2k Games gave us our first hands off look at Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel today at Pax east. While Gearbox may be done with Borderlands, save for a few more DLC packs an astonishing 18 months after the launch of Borderlands 2, 2K is not. 2k Australia has picked up the torch for a new game in the series.

Taking place in-between Borderlands 1 and 2, it’s obvious where they got the name “Pre-Sequel” and it is only fitting with Borderlands’s tongue and cheek world. The game is only releasing on last gen consoles and PC, which tells me it is not the next big game in the series. With so much DLC being released for Borderlands 2, you may wonder why this is a new game instead of another add on.

There are several things that set “The Pre-Sequel” apart from the other two that they just couldn’t do with DLC. Here you are playing on the moon (a completely new environment for the series) and this provides for many of the games unique hooks. Your character, and enemy lifeforms all require oxygen, and this is provided by a clever bubble helmet. You can even pop enemies helmets by hitting a headshot and watch them choke out. Your oxygen is limited so you will need to find air sources while galavanting around on the moon. And to add to that, you also now have a jet pack which also requires oxygen to function.

These new elements combined with the moons low gravity really spiced up the gameplay in the demo we saw. Enemies were exploded off into space, helmets where shot off, and really just a lot of good borderlands mayhem. Most of the mayhem in our demo was provided by the two new classes of weapons, lasers and ice. With the lasers you get exactly what you’d expect. With the ice guns, you get the ability to slow down targets and eventually freeze them in place allowing you to shatter them.

There are 4 new classes to play as (Lawbringer, Enforcer, Gladiator), but we didn’t get too much detail about their specific abilities. The only thing you need to know is clap trap is now a playable class with tiny guns to boot.

While we didn’t get hands on with the game, it does seem to be very borderlandsy. I don’t think this will change anyones minds about the series, but if you still love it, get ready for some more carnage this fall.