What I'd Like to See in Borderlands 2

The original Borderlands was apparently successful enough to warrant a sequel, and it sounds as though Gearbox is taking the effort to make Borderlands 2 a worthy sequel, and not just a "re-hash everything and put it in a new box" kind of affair. They're talking about learning from the original game, strengthening and expanding the game's core elements, while getting rid of or revamping the other aspects.

The first game was very entertaining, bringing me back for hundreds of hours hunting for better weapons and trying out new classes. But it felt really shallow and repetitive at times. So in light of my experiences with the original, and with what Gearbox is saying about the sequel, here are the sorts of things I'd like to see in Borderlands 2.

Assassin's Creed: Worst Recent Game of All Time

Assassin's Creed sucks. Plain and simple. It showed a lot of potential, and got tons of marketing, but the thing is just terrible. Everything starts out interesting, but then it goes downhill for the entire remainder of the game. Further and further into the abyss of suckiness. Right up until the final stretch, at which point it buckles under the weight of sheer awfulness and turns into a black hole. It's hard to believe that a game from a reputable studio with a budget of over $20,000,000 could turn out so bad. But it did. So here's why Assassin's Creed is the worst game ever.

Be Good or Be Better

Be Good is a free alpha project by Jake Spencer. It's basically a point-n-click adventure game done in claymation. You play through a montage of scenes from your life (growing up as Donald Martin) making binary decisions and reactions before your inevitable death. It's supposed to be somewhat thought-provoking, making you wonder if things would've been different if you'd acted differently yourself. It's an interesting way to spend some time, even if the gameplay is somewhat crude and doesn't quite reach its potential, but it's still worth checking out. More about Be Good after the jump.

More Games Need Borderlands-Style Multiplayer

A large part of the appeal in Gearbox Software's Borderlands is the multiplayer, which allows up to four players to join together in the campaign. Most of the game is actually pretty bland and repetitive, but the multiplayer makes it feel rewarding. Well, leveling-up and collecting loot is pretty rewarding in and of itself, but the multiplayer really seals the deal. There aren't a whole lot of games out there that allow for this style of multiplayer, dropping-in and dropping-out while working on the full campaign, upping the challenge and rewards with more players. Which is a shame because it's really fun.

I don't have much else to say besides that, but if you click the "read more" stuff you can watch an amusing trailer about how awesome Borderlands is and why it's not for mainstream sissies. Oh, and a sound file of some excellent in-game music.

Majora's Mask is Better Than Ocarina of Time

Majora's Mask has the unfortunate luck of being the younger brother to one of the most beloved, classic games of all time. Ocarina of Time gets all the love and attention, from GameCube re-releases, Master Quest re-makes, and 3DS releases, while MM sits alone in the corner, an under-appreciated gem. Which is sad, because MM is the better game, and deserves at least a little bit of attention. So let's break it down point-by-point to examine why Majora's Mask is better than Ocarina of Time.

Episodic Games: "Still Waiting"

Let's talk about them new-fangled "episodic games" for a bit. They first showed up on the scene in 2006 with Sin: Episodes, followed shortly by Half-Life 2: Episodes. The idea was to release a full-length game in smaller chunks called "episodes." They'd cost a fraction of a full-priced game, and would be released about every six months. It was a novel idea at the time, but look where it's gotten us. There's still a lot of potential yet to be tapped with episodic games, but so far the concept has been mostly disappointing.

What Happened to Guild Wars?

Two weeks ago I reminisced about how much I missed Guild Wars. So nostalgic was I that I reinstalled it with all of the expansions that I never got around to, and jumped back into the game that set a new standard for how online games could function.

And then I discovered that the game had changed rather significantly in the last five years. The sense of community seems to have faded, at least in the campaigns, and so the feeling of questing, adventuring, and monster-slaying no longer feels wholesome. What happened to Guild Wars?