Borderlands 4

This massive sequel brings a new dose of great action to the series. However, the story itself is uninteresting and drawn out unnecessarily. Navigation and travelling through the environment could also be improved.

Despite subpar performance, a strange lack of identity, and the PR disaster Borderlands 4 has been garnering online, it really is a fun game with an engaging story full of fun and interesting characters. The negatives around the game really do weigh on it, of course, but when you can really sink your teeth into the meat and potatoes, Borderlands 4 is genuinely one of the most fun, if not the most fun, entry in the series so far. The guns feel amazing, the game hasn’t compromised its art style (just the world feel), the Vault Hunters feel fantastic, and the writing is great, but I’ll be damned if those issues don’t weigh down on it. It’s definitely a great game, but with everything else surrounding it, it’s a tough sell for a lot of people to be sure. If you’re just looking for a good looter shooter to play though, Borderlands 4 is a great one, assuming it runs as intended.

Borderlands 4 takes a turn that won't please everyone. In an attempt to satisfy some fans' requests, the developers have lost sight of the game's identity. It is less funny and striking than previous episodes, and it is only in its secondary content that we find some small, funny, offbeat stories. It's only after a few hours, or when playing in co-op with friends, that the game really comes into its own. Borderlands 4 is extremely generous and will keep you hooked for hours before you even reach the endgame. While it's undoubtedly a good shooter-looter, it's clearly not the best game in the Borderlands series.

Solidly grounded, Borderlands 4 is a satisfying looter shooter, with a quest for the ultimate equipment that will undoubtedly appeal to many players. But the transition to an open world hasn't been entirely smooth, and despite all the nice new features in this installment, it's hard to get overly invested in the planet Kairos: generic activities, erratic difficulty, and an overall pace that's choppy due to too many dialogue sequences somewhat spoil the fun. Is this enough to prevent you from fully enjoying a 100% co-op game with very decent content? Not sure.

The punk-apo revolution won't happen in 2025. Building on the saga's historical qualities and seeking to iron out its flaws, Borderlands 4 shines with its artistic direction, its generosity, its RPG mechanics, its cooperative multiplayer, and the dynamism of its combat, but it comes up against a harsh reality. A looter-shooter struggles to thrive in an open world. This newfound freedom offered to Vault Hunters ends up exacerbating a pervasive feeling of repetitiveness. Fans of the genre in perpetual search for power should find what they're looking for, those eager to explore an unknown world a little less so.

All in all, if uncovering loot, crafting builds, and unleashing chaotic mayhem is what you're looking for, Borderlands 4 has you covered. It's the most mechanically sound Borderlands game to date, and the various Vault Hunters each present an entertaining opportunity to tackle the game in a different way. Just maybe find a good podcast or video essay to fill the moments between the shooting and looting. The game's story and characters aren't strong enough to hold your attention on their own, and the game's combat begins to drag once you've seen all the enemy types there are to see.

Borderlands 4 offers - who woulda thunk - more Borderlands. Frantic gunplay with improved movement, entertaining weapons, spectacular boss battles and a crude sense of humor, which doesn't always hit the mark and takes turns with the comparatively serious, dark main storyline. During our review, the game lacked polish and took a few rough hours before it started to pick up its pace. The large, open world has almost zero transitions or load screens. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, it also requires somewhat up to date hardware. The endgame is meant to entertain users for many weeks and months via events and increasing challenges for bigger and better loot. That sounds promising in theory - release will show how it works out in practice.

Borderlands 4 is a great correcting of the mistakes of Borderlands 3, a good “Borderlands”, but only an adequate game, with huge optimisation issues.

Players should really listen to Randy Pitchford on this one and leave Borderlands 4 alone for now. It's a fun game when it works, which isn't often, and it'll probably be better in a year when it's cheaper and hopefully fixed.

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

Borderlands 4 could have been great. Its storyline and gameplay are the strongest they’ve ever been, but it's plagued by performance issues, missing features, and outdated UI's that almost drag it down to the murky depths of its predecessor.