Vault Hunters of Pandora we’ve got some surprise news for you, courtesy of the team at Gearbox. Out of quite literally nowhere, the team has confirmed that not only will we be getting Borderlands 2 in virtual reality (VR) but we’ll even be getting it before the end of the year.
Borderlands 2 was a huge hit for Gearbox Software and publisher 2K Games when it came out six years ago, and since that time the franchise has been revisited on several occasions, notably in 2016’s The Handsome Collection – which turns out to have been the catalyst to bring the title in its entirety to VR.
Borderlands 2 VR brings with it not only the original characters but new features including reworked skill trees that keep the single-player VR focus in mind and new features that play off the VR environment, such as “BAMF Time” – BadAss Mega Fun Time – which is Borderlands’ own take bullet-time from The Matrix films. While combat while in a vehicle will also become much more intuitive.
Speaking on the PlayStation Blog, Producer Brian Burlseon explains the decision in more detail. “As soon as we brought the game to PS4 as part of The Handsome Collection in 2016, our brains immediately began cranking on how we could bring the experience to VR and take advantage of PSVR’s capabilities. We all have spent years immersed in the world and these characters, so we were excited to utilise the PSVR to bring everyone in even deeper.”
Prepare for looting and shooting with gazillions of guns on December 14th 2018 for $49.99 (USD). A dynamic PlayStation theme will also be available to those who pre-order the title in advance. A trailer has also been released, and you can check that out below the announced key features list.
Key Features:
Virtually Step onto Pandora: Step into the boots of a treasure-seeking Vault Hunter armed with 87 bazillion possible guns on a quest to line your pockets with loot and free Pandora from Handsome Jack’s clutches. Blast bandits with real-world aiming, punch bullymongs in the mouth, find the perfect gun inside a life-sized treasure chest and inspect it from every angle. Catch-a-Ride and race across Pandora in first-person view and experience the thrill of a psycho running toward you with grenade in-hand yelling, “Boom time!”
Virtually Slow Time: Borderlands 2 VR includes new features unique to the VR experience to empower Vault Hunters in their fight against Handsome Jack. With Bad Ass Mega Fun Time (aka BAMF Time), players can use this new slow-mo ability to literally slow the speed of the game temporarily to set up their next attack. In addition, with the option to Teleport, players can glide across Pandora as gracefully as Claptrap (if he had grace).
Become a Virtual Vault Hunter: Take on the role of one of four playable classes – Siren, Commando, Gunzerker and Assassin – each with unique combat styles and updated skills that leverage the new VR functionality, including the new BAMF Time ability. Whether crushing enemies with Maya’s Siren powers, calling in Sabre Turret reinforcements as Axton, feeling the heft of dual-wielded machine guns as Salvador, or the satisfying swing of Zer0’s sword in an enemy’s back, Borderlands 2 VR immerses players like never before.
Experience Virtual Improvements: For the first time ever, players can experience the sublime exhilaration of driving around the Borderlands in first-person perspective – accelerating and steering with the joystick and aiming the vehicle’s weapons with their headset. With the use of the motion controllers and headset, players can interact with the menu systems in a new and intuitive way for the platform, easily navigating through the menus by pointing, clicking, dragging and dropping. Players will also have the choice of preferred movement styles. Whether that’s the VR popular pointed-teleportation, or the classic direct movement style with joysticks – your experience should feel good for VR and true to form of classic Borderlands.
Get Virtually Rich: Borderlands VR brings shoot-and-loot mechanics to VR with bazillions of procedurally-generated guns and gear, each with their own capabilities and modifiers. Procedurally-generated shields, grenades, relics, class mods and more round out your Vault Hunter’s arsenal for maximum power and mayhem.
VRFocus will bring you news on everything Borderlands 2 VR as soon as we hear anything else.