If you are a gamer who didn’t play Borderlands you either have terrible friends, or hate having insane amounts of fun. Borderlands was a weird mix of space western, comedy, and RPG, with loot drops akin to a Diablo-type game. There are four playable characters, each with a unique style of play. This all added up to one unexpectedly awesome game.

Since its release in late October of 2009, it has sold over 4.5 million copies, on PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and the Mac. In this writer’s humble opinion, it might be one of the single most fun experiences you can have on any of those platforms.

So now that you are up to speed on all the awesome, it’s time to talk Borderlands 2. Its launch date is September 18, 2012, and instead of a sleeper hit in-the-making, Borderlands 2 is officially a must-watch game. Expect it to be big.

From the new guns (there will be many), to the small touches such as a presistant stash across all your characters, this game has been tweaked to ramp up the mayhem and fun. Even the one major pain that plagues games of this type — Co-operative play — promises a vastly improved experience. This is exciting since once you we’re able to get the original Borderlands to play co-op mode and got a group of friends fragging together, the fun escalated exponentially.

So, Vault Hunters, prepare to be occupied come mid-September because once the 18th hits, the fragging begins. Until then, here is a little video Clap Trap love to tide you over while this little dude finds all new ways to make you laugh, cry, and probably die a little inside.

FYI – if you pre-order Borderlands 2 on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, or PC through Amazon.com, there’s a pre-order bonus:

Video: Claptrap, Episode 1