Borderlands 4 Exploration Has “Much less Borders, Extra Lands”

Set to launch on September twelfth, 2025, Borderlands 4 is being touted by developer Gearbox because the “finest Borderlands sport up to now,” as World Artistic Government Officer Andrew Reiner confidently expressed in Pax West 2024.

The Borderlands franchise has had some ups and downs, and with sure latest commotion concerning the sport’s pricing, fan sentiment surrounding the much-anticipated Borderlands 4 appears to have swung between cautious optimism and frustration like a continuous pendulum.

Considerations apart, developer Gearbox Software program is ecstatic to showcase the brand new options coming to the brand new entry on this beloved looter-shooter franchise. With twice the event funds of Borderlands 3, all people is ready with bated breath to see how effectively the sport can be obtained on launch day.

I might prefer to preface that I’ve been a Borderlands fan since center college—I usually spent my college days taking part in Borderlands 2 with my classmates, and farming legendaries for hours on finish. Whereas my fervor for the franchise has dwindled since then, Borderlands 4’s announcement has rekindled that keenness for the franchise.

So think about my shock once I discovered that I had the respect of visiting 2K Video games’ headquarters in Novato, California, to get a hands-on expertise with Borderlands 4 in mid-Might. After a few hours taking part in by way of the preview, I can confidently say that the Borderlands ​​​​​​franchise has a shiny future in its latest entry.

Makin’ My Manner By Kairos

As Gearbox publicly established throughout PAX East 2025 and in PlayStation’s State of Play trailers, Borderlands 4 could have open-world areas that transition between one another with “much less [sic] loading screens,” and would be the largest sport up to now within the collection.

Earlier than the preview, I had heard loads of buzz concerning the change from a mini-map to a compass. Because the devs defined it, the aim was to encourage exploration, and that the brand new system permits for simpler navigation in a a lot bigger, extra vertical world.

This has sparked some discourse locally, however in the end, with the extra vertical and expansive locales, the navigation system has develop into extraordinarily helpful find targets that may be each shut and much away.

There are loads of quality-of-life enhancements that make traversal a lot simpler. On the smaller scale, you’ve got acquired model new motion skills like dashing, gliding, and a grappling hook that means that you can not solely zip by way of grapple factors, but in addition seize explosive barrels and chuck them at enemies.

Giving Borderlands 4 motion shooter mechanics is definitely the precise transfer. Operating and gunning has by no means felt higher, and having the ability to soar by way of the air made fight rather more dynamic. As somebody who loves shooters with good motion mechanics like Titanfall 2 and Future 2, this was a welcomed change.

Having the ability to sprint could be certainly one of my favourite new motion mechanics, because it makes the fight much more fast-paced than Borderlands has ever been. Whereas it does not provide you with any i-frames, the fast motion nonetheless enables you to escape enemy sightlines and evade incoming assaults.

The Digirunner additionally helps you traverse the huge expanse of Kairos. Gone are the times when it’s a must to run again to respawn your automobile, as you possibly can digistruct your private experience anyplace on this planet with out the necessity for Catch-A-Trip stations. Due to its hovering capabilities, the Digirunner is extraordinarily versatile in taking you thru every kind of terrain all through Kairos.

Whereas we got no less than an hour to discover the Fadefields, that was barely sufficient for us to scratch the floor, which exhibits that the world of Borderlands 4 has rather a lot to supply. I used to be glad to seek out out that whereas swimming is a brand new technique to discover Kairos, it is just a small a part of the bigger complete.

As Artwork Director Adam Might places it, “We realized [swimming] was really detracting from the gameplay loop. We did not wish to flip it into simply an journey sport. It isn’t like now we have large underwater ranges.” Nonetheless, swimming is a pleasant addition that opens up some new avenues for exploration.

Weapons, Weapons, And Extra Weapons!

We have established simply how massive Borderlands 4 is and the way the traversal will provide help to discover the world of Kairos, however what concerning the fight and gameplay?

