Borderlands 2 "Pre-Sequel" Takes to the Moon

Gearbox has announced a "pre-sequel" to their best-selling first-person shooter Borderlands 2, set for release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC this fall.

Officially titled Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, the game is set between Borderlands and Borderlands 2, and introduces four new playable characters and classes, plus everyone's (least) favorite robot, ClapTrap.This time around, players are working for the bad guys as an employee of Handsome Jack, the main villain of Borderlands 2. Jack has crashed the Hyperion space station into Pandora's moon and it's the player's job to, well, un-crash it.

Described as having more content than Borderlands but less than Borderlands 2--which feels appropriate given it's place in the timeline--Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel makes use of its space setting to give players a whole new range of movement mechanics for their zero-G environment. This includes new abilities like double-jumps and airboosts, which are powered by a new resource--O2, or "Oz". Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel will also introduce cryo-weapons, allowing players to freeze enemies solid, and a much wider range of laser beam-style energy weapons.

The four new playable characters all have brand new skill trees and abilities, and have appeared previously in the series: Athena (from the Secret Armory of General Knoxx DLC for Borderlands), Wilhelm (Borderlands 2), Nisha the Lawbringer (the Sheriff from Borderlands 2) and ClapTrap.

There is currently no official word on plans to bring the game to current gen consoles.