Games

It's slightly ironic that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! should arrive on shelves a handful of weeks after the debut of Destiny. Both titles share a similar core gameplay based around shooting, looting and upgrading skills. But their approaches couldn't be further apart.

As with its two predecessors, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! is packed to the brim with personality. So even if some may see this mid-price release as little more than an extended DLC for Borderlands 2, it ultimately doesn't matter because it's been pulled of with so much wit and charm.

Indeed, if you've played either of the earlier games in the series, then this latest outing really is just more of the same, but with the twist that the action plays out on Pandora's moon Elpis, which brings with it low-gravity fun and the need to regularly seek out oxygen pockets to keep you alive. The former shakes up the combat quite significantly, with vertical attacks quickly becoming all the rage. Otherwise, gameplay is familiar: select a mission, enter an open-world arena and start blasting away at everything you see and hoovering up the loot that gets left behind. And no matter how repetitive ...The Pre-Sequel!  threatens to get, the vast array of weaponry and upgrades on offer will keep you coming back for more.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!, 2K Games, Xbox 360/PS3/PC/Mac, £30 Approx
HCC VERDICT: 4/5