Borderlands 2 is a tough game. Tougher than I remember the first game being, in fact. It's also an incredibly large game, with plenty of side quests, challenges and achievements to burn through.

Now that I've finished the game and seen a lot of what it has to offer, I thought I'd lend a hand with a few beginner's tips. Here's what I've got:

1. Have friends

Sorry, recluses. Borderlands 2 is really built for the cooperative experience. Big battles can be a drag, sometimes seemingly impossible, when you solo them.

Each playable character has something unique to contribute, too. The siren suspends enemies in the air, the commando drops turrets, the assassin can go invisible, the gunzerker can dual wield for maximum death dealage. Altogether the four vault hunters are a cohesive team. You'd be remiss to not experience the game with three others. Remiss, and often dead. Very, very often. Which brings me to my next point.

2. Set aside lots of time for those main story missions

You can organize your quest list by main/side missions. This will give you an idea of which might be the lengthiest ones for you to complete.

Some battles have taken me a long time to finish, even with friends. So if you suspect you're about to go on an epic journey to kill that one dude that the other person wanted you to kill, you might want to be sure you have the next hour or so free to do so.

You can't stop mid-quest. Saving and quitting the game will leave you off at that first checkpoint. I made my way all through a bandit camp, reached the boss, and then had to call it a night because it was 1AM and I had work the next day. If you've got a busy schedule, it's something to be mindful of. If it's the weekend and you're in for a marathon and screw it, then feel free to not worry about this tip. I've definitely been there.

3. If you don't have friends, choose your class wisely

Ok, ok recluses. I've heard your groans. If you really must solo this game, I might suggest the commando. His turret is mighty helpful in a tight spot, and its kills can even get you second wind when you're on the ground fighting for your life.

Though he's certainly not my favorite. I'm partial to characters with a flair for magic-like abilities, and the sirens have always been so sexy in Borderlands. I played as Maya, and I wouldn't blame you for choosing her.

The assassin, Zer0, is also a good choice. His action ability makes him swift, and literally invisible. He can set up a decoy to distract enemies. There's nothing wrong with that.

The gunzerker is a brute and can deal massive damage. He's a good second choice if you're dead set on soloing the sequel, specifically because he regenerates ammunition (and health!) while his action ability is activated.

4. Plan out your skill tree, but don't be afraid to respec

There's a nifty little tool for you to build up your character before you hit the game. Don't get stuck building out one tree branch before you realize, "Dammit, I really want Maya's phaselock ability to deal corrosive, slag and shock damage!" Some trees start off with useful skills, but others will grow into even more useful skills. It's important to look ahead to see which tree overall suits you best.

But even if you do get stuck wanting another route, you can pay to respec your character.

And [small spoilers] you'll get a chance to redo them for free once you unlock new game plus [done with small spoilers].

Each tree will really impact the way you use your character, so definitely get intimate with how each one works.

5. Try out multiple classes

Speaking of classes, don't limit your Borderlands 2 experience to just one. The game plays entirely differently with a new character.

I got so much life out of Borderlands 1, and part of that was to do with experimenting with other classes. I never would have realized just how much I loved Mordecai if I had never played as him. I love sniping, sure, but Bloodwing was a whole other joy I couldn't really appreciate until I played through with that class.

Every character has its benefits. And you know you're going to want another excuse to play.

6. Play loooooooooots of side quests

Don't be in a hurry to get through the main storyline. I know I sometimes get excited to see the story pan out, but it's well worth stretching the experience out for as long as you can.

The story is great. Much better than the first game's, thanks to the addition of new writer Anthony Burch. But the side stories are just as great, and the missions that go along with them finally have that diversity the franchise needed.

They're all fun, and they'll let you explore more of both the planet Pandora itself, as well as its inhabitants, history and culture.

Playing through side quests will also boost your level up, making you tougher for the boss battles to come. I roughed the last boss at around level 27, but I'd really suggest going at it with a higher leveled character, especially if you'll be tackling the game alone.

7. Look for those fancy elemental weapons

There's nothing more satisfying than dropping multiple enemies down to low health, just to watch corrosive acid eat away at the remainder of their health bar. Elemental weapons give you strength, as well as speed. Using a fire-breathing shotgun and others will give you a better handle on crowd control, allowing you to move more quickly on to next threats.

