Borderlands 2 All But Gold, Features 58 Hours of Gameplay

Not only is Gearbox Software’s blog reporting that Borderlands 2 is headed to certification (the final step before officially going gold), but this interview with Gearbox’s Steve Gibson on GamerZines reveals that the shooter/RPG sequel sports somewhere in the vicinity of 58 hours’ worth of gameplay. The relevant bits:

Today, we have some exciting new to share about Borderlands 2 — the game is headed to certification!

This means that the game’s on-disc content has been locked down and will be thoroughly tested to ensure it is ready for release – in other words, the game is finished and we cannot make any further changes to the game. As such, the team is now shifting their focus towards post-launch efforts, including the Mechromancer: the new character class that will be released as FREE downloadable content to members of the Borderlands 2 Premiere Club roughly 60 to 90 days after launch.

The Mechromancer is just one of the many bonuses for members of the Premiere Club, which can be joined by pre-ordering Borderlands 2 from a participating retailer in advance of its release on September 18 in North America and September 21 Internationally. For a list of those participating retailers and more details about Premiere Club benefits, please visit our Borderlands 2 FAQ and borderlands2.com/preorder

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GamerZines: I think it’s because the great thing about Borderlands is its longevity, that you can afford to empower the player permanently without worrying about balance because it is a standalone £30 game. Is that something you agree with?

Steve Gibson: What we like to think about it is, Borderlands is a hobby. Some guide guys just did a playthrough of Borderlands 2 and they reported back to us that it takes 58 hours to play through the campaign and that’s just one playthrough with one character. So the depth with which people can get into that.Yeah we look at it as a hobby, and that isn’t even counting the new Badass Points System and how that’ll affect every character you do. We want it to feel like you get more for your money, we’re happy for people to pay their money once and feel that they get ongoing value. Hopefully they’ll buy the next Gearbox title, which would be Aliens in February.