Borderlands 4 Review

My passionateness for looter shooters has burned rather brightly for implicit 15 years and Borderlands is the occurrence that lit the fuse. With Borderlands 4, Gearbox proves it inactive knows however to bring the boom. After fizzling somewhat with Borderlands 3, it felt similar this bid had begun to autumn down successful the genre it pioneered, but breaking distant from segmented levels and embracing an honest-to-goodness unfastened satellite allows 2025’s Borderlands to astonishment america again. Drastically improved question makes it 1 of the best-feeling first-person shooters retired there, the communicative takes a refreshingly grounded attack that pays off, and the expanded buildcrafting options similar healing items, throwing knives, and limb enhancements are each fantastic ideas. But taking these swings besides comes with immoderate unfortunate downsides, similar however exploration is rather virtually held backmost by invisible walls and awkward surfaces that garbage to beryllium trod upon, not to notation reasonably rocky method show (at slightest connected the PC mentation provided for review) and galore bugs. But those unsmooth edges borders did small to support maine from erstwhile again falling caput implicit heels for my archetypal looter-shooter love, and blasting done hordes of psychos with a person oregon 3 feels arsenic awesome arsenic it ever has.

If you’re caller to the implicit insanity that is Borderlands, it’s a bid wherever the weird enemies you mow down driblet progressively bizarre weapons that you past usage to mow down adjacent weirder enemies successful an endless rhythm of looting and shooting. How bizarre? It’s worldly similar an battle firearm that shoots tiny rockets, tin telephone successful an airstrike, and explodes similar a grenade erstwhile you reload and flip it. Or possibly you’ll luck into a sniper firearm that fires disconnected ammo similar a gatling weapon and stops consuming ammo portion overheated, oregon a grenade that screams absurd (and occasionally horny) things arsenic it bounces up and down, spewing acid. Borderlands 4 keeps that feeling caller by continuing to iterate connected the silly weapons it gives you, which tin cross-pollinate crossed antithetic limb manufacturers for adjacent weirder outcomes.

The different distinctive spot of benignant that’s acceptable its champion games isolated from the assemblage is that contempt ever having been filled with lowbrow dick jokes to lucifer its hand-drawn graphic caller look, Borderlands has ne'er been acrophobic to astonishment with crisp turns toward genuinely touching communicative moments. (Heck, it’s a beingness that’s supported a Telltale-made Tales from the Borderlands crippled and its Gearbox-developed sequel, truthful it’s not each astir run-and-gun action.) Borderlands 3 notably didn’t person a batch of those, though, truthful it was a alleviation erstwhile this followup yet ditched the archetypal satellite of Pandora and galore of its bequest characters who’d started to deterioration retired their invited to archer a wholly caller communicative connected a satellite called Kairos that’s been dominated by a malevolent, brainwashing dictator named the Timekeeper.

Borderlands 4 is overmuch much than conscionable a enactment of caller air, bordering connected what astir seems similar a brushed reboot astatine times. It instantly adds immoderate memorable characters to its cast, similar the fancy and charming Levaine, who has a somewhat messy dating past with your chap Vault Hunters – but past each erstwhile successful a portion it takes a invited dip backmost into the nostalgia excavation to person Claptrap rattle disconnected a fewer jokes. (Yes, the sassy small bot is back; emotion him oregon hatred him, it wouldn’t beryllium Borderlands without him.) With a fewer neat twists successful store and a compelling crippled astir trying to escaped this planet, I ended up liking the communicative rather a bit, adjacent if it doesn’t deed the highs of Borderlands 2 (especially successful presumption of its iconic villain).

Most of the enactment itself is what you’d expect from this series, but fig 4 (or six, if you number The Pre-Sequel and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands) makes a fig of beauteous immense changes that shingle up your vault-hunting expedition. The biggest by acold is the information that Borderlands 4 is simply a due open-world crippled (as opposed to the accepted attack of ample zones separated by loading screens) that’s filled with broadside quests, timed activities, collectibles, and puzzles to question out. You besides person a full container of tricks to assistance you successful the exploration of Kairos’ 4 divers regions, similar a grapple hook that lets you get to areas usually retired of reach, a glider to soar implicit ample swaths of land, and a conveyance you tin summon connected bid to zip implicit hills and done deserts without having to hoof it to a Catch-A-Ride presumption first. Aside from a precise constricted fewer (such arsenic The Division 2 oregon Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League), afloat open-world games are beauteous uncommon successful the looter shooter abstraction – nary of which are successful first-person.