Your instinct might be to look for the gun with the least sway and most damage, but elemental weapons are Borderlands 2's most powerful creations.

Plus, certain enemies are really tough to take down unless you have that magic elemental touch that attacks at their Achilles' heel. Mechs, for instance, can be taken down much easier with corrosive weapons. Varkids—bug-like creatures—hate fire. Get the right combination and you're golden.

8. Take your own vehicle

Part of the beauty of Borderlands is riding around the desert (or other, new environments in the sequel) in a badass vehicle with tons of ammunition.

I know, I know. The vehicles are specifically outfitted for players to join in together. And maybe you don't drive or navigate well, or maybe you can't lock onto targets with a rocket launcher well. In your case, you could probably benefit from having a friend in your car manning the wheel or the gun seat.

But in my case, and I'm sure in many of your cases, you'll want to drive and shoot at things like crazy. Unlimited ammunition and no cooldowns?! Of course I want to do both. Although, if you're playing with three others you'll have to split between the max two-car load-out. Still better than everyone cramming into one four-seater.

With multiple vehicles, you also have greater manpower. So, maybe, take your own vehicle.

9. Spend eridium to max out your gun clips

Ammunition can be tough to come by in Pandora, at least compared to how much of it you're using. There aren't always a decent amount of vendors selling the stuff, or enemies dropping it. Though they do ironically drop lots of money.

You can use the purple currency of eridium at the black market in the game's hub city of Sanctuary to increase your clip capacity. You can also use it to get more room in your bank, but I left that upgrade for last. I much rather be well-equipped on the battlefield, and I didn't find myself stashing too many things early on unless they were too high level for me just then.

10. There's this thing called tokens

Borderlands 2 doesn't do a great job of explaining it to you, but the game has challenges—much like the first one did—that can be redeemed for bonus stats. Challenges include things like killing X amount of skags or opening X amount of loot chests.

The more you complete, the more tokens you get. Tokens can be spent on upgrades to your stats, including gun accuracy, melee damage, shield capacity, maximum health, etc. They're incredibly useful, but by the time I realized they were a thing I had already racked up enough to spend the next 5 minutes allocating them.

Some of these tips might not fit for how you play, but I think all of them are worth considering. I'm sure you'll all come up with your own tips as well, so please feel free to share them.

And happy vault hunting!

Borderlands 2: The Kotaku Review

Have you ever been unable to get yourself out of an abusive relationship? Borderlands 2 kicked my ass, lit me on fire, took all my money and I still keep coming back for more. More »

Video contains some spoilers.

If you're up for getting a sneak peek at some of the first few NPCs and low-level bosses you'll meet in Borderlands 2, hit the video above. The game is now officially available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, so you may want to save every morsel of surprise and gorgeous art for when you've actually got your hands on it. I can feel that.

But if you're totally cool with peeking, you'll get to see the introductory cinematic for individual characters, meshed together here by our own video expert Chris Person. It features the delightful cel-shaded art and quirky characteristics you might remember from the first Borderlands, complete with funky names and funny one-liners.

But, Patricia Tannis, you are truly insane. For not being a lover of bacon. Mmm bacon.

Happy vault hunting everyone!

Have you ever been unable to get yourself out of an abusive relationship? Borderlands 2 kicked my ass, lit me on fire, took all my money and I still keep coming back for more.

Three years ago Gearbox made a game called Borderlands. It was a colorful, cel-shaded first-person shooter with a few RPG-like qualities that let you build one of four characters in a way you wanted.

(They were all great, but my particular favorites included the sniper with a pet bird who he could send on attacks and a magically-inclined redhead who I built to blast through enemies with fire.)

Now Borderlands is back, sporting the same cel-shaded style and boasting even more loot and even more enemies. Gearbox practically invented a new number (it's in the bazillions) just to account for all the guns you can find on the planet Pandora. Fire-pistols, corrosive-SMGs, slag (a smokey purple effect) shotguns, shocking-sniper rifles. You use whatever your trigger-happy heart desires against enemies big and midget. Some of said enemies attack you with their own elemental effects. A muscular goliath will vomit up corrosive acid on you. Or a spiderant will attack with slag. Feisty robots will burn you with flamethrowers. The combinations are wild. And damn dangerous.

