Insatiable Borderlands fans will have a full new game to chew through later this year, as Gearbox and 2K Australia are releasing Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel before the the end of the year.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel comes two years after the release of Borderlands 2, which Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford said was one of 2K's best-selling games ever, with 8.5 million copies sold.

"We still haven't met fans demands for content," Pitchford told Mashable during a reveal of the game. Borderlands 2 had eight different downloadable content packs after its release, each spanning several additional hours of gameplay.

This "pre-sequel" — or as Pitchford joked, "Borderlands 1.5" — takes place between the first and second Borderlands games. Players control four new characters and work with not-yet-villain Handsome Jack, long before he becomes a megalomaniacal force in Borderlands 2.

"We wanted to make Jack more of a sympathetic character," said Gearbox writer Anthony Burch, who added it will be interesting for fans to contrast the Handsome Jack from both these games to the unannounced villain in the Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. "You might end up rooting for her."

Image: Gearbox Software/2K Games

The four playable characters will all be somewhat familiar to die-hard series fans, as they all made appearances in Borderlands 2. They include Athena, an Atlus Assassin and former member of the Crimson Lance; Wilhelm, a man turned cyborg that was actually seen as a boss in Borderlands 2; Nisha the Lawbreaker; and an upgraded version of sassy, foul-mouthed, fan-favorite robot Claptrap.

The stats, skills and feel of the game will all be familiar to players, as The Pre-Sequel uses the Borderlands 2 engine. The game has been in development for over a year by 2K Australia; the studio took on the project just after finishing BioShock Infinite.

Image: Gearbox/2K Games

But the old dog has some new tricks. 2K Australia's team has worked to add some mechanics to the shooter, some of which were on display during a demo that took us into Hyperion's infamous moon base. Characters now have oxygen tanks that let them bounce around in low gravity, crossing large chasms and more quickly dodging foes. There's even a way to shoot up and "ground pound" on your enemies from above, using your weight to do damage.

The Gearbox and 2K teams stressed that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel was only going to appear on current-generation platforms where the audience was already established, meaning PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game has no firm release date.

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