The very first teaser for "Borderlands 2" gave us a look at one of the four new playable characters. Yes, Gearbox is ditching the original four heroes in favor of a new cast of zany characters and the first one they're introducing us to is a bearded gentleman named Salvadore. He is a Gunzerker, which should fill in most of the blanks regarding his playstyle, but in case you still have questions, more specifics have just been revealed.
The latest from Game Informer, which has the exclusive first-look at the game, is focused on what makes the Gunzerker so Gunzerky.
The crucial class distinguisher is his active ability, which lets him dual-wield weapons for a short period of time. Similar to the way the Berzerker was able to rampage through an area by punching people in the face, the Gunzerker rampages by firing way more bullets than one would imagine possible. He's able to pair any two weapons at once, so dual rocket launchers are not out of the question. He can also pair up different weapon times, mixing heavy assault rifles with rocket launchers for a Rambo-esque effect.
His skill tree is separated into three sections: Wrath (skills related to his dual weilding), Brawn (skills related to survival) and Gun Lust (skills related to overall weapon damage and something called the Aggro Turret...whatever that is).
The piece details three of these skills:
Divergent Likeness - Dual-wielding two weapons of the same type will increase your damage per shot, whereas dual wielding with two different weapon types will increase your accuracy per shot.
Down, Not Out - Lets you dual-wield weapons while in Last Stand, giving you more of a chance to get a kill for an instant revive.
Overheat - My favorite of the bunch: The longer you hold down the trigger on a gun, the more the rate of fire on that gun will increase. Think of it like a minigun that has to spin up, but instead of reaching a peak rate of fire, it just keeps increasing until the clip runs out. This is probably not super useful for a weapon with a small clip, but lovers of heavy assault rifles will be in heaven.
While it's sad that Gearbox is ditching the four original characters from "Borderlands," the prospect of four new classes means we'll be seeing this same sort of variety three more times. Can't wait to see what else they have in store.