Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is a 2014 action-role playing first-person shooter videogame developed by Gearbox Software and 2K Australia and published by 2K Games for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC platforms. The game was originally released worldwide in October 2014. It is the third installment in the Borderlands series.

The Pre-Sequel is an interquel set between the events of 2009's Borderlands and 2012's Borderlands 2. The game's narrative focuses on the backstory of Handsome Jack, the main antagonist of Borderlands 2, and his evolution from a low-ranking employee of the Hyperion corporation to its psychotic CEO. The Pre-Sequel is presented as flashbacks recounted by Athena, one of the game's playable characters.

As with previous entires, The Pre-Sequel is played from a first-person perspective and combines loot-focused shooter gameplay with action-role play elements, and are able to choose between four Vault Hunters as their playable avatar. The gameplay retrains mechanics and features presented in Borderlands 2, while also introducing new elements such as low-gravity environments and oxygen tanks.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel received a favorable critical reception upon its release, and it was praised for its narrative bits, gameplay elements and new features and humor. It received criticism for its level design, art direction and lacking any meaningful additions to the series' overall gameplay, and several critics deemed it as an incremental installment to the Borderlands series.