Forget the bandits, bugs and mechanical things trying to kill you as you walk through the open world of Pandora. The main threat in Borderlands 2 is a handsome man named Jack. Handsome Jack, if you will. The unjustly rich Hyperion corporation president is also a complete asshole. Though he's had statues of himself built in cities and propaganda posters glued on the walls, there's no denying his tyranny. The citizens of hub city Sanctuary—hiding in the one safe haven they have left—certainly don't deny it. They've been ripped off and taken advantage of by Hyperion more times than a rakk has eaten a skag. His greed is limitless, and now Handsome Jack is after dark, alien power hidden in a Vault. That's where you come in, filling the role of a vault hunter and mercenary yet again.

The ending of the first Borderlands was...anti-climatic, let's just say. It left a confusing hole in the long journey you spent to get there. Beautifully, Borderlands 2's story not only compensates directly for that emptiness—smartly tying up loose ends—but it's also a lot more complex than the first game's story.

WHY: Borderlands 2 is a charming, funny, hell of a cooperative game with lots of style and personality that you can spend hours with.

---

Borderlands 2

Developer: Gearbox
Platforms: Xbox 360 (Played), PlayStation 3, PC
Releases: September 18

Type of game: First-person shooter/RPG hybrid

What I played: 50ish hours to finish the main campaign, and a large chunk of side quests, as well as some dabbling in New Game +.

My Two Favorite Things

• So many powerful guns to shoot so many creative enemies.
• Charming, funny personality in everything from the names of quests and NPCs to the actual dialogue. And the story is much better this time around.

My Two Least-Favorite Things

• Getting snagged on invisible and visible corners. There are a lot of things you can bump into.
• Borderlands 2 is too encouraging of a cooperative experience by its difficulty. Especially considering how tough enemies are, but how little ammunition you are supplied with.

Made-to-Order-Back-of-Box-Quotes

• "I need more friends. So I can play more Borderlands 2. This is important. Please and thank you." —Tina Amini, Kotaku.com
• "I'm saddened that fireball-throwing pistols are not a real thing that I can have. I'd keep it under my pillow and sing it lullabies."—Tina Amini, Kotaku.com

I laughed a lot in Borderlands 1. I giggled at the names of bosses and my eyes sparkled at shiny new weapons. I enjoyed listening to dialogue from all the personalities of non-player characters, showing off their paranoia or charismatic banter.

But my heart never dropped in Borderlands 1. I was never shocked or appalled by something I just witnessed in the progression of the story. I felt all those things on my second run through Pandora. It caught me completely off guard in the best way, even if I'm still upset by the things that happened. The story in Borderlands 2 occasionally gets serious, dark even, and it was something I felt and believed rather than just listened to. I have never been so invested in Pandora and its citizens until this sequel.

Non-player characters still have that twisted humor edge that you'll recognize from the first title. All your favorites—Claptrap, Scooter, Patricia Tannis, Mad Moxxi—and some new ones—Tiny Tina, Ellie—and even the four vault hunters we played as in the first Borderlands add to the character of the sequel. They all have personal vendettas and agendas they need your help to carry out. They'll all leave their mark on Pandora in some way. And they'll all be fundamental to your mission in taking down Handsome Jack.

Enemies are just as awkwardly lovable as the NPCs. Bandits will cry out things like "I almost paid off my mortgage!" when you kill them. How often do you find a game that makes you chuckle mid-battle? In the midst of being circled by threshers who can warp you into their range or crystalisks who can spit out explosive crystals at you, there's always something to appreciate or be impressed by.

Some decisions about combat confused me, though. While pursuing certain quest lines imperative to the main story, you'll begin a long sequence through the one zone it's contained in. These range from snowy battlegrounds filled with mechs to bandit camps filled with tattooed psychos. These treks last for awhile. Typically they'll start off with a health and ammo vending machine so you can load up before you run into enemies.

But Borderlands 2 is a difficult game with fickle enemies. They're hell-bent on living. One ammo vendor just won't cut it, especially when enemies tend to drop more money than they do ammunition. And if you're playing with friends, you can count those random loot boxes to be split at least 50/50 if not by up to a quarter. Unless you're *that* person who runs up to loot every box before anyone else can get to it.

