As a fan of the first one, I was wondering what they would do for the second, how it would compare.

Visually, the game remains about the same, with the same graphic enhancement you would expect for a sequel. The gun designs are more varied, enemies that return look better, the landscapes in each area are actually different and doesn't feel like a repeat on a theme.

The story (though not complete for me yet), is similar to the first one, but you are on the opposite side this time. Handsome Jack, owner/CEO of the Hyperion Corporation, wants to open the Vault and you must stop him. Not very original, but the humor in this game more than makes up for it. There are references everywhere, from an Quest NPC named Loggins to a Loot Midget named Jenkins, to a side quest that anyone who grew up in the late 80's early 90's should recognize. Not to mention the Minecraft easter egg in the game. Yeah, Everywhere.

The gameplay has been tweaked a bit, but all of the new improvements work really well. The biggest improvement I have noticed is hit detection, especially for rockets. For Criticals, your aiming has to be more precise and sometimes figuring out Critical spots (without zero) can be a chore.

The stats on guns and shields make more sense and are easier to understand and the guns are more varied. The different manufacturers now do different things, like Hyperion weapons get more accurate the more you fire and you throw Tediore guns away to make them reload. It makes the different combinations very interesting.

Another major difference is how they did elemental damage. Now, instead of just an x3 or x4, it tells you the percent chance to do element damage as well as the amount per second of the damage itself.

All the classes are different from the first one and the different branches on each class are more well defined. For me, the biggest improvement is the Gunzerker class with the ability to use to weapons at the same time. He is the tank, like the Berzerker in the first one, but using two guns is MUCH better than using two fists.

All in all, there isn't anything exactly new in the game. All the things that made the first one great are still there. But Gearbox listened to fans and fixed or improved just about everything making for, over all, a much more satisfying experience.