Due to the brand new motion mechanics, Borderlands 4’s fight looks like a pure development from its predecessors as a high-octane shooter. Having the ability to make maneuvers beforehand unimaginable within the older video games makes taking pictures unhealthy guys all of the extra thrilling.

Due to the weapon design, sound results, and satisfying animations, Borderlands 4’s weapons additionally really feel wonderful to shoot, although I need to admit that I’ve been spoiled by different shooters with quick reload and weapon-swapping speeds, which make the weapon dealing with in some Borderlands 4’s weapons excruciatingly sluggish compared throughout tense moments in fight.

Most weapon producers have made a return, together with mainstays like Vladof, Maliwan, and Torgue. As well as, Borderlands 4 options two newcomers: Order and Daedalus. Order weapons let you cost your ammo right into a single, exact shot, whereas Daedalus weapons can swap between firing modes, making them extra versatile.

Due to their sluggish charge-up velocity, I wasn’t precisely impressed with the Order weapons. In my view, they really feel like a C-tier producer to me, together with Hyperion and Bandit/COV weapons. Although I’ll say, this might simply be me not getting used to the cost and launch mechanic that these weapons have, and my restricted time with them.

As for Daedalus, I have never had the possibility to actually strive them out but, however because of the half system, they do manifest as elements of the weapons I acquired to check out, which allowed me to shoot an Order sniper that may additionally change to micro-missiles, or a Vladof assault rifle that may swap to a high-capacity shotgun.

Due to the time restraints, I wasn’t in a position to absolutely delve into the nitty-gritty elements of the “Licensed Half” system, however the weapons did really feel much more totally different than they did within the earlier video games.

Due to the truth that every gun can include elements created by totally different producers, weapons can now exhibit distinctive behaviors by no means earlier than seen within the franchise, little question exponentially growing the billions within the gun rely.

One other new addition to Borderlands 4 are Ordnances, which take up what was once the grenade slot. Ordnances are rechargeable weapons and are not restricted to grenades, however as a substitute increase to different implements of destruction like rocket launchers, miniguns, and throwing knives.

Creating A Character Fantasy

In the course of the preview, solely Vex the Siren and Rafa the Exo-Soldier have been out there for playtesting. Naturally, as I at all times have since I began taking part in Borderlands throughout center college, I picked the girl with the cool tattoos for the remainder of my playthrough.

Instantly, I used to be captivated by Vex’s design. She’s an superior goth lady with Siren powers who has a large kitty as a minion. Her cynical and snarky character additionally shines by way of her dialogue throughout fight and cutscenes, which made her stand out even within the brief time I acquired to play her.

Mixed along with her spooky vibes, Vex is a enjoyable character to play. Two out of three of her Motion Abilities permit her to summon minions that may be a part of her on the battlefield and lay waste to her foes, and their elemental attunement modifications relying on the weapon she’s holding.

I rapidly latched onto the fire-and-forget playstyle of Useless Ringer, which permits Vex to summon round three melee Reapers and ranged Specters to struggle for her and draw aggro. In the meantime, Part Phamiliar did not make Bother really feel sturdy on the battlefield, and I did not have the strongest impressions on Incarnate.

In the course of my playtest, I took a break from Vex and checked out Rafa. I used to be pleasantly stunned to seek out the Tediore soldier to be nonchalant and have such a easy and calm voice. Since he can canonically die at any second, it is smart that he is attempting to reside life to the fullest.

Rafa’s skills already really feel like a blast to play with after just a few minutes of attempting them out. His Arc-Knives are harking back to the Berserker claws in Future 2, permitting you to indiscriminately swipe at enemies; his Apophis Lance means that you can cost and fireplace a ball of electrical energy like Mega Man’s Mega Buster; and his Peacebreaker cannons routinely lock on and fireplace upon enemies, which has the potential to really feel very very similar to the Punisher’s Final in Marvel Rivals.

