New York, U.S.A. — There are more guns, more mayhem and more gamers on Pandora than ever before, and they’ve brought friends. 2K and Gearbox Software announced on November 5 that, to date, more than 5 million units of Borderlands 2 have been sold-in to retailers worldwide, making it one of the most popular video games of the year.

With the recent release of the all-new Mechromancer character class, the Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty add-on campaign, and three new add-on campaigns scheduled to release throughout the coming months, the shooting and looting mayhem continues to gain momentum.

A sequel to the 2009 breakout hit, Borderlands 2 released on September 18  to critical acclaim across the globe and currently has an average Metacritic score of 90 as of October 30, 2012

G4TV scored it a perfect 5 out of 5 and said “This is the grand, loot-filled adventure you’ve been waiting for.” Game Informer and IGNawarded it a 9.75 out of 10 and 9 out of 10 respectively with IGN declaring, “This is an excellent shooter no one even remotely curious should overlook.”

“We’re thrilled with the momentum of Borderlands 2 and it’s really a testament to all the hard work that the team at 2K and Gearbox put in to make this a must play game,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “TheBorderlands series has never been more popular, and with continued support through substantial add-on campaigns, Borderlands 2 has cemented itself as one of the industry’s mega franchises.”

A fifth playable character class, Gaige, the Mechromancer, was released earlier this month and is free for members of the Premiere Club who pre-ordered Borderlands 2 from participating retailers. For those who are not members of the Premiere Club, Gaige is available for purchase separately for $9.99 (800 Microsoft points). Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty, the first add-on campaign content for Borderlands 2, was also released earlier this month and can be downloaded now by anyone who has purchased a Season Pass, or can be purchased individually for $9.99 (800 Microsoft points).

The Borderlands 2 Season Pass includes $39.96 of add-on content and is available for $29.99 (PlayStationNetwork) / 2400 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE) / $29.99 (PC). Once purchased, the Borderlands 2 Season Passenables gamers to download all of the announced add-on content campaigns for free as they become commercially available on the PlayStationNetwork, Xbox LIVE and PC. All four add-on content campaigns are scheduled to be available by June 2013.

“The overwhelmingly positive response to Borderlands 2 from our fans has been incredible,” said Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox Software. “Players have embraced Borderlands 2 as their next hobby with over 50 million interactions with Claptrap in the central town of Sanctuary and 12,000 real world years’ worth of time spent shooting and looting their way through Pandora! We are just getting started and have incredible momentum to improve and add to the game all the way through the holiday season and beyond. We can’t wait to show everyone what more we have in store forBorderlands 2.”

“The Borderlands franchise has redefined cooperative online gaming and the original game’s ability to engage users years after its 2009 launch has been a guiding light for the rest of the industry,” said Jesse Divnich, VP of Insights & Analysis at research firm EEDAR. “Borderlands, has been able to achieve attach rates north of 25% when the industry average is 14% and we anticipate that downloadable expansion packs for Borderlands 2 will generate similar attachment rates.”

Borderlands Legends, a new mobile gaming experience, extends the critically acclaimed and award-winning Borderlands universe and is available via the iTunes App Store for $4.99 on iPhone and iPod touch, and $6.99 on iPad. Borderlands Legends is designed specifically for mobile devices and combines two popular genres, action-RPG and strategy, to create addictive, top down tactical gameplay.

Borderlands 2 is rated M for Mature by the ESRB and is available now on Xbox 360, PS3 and Windows PC. For the latest Borderlands 2 news and information, please visit the game’s official website. Also check out Borderlands 2 on Facebook.

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One of the most anticipated fall releases of 2012, upcoming RPG Shooter “Borderlands 2″ brings a new set of characters, reconfigures character classes and a bazillion different weapons. The Guinness Book of World Records had given Borderlands one the title of “Most guns in a game.” While the actual count of weapons in the game may be up for debate in Borderlands 2, the hype surrounding the game is the real deal. This sequel appears, by all means and in all ways, to be a very successful successor to the first game.

Gamers from the first “Borderlands” will graphically recognize “Borderlands 2″ as a much improved game. Video footage in the last year alone has revealed a ton of new data for gamers to dissect and compress into their minds. The game so far looks to be bigger. Bigger maps and level designs allow for greater freedom of movement.

Movement is one of the key focuses in “Borderlands 2,” since the enemies and their AI appear to have been beefed up significantly. Bigger, badder and with a worse temperament than before, new comers and returning fans should have no trouble engaging the enemy at any distance.  More space means better strategies, and gamers wonder if there are new and exciting ways to finish off an enemy.

More movement though, does also require better communication between players and their various action skills. Known for their co-op playing style, the team at Gearbox and 2K Games have reworked the character classes just a little bit. The Hunter, Berserker and Soldier class have all been renamed with only the Siren remaining a familiar sight. The new classes are respectively called Assassin, Gunzerker and Commando, and they appear to be fine spiritual successors to the original classes. Still, just because the Siren remains does not mean she’s without upgrades as well.

The new Mechromancer class seems to be a hybrid class that carries over the Hunter’s skill to summon an attack dog type unit similar to the Bloodwing from “Borderlands.” The skill tree design has been updated for all five confirmed character classes and thus far it seems to be working out for the better. There is less clutter, everything seems more manageable and the corresponding weapons are easier to access in comparison to the “Borderlands One.”

The enemies appear more wicked than ever before, with inspiration drawn from all walks of life. Demo video has revealed loaders that explode and loaders that chop gamers up. Some have jet packs and some are turrets, and those are just the Loader robots. There are other enemies that can be converted to play for the gamer’s side and still others that are irredeemable pains in the neck to kill since they transform. Some enemies will have tentacles called Threshers and range in size. One of the new enemies, called a Varkid, seems like Bloodwing reincarnated to come get revenge by swarming gamers.

The storyline is hopefully the real winner of “Borderlands 2.” Players from the first game commented on the sparse story development, many times glossing over written text in favor of skipping to high octane gameplay. This time around, it seems that the adventure aspect of the game, going on this great journey, is the focal point. The main information of the storyline is actually communicated by the story themselves, leading to a much more organic gameplay experience.

In a typical ‘few good men versus horrendous gigantic evil’ style storyline, there is a vault that must not be opened on Pandora or else all manner of chaos and insanity will erupt. Gameplay footage so far seems to depict the storyline with a revolutionary feel, pitting a small squad of people against a tyrannical emperor. A classic theme to be sure, so there is hope that this storyline will be an excellent companion to the seemingly fantastic game play.

“Borderland 2″ is set to amaze fans this fall with a mid September release. Perhaps teasing fans with the late release of information on the Mechromancer class as well as the start of school for many college students, this game promises to excellently distract all types of gamers into its treasure hunting, vault looting shooter action adventure. Gearbox and 2k Games succeeded in creating magic once again. Look out for Toonari Posts’ character upgrade article for the specific class to class changes, coming soon.

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