Microsoft are feeling mighty generous right about now. Borderlands 2, and the slightly less good, but still pretty alright Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, are both available to download and play on Xbox One right now for absolutely nothing. That’s right, both games are available free of cost. What’s more, the promotion is available to everyone who owns an Xbox One, even if they don’t have an Xbox Live Gold subscription.

That’s not even all- people who download Borderlands and don’t have Live Gold can still play it with their friends this weekend online, because Xbox Live Gold is also free this weekend. You don’t really have much of an excuse to not at least download these games and give them a try at this point.

Of course, this is limited, and you can only play through to October 30, which is Sunday- after that, one has to presume that you will have to buy the game to continue playing it. Still, it’s a damn good deal, and you can’t really complain about it.

2K Australia has recently been shuttered by its parent company 2K Games. Though initially revealed by Kotaku via an anonymous source, a statement to VG247 further confirmed that all staff had been let go.

“We can confirm we have taken steps to begin the studio closure process for 2K Australia in order to better manage ongoing development costs while improving the working proximity of our creative teams.

“We are very grateful for the team’s valuable contributions to numerous 2K projects, and are working with affected staff to explore reassignment opportunities where possible.”

2K Australia has worked on a number of titles associated with the publisher including Bioshock and The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. It’s most recent and standalone effort was Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel which recently received the Claptastic Voyage DLC and a remastered edition in Borderlands: The Handsome Collection.

Australian trade body GDAA is currently “looking for opportunities for the amazing talent at 2K Australia with some success” and you can bet 2K Games will find jobs for those laid off. We wish the studio’s former members all the best in their future endeavours.

Of course, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start with Borderlands 2, which sees you taking control of six different Vault Hunters as they explore Pandora and join the Crimson Raiders to defeat Handsome Jack. Jack isn’t your normal run-of-the-mill psychopath – he’s got an army of robot Loaders and is digging up a powerful ancient Warrior to control. It’s up to you to become the killer that everyone needs and deserves to stop him.

"These games may have their filler but it doesn't encompass the entire experience by a long shot. And it's a testament to 2K Australia that it made Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel stand out as such a strong experience on its own with Oz kits, ground slams and low gravity settings."

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, on the other hand, takes place mostly from Jack’s initial mission to discover the Vault on Pandora. It takes a separate group of Hunters under Jack’s employ to Elpis, where they must stop the Dal Corporation’s Lost Legion from blowing up the moon. From there, a variety of twists and turns link The Pre-Sequel to Borderlands 2 while advancing the story for the overall franchise.

The magical thing about Borderlands is in its gameplay. It is a loot-grinder but also an action heavy first-person shooter. The RPG mechanics are subtle but endless variations can be created depending on the Vault Hunter you choose.  Each Vault Hunter has three separate Skill Trees which can be upgraded for different results.

Take Maya, the Siren, who can use Phase Lock to effectively trap enemies for a short period of time. Phase Lock can be modified to inflict elemental damage, siphon health back to allies and even pull enemies close together. Then there’s Athena, a Gladiator who’s Aspis Shield acts as a strong defense but who also possesses a sword for brutal melee kills. Athena can either be the ultimate defender or the most murderous melee attacker available. Let’s not even get started on Claptrap’s skill tree.

Add in several tiers of weaponry, ranging from Assault Rifles to Rocket Launchers, and different elemental types like Lasers and Slag and you have what’s guaranteed to be a riveting new experience each time. This isn’t Destiny by a long shot – in Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, you’ll find a huge variety of side-quests and story missions to complete. The cast of characters is well-written, humorous and extremely memorable. This is ably assisted by the voice acting, particularly for characters like Mr. Torgue, Handsome Jack and Mad Moxxi.

One could make the point that many of the quests in Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel are simple fetch quests. However, the good majority of the game offers far more variety. You could be charged with finding a group of fly-boys clearly spoofing Top Gun and murdering them. Maybe you’ll fulfil one Bandit’s request to be shot in the face. Or perhaps you’ll be taking on an enormous flying blimp before going one on one with a frigging Badassasauras Rex. These games may have their filler but it doesn’t encompass the entire experience. And it’s a testament to 2K Australia that it made Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel stand on its own with Oz kits, ground slams and low gravity settings.

"First time players owe it to themselves to visit Pandora and Elpis - they'll wonder why they ever bothered with the big floating Traveler in the first place."

That being said, I found the storyline for Borderlands 2 to be much better than The Pre-Sequel. It’s much like comparing a full-blown epic to an well-made mini-series though – pacing issues with The Pre-Sequel aside, it’s still a ton of fun. If only there were more memorable moments and the ending didn’t make me want Borderlands 3 all the more.

The visuals for both games are top notch, adhering to the PC version’s High settings and delivering an excellent experience overall. You’ll still find some iffy textures here and there, and the frame rate isn’t quite locked at 60 FPS. The amount of drops becomes even more annoying during co-op play, especially during Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. While it’s tolerable, one of the tenets of The Handsome Collection is its improved visuals. Having an unstable frame rate just doesn’t feel right in that regard.

Another technical issue with The Handsome Collection is the sizeable download both PS4 and Xbox One players have to deal with. For the latter, it’s roughly 16 GB or so, adding the Claptastic Voyage DLC in the process. This was released incredibly close to The Handsome Collection’s completion and more content is always a bonus. It’s just a shame that it requires such a large day one update. There’s also the issue of switching between both games. In order to play The Pre-Sequel, you’ll need to quit Borderlands 2 and load up the game separately. There’s no way to switch between the two on the fly, not even through an in-game menu setting.

