I played more of this last night, it's definitely rougher around the edges than BL2, but it has a different sort of charm about it as a result.
The loot is a bit all over the place, with the vending machines routinely offering me total junk and/or stuff that's levels higher than me, and then I had a tough quest giving a reward that's several levels lower than me. (Even though I was on level for the quest.)
Also, at one point I was really quite short of quests and had to start grinding mobs on my way between locations just to get enough XP to level up to where I could take the next campaign quest on.
Then I had a weapons drought so used a golden key (you get 75 keys to start with in the version of the game I've bought), and got a splendid on-level legendary shotgun which enabled me to make some progress through an area that I literally couldn't manage with the weapons and gear I had. (The Badasses in this game really are Badasses, I proper had to kite one of them for a while whilst taking pot shots at it.)
The game also has a bit more of a mournful feel to it than BL2, with a very nice soundtrack that adds to the sense it's just you against a seriously crazy, hostile world.
Would definitely recommend giving it a look in its new GOTY Remastered format if you haven't played it before and like BL2.