I found myself without ammunition all too often while working my way through Borderlands 2's long quest lines. Enemies are tough; they require a lot of bullets shoved into their faces before they'll go down. And they go down fighting. Robots will charge at you to explode with EMP power, which often took down my shields and dropped me close to death. Or they drag their half damaged bodies across the platform to you, even throwing grenades with their good arm. Survival is tough on Pandora since Handsome Jack took charge. His Hyperion-powered mechs and bounty-hunting bandits won't make it easy for you.

I figured out that playing as the new siren, Maya, was not the best choice to power-solo through Borderlands 2. Granted, the new skill trees—separated into three main trees—are so varied from one another that my Maya may be completely different than another player's Maya. I chose to be a more destructive Maya, dealing heavier damage and adding elemental effects to her strikes, but only after I tried her as more of a healing character. She still never felt too equipped to defend herself against the large waves of enemies Borderlands 2 constantly throws at you. Waves even mix with each other, sometimes to your detriment, but luckily sometimes to your benefit as you watch bandits kill off bullymongs.

But even when I played co-op, with fellow game journalists who chose the more independent commando or gunzerker, they found conserving ammunition to be just as much of an issue. It was next to impossible.

So I tried making the run all the way back to the start of the level to use all the cash I picked up on some direly needed ammunition. Some levels were so long, though, that enemies would start to respawn as I made my way back. It felt a little bit like torture. You could say it's part of the challenge, that respawning enemies test your ability to complete missions under a timed pressure. If you feel that way, all the better. Because Borderlands 2 will have that pressure looming over your head. Take too long to finish off a wave of enemies, and they'll be spawning behind you before you know it.

This kind of brutality on the player makes one thing crystal clear about Borderlands 2: it's very much meant to be a co-op game. Especially when considering the siren, whose action ability is to suspend enemies in the air, it's obvious that a lot of the game was made with the cooperative experience in mind.

The commando's turrets make that class probably the most ideal for a solo experience, but power in numbers is heavily emphasized here. You'll certainly be facing off against an overwhelming swarm of enemies at once, so you might as well come packing. The swarms sometimes feel endless. Having a friend or three at your back can mean the difference between getting through a quest in an hour or getting through the same quest in 20 minutes. Even with skill points spent towards increased critical hit percentage, deadeye aim and some wildass smartbomb talent, it's still preferable to play with friends to get through it all.

Playing Borderlands 2 at its most ideal setting—namely, with friends—is still a challenge. Especially in later levels, you'll often find yourself pressed up against a wall with so much chaos in front of you that your head will spin. And that's a good thing, when you know you have friends to hold the fort while you run back from the last checkpoint.

Borderlands 2 is best played at the slowest pace possible. Explore. Try out all the mission board quests. Look around for yellow exclamation points as you drive through the map to pick up even more quests. Do each one. The variety in quests is refreshing, especially thinking back to side quests in Borderlands that often felt stale and monotonous. In Borderlands 2 side quests will take you to meet new quirky characters, learn more about Handsome Jack and his reign of terror, or learn more about the vault and Pandora and the original four vault hunters. There's a lot to learn out there in your second pass through Pandora. There's a lot of fun, funny new story arcs to experience, too.

The only downside to having a ton of fun side quests is that there's no way to easily track them. There's the standard method of organization that groups quests that are a part of the same area together on a list, but you can't toggle through them easily on the map. You'll have to manually cycle through them, clicking on new ones and then switching back to the map to see where you need to go. An indicator of a nearby quest on your way to your intended one seems like an easy addition. But really it's just a minor nuisance. Just ask that one friend you always make drive to keep you on track with quests. I'm sure they'll oblige (I always do, and I always like driving, too).

There's so much more I should tell you about Borderlands 2. I want you to know about the enemies that will evolve into more dangerous, badass versions of themselves if you don't kill them off in time.

I want to tell you about the new weapons. Weapons whose reticles will focus—and thereby increasing your accuracy with it—the more you shoot. Weapons you throw at enemies for extra damage instead of just reloading the proper (read: boring) way. Weapons that have fire, corrosive, shock, and slag damage that you'll use against enemies that can wield that same damage against you. In fact, the game practically necessitates that you seek out those weapons with extra elemental effects, either for splash or continuation damage, or because they work well against an enemy's armor type.

