It is not a big surprise that 2K released the Borderlands: The Handsome Collection. What we like is that players did not have to wait too long for it. You can get the whole collection for the PS4 and Xbox One now. This package includes Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel in HD with all DLCs. We want to show you what is new and answer the most important questions in this review. We want also to show you if it is worth to get it.
.
First, let us take a look what is inside. This collection includes Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel with all until now released content of both games in one bundle. We like that all content is already on the disc, for example campaigns-addons, level-upgrades, character-, weapon- or costume packs. That means that you do not have to download them separately.
Because of this collection not only it is possible to play Jack’s Body Double from Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel but also to explore all areas without using an activation code. This bundle is missing only the Claptastic-Voyage-DLC. It was released at the same time, but don’t worry, owners of this bundle can download it for free. This collection would be perfect if it would include the first Borderlands and it’s DLCs, too.
.
Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel running separately on the consoles. If players want to switch to the other game, they have to shut down completely the running one. There is no possibility to switch in the game’s menu to the other game. But this is not bad. This allows to install both games independently. We like it because the entire collection is larger than 37 gigabytes. So players do not have to wait hours to play one of the games. You can start one of them and install the other one in the background.
.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhpZNQ3a2G8
.
.
We do not want to write too much about the story. Most of you know that you fight against Handsome Jack in Borderlands 2. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel takes place between the first Borderlands and Borderlands 2. In both games players have to shoot many enemies down and solve a lot of quests to find new weapon, equipment and to level up their character. For more about Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, take a look at jadoRendr’s review HERE.
.
Lets talk about the new stuff. Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel have get a HD-lifting and running now on 1080p. The four-players-split-screen-mode is something that is completely new in this game. This allows to play not only online but also offline with three other players on one console. Unfortunately, this is the only thing that is new. What we like is that owners of the last gen console version of The Pre-Sequel can transform their save games on the PS4 or Xbox One game.
.
Thanks to the savegame-transfer players can transfer their Xbox 360 save games on the Xbox One or their PS3 and PS Vita savegames on the PS4. Players have to install the Handsome Collection’s Day-1-Patch to do it. Unfortunately, it is only possible to transfer the saved games from the Xbox 360 on the Xbox One. PlayStation owners can transform their save games in both directions. That means that they can transfer them from the PS3 to the Ps4 and back. It is also not possible to transfer the save games from the Xbox 360 on the PS4.
.
How to transfer:
.
- You have to connect to the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live and you have to make sure that all versions of the games (old and new generation) are up to date.
- Open the ‘Cross Save’ or ‘Cloud-Save’ menu of the last-gen-version of Borderlands 2 or Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and choose ‘Upload Save’.
- Start Borderlands 2 or The Pre-Sequel of the Borderlands: The Handsome Collection after the upload is done. Open the ‘Cross Save’ or ‘Cloud-Save’ menu and choose ‘Download Save’.
.
Lets talk about the Co-Op-Mode. There is no difference between the on- and offline mode. Because of the four-player-co-op-split-screen we can run with three other players through Pandora and can enjoy together the game’s story-missions. We have noticed that the enemies get stronger but also drop better loot because of more players. Money, XP and munition get divided in the group but the dropped weapons get the one player who picks it first. Because of the ingame menu it is easy to switch the weapons with the other three players. Unfortunately, the developer did not add something new in the online-co-op game.
.
We also have some more bad news. The graphical visions of this game bundle has their limits. We could not see big differences between the last gen and current gen version of the games but they whole bundle running on a 1080p resolution and in 60 FPS while playing the solo-campaign. While playing in the split screen mode we noticed that the PS4 and XBox One have not enough power for this game.
If you play this game with only one player more the game running only in 30FPS, if you play it with two or three other player the game does not run smooth anymore. The Pre-Sequel has more problems with this than Borderlands 2. Unfortunately, it looks like the developer has still problems with the new textures. It takes a few seconds until the textures looking like they should be. It is really sad the the two years old Borderlands 2 looking better on the PC then the one of the Bundle for the Xbox One and PS4.
We think that fans of this game series should not look too much on the graphical problems, because you get a very good and entertaining game. We think that because of the split-screen-mode, the remake of this games is much better and it is a lot of fun to chill on the couch, eat some pizza and enjoy it with friends.
.
Let’s summarize! Some people do not like remastered versions of games but we think that 2K has made a right decision. We also think that this collection is a must have for players that did not play anyone of the Borderlands games and the Co-Op pushes the game in a higher level. We reported, that we had a lot of fun to play the game with friends in the split-screen-mode. The graphics are not much better than the graphics of the original games but this is not so important to us. We can ignore the fact that the graphics are not so good like the graphics of the PC-version but we can not ignore that this collection did not include the first part of the Borderlands series. Anyway, we think that all fans of great RPG-Shooter, all those who have been waiting for the current gen versions of this games or players who would like to play this games in the new Co-Op-Mode should get the bundle. We think that the price for this large package is calculated absolutely fair. That means that it is also fair for people that did not play any of the Borderlands games. We think that this collection is a must have.
.
.
.