Borderlands 2

Story
Set five years after the events of Borderlands; Handsome Jack, the game's main antagonist, has taken over the Hyperion Corporation, declared himself Dictator of Pandora and taken all of the credit for finding the Vault - going so far as 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, creating a 'big brother' atmosphere throughout the planet. The new group of Vault Hunters in Borderlands 2 are tasked with killing Jack and returning peace to Pandora.

Borderlands 2 begins with the protagonists on a train to an unspecified location to begin their search for the vault. The train turns out to be a trap set by Handsome Jack, to kill all who search for the Vault. The Vault Hunters defend themselves long enough to reach a train car filled with explosives and a 'dummy' Handsome Jack look-a-like. The detonation causes the train to crash in the Arctic Wasteland, with our new team strewn across the wreckage. The game picks up with the Vault Hunters waking up to Claptrap digging through the remains. The mysterious Guardian Angel then contacts them and explains that Handsome Jack must be killed, directing players to rescue the four original Vault hunters from Hyperion's clutches to accomplish this. 

All four original player characters make appearances in the sequel as NPCs, each with their own backstory, and a series of side missions that furthers their personal story, as well as the main storyline.

Character Classes
Borderlands 2 initially has four player characters:
 * Axton (Commando)
 * Maya (Siren)
 * Salvador (Gunzerker)
 * Zer0 (Assassin)

DLC characters:
 * Gaige (Mechromancer) - Released on October 9, 2012.

NPCs

 * Brick
 * Claptrap
 * Dr. Zed
 * Ellie
 * Lilith
 * Mad Moxxi
 * Marcus Kincaid
 * Michael Mamaril
 * Mordecai
 * Patricia Tannis
 * Roland
 * Scooter
 * Sir Hammerlock
 * Tiny Tina
 * Crazy Earl

Enemies

 * Main Article: Borderlands 2 Enemies

Vehicles

 * Bandit Technical
 * Runner
 * Buzzard

Locations

 * Arid Nexus - Boneyard and Badlands - Blight region.
 * Caustic Caverns - Acid-soaked mine.
 * Eridium Blight - Blight region.
 * Frostburn Canyon - Arctic region.
 * The Highlands - Highlands.
 * Lynchwood - Urban region.
 * Opportunity - Urban region.
 * Sanctuary - Urban region.
 * Sawtooth Cauldron - Blight region.
 * Thousand Cuts - Highlands.
 * Three Horns - Divide and Valley - Arctic region.
 * Tundra Express - Arctic region.
 * Wildlife Exploitation Preserve - Hyperion research complex.
 * Natural Selection Annex - The Creature Slaughterdome GameStop pre-order bonus.

Weapon Manufacturers

 * Bandit brand weapons - Bandits themselves have started making their own weapons. Their weapons sport the largest magazines in the game.
 * Dahl's weapons focus on stability, precision and burst fire, and feature camouflage coloring. All Dahl weapons feature a full auto fire rate without scoping in, while scoped in the gun shoots in bursts.
 * 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.
 * Jakobs have undergone a slight revamp from the previous installment. Their weapons will now fire as fast as the trigger is pulled (rifles and pistols specifically); sniper rifles still require you to wait for the round to be chambered.
 * Maliwan weapons will retain their focus on elemental damage.
 * 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. Pre-release promotions stated that, due to their explosive capabilities, there is a chance that Tediore weapons would explode in the user's hand before throwing it away. This mechanic did not make it into the finished product.
 * Torgue weapons will feature Gyrojet ammunition which - similarly to BL1's Carnage - balance area-of-effect damage with low projectile velocity and reduced magazine capacity.
 * Vladof continues with their tradition of weapons with extremely high rates-of-fire. . Vladof weapons have variable numbers of minigun-like barrels with fire rates that increase as the trigger is held down. The more barrels the weapon has, the faster it will fire.

Miscellaneous Features

 * Character customization - New gear, skins, and "heads" are available as drops from bosses and certain enemies and as mission, challenge, and levelling rewards. They 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 or high level the challenge is, the more Badass Points are given upon completion.
 * Optional objectives - There are now objectives that are not required (like keeping an ally above 50% health). Rewards are being tabulated.
 * Elemental nerfing - Where Borderlands elemental-based enemies could be killed with sheer bullet damage from a similarly based elemental weapon (e.g. a Hellfire SMG), Borderlands 2 enemies will take significantly less damage from weapons utilizing elements they have a resistance to.
 * Multiple Choice Missions - Some missions will feature a choice in how they will be completed.
 * Trading Interface - A trading system was created allowing 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.) contain traps, from hostile enemies to live grenades.
 * 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 upgrade backpack space capacity and weapon ammo capacity.

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-ordered Borderlands 2 received the Mechromancer DLC free of charge.
 * Consumers who pre-ordered from GameStop (US), EB Games (AU/NZ) or GAME (UK) also receive access to the Creature Slaughter Dome. Consumers can also submit their idea for the name of a gun to be included in a future add-on content pack on GameStop's Facebook Page Name This Gun!
 * Borderlands 2 Special Editions
 * Borderlands 2 Season Pass - 4 DLCs (not including pre-order packages)

Trivia

 * The intro song of Borderlands 2 is "Short Change Hero" by The Heavy.
 * The credit song of Borderlands 2 is "How You Like Me Now" also by The Heavy.
 * The Psycho on the cover makes the gun gesture with both hands and aims them at his head again. This is a repeat of the cover of the first game, where a Psycho makes the gun gesture with one hand and aims it at his head (Borderlands -> Borderlands 2).
 * Borderlands 2's developers considered releasing an official modifaction toolkit, but the Borderlands' community had already hacked the game to pieces by the time they got around to doing so, causing them to shelve the idea.