Again, these are just minor annoyances for a grandiose package like this. If you’ve ever played either game before, you shouldn’t really expect much new content. Then again, if you’re re-experiencing it for the current gen platforms, this is an awesome combination of one of the best RPG shooters ever made and it’s extremely competent and fun pre-sequel. First time players owe it to themselves to visit Pandora and Elpis – they’ll wonder why they ever bothered with the big floating Traveler in the first place.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox One.

In case you were curious about the procedure to transfer your save files to Borderlands: The Handsome Collection on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 later this month, be curious no more! Your questions have finally been answered (we hope).

First things first- your saves from the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita versions are all compatible. However, only one save can be uploaded at a time (although you can repeat the process multiple times and get all your saves in the new collection that way).

Here is what you need to do:

• Make sure your game is up to date on all systems
• From the main menu, select Cross Save (if you are on PlayStation) or Cloud Save (Xbox), and then click on ‘Upload Save’
• In The Handsome Jack Collection, click on Cross Save, then Download Save

There are a few restrictions- PlayStation family saves are compatible only with PlayStation family versions, and Xbox family saves with Xbox family versions. This means your Xbox 360 save does not upload to the PS4 Handsome Jack Collection.

If you do do this, your original save won’t be deleted either- just copied.

Gearbox has officially announced Claptastic Voyage, a new expansion for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel that lets players into the minds of the inimitable and endearing robotic sidekick, Claptrap.

“Who doesn’t want more Claptrap? Seriously,” Gearbox said as they announced the expansion, which will bridge the gap between the Pre-Sequel and Borderlands 2.

The official story synopsis for the DLC reads: “Handsome Jack has found something ludicrously powerful inside Claptrap’s mind and has digitized the Vault Hunters to go in and get it.”

Apart from all the story and lore expansion, the DLC will also see the Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2, which increases the game’s level cap to 70 and introduces 10 new skill points to earn.

And the best part? it is due to launch later this month! Specifically, it will launch on March 24. The best part is, it will also be included in Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, which is a collection of Boprderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel remastered for the Xbox One and PS4, from the get go.

The new DLC for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is out and adds a brand new character with Lady Hammerlock, the Baroness and Sir Hammerlock’s older sister. In a recently released trailer, we get a look at why the Baroness is so cold and calculating. Check it out above.

Lady Hammerlock has the usual things you’d expect from a new character – a new weapon, some new skill trees and an Action Skill called Cold as Ice. From what we’ve seen, it appears to just freeze enemies all around you, thus making it easier to ground slam them into oblivion (which we’re perfectly fine with even in normal circumstances).

The Lady Hammerlock DLC can be picked up for $10 separately or as part of the Season Pass for $30. What are your thoughts on the Baroness and whether she’s a worthy addition to the gang of Vault Hunters or not? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned for more information.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel will get a brand new character tomorrow as Lady Hammerlock will be released for the game as DLC. Lady Hammerlock comes with three skill trees and the action skill Cold As Ice. Season Pass owners will get the character for free; if you haven’t bought the season pass for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, you can download the DLC for a measly price of $9.99.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is currently available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC, although it will also soon be made available to play on your shiny PlayStation 4 or Xbox One as part of the remastered Borderlands: The Handsome Jack Collection.

Meanwhile, if you would rather play a new Borderlands game rather than re-treading the same old ground over and over again (which, indeed, seems to be the mantra of this generation), then you are in luck too, as Gearbox has confirmed that it has begun work on the next game in the series.

The Borderlands franchise is insanely successful and lucrative, with each game selling millions and getting active and engaged communities for years on end after release. Now, it seems that the game franchise may be getting ready to make the jump to the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 in some form, as the Australian Ratings and Classification Board has rated something called ‘Borderlands Remastered’ for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

The fun of this listing comes from how ambiguous it is. What exactly is it referring to? The first Borderlands game? The second one? The awkwardly titled release from early this year, the Pre-Sequel? Is it referring to a remastered collection of all three?

We don’t know, but what we do know is that the series is in some way being remastered for the new consoles. Stay tuned to GamingBolt, and we’ll keep you posted, particularly since it seems likely that an official announcement is imminent.

If you’ve played the amazing first episode of Telltale Games’ Tales from the Borderlands (and really, what’s stopping you from doing so?), then you’ll remember that Handsome Jack was teased to make an appearance in the game. It’s a little odd since Jack was killed off in Borderlands 2 and though his role is explained in more detail for those who played, how exactly did we get to this situation?

It looks Gearbox Software and 2K Australia will soon have the answer as a new bonus mission is coming soon for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel which explains how Handsome Jack appears in Tales from the Borderlands.

You can look forward to this in the new Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack which will include a new level cap, a higher difficulty mode and a new challenge arena with The Holodrome Onslaught. But no new raids, which is sadly a bummer.

The DLC will be out on December 16th for Xbox 360, PC and PS3 so stay tuned for more details.

The other loot based shooter RPG of this year (and the one that was actually enjoyable- sorry, Destiny) was 2K’s Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, the 2K Australia developed brand new entry in the franchise that Gearbox built, that, while not offering much new, offered more of the exciting loot based shooting action and memorable and colorful characters and settings that made Borderlands such a big hit to begin with.

Now, Gearbox has confirmed that a brand new mode, the Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode, will be coming to The Pre-Sequel this week. It will be made available to all players as a free update, and it will launch for Xbox 360 on December 11, with PC and PlayStation 3 players getting it on December 16. Any character will be able to access the Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode, as long as the main story has been cleared, and the character reached level 50 in the True Vault Hunter Mode. The mode will even allow players to reset their mission progress.

It sounds about as substantial as Destiny’s ‘expansion’ that also goes live this week, except it’s actually free.