 feel like a mandatory chore. Freezing an enemy solid and then shattering them with a melee hit is infinitely more satisfying.
The Grinder and the Loot Economy
One of the biggest complaints about the series has always been the RNG (random number generation). You could farm a boss for six hours and never get the legendary you wanted. Borderlands The Pre Sequel introduced the Grinder.
Basically, you take three pieces of gear you don't want, shove them into a machine, and out pops a better piece.
It gave "trash" loot value. Even if you found a crappy green-tier pistol, it was 1/3rd of a potential blue-tier shotgun. This system was so good that fans were baffled when it didn't return in the same capacity for Borderlands 3. It respected the player's time. It gave us a way to "craft" our way out of bad luck.
What Went Wrong?
It’s not a perfect game. We have to be honest about the flaws. The "Claptastic Voyage" DLC is arguably the best piece of content in the entire Borderlands franchise, but it was also the only major campaign DLC.
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Because 2K Australia was shuttered shortly after release, the post-launch support just evaporated. The game felt unfinished to some because the "Invincible" raid bosses were sparse. The level design on Elpis can also get a bit repetitive. Everything is gray, blue, and purple. After twenty hours of moon rocks, you find yourself desperately missing the orange deserts of Pandora or the green acid swamps.
There’s also the issue of backtracking. Some of the maps are massive but empty, making those "go here, then come back" quests feel like a slog even with the "Stingray" hoverbike.
Why You Should Play It in 2026
If you’ve skipped this entry because you heard it was "just a big DLC for Borderlands 2," you’ve been lied to. It’s a standalone experience that bridges the narrative gap in a way that makes the entire series feel more cohesive.
The comedy is sharper, too. The Australian influence brings a different kind of wit—more cynical, more dry. Plus, the laser weapon class is genuinely diverse. You have "railgun" lasers that act like snipers, "continuous beam" lasers that melt shields, and "blaster" lasers that feel like traditional assault rifles.
Borderlands The Pre Sequel represents a moment when the developers weren't afraid to get weird. They knew they weren't making the "main" sequel, so they took risks. Some of those risks—like the Oz Kits—were divisive. Others—like the character-specific dialogue where NPCs actually react differently depending on who you are playing as—were revolutionary for the series.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Playthrough
If you're hopping back in or starting for the first time, keep these tips in mind to avoid the common frustrations:
- Pick Athena or Claptrap for Solo Play: Athena’s shield makes you incredibly durable, while Claptrap’s lack of a "breathing" requirement means you never have to worry about oxygen levels. It changes the game entirely.
- Don’t Sell Your Legendaries: Use the Grinder. If you have two legendary weapons you don't like, grind them with a purple weapon of a specific type to "force" a legendary of that type to drop.
- Prioritize the "Claptastic Voyage" DLC: Seriously. Even if you get bored of the main story, play this. It takes place inside Claptrap’s mind and has some of the most creative level design and boss fights in gaming history.
- Farm "Iwajira": This hidden boss is located in Serenity’s Waste. He’s the unofficial "loot cave" of the game and drops plenty of moonstones and gear to keep your Grinder running.
- Use Cryo, Not Fire: Fire is useless in a vacuum (science!). Most of the game takes place in areas without atmosphere, so fire damage won't do its "damage over time" effect. Cryo, however, works everywhere and sets you up for massive critical hits.
The Pre-Sequel isn't the "black sheep" of the family; it's the eccentric middle child who moved to Australia and came back with some really cool stories. Give it a chance without comparing it to its older brother. You might find it’s actually the most creative entry in the vault.