Borderlands 2

Borderlands 2 was officially announced on August 3rd, 2011. The expected release date is September 18, 2012 for the United States and September 21, 2012 Internationally. Borderlands 2 is being built on Unreal Engine 3

Plot synopsis
Set five years after the events of Borderlands, Handsome Jack, the game's main antagonist, has taken over the Hyperion corporation, has declared himself Dictator of Pandora and stolen all of the credit for finding the Vault, going so far to claim responsibility for killing the Destroyer. Jack has also blotted out much of the light on the planet by having a giant orbiting H-shaped base set in front of Pandora's stationary moon. The new team in Borderlands 2 is tasked with killing Jack and returning peace to Pandora.

Borderlands 2 begins with the character fighting to the death to win a priceless cache of loot in a gladiatorial tournament run by Handsome Jack for his personal amusement. The player succeeds and gains notoriety, but Handsome Jack sees this as a threat to his popularity with the people. At the tournament's end he denies the reward and leaves the player for dead in a tundra. The mysterious Guardian Angel from the first game then contacts the player and explains that Handsome Jack must be killed, directing the player to rescue the four original vault hunters from Hyperion's clutches to accomplish this. 

The original characters will make appearances in the sequel as NPCs, each with their own backstory. They will each give the player characters quests to complete, furthering the main storyline. A good example of this is Roland. For his quest, he is being held captive in a floating cell named W4R-D3N (Pronounced - War-Den) and you must come to his rescue, while contending with bandits and Handsome Jack's robot sentries.
 * Anthony Burch of "Hey Ash Whatcha Playin'" is writing the story for Borderlands 2

Classes
Borderlands 2 will initially have four player characters:
 * Axton (Commando) - A general combat proficient character with the ability to deploy an automated turret.
 * Maya (Siren) - A woman with the ability to Phaselock her enemies and control the flow of battle.
 * Salvador (Gunzerker) - A brute force master of mayhem with the ability to enter a berserk rampage armed with a gun in each meaty hand.
 * Zer0 (Assassin) - A mysterious individual equipped for deadly precision attacks, Zer0 can deploy a decoy and fade from sight.

An additional DLC character released later:
 * Gaige (Mechromancer) - A cyborg woman capable of digistructing the D374-TP, or "Deathtrap", a powerful robotic drone.

NPCs

 * Claptrap - Handsome Jack destroyed every Claptrap unit on the planet, except for the Claptrap from the beginning of Borderlands. This last Claptrap will have the same mission as the players, to try to get revenge on Handsome Jack. However his method consists of mainly petty vandalism and insults.
 * Brick
 * Dr. Zed
 * Lilith
 * Mad Moxxi
 * Mordecai
 * Patricia Tannis
 * Roland
 * Scooter
 * Tiny Tina
 * Ellie
 * Sir Hammerlock