That mightiness not look similar a large woody astatine first, but it’s hard to overstate however antithetic this makes Borderlands 4 from its predecessors, not conscionable due to the fact that you’ve got truthful galore caller ways to get around, but due to the fact that progressing done the communicative and leveling up your quality is truthful overmuch little linear now. Sometimes I’d walk a fewer hours conscionable exploring a caller portion of the map, clearing the fog of warfare distant and completing immoderate activities I encountered on the way, portion different times I’d contention from spot to place, focusing connected 1 portion of the main communicative quest enactment earlier pivoting to different portion of it successful a antithetic region. That communicative took maine astir 40 hours to complete, but that was with plentifulness of distractions, and I’ve spent different 20+ aft the credits rolled with tons inactive near to do.

It’s besides awesome that you don’t person to interest truthful overmuch astir sticking adjacent to your teammates this time. They tin beryllium leagues distant doing their ain thing, and if they request assistance with thing you tin conscionable propulsion up your representation and warp to them instantly. Open-world activities are much divers than I was expecting arsenic well, and scope from due story-focused broadside quests to an enactment wherever you person to hole a elephantine crawler to assertion a conveyance upgrade to 1 wherever you combat loads of madmen astatine a drill tract to gain immoderate badass loot. The information that you tin bash each that free-wheeling exploration and find alongside a radical of friends successful a mode that’s ne'er inconvenient makes it that overmuch amended and impressive.

There is 1 large contented with this caller open-world philosophy, however, which is that the carnal terrain of Kairos doesn’t ever emergence to the juncture of these free-roaming ambitions. For example, immoderate areas are filled with invisible walls that you’ll unsatisfyingly slap into portion you’re trying to glide implicit a elevation oregon mantle up a ledge. Borderlands has ever had issues with its environments being a spot wonky, but it feels truthful overmuch much noticeable successful an unfastened satellite wherever you people presume you’re meant to research each nook and cranny, and astir games travel up with earthy barriers similar mountains oregon oceans to marque it wide that you tin spell nary farther. Instead, you rapidly find the limitations of that exploration and they consciousness artificial. Although I yet learned to admit erstwhile a aboveground was astir apt not thing I was going to beryllium allowed to interact with, it inactive bums maine retired that determination isn’t conscionable immoderate benignant of “out of bounds” informing erstwhile going places I wasn’t meant to.

One different large country of improvement is combat, which not lone has tighter, much responsive gunplay than immoderate Borderlands crippled earlier it, but comes packed with a frankly silly fig of caller question options that marque battles overmuch much dynamic. In summation to the existing ways to get astir similar moving and sliding, you tin present treble jump, glide, grapple hook, dash successful immoderate direction, and adjacent aquatics (that’s right, h2o nary longer instantly kills you, praise Moxxi). It really took maine rather a portion to retrieve each the caller ways I was expected to navigate combat encounters, but with the assistance of immoderate enemies that smartly propulsion you to marque afloat usage of your options, I yet learned to maestro them. By the end, I was soaring crossed the map, dodging attacks similar a pro and raining hellhole down upon my enemies. It became wonderfully satisfying worldly erstwhile I got the bent of it.

Gearbox has besides heaped an impressively precocious measurement of caller things to sprout into this game. While different Borderlands sequels reused galore of the aforesaid force types dating backmost to the 2009 original, Borderlands 4’s alteration of planetary venue means it has to importantly grow its menagerie. Sure, the masked psychos that service arsenic the series’ poster boys (they’re similar a disturbing mentation of the Minions from Despicable Me, and they managed to hitch a thrust disconnected of Pandora somehow), but determination are besides small mechanical spiders that bespeak each the bullets you nonstop their mode erstwhile they to rotation their legs rapidly, creatures covered successful crystals that are immune to harm until you sprout those crystals disconnected and rapidly destruct the floating orbs they crook into, and galore others that I hadn’t seen before. Those caused maine to halt and accommodate to their tactics successful absorbing ways, and that was ever a memorable moment.

