Gearbox Software did an outstanding job with the first Borderlands. Its blend of sadistic humor, colorful violence, and addictive shooter-looter mechanics garnered unprecedented acclaim from gamers worldwide.

With the announcement of Borderlands 2, check out the following list of suggestions that would make the return trip to Pandora's barren battlefields even more worthwhile.

1. Present splitscreen horizontally

The vertical splitscreen presentation damaged co-op play in Borderlands. Panning across oversized menus and interpreting a squashed heads-up display (HUD) was very inconvenient. Updating multiplayer to feature a wider field of view would correct both errors and improve the shooting.

2. Record more lines of dialog

After a few hours in the wastes, listening to vendors and claptraps became grating. If you have nothing new to say, then keep quiet. Please Gearbox, do something about this problem.

3. Give side arms a unified class

Grouping revolvers and repeater pistols into separate categories was unnecessary. Despite the distinctive characteristics each possessed, they were still types of handguns.

4. Reduce sniper sway

Unless one invested in the hunter class, aiming a sniper rifle was unstable and frustrating. This caused most players to avoid them. Diminishing sway by 25 to 50 percent would balance accessibility.

5. Strengthen rocket launchers

Of the millions of weapons in Borderlands, launchers were the least appealing. This can be attributed to small clips, poor accuracy, and a disheartening lack of power. The weapons should have a more devastating and explosive impact in the new game. Also, it would be great to introduce homing capabilities for rockets, so players could actually hit smaller targets.

6. Make money more meaningful

Cash was virtually useless at the end of the first title. Players amassed wealth that literally exceeded counting, but they were given little incentive to spend it. Stronger weapons could only be acquired through field work. The developers must scale back Pandora's economy or provide the option to purchase astronomically priced guns.

7. Merge the life and shield bars

Implementing a single regenerative vitality gage is common sense. This would decrease HUD elements and prompt removal of trivial medkits.

8. Streamline fetch quests

Collecting audio diaries, gun components, and elemental crystals became tedious in the original adventure. Halving the number of objectives per quest and allowing players to accept and redeem bounties remotely would transform these once-irritating tasks into welcome distractions.

9. Overhaul navigation

Traversing Pandora's harsh landscape proved to be more bothersome than enjoyable. The 2D compass hindered progress on a regular basis. This problematic tool should be removed. Introducing a mini-map and the ability to generate waypoints would be a good alternative. Numerous sandbox games already benefit from this foolproof system.

10. Revisit the Underdome

The horde-mode concept works quite well in the Borderlands universe. Competitions are agonizingly long, however, and players cannot earn experience. Clearly, Gearbox should reactivate XP and slim the quantity of rounds. Rewarding participants with better guns wouldn't hurt either.

Hopefully, these reasonable and straightforward suggestions will help make the next Borderlands even better than the first.