Enemies

 * Handsome Jack - the game's main antagonist.
 * Stalkers - Winged reptilian creatures capable of shooting needles from their tails and turning invisible for short periods of time.
 * Crystalisk - Large, heavily armored quadrupeds whose only weak spots are hidden behind destructible patches of crystal on their feet.
 * Arctic Bullymong - A six-limbed gorilla-like creature that will dynamically pick up objects (or rip up bits of scenery) and then throw them at the player.
 * Skags - Elemental skags will be able to transfer their element to nearby skags with a ground pound attack.
 * Marauder Bandit - A large thug who makes intelligent use of cover, retreating to find allies when significantly damaged.
 * Surveyors - Floating Hyperion bots who can quickly restore ,and attach, even destroyed ally robots to full health and summon more robots to the frey.
 * Nomad - A slow rotund bandit sporting a large metallic shield that protects his entire body. Nomad Torturers have a Midget tied to their shields.
 * Thresher - A worm-like creature that is fought in vehicles and can open more parts of the map. Threshers will vary greatly in size from vehicle-sized creatures to towering monstrosities.
 * Wormhole Threshers - Wormhole threshers will pull you in their bodies that are covered in spikes damaging you severely. Don't get too close.
 * Tadpole Threshers - Tadpole threshers have the ability to hurl themselves up from the ground whilst shooting you from above, also known as 'Reverse burrowing'.
 * Turf threshers - Turf threshers are threshers, covered in grass and dirt to blend into the environment, they are considerably larger than normal threshers and harder to kill.
 * Varkid - Small flying insectile creatures that start small and can grow into large, dangerous creatures if not swiftly dealt with.
 * Destructor Bot - Able to both build and destroy, they have the ability to literally construct new foes on the field and can also aggressively defend themselves. The destructor bot will not stop building new robot enemies until you have killed it.
 * Loader - Hyperion robots that will continue to fight even when their limbs have been shot off. The upper torso of a Loader with its lower torso blown off will even crawl to its lower half to re-attach it and continue to fight.
 * EXP Loader - A man-sized Hyperion robot that acts as a suicide bomber. The player may shoot off its legs in order to slow it down.
 * WAR Loader - A large Hyperion robot that can rapidly fire missiles and bullets. Can be summoned by Surveyors.
 * BUL Loader - Robots that can transform into bulldozers to charge enemies with their reinforced bodies.
 * JET Loader - Robots that can transform into a jet normally entering the area as the jet.
 * PWR Loader - Robots that are equipped with spinning blades that deflect bullets back at the shooter.
 * RPG Loader - Robots that are equipped with rocket launchers for arms that will deal substantial damage.
 * ION Loader- Robots equipped with two electrical rods so when the ION loader spins it creates a force field for its allies and itself.
 * Combat Engineer - Part of the Hyperion corporation and human like in appearances these enemies are similar to bandits if not for their yellow armour and better weaponry.
 * Engineer - Human in Hyperion armour that can jump exceedingly high and use close combat melee attacks.

Vehicles

 * Party Truck - Driver and gun turret positions with space for two extra riders in the back. Riders in the back of the truck will fire their own equipped guns.
 * Vehicle suspension and physics were all redone, adding the ability to power slide. Hitting a rock will no longer stop the vehicle dead in its tracks.
 * Buzzard - A flying vehicle. Buzzards are piloted only by bandits and will not be available for control by players.

Locations

 * Arid Nexus - Blight region.
 * Caustic Caverns - An area with thick, sometimes hostile, flora and natural bridges spanning corrosive pools of acid.
 * Eridium Blight - Blight region.
 * Frostburn Canyon - Arctic region.
 * The Highlands - Highlands.
 * Lynchwood


 * Opportunity - Urban region.
 * Sanctuary
 * Sawtooth Cauldron - Blight region.
 * Thousand Cuts - Highlands.
 * Three Horns - Arctic region.
 * Tundra Express - Arctic region.
 * Wildlife Exploitation Preserve - A nuclear-ravaged area populated with aggressive fauna and Hyperion robots.
 * Creature Slaughter Dome - GameStop pre-order bonus. An Underdome-style arena that pits players against the toughest monsters in Pandora. Includes Moxxi’s Rocket Launcher as an added bonus. Experience and gear gained in this arena will transfer over to the main game.

Returning Weapon Manufacturers

 * Bandit brand weapons - Bandits themselves have started making their own weapons. Their weapons sport the largest magazines in the game.
 * Jakobs - Jakobs weapons will fire as fast as the trigger is pulled.
 * Tediore - Tediore weapons have a different feel for Borderlands 2, having been described as "Cheap, plastic pieces of crap" and "Wal-Mart guns" by Randy Pitchford himself during a demo presentation. Instead of being reloaded, Tediore weapons are thrown away and explode like grenades; the more ammo left in the clip, the bigger the explosion. A fully-loaded gun regenerates in the user's hand after the expended weapon is discarded. Due to their explosive capabilities, there is a chance they will explode in the user's hand before throwing it away.
 * Vladof - Vladof continues with their tradition of weapons with extremely high rates-of-fire. . Vladof weapons have variable numbers of minigun-like barrels and feature fire rates that increase as the trigger is held down. The more barrels the weapon has, the faster it will fire.
 * Torgue - Torgue weapons will feature Gyrojet ammunition.
 * Dahl - Dahl's guns will focus on stability, precision and burst fire, and feature camouflage coloring.
 * Hyperion - Hyperion weapons will retain their customary high accuracy, with a "sci-fi" styling, featuring glowing elemental effects and bold stripes. Unlike other weapons, the accuracy of Hyperion weapons will increase the longer the trigger is depressed.
 * Maliwan - Maliwan weapons will retain their focus on elemental damage.

