Gearbox Reveals 'Badass System' for Borderlands 2

Category: Gaming
Posted: July 15, 2012 03:59PM
Author: bp9801

Gearbox Software has big plans for Borderlands 2, ones that will help the game remain popular years after launch. Gearbox has recently unveiled the "Badass system" for Borderlands 2, which is a "character-wide progression system with an infinite number of levels." Playing Borderlands 2 will add levels to your Badass rank, which is linked to your game profile. Your Badass rank will apply to all of your characters so you do not have to worry about having to reacquire more when you want to switch. The game randomly picks a set of statistics when you redeem a Badass token, and then you pick the statistic to increase. Gearbox is not revealing any details on how the statistics are picked just yet, so we will have to wait closer to Borderlands 2's launch to know for sure.

Gearbox president Randy Pitchford believes some Borderlands 2 players will have Badass ranks in the thousands, since he feels the game can be played forever. The studio has used data from gamers still playing Borderlands 1 and can use that to predict how Borderlands 2 will be played long after launch. Gearbox uses a mathematical formula to see how the Badass system will evolve, and I imagine the studio will be keeping an eye on it years down the road. Pitchford sees Borderlands 2 more like a hobby than a game, something that can be enjoyed for a long time rather than discarded. Some $60 games do not have nearly the value they are worth, so if Borderlands 2 can have the value of hundreds of dollars worth of games, Pitchford thinks gamers will be happy. I know I will be if that is true.

Borderlands 2 arrives on the PC, PS3, and 360 on September 18th. The images below show off some of the different customization for multiplayer characters, which will finally allow you to tell apart two friends using the same character. We can also see the new game menus, the Mechromancer, and a few other areas.