Borderlands has always been a series defined by its chaotic energy, its distinctive art style, and its endless stream of loot. With Borderlands 4, developer Gearbox Software has build upon this legacy, introducing significant changes to the established formula. The result is a title that, while not without its notable flaws, stands as a strong and ambitious entry, proving that this looter-shooter franchise still has room to grow and evolve.
One of the most immediate and impactful changes is the overhaul of the game’s structure. Stepping away from the segmented zones of previous installments, Borderlands 4 presents a seamless, interconnected open world. This new design encourages a greater sense of exploration and freedom, allowing players to traverse vast landscapes and uncover secrets at their own pace. The open world is filled with a diverse array of activities, from some of the best story-driven side quests ever created to environmental puzzles and timed challenges, there is always something to do beyond the main narrative that makes Kairos feel like an active and alive planet. This shift in design feels like a natural progression for the series and contributes to a more immersive and expansive experience.
Accompanying the new world design are substantial improvements to player movement and gunplay. The combat mechanics are more fluid and dynamic than ever before, with new abilities like a grappling hook and enhanced double jumps fundamentally changing how players navigate firefights and the environment. This focus on verticality and agility adds a fresh layer of strategy to battles, pushing players to utilize their full arsenal of movement options to outmaneuver enemies. The core gunplay, the very heart of the Borderlands experience, remains excellent. The sheer variety of weaponry is staggering, with new alternate fire modes and weapon-specific enhancements that provide a greater depth of build-crafting. Landing a headshot is harder than previous versions, but as satisfying as ever, and the constant pursuit of more powerful and outlandish gear keeps the gameplay loop highly addictive.
However, the game’s ambitious design is not without its issues. A major point of contention for many players, particularly on PC, has been the game’s technical performance. Numerous reports have highlighted issues with stuttering, crashes, and other performance problems, even on high-end hardware. While patches have been released to address these issues, the initial state of the game at launch was a bit of a disappointment for many, tarnishing the initial experience. I played the game for review on the Xbox series X that didn’t have the same issues, however it noticably loaded elements in the background so there was constantly elements popping in. This is a biproduct of the new open world that while expansive clearly takes a bit of resources to run.
The story is generally step up from the previous installment (Even though I loved Borderlands 3, I can’t deny it had a mixed reception). The more mature and grounded tone of Borderlands 4 is a nice change and props to them for trying something a bit different with the antagonist who’s variety of minions offer a fun alternative to the regualar baddies who are also a big part of the game.
The user interface menu systems is the most cumbersome design as it feels designed for PC mouse controls but is annoying to use on console. There’s a lot going on in those menus, but it never feels like an intuitive look into what you are actually wanting to achieve. Given the amount of time you spend in menus in Borderlands games there’s a hope they will streamline this with patches.
Even with just four character classes, Borderlands 4 offers good variety. Each Vault Hunter has three extensive skill trees, plus specialized mini-skill trees within those. For example, I played as Rafa the Exo-Soldier and if you do the same and we play co-op then we’ll notice that our builds are more than likely be very different, even the general look of our characters will be distinct. This deep customization comes from the wide range of character skills and abilities available, giving more replay value and longevity to the title overall.
Borderlands 4 is a title that takes a monumental leap forward in its gameplay mechanics and world design, offering a richer and more engaging experience than its predecessors. The change in gunplay does offer more fluid movement once you get used to it, and vast open world provide a potent and deeply rewarding looter-shooter experience.
There’s a point in all Borderlands games where you feel a real achievement of power, you a no longer carrying a single feature weapon and are instead using a plethera of perks that compliment each other across your entire build. This is something you can get from playing other games like Destiny as well, but Borderlands just does it in a way that genuinely feels earnt and that feeling is something we love to chase while we play through the hours of crazy content that this world provides. Borderlands 4 does a really fantastic job of feeding this urge in a way not seen since the much loved Borderlands 2.
While the game can feel a bit held back by a series of technical issues and design quirks, I wouldn’t write it off just yet because at its core its a very good Borderlands game. The strength of the core gameplay remains immensely chaotic, fun and compelling.
It’s not quite Game of the Year Material but it is a solidly fun experience that you’ll invest hours of time in and leave satisfied. Borderlands 4 scores an 8 out of 10.
