Everyone has at least a couple of gaming franchises that mean more to them than most. For me, Borderlands sits near the top of the list. When the original released, I gamed daily with an old friend group I cherished, and, by time the sequel arrived in 2012, my entire family would play Borderlands 2 endlessly. From late night farming runs to spending countless hours trying to figure out the most “broken” builds, I have a very long history with the series.
Since then, Borderlands has become a globally recognized property with four mainline games, spin-offs, popular characters, and even a blockbuster movie (c’mon, I had to). However, for all of its popularity, sentiment among the hardcore, at least anecdotally, is that the series peaked at Borderlands 2 and hasn’t recaptured that same level of brilliance since. Gearbox has spent a great deal of time promising that Borderlands 4 is a “return” to what people loved about Borderlands while focusing on movement, story, and, of course, loot, with all of the features you’d expect in a game releasing in 2025. So, with all of that in mind, have they succeeded?
No Rest for the Wicked
There may be very minor spoilers for those who didn’t play Borderlands 3 or previously watch the Gearbox presentations on Borderlands 4
With Borderlands 4, Gearbox’s aim was to tell a more grounded and impactful story. New writers were brought in for the project, and, for the first time in the mainline series, the setting doesn’t include Pandora. After the events of Borderlands 3, the planet of Elpis is teleported away by Lilith only to discover a previously hidden planet named Kairos. Kairos is held under a tyrannical grip by our main antagonist, The Timekeeper. As you might have guessed, a resistance has formed, and some new vault hunters are thrust into the mix with the goal of taking The Timekeeper down.
Playing through the campaign of Borderlands 4, I was reminded of one of the reasons I fell in love with this series in the first place. There’s a goofy charm to Borderlands, something that felt largely lost in Borderlands 3 as it leaned more into being edgy and social media aligned. Thankfully, the story of 4 is more grounded and pure “sci-fi” while still retaining the silliness of the series at times. The journey to The Timekeeper and the events surrounding it are engaging, and I once again felt invested as a character in what was occurring along the way.
While it attempts to capture the impact of some of the most memorable and beloved moments in Borderlands 2, it, sadly, doesn’t quite reach those heights. The Timekeeper was very clearly meant to replicate the overall feel of challenging Handsome Jack, but those are big shoes to fill for Borderlands fans. Regardless, there are aspects I truly enjoyed, and it pays homage to the series in a number of ways, which put a smile on my face. It’s also worth noting that the vast majority of the campaign has you battling hordes of enemies and enemy types to melt into puddles, including The Timekeeper’s “Order” goons who present new challenges. There’s absolutely no shortage of action along the way, which is not only fun but allows you to experiment with the extensive loot and weaponry as you go.
It’s also largely a fresh start as far as the series is concerned. There are a handful of returning characters along with some surprises along the way, but Borderlands 4 avoids many of the series’ overused cliches, and the new setting of Kairos is superb. Kairos is a sprawling landscape with different biomes, vast areas to explore, and a wide array of monsters and enemies for you to shake the loot out of. In terms of a setting enhancing overall gameplay, this is where Borderlands 4 really begins to shine.
Catch a Sliiiiiiiiide
While Gearbox is cautious about calling Borderlands 4 an “open-world” game…Borderlands 4 is an open-world game. While that moniker may bring some negative connotation for some, it’s a badge of honor for Borderlands 4 as, without question, it’s the most beautiful and engaging title in the series yet.
The landscapes are vast and stunning with a fantastic sense of verticality, which expands both exploration and combat scenarios in numerous ways. Exploring Kairos and discovering caves, hidden areas, collectibles, activities, bounties, etc., is simply a joy, and even after nearly 80 hours of play just in the review period (I’m…tired), there’s still plenty to do with my first character, should I choose to. In addition to vast landscapes and mission variety, there are also mines, bunkers, and vaults which can be re-run endlessly to farm to your heart’s content.
Beyond exploration, the environments allow for more varied combat, as well. From battling hordes of enemies in a confined Order building to sniping Kraks (AAAAA) from the ledge of a mountain top, and everything in-between, the variety of action feels endless. With a great array of enemy types and difficulty modes along with the new randomized boss events, Borderlands 4 gives players the ability to simply wander around the world while being challenged and scoring high-tier loot instead of being forced to play a certain way. I appreciate this as one of the marks of a great loot-based ARPG: that I’m not confined to re-running a single boss hundreds of times (though, as noted, you can do that too if you prefer).
