Borderlands 4 Exploration Has "Less Borders, More 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 Inventive Govt 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.

Borderlands 4 Exploration Has “Less Borders, More Lands”

Borderlands 4: Main Updates Revealed in New PlayStation Showcase

The looter-shooter legend is making its massive comeback with Borderlands 4 from Gearbox, set to launch on September 12 this yr.

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 price range of Borderlands 3, everyone is ready with bated breath to see how nicely the sport might be obtained on launch day.

I might wish 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 zeal for the franchise.

So think about my shock after I discovered that I had the dignity 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 via the preview, I can confidently say that the Borderlands franchise has a brilliant future in its latest entry.

Because the occasion was break up up into two sections, this preview impression will solely give attention to the primary. This began with an open-world exploration phase that positioned us within the Fadefields, a low-level space full with lush, grassy fields and a deceptively unthreatening surroundings.

Makin’ My Manner By means of Kairos

As Gearbox publicly established throughout PAX East 2025 and in PlayStation’s State of Play trailers, Borderlands 4 may 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 a number 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 finally, with the extra vertical and expansive locales, the navigation system has develop into extraordinarily helpful to find goals that may be each shut and much away.

There are a number of quality-of-life enhancements that make traversal a lot simpler. On the smaller scale, you’ve got received model new motion skills like dashing, gliding, and a grappling hook that lets you not solely zip via grapple factors, but additionally seize explosive barrels and chuck them at enemies.

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

“Gamers can count on that mastery over new dynamic motion skills will present the chance to flex much more talent expression throughout fight. Vaults, boss encounters, and the open world will make use of those new skills in a wide range of methods, and we look ahead to gamers experiencing every of these at launch.” – Anthony Nicholson, Senior Mission Producer

With the ability to sprint could be one in every of my favourite new motion mechanics, because it makes the fight much more fast-paced than Borderlands has ever been. Whereas it would not offer you any i-frames, the fast motion nonetheless permits 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 you must run again to respawn your automobile, as you possibly can digistruct your private journey anyplace on the planet with out the necessity for Catch-A-Experience stations. Due to its hovering capabilities, the Digirunner is extraordinarily versatile in taking you thru all types of terrain all through Kairos.

Whereas we got at the least an hour to discover the Fadefields, that was barely sufficient for us to scratch the floor, which reveals that the world of Borderlands 4 has rather a lot to supply. I used to be completely happy to search out out that whereas swimming is a brand new method to discover Kairos, it’s only a small a part of the bigger entire.

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

“We’ve not truly received an actual quantity on it, however I can say it’s a important chunk of time. That is undoubtedly the largest Borderlands sport we have ever made. I do know that from my very own playthroughs. It’s important. So there’s not going to be anyone upset concerning the later sport.” – Adam Might, Artwork Director

Weapons, Weapons, And Extra Weapons!

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

Through the preview occasion, we got characters with a preset loadout, although we might choose up and use any weapons we discovered alongside the way in which.

Due to the brand new motion mechanics, Borderlands 4’s fight seems like a pure development from its predecessors as a high-octane shooter. With 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 gradual as 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 assist you to cost your ammo right into a single, exact shot, whereas Daedalus weapons can swap between firing modes, making them extra versatile.

Due to their gradual 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 prospect to essentially strive them out but, however due to the half system, they do manifest as elements of the weapons I received to check out, which allowed me to shoot an Order sniper that may additionally swap 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 features of the “Licensed Half” system, however the weapons did really feel much more completely different than they did within the earlier video games.

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

One other new addition to Borderlands 4 are Ordnances, which take up what was once the grenade slot. Ordnances are rechargeable weapons and are now 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

Previous to the preview occasion, I had accomplished a playthrough of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands to refresh my reminiscence on the motion and fight mechanics of Borderlands for an correct illustration of the franchise’s most up-to-date entry.

Through the preview, solely Vex the Siren and Rafa the Exo-Soldier had been obtainable 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 woman with Siren powers who has a large kitty as a minion. Her cynical and snarky persona additionally shines via her dialogue throughout fight and cutscenes, which made her stand out even within the brief time I received to play her.

Mixed together 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 adjustments relying on the weapon she’s holding.

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

Whereas I did not have the prospect to totally check the skills, I did discover that Borderlands 4 lets you hotswap between Motion Abilities with a value to the recharge gauge, which is a significant change in comparison with you having to stay to 1 Motion Talent earlier than having to respec. The true potential of this isn’t but recognized, however there could be some tech behind this.

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

Rafa’s skills already really feel like a blast to play with after only some 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 lets you cost and fireplace a ball of electrical energy like Mega Man’s Mega Buster; and his Peacebreaker cannons mechanically 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 had 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 proper builds.

Borderlands 4 Desires You To “Die Extra”

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

Through the hands-on preview, one of many devs overseeing our gameplay incentivized us to die at the least as soon as within the sport, which confirmed us distinctive demise and resurrection animations that assist characterize our mute and lovable robotic companion Echo-4, who will get unhappy and panics while you die whereas attempting to activate the respawn station.

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

One may say it is a talent problem, however my preset weapons had been doing barely any harm to some Badasses, whereas they saved placing me in “Struggle For Your Life!” mode.

Like most Borderlands video games, stage development is extraordinarily vital. 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 mentioned, 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 had been dissatisfied with the low-brow bathroom humor and overabundance of memes and popular culture references that Borderlands 3 was notorious for.

Fortunately, the builders made positive that may by no means occur once more, and this reveals via the brief snippets of dialogue I received to listen to all through my playthrough.

I can inform there’s a number of coronary heart put into writing Borderlands 4. To begin, the humor had the proper stage of silliness, but balanced with a dryness that you’d count on 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 an excellent story relatively than making fixed poop and fart jokes.

Not solely that, however I can inform that some NPCs are already going to be fan favorites, specifically Rush, the chief of the Outbounders, who’s a form, 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 fascinating to combat. On one mission, our process was to search out and defeat Spymaster Horace, who’s a sadomasochistic freak who taunts you with uncomfortably seductive moans.

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

The writing is way more centered on portraying the real menace that the Order poses and the results that their tyranny has on the folks of Kairos. Whereas I solely received to listen to a little bit of his voicelines, the Timekeeper appears like a genuinely terrifying villain.

He isn’t a loveable asshole like Good-looking Jack, neither is he an obnoxious content material creator just like the Calypsos. He is a dictator via and thru, obsessive about management and seemingly below a number 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 doubt going to take itself just a little bit extra severely, 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 with 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.