Even amended are the brag fights, which person evolved beauteous importantly successful that they usually impact immoderate peculiar mechanics you person to larn successful bid to bushed them. These are often beauteous elemental things, similar picking up and throwing a toxic weaponry onto 1 brag to peel his armor off, oregon having to juggle yourself successful the aerial with grappling and gliding aft the level becomes hazardous for a signifier of different fight. Granted, they don’t travel adjacent to the mechanical complexity of thing you’d find successful a Destiny raid, but those are often benignant of over-the-top and this is simply a important measurement up from immoderate of the basal “dodge and sprout it until it dies” battles we’ve seen successful Borderlands past. It’s a blessed medium, and that makes these bosses a batch little forgettable. That’s not to accidental determination aren’t immoderate basal fights, but it’s just to accidental that those tin beryllium an entertaining excuse to crook disconnected your encephalon and blast thing to bits and service arsenic a opposition to the ones with an other constituent to them. Rest assured, the large bosses usually measurement up their crippled beauteous noticeably.

It’s besides neat that you’ll commencement encountering enemies with assorted modifiers arsenic you get further into the escapade and unlock higher trouble settings via the endgame grind. These mightiness beryllium things similar Elemental Eater, an effect that means enemies aren’t conscionable resistant to a circumstantial benignant of onslaught but healed by it, oregon Centripetal, which causes a achromatic spread to signifier wherever an force with this trait dies, pulling everything successful scope into its halfway and dealing monolithic damage. It’s not each new, groundbreaking worldly for Borderlands – these are akin to effects recovered successful Borderlands 3’s Mayhem Mode, for lawsuit – but they’re present a cardinal portion of Borderlands 4, and that makes combat much absorbing and has you staying a small much alert adjacent of enemies you’ve seen a batch of already.

One immense symptom point, though, is that the afloat descriptions for each of these modifiers’ effects don’t look to beryllium listed anywhere, truthful you’ve conscionable gotta fig them retired connected your ain – oregon look them up connected the usher that IGN’s squad is already cooking up for you. I can’t archer you however agelong I spent accidentally healing a atrocious feline earlier realizing I was doing thing precise wrong, and it would person been bully to person a codex determination with much info.

If the information that I’ve gone this agelong without adjacent getting to discussing the wholly caller batch of Vault Hunters successful Borderlands 4 doesn’t archer you there’s a batch going connected here, I don’t cognize what will. It mostly sticks to tradition, but puts immoderate beauteous neat spins connected the series’ existing classes. There’s the Siren, Vex, who uses her abstraction magic to woody elemental harm and has immoderate awesome life-stealing options; Rafa, the Exo-Soldier who tin summon each sorts of DigiStructed weapons, from shoulder-mounted turrets to melee limb blades (as though Borderlands didn’t person capable weapons already!); Harlowe, a Gravitar with an assortment of gravity-manipulation abilities that tin trap enemies successful bubbles, among different things; and Amon, a massive, cybernetically enhanced warrior called a Forgeknight, who has a clump of melee options astatine his disposal. Each 1 feels beauteous good, with unsocial tools that marque them each viable choices for endgame activities without feeling particularly overpowered.

While I’ve been beauteous precocious connected it truthful far, I bash person immoderate complaints to lodge arsenic idiosyncratic who tends to play this benignant of crippled much than once, and with an oculus toward making each of those playthroughs consciousness distinct. After a fewer twelve hours with it, it strikes maine that Borderlands 4’s buildcrafting hasn’t pushed this bid into the realm of thing similar Diablo oregon – situation I accidental it – Path of Exile, fixed that determination are a fewer branching paths to take from successful each Vault Hunter’s accomplishment trees that you tin past tin optimize with cogwheel to excel astatine a fistful of circumstantial things similar dealing loads of elemental harm oregon healing yourself erstwhile getting kills, but not capable customization options to truly spell wild.

That said, the 3 antithetic trees each quality does person each astatine slightest adhd a small spot of assortment to however each people tin play, meaning much than 1 idiosyncratic connected your squad tin usage the aforesaid Vault Hunter portion having a antithetic acceptable of buffs and abilities that tin marque them enactment good together. For example, for the archetypal fractional of my playthrough I focused connected Vex’s Spectral Summoning histrion to deploy ghostly doppelgangers onto the battlefield, but aft uncovering a legendary point that worked good for a antithetic benignant of build, I respec’d into the elemental DPS histrion that focused connected casting almighty spells alternatively of summoning others to bash my bidding. If those 2 antithetic characters worked unneurotic broadside by side, there’d beryllium small overlap successful what they’re bringing to an up-to-four-person team.

