When the PlayStation Vita was released in 2012, one of the promises Sony made is that the handheld will provide a home console-like experience.
Since its launch, the PS Vita lived to its promise by delivering top-notch titles but it’s not enough to really push the sales of the device. Attempting to bring in more sales for the PS Vita, Sony teamed up with Gearbox Studios to bring one of the best first-person shooter RPGs, Borderlands 2, along with all of its DLC.
Expectations were quite high when Sony announced back at E3 that they plan to release Borderlands 2 on the PS Vita. With Borderlands 2 selling millions on consoles, many PS Vita owners got excited as they can finally get a real console-like experience. Well, to keep it straight and direct, Borderlands 2 on the PS Vita is good, but its hindered by technical problems that may make the experience less stellar in general.
What many PS Vita can expect in Borderlands 2 is pretty much the same as they would expect in the console version. The game is a direct port, but everything has been dumbed down to make it run on the device. Bringing such a big game on the PS Vita is very challenging indeed but unfortunately, Iron Galaxy, the developers behind the port, didn’t do a good job in making the game run very smoothly. For the most part, the game plays very well but when it comes in certain areas of the game, such as a lot of things going on all at once, frame rates will dip down to the point that it will get annoying.
As for its visuals, the game looks good on the device – although don’t expect “console-quality” graphics. Since the game is pretty much toned down, the visuals are less stellar but when it comes to the quality of a PS Vita game, it’s good enough to please its fans. Throughout the lengthy campaign, the first time you load up the game, you will see a lot of texture pop in. Those who see textures that haven’t been loaded, be patient and give the game time to load. As soon as everything is loaded, the issue with pop-ins are less noticeable although still present.
The quality of content in Borderlands 2 on the PS Vita is phenomenal. The same exact content found on the consoles and PC can be experienced in the portable version of the game. Currently, the majority of the add-on DLCs that further expand the game are available but more will be coming according to the developer of the PS Vita version. DLCs like Scarlett and Mr. Torgue are among the content that fans of the game can expect right of the box. Those who are getting the game digitally, make sure you have a lot of memory space available as the base game and the rest of the DLCs including the campaign ones weighs in at around 5GB.