Borderlands 2 aims for "as few cutscenes as is humanly possible"

Gearbox really, really doesn't want to turn Borderlands 2 into a cut-scene heavy drama llama.

"The key is not breaking flow. A big part of that is as few cutscenes as is humanly possible," Borderlands 2 writer Anthony Burch told GameInformer when asked about the game's story.

"Apart from our cool splash screens that last about five seconds, there’s maybe three cutscenes in the entire game – one at the very beginning, one at the very end, and one in the middle. I’m not certain on that number, but it’s very low."

Burch said that Gearbox wants to put gameplay first and story second.

"The story informs the gameplay and makes you feel like the things you’re doing in the gameplay are for a bigger reason. It’s never, 'Hey, I’m going to grab you by the neck and make you watch this nine-minute cutscene about this character I really like, so deal with it,'" he said.

"It’s more about making sure the world itself has more environmental storytelling. Characters constantly tell you why you’re doing what you’re doing, cheer you on, warn you about things that are coming up."

That said, Borderlands 2 features a weightier narrative than the first game, even just in terms of mission structure.

"The things that you’re doing in Borderlands 2 are of such a larger scope and scale that it will feel even more interesting – like the stuff we showed at Gamescom of rescuing Roland while two opposing armies fight to get him out of your grips. In the first Borderlands you just never got that scale of narrative importance on missions," Burch noted.

The wrtiter also apparently gave away a minor plot spoiler:

"Generally any character from the first game or previous DLC is back in some form or another. Unless they’re dead. And even some of them still make it back in some ways," he said.

Borderlands 2 releases on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in September.