Borderlands 4 Reviews

Borderlands 4 is a fantastic return to form for the divisive franchise. The narrative is a great change of pace from previous entries, immediately separating itself with a far darker tone, higher stakes, and a great cast of both new and familiar characters. Furthermore, the gameplay represents a significant evolution from what one'd expect from the franchise, offering new customization options, features, and a balance of fun both solo and with a friend. While there are some issues, such as bu...

Borderlands 4 is exactly what you’d expect, and that’s mostly a good thing. It’s loud, crude, and absolutely overflowing with guns, loot, and over-the-top explosions. Gearbox has doubled down on what makes the series click while fine-tuning the gunplay and adding a greater sense of freedom through its expanded movement system. It’s not perfect; some questionable UI changes and technical hiccups keep it from true greatness, but when the bullets start flying, Borderlands 4 is the most f...

Borderlands 4 doesn’t reinvent the Vault—it just rebuilds it stronger. The writing occasionally misfires, and the performance hitches are unacceptable in a AAA series like this. Still, the moment-to-moment thrill of firing absurdly designed weapons at even more absurd enemies carries the experience. It’s messy, noisy, and entirely too much at times—but that’s Borderlands at its most honest. Gearbox hasn’t made a flawless sequel, but it’s made a hell of a fun one.

Borderlands 4 has been out for a while and I'm glad I gave it a chance after its rocky start on console, especially with how fun it all is.

Borderlands has become one of 2K’s go to franchises between the mainline entries from Gearbox Software and even the Telltale Games spin-offs. The series may just seem like your typical repetitive looter shooter on the surface, but the charming characters and overall style have been the secret sauce that has kept players coming back for more with each subsequent entry.

Small improvements add up to big change in Gearbox's sequel, Borderlands 4.

While Borderlands 4 does still have some performance problems, the general gameplay and writing are a marked improvement over where the last two installments in the series were on launch. The series feels like it's taken a major leap forward in this latest entry.

Borderlands 4 is an amazing entry in the series, Full of Gun’s, Exploration and Explosions. You can sink hours upon hours into this game, never feeling like you don’t have something to do.

Borderlands 4 brings a more sensible script and a true open world to its cel-shaded gun-show. But these moderate improvements are undermined by frustrating exploration and combat that takes too long to properly shine.

There are a few things holding Borderlands 4 back from being a must-play for everyone, but for longtime fans of the series, it ticks all the right boxes and makes shooting enemies to get loot as joyous an experience as it ever has been.

Borderlands 4 is the ultimate looter shooter experience, and one that fixes everything that didn't work with its predecessor. Furthermore, it brings an engaging sci-fi narrative, varied build and gun options, and an intricate open world to explore.

Despite its somewhat underwhelming story and lackluster open world, Borderlands 4 is a fantastic new entry in the series that offers hours of entertainment through its new, refreshing, and engaging gameplay elements.

Any franchise that’s been around for over 15 years and spanned three console generations is going to have its ups, downs, and remasters.

After the boring and buggy Borderlands 3, Gearbox is trying to be serious for the first time. Well, kind of… It’s still Borderlands, the bot is still an irritant, and that ‘lower Claptrap volume‘ setting was put to good use even if they’re not quite as objectionable this time.

I’ve played most of the Borderlands games, though I wouldn’t necessarily say I’ve always been a massive fan of the games themselves. I just like looting, shooting, and co-op, and these games always have those things. Frankly, even when I was younger, I found the humour to be something to be endured rather than enjoyed, but hey, numbers going up always feels good, and that’s pretty much the whole reason why I was looking forward to Borderlands 4.

Borderlands 4 takes everything that worked about the previous games, removes the majority of the hindrances (cough Claptrap cough), and refines its RPG aspects, all of which make this easily the best Borderlands I’ve ever played. It has its share of issues: not just the tech stuff, but also what sometimes feels like endless travelling and the overabundance of terrible weapons. But what is Borderlands, even a much-improved one, without its billions of garbage guns?

The worst that can be said is that the story is on the bland side, and the Timekeeper doesn't help. Most gripes with Borderlands 4 are saved by the third act, with many thrilling surprises awaiting fans there. Fun side characters and inside jokes sprinkled into the game show how much passion developers poured into the game to make Borderlands 4 a success. Even with a sea of new game releases, Borderlands 4 should be on every gamer's radar.

Welcome back home... Vault hunters.