Ah yes, teams! Although Borderlands 4 feels large to play solo arsenic well, for definite the champion mode to play is erstwhile among friends, but those who play unneurotic should expect to acquisition bugs together. The immense bulk of my clip successful Borderlands was spent with friends, and we encountered conscionable astir each contented successful the online-multiplayer book: lag and desyncing from combat if you’re not the host, enemies sometimes becoming immune to harm oregon teleporting astir the map, and non-host players losing advancement oregon getting locked retired of quest lines due to the fact that thing didn’t way properly, conscionable to sanction a few.

Some of this, similar the information that you don’t uncover the representation successful your ain prevention record portion exploring with friends, seems similar it mightiness beryllium intentional, but is inactive profoundly annoying and disincentivizes teaming up. Other issues, similar equipment-selling vending machines that consistently offered nary wares astatine each for immoderate of america portion successful co-op, are conscionable head-scratching pains successful the neck. There were times erstwhile I deed capable issues successful succession wherever it became preferable to conscionable play solo, and others wherever it created friction erstwhile deciding who would beryllium the group’s big due to the fact that we knew that idiosyncratic would spot the fewest problems. That’s decidedly not the benignant of dynamic you privation successful your co-op game, and it caused my radical nary tiny magnitude of grief arsenic we discovered the assorted ways successful which things consciousness not truthful large erstwhile playing together, contempt gunplay and synergizing our builds with 1 different another being truly awesome. Granted, immoderate of this is the effect of playing a abbreviated clip earlier motorboat and determination volition surely beryllium astatine slightest a fewer fixes by the clip you play it – but if past is immoderate acquisition it volition beryllium a infinitesimal earlier each of this is ironed out.

Playing solo is smoother, but there’s nary flight from each of the problems due to the fact that Borderlands 4 is simply a reasonably buggy thrust successful general. It seems similar determination are arsenic galore bugs arsenic determination are guns, and the longer you play the much apt you are to spot things similar infrequent but terrible framerate hitching, oregon your backpack abruptly deciding you person mode little abstraction for instrumentality than you should until you backmost retired to the paper and reload. Two of my unit adjacent recovered themselves locked retired of the endgame grind erstwhile antithetic steps successful the questline broke, blocking their progression and making it truthful we couldn’t tally the activities we wanted to bash together. It’s a testament to conscionable however amusive exploring Kairos is that, adjacent with each of that laundry list, I inactive couldn’t hold to play much adjacent aft dozens of hours. You’ve gotta instrumentality these complaints successful context.

Speaking of the endgame grind, Borderlands 4 appears to travel pre-loaded with 1 of those (though hey, I said the aforesaid happening astir Diablo 4 – you can’t telephone them each right, but I’m feeling optimistic). There are 3 activities you’re expected to implicit weekly: a much challenging mentation of a communicative ngo that has a clump of tricky modifiers, similar 1 wherever each enemies detonate into a achromatic spread of harm and different wherever enemies heal themselves erstwhile dealing harm to your team, a repeatable brag combat that mostly conscionable seems similar it’s determination to springiness you a straightforward force to termination arsenic galore times arsenic you’d similar for large loot, and a hidden vending instrumentality that moves astir each week and sells guaranteed legendary loot.

As you grind these activities, you’ll besides unlock the much precocious satellite tier difficulties that connection amended loot, but these are gatekept down incredibly challenging quests with loads of modifiers that are the eventual trial of your loadout and shooting skills. At this point, nary of these things are peculiarly heavy oregon time-consuming since you conscionable tally them each all week and past are fundamentally done, but adjacent if that’s not your happening there’s inactive a monolithic representation that has tons of broadside activities for you to implicit retired of the “box.” (Are determination inactive boxes?) Beyond that, we person promises that Gearbox has a reasonably bully way grounds of delivering on, courtesy of a post-launch roadmap which includes plentifulness of contented connected the way. I person a batch of anticipation that Borderlands 4 volition person legs for rather immoderate time.