Not Returning / Unconfirmed

 * Eridian weaponry has not yet been confirmed for Borderlands 2.
 * S&S Munitions is not returning, their company having been replaced by the new Bandit manufacturer.
 * Atlas will not return in Borderlands 2. The company was put out of business when the Vault Hunters defeated General Knoxx and the Crimson Lance invasion force during The Secret Armory of General Knoxx storyline.

Miscellaneous Features

 * Character customization - New gear, skins, and "heads" will be made available as drops from bosses and certain enemies and as mission, challenge, and levelling rewards, and will feature varying grades of rarity.
 * E-Tech - A holdover from the original Borderlands' Eridian weapons E-Tech is a barrel modification technique that works with all brands of weapons.
 * Badass Points - Used for tracking overall ranking. The harder the challenge is, the more Badass Points are racked up.
 * Optional objectives - There are now objectives that the player can complete that are not required (like keeping an ally above 50% health). What you can get for completeing them is unknown at the time.
 * Elemental nerfing - Whereas in Borderlands an elemental-based enemy (e.g. a fire skag) could be killed with sheer bullet damage from a similarly based elemental weapon (e.g. a Hellfire SMG), in Borderlands 2 enemies will take significantly less damage from weapons utilizing elements they have a resistance to.
 * Multiple Choice Quests - Some quests will feature a choice in how they will be completed. For example, after retrieving questionable photos of Moxxi for Marcus, Moxxi makes a counter-offer to deliver the photos to her. These choices are largely for entertainment but Gearbox has hinted that decisions made during some of the quests can significantly affect the storyline. The player will also have choices in mission rewards.
 * Trading Interface - A trading system will allow players to formally trade or sell items. Players can also wager items to be dueled for.
 * Traps - Some normally loot-dropping items (chests, plant pods, etc.) will contain traps (monsters jumping out, corrosive goo spraying, etc.).
 * Adaptive Shields - Some shields will grant the elemental resistance of whatever damage type they were last struck by.
 * One Point Wonders - "Game changer" skills that can change available options and gameplay style but only require a small investment to unlock at a basic level.
 * Eridium - A new element that can be used to augment other elemental powers. It is also a currency that can be used to buy the most powerful weapons. Eridium also can be used as in-battle temporary buffs.  Enemies can use their own Eridium, but it can be shot out of their hands before use.

Promotions

 * Premiere Club - Pre-Order bonus includes:
 * The Golden Key - "Unlock a rare item in the mysterious Sanctuary Loot Chest."
 * Vault Hunter's Relic - "Play solo or team up with friends and boost your gear hunting fortune with the Vault Hunter's Relic."
 * Gearbox Gunpack - "A package of unique Gearbox Golden Guns to help you start your journey on Pandora."
 * Consumers who pre-order Borderlands 2 will receive the Mechromancer DLC free of charge when it becomes available.
 * Consumers who pre-order from GameStop (US) or GAME (UK) will also receive access to the Creature Slaughter Dome.
 * Borderlands 2 Special Editions

Gameplay/Media
See this video for some Borderlands 2 gameplay:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQF7GQjTjsM

Media
Video:Borderlands 2 Teaser‎|Official Teaser Video:Borderlands 2 Launch Date Trailer|Doomsday Trailer Video:Borderlands 2 PAX 2012 LiveStream - Salvador Gameplay|Salvador Gameplay Video Video:Borderlands 2 PAX 2012 LiveStream - Maya Gameplay|Maya Gameplay Video Video:Borderlands 2 ZERO Gameplay Walkthrough! 10 Minutes of Assassin Gameplay|Zer0 Gameplay Video Video:Borderlands 2 AXTON Gameplay Walkthrough! 10 Minutes of Commando Gameplay|Axton Gameplay Video