I want to tell you about how stylish the game is, and about how much personality it has. Every time you die and Hyperion resurrects you, you'll get a snide, wiseass remark from the machine in question. Whoever you choose to play as will make comments about their fighting prowess mid-battle or mumble about what weapon to choose when you find new loot. Characters have funky costumes and flair like they did in Borderlands 1, but you see a lot more of that in the sequel. You can even make your own character look absolutely fabulous.

But there's really only one thing that you need to know about Borderlands 2. It's a tough, stylish, emotional ride through everything that made Borderlands 1 such a great game. Pick three friends, span the character classes, and get to killing. You won't be disappointed.

Meet The Very Colorful Cast of Borderlands 2

Video contains some spoilers.
If you're up for getting a sneak peek at some of the first few NPCs and low-level bosses you'll meet in Borderlands 2, hit the video above. More »

As they should.

This launch trailer tells me a few things. For instance, Handsome Jack is an asshole, but we already knew that. The siren Maya is a damn good option for cooperative play, but I already knew that. Oh, and there are a ton of bandits and mechs to fight through. A ton. To be met by lots of explosions and fire. That'll be your doing.

I'm also loving the siren love exchanged between Lilith and Maya. They're my favorite.

Look for my review tonight, and look for the game when it releases tomorrow.

We've seen some swell Borderlands cosplay leading up to Tuesday's release of Borderlands 2, but those were in still photos. Here's a video tribute to the original characters from Gearbox Software's smash hit from three years ago.

Don't go looking for much of a big story, surprise or sight gag—though I do like the post-production attention paid to the loot drops and Lilith's Phase Walk (and the shitheaded AI of the bandits at the beginning. Seriously). It's just a love letter to Borderlands from some skilled cosplayers and filmmakers.

And yet the game sold a ton of copies, and the sequel is one of the most hyped games of the fall. A lot of that was because Borderlands was a fun game, but I truly think that the above song, "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" by Cage The Elephant, embodies Borderlands' come-from-behind success.

When most of us first heard about Borderlands, it didn't have its distinct attitude, or that cel-shaded style, or any of that—it was kind of this grey, post-apocalyptic shooter. If that game had come out in fall of 2009, it would have been sent to die. But Borderlands was revamped, given an attitude and an art-style to set it apart, and an ad campaign to match. And the whole thing was fueled by kick-ass music.

This trailer, which was the first to use the Cage The Elephant song, was also the first time I sat up and said, "Okay, I'm interested."

The song was modified a bit and used in the game's actual introduction, which also worked really well. The whole cheeky vibe, the "Brick as himself" thing and all that, it's really cool. And it's the way it's all cut to fit with the song that really sets it off. It's got that Guy Ritchie feel, hip-ass self-aware schlock cinema. It just worked.

And actually, this second ad, featuring "No Heaven" by DJ Champion, was almost as cool. Gearbox (or 2K) certainly has a thing for picking good music for Borderlands ads.

It goes to show that a well-chosen song can go a long way toward making an impression for an untested game. It should've been impossible to launch a brand new shooter right up against Modern Warfare 2. Thanks at least in part to some great musical selections, Borderlands broke through. Now the franchise is so big that the sequel could have been scored by Justin Bieber and we'd still all play it.

Well okay, maybe no game is that big.

I've seen my fair share of Borderlands cosplay over the years. Some great, some awful, most somewhere in between.

I've never seen any this good, though.

German cosplayer MadameSpontaneous stars as Lilith, though her pals look just as good. Some of the pics are supplied by the cosplayers, others are from Trochly Photographers.

While getting the costumes right is most of the battle, the real triumph here is the cel-shading effect they're applied to not only their faces, but their clothes as well. Really helps sell the in-game effect!

MadameSpontaneous [DeviantArt, via TDW]

It's always "Mechromancer this" or "Nerchromancer" that. Why does no one call the robot-riding downloadable character for Borderlands 2 by her real name? Oh, we didn't know it. Now we do. Hello, Gaige. Nice death machine you've got there.