Borderlands 2 perfects the recipe to near mythical heights with Handsome Jack, one of gaming's finest villains. The loot is addictive, the writing crackles, and four-player co-op still produces legendary nights today.
First-person shooter by Gearbox Software and 2K Games, September 2012. Four bounty hunters battle Handsome Jack and Hyperion Corporation to liberate Pandora. New skills system, millions of procedural weapons and equipment, four-player online co-op and biting humor. The most acclaimed Borderlands franchise entry.
Borderlands 2 review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
Cel-shading with thick inked outlines, a garish palette and a deranged post-apocalyptic universe: the game looks like a playable comic book. The over-the-top design of the enemies and the trashy aesthetic compose an immediately recognisable identity. This visual direction, stylish and unbridled, left a lasting mark on the FPS.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Harvesting a deluge of randomly generated weapons keeps the loot-and-shoot loop just as exhilarating solo as in co-op. The complementary classes and biting humor spice up every firefight. A pillar of the looter-shooter, it retains a snappy gunplay and a generosity of content that make it utterly devouring even today.
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Carving through enemies to land a gun with never-before-seen stats endlessly restarts a loot loop sharpened by biting humor and a memorable villain. Improving your skills and tracking down legendary weapons reward the persistence. The farming can go in circles, but the sheer generosity of content and the co-op fun hold you for dozens of hours.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
With its weapon generator boasting near-infinite combinations, the adventure invites endless farming for the perfect loot, class by class and build by build. The main campaign is merely a starting point: teeming side quests, endgame raids, mastery levels and four-player co-op stretch the experience indefinitely, a cocktail of loot and biting humor that turned it into one of the most replayed pillars of the catalog.
North American (NTSC-U) edition of Borderlands 2, a sequel that refines Gearbox's loot-shooter formula with savage humor and a memorable antagonist, one of the genre's biggest successes. Very widespread on the US market, its collector interest stays modest, its desirability resting on its recognized quality and a lasting demand rather than scarcity. A prime but accessible piece for an NTSC-U shooter set, sought in a complete box.
Better with friends
Loot pillaging and unhinged gunplay marry here in four-player co-op where everyone cultivates their class and a wild arsenal. Mutual aid dominates, but the race for legendary guns breeds a teasing one-upmanship full of twists. Playable two-player in local split-screen, it suits express sessions as well as long campaigns, always with savage humor.
Is Borderlands 2 still worth playing in 2026?
Released in 2012 on Xbox 360, Gearbox's Borderlands 2 perfects the first game's formula in every way and remains a peak of the looter shooter. The generosity of the arsenal, the variety of classes and the quality of the writing, carried by a Handsome Jack turned cult antagonist, lift the whole well above its elder. Four player co op unleashes a gleeful chaos, and the add on content extends the adventure by dozens of hours. The pacing can stretch in solo. But the overall balance commands respect. For fans of shooting, loot and co op, this classic remains a safe bet today.