Some of what makes the environment and encounters so much more thrilling in Borderlands 4 is the new movement suite. Highlighted by Gearbox since the debut of the game, the movement from Borderlands 3 has been expanded further. So, in addition to sprinting, sliding, and clambering, you can now double jump, glide, and grapple to designated points or environmental hazards. Given the size of the world and scope of combat, these abilities add another layer to gameplay, and, once you get used to them, there’s simply no comparison to prior entries as this is easily the best feeling and playing Borderlands yet.
That brings me to likely my largest gripe with the game, however. And that is: despite the giant, beautiful world and fluid movement suite, Kairos is designed with pathing that aligns with quests and specific points in the game. So, despite you being able to see and reach ledges and buildings, there are invisible walls throughout that will prevent you from doing so unless you take a certain route. It’s a very odd design choice, and it’s one that becomes rather frustrating the more you play. When combined with the fact that the grapple only works on designated points, you’ll often go to double jump or glide to a spot that looks completely accessible, only to hit the invisible wall, fall down, and be forced to find another way.
While I understand the desire for players to discover areas alongside the story and missions, every time I play I find myself wishing they simply allowed the grapple to be used anywhere (similar to, say, Halo: Infinite) and to be able to go anywhere that’s accessible. There are still areas that are “Out of Bounds,” which make sense, but the arbitrary blockers often detract from exploring the beautiful Karios with the full freedom you would expect.
So You Wanna Be A Vault Hunter?
One of the biggest highlights of each mainline Borderlands release is meeting the new vault hunters. In this case we get a new set of four whose playstyles will be familiar to veterans of the series.
- Amon is a Forgeknight and the largest vault hunter yet (even bigger than Krieg).
- Harlowe is an ex-Maliwan combat scientist who utilizes unique technology.
- Vex is the Siren of the game and is accompanied by her companion, Trouble (which you can build into).
- Rafa is an ex-Tediore soldier and utilizes a Tediore exo-suit with unique abilities.
Everyone has their favorite vault hunters throughout Borderlands‘ history (shout out to my Mordecai stans). Throughout the review period, I completed the campaign and reached the current max level of 50 with Harlowe, and then I spent a little time with Vex, Rafa, and Amon at level 30 to get a feel for them. I also played most of the campaign in co-op with a mix of the vault hunters. Each feels unique, and there’s something here for everyone, though it does feel a bit familiar with prior entries, which can be good or bad depending on your perspective.
Builds and theory-crafting take on the familiar shape you expect from Borderlands where many of the skills are rather basic on the surface, but, when combined with higher-level loot, can vastly evolve your damage output. Funny enough, I discovered a broken build with Harlowe that sadly won’t live beyond the day one patch, but it was fun while it lasted. And, of course, I’m sure others will find ways to stretch the limits over time. But while I still yearn for a Borderlands that features a deeper skill-building suite, Borderlands 4 does take it up another notch with the characters’ skill-trees and loadouts.
As always, Borderlands excels in chaos, cranking it up to 11 with an almost unbelievable amount of action occurring on-screen when playing in co-op. The capabilities for combo play are broad, and we had an absolute blast playing through the action-filled campaign together. At no time did we experience any issues with the gameplay itself; however, we did find a large number of bugs with co-op progress. While main mission progress saved for everyone without issue the entire way, many other aspects, such as map unlocks, SDU and challenge progress, and base location saves, didn’t carry over properly. While I’m unable to speak to whether this will be resolved for launch, it was a definite frustration during the review period and meant re-playing a significant amount of content in my solo game.
Accompanying the action is a surprisingly varied soundtrack. While Borderlands has a history of using notable tracks for trailers and intros, Borderlands 4 takes it to a new level throughout, which I love. One moment you’ll be tangling with a boss while a bombastic, classical-like feature plays, and the next you’ll be ripping faces off of Rippers to riffs that would feel right at home in DOOM. My entire co-op review group commented on the soundtrack several times as it enhances the overall experience thoroughly.
Loot ‘Splosion
If you’re like me, this is why you’re here. Loot, loot, and more loot. Chasing that feeling of getting just the right piece of gear that completes your build. And, on that front, I’m extremely happy with Borderlands 4 out of the gate. I say out of the gate, of course, because we all know the game will continue to evolve on this front with new legendaries and the Pearlescent rarity already on the road map from Gearbox in the near future.
