Ever since it popularised the genre with the 2009 release of Borderlands, the franchise has been the grand-daddy of the looter shooter genre. Since then, there have been many releases and challengers for the looter shooter crown, with Destiny arguably the king. That being said, Borderlands has been a consistent and well-loved series, and with Destiny’s decline coinciding with the release of Borderlands 4, Gearbox may just take top-spot once again.
After Borderlands, Gearbox released Borderlands 2 (which many consider the franchise’s best), The Pre-Sequel and Borderlands 3. I skipped both Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel, but adored Borderlands 3. It was endlessly replayable, had a great story and cast of characters and the series’ signature gunplay.
Sure, loot was too plentiful, and Legendaries popped more than a bowl of Rice Bubbles, but it included a host of quality of life improvements, new features and let us leave Pandora. Borderlands 4 follows in its predecessor’s footsteps. It too introduces a number of improvements and new features, and this time, we’re leaving Pandora behind altogether. Off we go, to Kairos.
Borderlands 4 Review
Following the events of Borderland 3 and Lilith’s heroic sacrifice, Pandora’s moon revealed the location of Kairos, a hidden planet ruled and controlled by a dictator known as The Timekeeper. With a brand new planet to pillage, Vault Hunters swarm to Kairos to find its Vault and the goodies hidden within. Unfortunately, The Time Keeper has Kairos locked down, hard, and on arrival, our heroic Vault Keepers are captured, imprisoned and fitted with control bolts to force subservience. With the help of a fledgling Vault Hunter named Arjay, our Vault Hunters escape and set about freeing Kairos from the clutches of the Time Keeper.
After this introductory mission, Borderlands 4 starts to open up, and you’re tasked (by Claptrap) with recruiting new members to the Crimson Resistance and taking down the Time Keeper and his Generals. Essentially, you’ll need to take down three big baddies who each control a section of Kairos. To do so, you’ll work your way through a number of missions, recruit new members, and eventually take down the Time Keeper.
This is all pretty much par for the course for Borderlands, but what makes for a fresh change in Borderlands 4 is the new open-world design of Kaios instead of the ‘zones’ found in previous games. This change doesn’t significantly alter how Borderlands 4 plays, but it does create new opportunities for gameplay and introduces new ways cause mayhem.,
For example, thanks to being set in an open world, after some onboarding, you’re able to tackle the main missions in (almost) any order you like. Whether you opt to free The Fadefields, Carcadia Burn, or Terminus Range first, second or last, you’ll still be getting the full story, and you’ll never be locked out from any content. By being able to choose, Gearbox has given players the freedom to play how they like and fully explore Kairos without being locked into one regions (or substory) or another.
If you’re getting tired of dealing with the problems of The Fadelands, you can simply head over to one of the other two locations and spend some time there. The freedom differentiates Borderlands 4 from the other games in the franchise, as they have all been essentially linear. Setting a game like Borderlands, with such an established formula, in both a new open-world and brand-new planet, could have been a misstep, but thankfully, Gearbox has landed the plane. The open world of Kairos is brimming with activities, missions, exploration and ridiculous Borderland-isms.
Side missions crop up with alarming frequency and will have you traipsing all over the place. Generally, they require you to head to point B, kill a bunch of guys, head to point C, kill some more guys and maybe collect some items and then head back to point A. Depth and variety of gameplay have never been Borderlands‘ strongest suit, but it doesn’t matter because, as always, the shooting is so bloody good, and the insane mayhem you can cause with your weaponry will keep you glued to your screen even after the millionth group of enemies you mow down.
To help you get around the vast open world, Gearbox has added some new movement options. First is the jetpack, which allows you to hover and glide through the air for a limited time,. With no fall damage, it’s hugely enjoyable to leave from a height, glide in the direction you intend to go and travel a huge distance, all while taking potshots at the enemies below. A grappling hook also becomes available to you early on and allows you to scale walls, swing from hooks and cross distances in the blink of an eye. Combining the grappling hook and jetpack glider turns you into an airborne Evel Knievel. There are some great lines to find that allow for jetpack and grapple combos, and when you nail them, you feel as though Gearbox could have created an entire extreme sports title from these mechanics alone.
To assist with the use of your jetpack, Gearbox has placed silos across the map, which, when activated, launch you into the air and allow you to glide without the usual timed limitation. It’s not only a great way to get around the map, but it can help you spot new locations and activities on the ground below.
For ground-based transport, Borderlands 4 introduces the Digirunner Bike. Basically, it’s Borderlands’ version of Destiny’s Sparrow, and it shits all over every other vehicle in Borderlands’ history. For the first time ever, I don’t feel as though I’m actively fighting with the controls to go in the direction I want to. Remember the cars from Borderlands? I do, and not fondly. Borderlands 3‘s Cyclone was a marked improvement, but the Digirunner is the best yet. To help you navigate the open world, your ECHO bot has a handy tracking tool that highlights a path to your objective and any points of interest along the way. You can be rest assured that I was spamming that button constantly.
Of course, once you unlock Fast Travel stations, this becomes the quickest and easiest way to get around, but I would only recommend it once you’ve unlocked and completed every map marker that pops up. Otherwise, you’ll be missing out on an absolute abundance of content and gameplay. For example, Gearbox has included a metric butt tonne of collectibles, puzzles and side quests to help keep the open world interesting as well as random encounter World Bosses. If you see a bubble on the field, hop inside, kill the World Boss and reap the rewards. These fights can be pretty tricky, but make full use of Borderland 4’s gunplay and elemental mechanics, forcing you to both go in guns blazing but also think about how you do so.
Speaking of Bosses, Borderlands 4’s boss fights are amongst the best in the entire franchise. They feel far less chaotic and unstructured and instead always have a hook and some interesting mechanics to deal with. Instead of just heading into the boss arena and pumping them full of as many bullets as possible, you’ll need to make use of the environment or a specific item/mechanic to succeed. While not as mechanically complex as some other boss fights in the genre, it feels as though Gearbox has looked to Destiny for inspiration in boss design. Beating Borderlands 4’s bosses feels like an achievement rather than a DPS check and when you get that sweet orange drop, it’s all the more worthwhile.
On the topic of Legendaries, drop rates are way down in Borderlands 4, and I am all for it. Rare drops should be just that…rare and when they are, it makes it feel much more satisfying to have earned it. I can see that some people (myself included) with limited time to play games would be discouraged, but, honestly, when Legendary drops are too common, it dilutes their worth and makes every bit of loot feel insignificant. If you’re a true grind fiend, you can take advantage of Mad Moxxi’s replay machines to kill bosses over and over to get the drops you want.
Borderlands 4, like its brethren, includes 4 Vault Hunters to choose from, each with their own skill trees, abilities and build crafting. I chose Vex for my playthrough and very much enjoyed tearing through the world with my spectral cat, Trouble, in tow. The amount of depth available with Borderlands 4’s classes and characters is staggering and, for me, frankly a little overwhelming. Thankfully, you can get by just fine without investing hours into building the perfect class. But, ig that’s your bag, you have a huge number of options at your fingertips.
Overall, Borderlands 4 is a little bit more than an iterative sequel. It includes plenty of genuine improvements and changes to the core gameplay loop, as well as a bunch of quality-of-life tweaks to make Borderlands 4 an absolute gem. If you’ve never played Borderlands before, Borderlands 4 is the perfect place to start. If you’ve been playing since 2009, get ready to be addicted all over again.
Borderlands 4 was reviewed on PS5 using digital code provided by 2K. Additional codes were also provided for Steam.
