Borderlands 2 dev talks co-op

Borderlands remains one of our favourite games of recent years. Its unique rendering technique, memorable characters and straight-forward yet compelling gameplay have made it an instant favourite among many gamers.

One of the game’s best features is its built in co-operative multiplayer component, and just how Gearbox tweaks this portion of the game in the upcoming sequel will largely determine whether it can rise above the accolades achieved by the first game.

Borderlands 2

Co-Optimus.com recently conducted an interview with Gearbox creative director Paul Hellquist, and a large portion of the discussion was focused around the game’s co-op element, and how it will be implemented.

“There aren’t a lot of games that embrace the split screen part of the market, and we found that Borderlands fans played an awful lot of split screen. So we’re looking to improve the interface for split screen, so the experience is better for those players in Borderlands 2,” said Hellquist.

He also revealed that the developer is working towards implementing online split-screen, which will allow “split screen players to go online, so you and your brother can be sitting on the couch, while playing with two other players online anywhere in the world.”

Borderlands 2

Hellquist also stated that loot sharing will remain mostly unchanged in co-op mode. This has been put down to the limitations imposed by the console control interface. “You know, in an MMO on PC you can bring up pop-up windows that sit on the side, and you can share inventory quickly like that,” said Hellquist.

“We sort of embrace the ‘wild west’ nature of Borderlands 2 by taking a ‘let God sort it out’ attitude to who gets what when it comes to loot, and when working together in co-operatively play.”

When asked if there will be special areas in Borderlands that can only be accessed in co-op mode, Hellquist said this would not be the case, and that the game will be 100% completeable in single player mode.

“Gears of War can do a lot of those things because even if no one else is playing with you, the AI is controlling your partners. But in Borderlands 2 we don’t do that with the AI, as we want to focus on all of the other systems we deliver.”

Borderlands 2

When asked about a possible competitive multiplayer component, Hellquist admitted that the developer had discussed the possibility.

“We talked a bit about competitive multiplayer when we were in the early planning phases, and we really believe that our strength is in the friendly co-operative gameplay, so we just wanted to improve that experience, and improve the sense of connecting with your friends.

“This includes finding your friend’s games easily, as well as connecting to them, and across all formats, this is amazingly much better than it was in the original Borderlands.

“We really decided to focus on this, and to make sure our co-op experience is the best, so we chose to put competitive multiplayer on the back burner for perhaps a later day.”

Borderlands is expected out sometime between April 2012 and the end of the year, and is being released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Source: Co-Optimus.com

Borderlands 2