'Borderlands 2's' secret of the Golden Key revealed

The details surrounding Borderlands 2's Golden Key, which comes with preorders of the game from Premiere Club retailers, were revealed today in developer Gearbox's forums.

The details surrounding Borderlands 2's Golden Key, which comes with pre-orders of the game from Premiere Club retailers, were revealed today in developer Gearbox's forums.

The Golden Key will unlock a Golden Chest in the friendly town of Sanctuary. It should take players about three hours to arrive there in the upcoming role-playing game/first-person shooter, but the nature of the Golden items forces a difficult decision.

"See, the loot inside the Golden Chest is always of 'very rare' (purple) quality and scaled to your character's level at the moment you open the chest," according to Chris Faylor, Gearbox's community manager. "If you’ve only got one Key, you need to consider: do I want some high-quality loot right now, or do I want to wait until I'm closer to the (considerably more difficult) end of the game? Do I want my Level 21 Maya to open the chest, or should I switch to my Level 33 Axton?"

Players can obtain Premiere Club membership, which includes the Golden Key, an exclusive weapons pack, and the Mechromancer class, by pre-ordering the game at participating retailers. In the U.S., those retailers include GameStop, Amazon, and Best Buy.

Players won't have to wait long to make the golden decision. Borderlands 2 is locked and loaded for a September 18th release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.