There are a few new wrinkles to the systems here, and, generally, I really enjoy all of them. The first is that rocket launchers, grenades, and new heavy weapons all occupy a single slot called “Ordnance.” There’s a full range of weaponry, here, including mini-guns, throwing knives, launchers, and more, and you can swap them out at will. And, better yet, there are no ammo counts to worry about as their usage is defined by their card stats and a cooldown. It’s an excellent addition, and, take my word for it, focus on the throwing knives.
Another addition is the new “Repkit.” The Repkit acts as your healing potion, now, and it also acts on a cooldown. But it is also another slot of your loadout that has randomly rolled stats, which can include overshields, varying types of regeneration, and additional bonuses.
Combining with those are the class mods, shields, enhancements, and, of course, weapons that you know and love. But, when taken on the whole, the possibilities for drops and build combinations have expanded yet again. And, for people like me who love theory crafting and experimentation, you’re going to be in for one hell of a ride.
Taking it a step further, in the later levels loot can then drop with gear set bonuses. Each gear set has three levels and can provide some rather significant bonuses. And, similar to other loot-based ARPGs, you can transfer the bonus to other pieces of gear by destroying the original. It’s yet another layer of build-crafting that takes Borderlands 4 further than before, and I’m all for it.
Of course, Borderlands wouldn’t be complete without comical and ridiculous weaponry as well, so don’t worry, it’s here. A fish grenade that continually spawns bouncing fish that explode? Check. A Ghostbusters-themed particle beam weapon? Check. How about a gun modeled after Reading Rainbow that actually shoots rainbows? Yep. As always, it’ll be a lot of fun discovering all of this ridiculousness along the way.
One of the other big additions in Borderlands 4 is the ability for items to drop with varying attributes from different manufacturers (which even includes some companies beyond the standard ten in Borderlands 4). While items dropping with parts from different manufacturers isn’t new, the way it’s implemented here is more defined and impactful. For instance, the difference between a throwing knife that has a Maliwan-themed singularity effect versus one that has a Jakobs-themed critical hit bonus is vast when you’re focusing on specific builds. And this variety continues to expand at higher levels. The ability for a Maliwan sniper to drop that has dual-element switching, an alt-fire mode that shoots rockets, a Jakobs attribute causing critical hits to bounce to other targets, and an Order magazine which can be charged up to shoot multiple shots in succession is, well, just awesome. And, naturally, it expands the drops and on-going loot hunt further than ever before.
The End…For Now, Game
It goes without saying that the end game is where most Borderlands players will spend their time, and Gearbox has accounted for this in a number of ways for launch. Upon completing the campaign, you’ll unlock Ultimate Vault Hunter mode. Enabling this will increase enemy density and difficulty while increasing loot percentages, just like before. There are five levels of UVH at launch, and each requires you to complete a few challenges, and then a “Wildcard” mission, to move to the next level. It’s not a bad system, but the Wildcard missions are merely missions pulled from the campaign that you’ll have to run again while facing more difficult enemies with special attributes. It feels like there could have been a more exciting way to implement the system, especially given the scope of Kairos.
Regardless, I love the fact that the end game opens after beating the campaign and does not require you to reach level 50. UVH modes and the new Specialization tree become immediately accessible, and you’ll begin earning experience for specialization points right away. The specialization tree is a broader take on the old badass system, but it has a few new wrinkles, including additional skills which allow you to continue specializing your late-game build. It’s a great addition that feels more meaningful as you continue leveling beyond the core level of 50.
The dedicated areas with set bosses, such as the vaults, mines, and bunkers, and that capability of running them endlessly and instantly now, are very welcome changes. Beat a boss, grab your loot, teleport back, and spend money or eridium to instantly spawn them again, if you wish. It’s a great addition that makes dedicated farming runs far more efficient. And, as I noted earlier, Kairos is so vast and filled with high-level enemies on Ultimate Vault Hunter, you can continue the grind in whatever way you prefer.
Can’t Hold Me Down
Borderlands is a beloved, storied franchise in gaming. And Borderlands 4 is a welcome return to the silliness and chaos that made it so enjoyable in the first place. With the backdrop of an outstanding new setting in Kairos, and by refining the storytelling, honing in on player abilities, and expanding builds and loot in smart ways, Borderlands 4 is likely my favorite Borderlands yet. And given my love and nostalgia for Borderlands 2, that’s probably the biggest compliment I can give it.
While it doesn’t quite achieve those heights narratively, and while we faced some annoying bugs prior to launch, what it accomplishes in nearly every facet is simply fantastic. Combined with a packed roadmap of additions that includes two additional vault hunters, Borderlands 4 will keep me and fans playing for years to come. Damn it feels good to be back.
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