Gearbox’s venerable looter shooter has finally developed a modicum of maturity, with improved gunplay, a proper open world, and some half-decent storytelling.

Creating powerful builds has been a staple of Borderlands, and Borderlands 4 takes build-crafting to a new level. Playing as Rafa and focusing on the appropriately named "This Year's Gimmick" skill tree to utilize his arc-knives and dash across whole arenas in seconds while ripping enemies to shreds was a delight from start to finish. There are several ways to play each of the three active skills for each Vault Hunter, and you can always respec for a small fee if you want to change it up.

To its detriment, Borderlands 4 feels like a direct response to Borderlands 3.

Borderlands 4 surprised me. After not gelling with the series’ prior two entries, the fourth mainline instalment provides some of the most fun I’ve ever had with the quirky looter shooter. Its characters are well-written and not lacking in charm, but most importantly, Gearbox has achieved something I thought impossible: making Claptrap likeable. Some performance issues do need ironing out - especially on PC - and I wish some of the side challenges were a bit more fulfilling. But overall, this is easily the best Borderlands has ever been; yes, even when stacked up to the iconic first sequel.

With fantastic visuals, top-tier voice acting, excellent comedic writing, and an addictive gameplay loop, Borderlands 4 is just freaking fun. While not groundbreaking, the story of Kairos and the Timekeeper is well-done and engaging. Despite some technical issues that will hopefully be resolved quickly, Gearbox’s latest is a game fans won’t want to miss. It’s good to have Borderlands back.

Following Borderlands 3, I had a hard question to ask: Has one of my favorite series passed me by? That 2019 release made me realize that the last Borderlands game I truly enjoyed – outside of Telltale’s excellent Tales from the Borderlands – was Borderlands 2 in 2012. I initially approached Borderlands 4 with skepticism for that reason. However, Gearbox evidently agreed with my criticisms, as Borderlands 4 introduces and recalibrates myriad elements to deliver what could very well be m...

While most of its appeal ties into your enjoyment of the usual looting and shooting, Borderlands 4 is a major step forward for Gearbox's franchise in world design, mobility and build-crafting.

Borderlands 4 doesn’t revolutionize the franchise, but it absolutely evolves it, and sets up an exciting future for the series.

The sheer diversity of characters, gear, and ways to have fun is never-ending, and the open-world format is a surprisingly welcome addition to this amazing co-op FPS. Borderlands 4 is a leap in the right direction, and I can only hope that this trend continues upwards for the rest of the franchise.

Borderlands 4 realises the full potential the series has always had, delivering that unmistakable Borderlands experience but with a ton of modern sensibilities to establish itself not simply as a fun co-op shooter, but as the definitive example of what a fun co-op shooter should be.

And that's to say nothing of the ability to skip Borderlands 4's campaign, which is an interesting proposition. While it's great to be able to hop straight into the endgame with a new Vault Hunter, Borderlands 4's campaign is so good that it almost feels like you're missing out on doing so. Still, for anyone who plays through a Borderlands game to get to the endgame loop and focus on a particular build, Borderlands 4 has you covered in ways that will make revisiting a past game harder. Borderlands 4 is ultimately "more Borderlands", but it understands that assignment so well that it ends up being the best the series has felt in over a decade.

Borderlands 4 is the best the series has been in decades and a testament to Gearbox’s ability to absolutely cook

Every time Gearbox made me laugh or grin, I would catch myself wishing for more of that authenticity.

Borderlands 4 is an incredibly fun game with a couple of flaws. The world of Kairos is beautiful to play through and there's no shortage of challenges to dive into. While the Unreal Engine still has some issues, the stuttering is corrected without a big hit. With over 30 billion combinations of weapons, no two guns are the same. Multiplayer makes this game a must play if you have friends that are interested in the series. Simply put, Borderlands 4 is fun, immersive, and worth picking up right away.

Borderlands 4 is designed thoroughly with fun in mind. It doesn't play like a greatest hits compilation of what has come before, but rather as an evolution of the series.

Borderlands 4 gives the series the massive kick in the pants it has needed, with a fantastic open world and greatly improved combat, even if bugs and invisible walls can sometimes throw off that groove.

This is Borderlands perfected. A game that takes the foundation of the series and elevates it in every conceivable way. Funnier, smarter, richer, more thrilling, and absolutely overflowing with reasons to keep playing long after the credits roll.

The Ultimate Vault Hunter