The latest game in Gearbox Software's critically acclaimed Borderlands series has almost hit store shelves. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands will be a spin-off of the mainline Borderlands franchise and will bring the formula to the tabletop RPG world. It will be the first game in the series to stout character creation and will be disconnected from the actual story. After it releases, Gearbox will be looking toward what is next for the Borderlands series, and it should consider making a second Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel released in 2014 and was made by 2K Australia with assistance from Gearbox Software. The game took place in-between Borderlands 1 and Borderlands 2, but was released two years after Borderlands 2. Each of the playable characters was a previous NPC or boss, and the game helped provide more context for the story of Borderlands 2. It was a unique idea for the Borderlands series and added many new elements to the franchise that deserve to be explored again.
What Borderlands: The Pre Sequel Looked Like
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel took place in between Borderlands and Borderlands 2. It let players choose between four heroes that all appeared in previous Borderlands games. They could play as the Gladiator Athena who appeared in the Borderlands DLC The Secret Armory of General Knoxx, Nisha the Lawbringer who appeared in Borderlands 2 as Handsome Jack's girlfriend, Claptrap who is in every Borderlands game, and the Enforcer Wilhelm who appears as a cybernetic minion of Handsome Jack in Borderlands 2. Post-launch DLC added two more heroes; Handsome Jack's body double named Timothy Lawrence and the Baroness Aurelia, who is the sister of Sir Hammerlock.
The story of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel begins after Borderlands 2 and shortly after Episode 3 of Tales from the Borderlands, with Athena recounting her story to Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai. She tells them the tale of her hunt for a vault on Pandora's moon, Elpis. A Hyperion programmer named Jack, who would one day become Handsome Jack, tasked her and the other vault hunters with finding this vault. Thus, the game begins as the player traverses various locales and watches Handsome Jack descend into villainy.
The game introduced some new gameplay mechanics to the series, some of which were expanded upon in Borderlands 3 while others got left behind. The Pre-Sequel introduced two new weapon types in laser guns and cryogenic freezing weapons. The game also added low-gravity environments to the series, as players had to fight through environments which allowed them to jump higher and caused items to float. The Pre-Sequel was the only game that let players traverse airless environments, as players had to watch their O2 levels, something that added a whole new level of difficulty to the game.
What a Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel-Sequel Could Look Like
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel provided more Borderlands gameplay for fans to enjoy and more context for events in Borderlands 2. It also allowed players to play as a variety of NPCs that they had met throughout the series, making them more connected to these characters. It was a unique title for the Borderlands series and was received pretty well by fans, and the series should attempt another game in the same style.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Sequel could take place in-between Borderlands 2 and Borderlands 3. Borderlands 3 takes place 7 years after Borderlands 2, and in that time the Calypso twins have formed the Children of the Vault and gained immense power to hunt down the Great Vault. However, the game does not provide much information for how the Children of the Vault gained the power that it did, and the Calypso twins are weaker overall villains compared to Handsome Jack. A Pre-Sequel sequel could help provide that context and show the Calypso twins' rise to power, much like how The Pre-Sequel showed Handsome Jack's descent into evil.
The game could also put players in the shoes of past villains or NPCs again. Maybe it could be the first time that Rhys becomes playable outside of Tales from the Borderlands, or perhaps Gearbox could finally give players control over Tiny Tina. The explosives expert would be fresh off the heels of Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, so it would be the perfect time to let players play as her. Gamers could play as one or both of the Calypso twins, or they could play as smaller villains like Katagawa Jr, General Traunt, or even the first Borderlands 3 boss Shiv.
After Tiny Tina's Wonderlands hits store shelves, fans of Borderlands will surely be wondering what is next for the franchise. Gearbox could go right to Borderlands 4, or it could focus on another Pre-Sequel game. The second option is worthy of consideration, as Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel was unique concept that deserves to be expanded upon.