Whereas we have been taking part in at locked ranges with a preset construct, I can already inform that Borderlands 4’s Vault Hunters, very similar to their predecessors, have the potential to be overpowered with the precise builds.

Borderlands 4 Needs You To “Die Extra”

As a looter-shooter, Borderlands video games even have RPG parts that scale up the problem relying in your degree.

In the course of the hands-on preview, one of many devs overseeing our gameplay incentivized us to die no less than as soon as within the sport, which confirmed us distinctive demise and resurrection animations that assist characterize our mute and lovely robotic companion Echo-4, who will get unhappy and panics whenever you die whereas attempting to activate the respawn station.

Enemies additionally do not scale to your degree, so in the event you encounter an impediment the place enemies are too robust, you will have to get stronger and are available again. Throughout my playthrough, I confronted Stage 8 opponents whereas being Stage 7 myself, and so they wiped the ground with my face because of the modifiers that make the Badass enemies extraordinarily robust and hit simply as exhausting.

Like most Borderlands video games, degree development is extraordinarily essential. The devs emphasised that they made it in order that energy development feels extra prevalent all through a playthrough, and even enemies one or two ranges above can really feel extremely intimidating.

With that stated, Borderlands 4 is not going to be a stroll within the park the place you possibly can simply steamroll each enemy you come throughout.

Grounded Humor And Higher Writing

One of many greatest considerations followers have about Borderlands 4 is the writing, notably the humor. The skepticism is not unfounded, as lots of people have been dissatisfied with the low-brow rest room humor and overabundance of memes and popular culture references that Borderlands 3 was notorious for.

Fortunately, the builders made positive that might by no means occur once more, and this exhibits by way of the brief snippets of dialogue I acquired to listen to all through my playthrough.

I can inform there’s loads of coronary heart put into writing Borderlands 4. To start out, the humor had the precise degree of silliness, but balanced with a dryness that you’d anticipate from situational humor. It isn’t boring, nor do the jokes overstay their welcome. Some moments managed to get a chuckle out of me, and the writing focuses extra on telling story slightly than making fixed poop and fart jokes.

Not solely that, however I can inform that some NPCs are already going to be fan favorites, particularly Rush, the chief of the Outbounders, who’s a sort, passionate, but considerably awkward himbo.

He looks as if a genuinely good man, which is a rarity on this chaotic and savage world of the borderlands, and far more tolerable than sure different reviled characters within the franchise.

The villains are additionally fairly enjoyable and attention-grabbing to struggle. On one mission, our process was to seek out and defeat Spymaster Horace, who’s a sadomasochistic freak who taunts you with uncomfortably seductive moans.

The writers might have milked Horace for few hours with the extreme horniness. As a substitute, they exercised restraint and relegated him to being a one-off unhealthy man so that you can struggle and kill.

The writing is rather more targeted on portraying the real risk that the Order poses and the consequences that their tyranny has on the individuals of Kairos. Whereas I solely acquired to listen to a little bit of his voicelines, the Timekeeper appears like a genuinely terrifying villain.

He is not a loveable asshole like Good-looking Jack, neither is he an obnoxious content material creator just like the Calypsos. He is a dictator by way of and thru, obsessive about management and seemingly below loads of stress now that the Vault Hunters and the Crimson Resistance are disrupting his completely curated imaginative and prescient of order.

Borderlands 4 is little question going to take itself a little bit bit extra critically, and it is clear that the devs have certainly shifted the tone to make sure that the humor is situational and fewer misplaced.

Remaining Ideas

My impressions on Borderlands 4 stay untainted regardless of my inherent biases as a longtime Borderlands fan and the privilege of having the ability to attend the preview occasion. Whereas I did benefit from the earlier video games, they might not maintain a candle to what Borderlands 4 goes to present us at launch. The improved writing, new gameplay mechanics, and quality-of-life enhancements are solely the tip of the iceberg of why Borderlands 4 certainly looks as if it may very well be one of the best Borderlands title up to now.