Borderlands 2

Official Announcement
Borderlands 2 was officially announced on August 3rd, 2011. The expected release date is currently set in Take Two's (2k's) fiscal year of 2013, beginning Q2 2012.

Gearbox Software will release a sequel sometime in 2012 according to a report from Eurogamer. A source close to the project told the website the game is coming to PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

"Gearbox Software’s co-op lootfest is back with a host of exciting changes to the first game's addictive formula. The September issue of Game Informer contains 12 pages of exclusive details and screenshots from Borderlands 2, and outlines the numerous improvements the developer has in store for your return trip to Pandora. Don’t expect just a couple bazillion more guns this time around. Gearbox is introducing new and more diverse environments, smarter and more powerful enemies, and an improved mission system capable of delivering a better story. This and much more will be revealed in the story, as well as our full month of additional online content."

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.

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 and you must come to his rescue, while contending with bandits and Handsome Jack's robot sentries.

Classes
Borderlands 2 will have four new player characters. Two new characters have been confirmed, Salvador the Gunzerker and Maya the Siren. Salvador will be capable of using to dual-wield any weapon in the game for a short period of time and of increasing the fire rate of his weapons by holding the trigger down. Maya's abilities have not been released at this time, but it has been confirmed that she is not a Phasewalker.

Enemies

 * Handsome Jack - the game's main antagonist.
 * 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.
 * Elemental skags - certain elemental skags are able to buff other nearby skags.
 * 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 their allies to full health and summon more robots such as WAR Loaders.
 * Nomad - a slow rotund bandit sporting a large metallic shield that protects his entire body.
 * WAR Loader - a large Hyperion robot that can rapidly fire missiles and bullets. Can be summoned by Surveyors.
 * Thresher - a gigantic worm-like creature that is fought in vehicles and can open more parts of the map.
 * 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.

Note: CL4P-TPs are confirmed to make an appearance in Borderlands 2. They are upset over the happenings in DLC4 but it is not known at this time if they will fight with or against the players.

Eridium
A new element, Eridium, has been confirmed.
 * New element “Eridium” augments other elemental powers.
 * Eridium is also a currency 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.

Vehicles
2K and Gearbox are aware of how bad the driving was in the first game, enough to quip, ‘because the driving in Borderlands was the best driving ever’. They started from scratch and improved the driving in a number of ways:
 * Party Truck: driver, gun turret and two in the back.
 * The suspension and physics were all redone, adding the ability to power slide and hitting a rock won’t stop you dead in your tracks anymore.
 * Now when you hit an enemy or skag it will not automatically kill them, unless you squish them or cause enough damage the enemy won’t die.

Additional Details

 * In Borderlands 2, the bandits themselves have started making their own weapons under the "Bandit" manufacturer. Their weapons will sport the largest magazines in the game.
 * Eridian weapons have not been confirmed for Borderlands 2.
 * S&S Weapons will not be returning for Borderlands 2, their company having been taken over by the new Bandit manufacturer.
 * Atlas Weapons will not be returning for Borderlands 2, due to the the fact that the Vault Hunters destroyed it by killing General Knoxx and the Crimson Lance invasion force during DLC 4.
 * Anthony Burch of "Hey Ash Whatcha Playin'" is writing the story for Borderlands 2
 * Tediore weapons will 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 reloading them, they are just thrown away and explode upon impact, at which point a new, fully-loaded gun regenerates in the user's hand. Due to their explosive capabilities, there is a chance they will explode in the user's hand before throwing it away.
 * Vladof weapons will follow the trend : they have minigun-like barrels in front of the weapon, that increases the weapon's fire rate when holding the fire button. The more barrels it has, the faster it will fire.

Media
thumb|left|Official Teaser