Borderlands 4 Review

Gearbox invented the looter shooter with Borderlands, and in a lot of ways the series didn’t grow with the times. Borderlands 4 is a game that feels like its going through some growing pains, as it feels like a direct response to player feedback over prior entries. It’s less wacky, more grounded, and in doing so, it finds a new level of confidence even if it loses a bit of its personality along the way. “Diablo with guns” is still an incredibly compelling gameplay loop, that is further improved upon and refines the looter shooter. Gearbox still does it like no one else, and Borderlands 4 is a fantastic time solo or with friends.

Borderlands 4 takes place on a new planet, and the only one for the entirety of the game: Kairos. There are four regions or biomes which are all seamlessly connected. You’ll arrive in the Fadefields, then onto Terminus Range, Carcadia Burn, and then Dominion. It’s easy to spend entirely too much time in the Fadefields, but I urge you to complete the story quests here quickly. Because the regions that follow are far more interesting, varied, and beautiful. You’ll wish you had moved on sooner once you do. This is a diverse planet, doing more with less than the “Borderworlds” you traversed in Borderlands 3.

The new villain, the Timekeeper, is a refreshing change of pace from the Calypso Twins from Borderlands 3. He’s a menacing, totalitarian figure who feels like a genuine threat to the new planet of Kairos. The story itself follows a more traditional, and thus more compelling, narrative arc: uniting the downtrodden people of Kairos to fight for their freedom. It’s a classic tale told with a Borderlands twist, filled with moments that are genuinely touching alongside the ones that will make you laugh. The returning characters, like Claptrap and Moxxi, feel less like forced comedic relief and more like well-integrated parts of the world.

The new movement system, which now includes a double-jump, a responsive grapple hook, and a hover-bike, transforms the traversal for the Borderlands games going forward. Combat is no longer static, and is rather a ballet of movement and agility. It’s really something special to jump in and deliver a powerful grand slam, use the grapple hook to grab an electric canister to throw at an enemy to stun them, throw a grenade down, and pop my ultimate while shooting bullets from every gun while dodging, floating, and sprinting all around smoothly. Like an MMO, you can now call a mount in the form of a hover bike on-demand. Gone are the days of needing to find a vehicle station to “catch a riiiiide!” like you’d have to in the original game, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and Borderlands 3 that honestly felt like a chore. While there aren’t that many opportunities, the new wall climb ability also eases a lot of the traversal frustrations. All together, these new mechanics give the game an exhilarating flow, a sense of creative freedom that feels fresh and exciting.

The gunplay in Borderlands 4 is the best it has ever felt. It’s obviously the cornerstone of the experience, and Gearbox has really fine-tuned this. All the weapons and manufacturers always felt different, but now you can really see and feel the difference between Maliwan, Torgue, Hyperion, and so on. Guns themselves feel varied in what drops, aside from the uniques you can acquire or hope will drop from bosses. Golden Keys acquired from social media to add to your SHiFT account and take a chance at what might drop for you is always an exciting endeavor. Many times I found something that gave me a competitive edge for the next time I returned to a higher level area.

There’s a whole lot of new to this game that yes, there are also four new vault hunters to choose from. You’ve got Rafa the Exo-Soldier, Vex the Siren, Amon the Forgeknight, and Harlowe the Gravitar—each feel completely unique and offer a staggering level of build diversity. The skill trees are the deepest we’ve seen, with intricate branching paths and powerful capstone abilities that truly change how a character plays. As a player who loves to tinker, spending hours in the skill tree felt like a reward in itself. The possibilities for unique, personalized playstyles are nearly endless. The multiple skill trees are still present, allowing you to spec into other trees that offer passives even when that tree is not “in-use”. If at any point you feel like your character needs a rework, there’s a respec machine you can pay a nominal fee to start over.

Customization is also expanded in this entry, as now you can customize the head, torso, and legs with different cosmetic items. But going a step beyond, you can now color those items with palettes unlocked from challenges or mission, as well as just selecting the colors you want from an RGB picker. This is a game that has depth and player choice at the forefront of everything you do.

New to the game are World Bosses, these spawn at random times in different areas of the game world that you have to see. They’re easy to spot by the large bubble that surrounds their spawn location. And it’s a great way to drop whatever you’re doing and fight them in search of your next one-in-a-million loot drop. It’s a great diversion from so many of the game’s other activities.

Borderlands 3 was often cringe-inducing humor and a narrative that struggled to find its footing. Borderlands 4 addresses this head-on, and the result is a story that is more focused, more character-driven, and, dare I say, more mature. The dialogue is still packed with jokes and references, but they feel more integrated into the world and the situation at-hand. It’s a noticeable shift from a joke-per-second assault to a more natural, character-based wit. I’m just as shocked as you are.

The game’s main quests are memorable, but there’s tons of side quests you should check out. If you don’t, you won’t be un-spiking a keg with non-alcoholic beer to funnel people back to the local business. Or you won’t be able to help a dud missile find her true path to becoming a spectacle. There’s some legitimately funny moments, characters, and things to see and do.

There are silos you can capture to serve as fast travel points and headquarters where you can buy gear and sell junk. It’s also here that you can acquire bounties to seek out people or things to earn extra cash, experience, or new loot.

The performance on PC, in particular, has been challenging. As of this writing, it is in a stable spot and I’m able to get solid performance on my machine. But even with everything maxed, Frame Generation on, and DLSS set to Quality I can get around 90fps in most areas. Now, I enjoy gaming on Linux, but unfortunately performance is really bad right now, being able to maintain 60fps with everything set to its lowest just looks absolutely dreadful, and so playing this game there will likely take some time.

My PC Specs:

– Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
– Intel Core i9 13900K @ 5.8GHz
– ASUS ROG RYUJIN II 360 ARGB AIO Liquid CPU Cooler
– G.SKILL TRIDENT Z5 6000MHZ 64GB (32×2) DDR5 RAM
– ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4080 16GB GDDR6X
– WD_BLACK SN850X M.2 (4 TB)
– LG UltraGear 34GP950B-G (21:9 Ultrawide @ 3440×1440)

Despite its faults, Borderlands 4 is frantic fun that still works offers more than the reductive “it’s more Borderlands“. While the technical issues at launch were many, they have been ironed out and this has become a game I recommend. It’s the game that fans have been wanting since the days of Borderlands 2—a refined, expansive, and deeply rewarding experience. The new movement system, the mature narrative, and the gorgeous, seamless world are just too good to ignore. Gearbox is back in a big way, and Borderlands 4 is the best the series has ever been.

A Steam code was provided by the publisher for review purposes