Borderlands 4 – Revolution or Evolution of the Series? (Review)

The loudly announced looter-shooter, despite the number “4” is the fifth installment of the cult Borderlands series, and the creator himself – Randy Pitchford – said in an interview that they had “cracked Borderlands, and this will be their best game.”

The title launched on October 12 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. It was also supposed to release on Nintendo Switch 2, but due to optimization issues, the release date for that platform has been postponed to an unspecified future time.

What was meant to set Borderlands 4 apart from earlier entries was a vast open world, a completely new planet and main cast, a push to make the humor less cringey, and a story that’s much darker and more grounded – while not losing the comedic edge fans love this looter-shooter for.

Was abandoning fan-favorite Pandora for Kairos, dropping the “level-based” stage structure in favor of an open world, and focusing on entirely new heroes the revolution the series has needed since Borderlands 3’s release, or is this more of an evolution that standardizes the title to current AAA expectations?

Welcome to my review, after more than 80 hours with the newest Gearbox release – Borderlands 4.

Borderlands in 2025 – How Does the Next-Gen King of Looter-Shooters Play?

The first thing that caught my eye in the trailers was the gameplay of Borderlands 4.

We have a ton of new moves – a grappling hook, slides (which technically appeared in the third game, but I used them far less), double jump, dash, and ditching Catch-A-Ride stations in favor of summoning your vehicle whenever you want. These aren’t just additions but huge improvements that make this the most dynamic game in the entire series.

Fans jumping into BL4 right after finishing BL2 will certainly appreciate how much attention Gearbox paid to the game’s speed and fluidity.

Even though it may sound like a lot of new stuff at once, the game not only intuitively shows where each move is most optimal, but of course starts with a tutorial that teaches all the new maneuvers – some might feel like they’re playing Far Cry, because the tutorial has you climbing a tower and capturing its signal – a dead ringer for the beginning of the brilliant Far Cry 3.

Climbing towers and other activity points encourages exploration – because what would an open world be without loads of question marks, side locations, bunkers, or even Vaults(!)? Otherwise, it would be bland – but that’s not the case here.

My biggest fear was that behind the promise of the massive planet Kairos, we’d find only a few meaningful points the story drags us to, with the rest being filler meant to keep us in the game longer. And believe me, I was thrilled that these worries didn’t materialize once I started playing Borderlands 4.

The world is beautiful, varied, and intriguing. There are plenty of places that practically shout, “Vault Hunter, maybe check that question mark; who knows if there isn’t an easter egg tied to the cult classic Shrek?” Okay, maybe it doesn’t shout that specifically, but there are many mechanics that make you want to see what’s around that corner, on that mountain, or in that seemingly accessible spot.

However, here’s the first problem – although it’s an open world, it’s packed with invisible walls that prevent you from exploring the very planet of Kairos you’re handed.

That was frustrating – why call it an open world if it isn’t fully open?

Back to the good: there’s a ton of side activities like contracts, side missions, capturing towers or new bases that help with fast-travel across the Borderlands 4 map.

What’s genuinely engaging are the Echo points you earn after completing activities. What are they for? Expanding your backpack space, carrying more ammo for your favorite weapon types, or increasing bank storage for your most valuable items. Previously, such upgrades cost regular cash earned during play, then a currency called Eridium took over, and BL4 now ties them to exploration – which works for me and feels like a smart solution.

As I mentioned in the intro, I sunk over 80 hours into this title, which says a lot about how much I enjoyed the gameplay loop. For less engaged players, the story can take up to 25 hours, but for series fans or those who click with Borderlands 4, that number can reach several hundred.

Gearbox provides weekly activities – buffed bosses that drop shiny variants of legendary items – a bit like Shiny Pokémon; you’ll sweat to get even one shiny legendary. There are mission replays on the highest difficulty where every enemy has a modifier that ramps up the challenge – seriously, my first weekly mission had slain enemies creating black holes that sucked in everything and everyone, and touching just three of them meant death.

It’s great that we’re not just seeing 50% DMG, HP, or enemy counts, but actual modifiers that force us to approach combat tactically.

There are also lots of world events – arenas, falling meteors, or the current Halloween one. I’ll be honest; I don’t know if they’re announced on some site or by Gearbox, but I found most of them just by roaming – which made Kairos feel truly alive.

I started my first playthrough as Rafa – a soldier with an exoskeleton packed with gadgets, turrets, and other tools of mass destruction. As a series veteran, I figured I’d test myself on the highest difficulty the game offers – and honestly, I highly recommend it.

The game isn’t unfair, enemies aren’t bullet sponges, and the right weapon type, element, or use of terrain genuinely helps in combat. It kills the “I’ll just run forward shooting everything and it’ll work out” mentality and replaces it with actively thinking about which guns, elements, grenades, or shields to carry.

Story-wise, we’re closer to Borderlands 2, but…

The story of the Timekeeper in Borderlands 4 is definitely a big step forward, especially compared with Borderlands 3 or Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. The characters are truly dynamic, with their own motivations, and you can even genuinely like the antagonists despite their approach to humanity on Kairos. Callis in particular was one of those characters who genuinely inspired “fear” in me through her design and performance, and at one point I even caught myself thinking, “Will you finally die for good?” – not out of frustration, but because I felt I was up against a truly powerful foe.

Although we got an entirely new main cast, most of them didn’t stick with me. Maybe it’s my fossilized attitude saying, “they don’t make ’em like Tiny Tina, Torgue, Roland, or Lilith anymore,” and nostalgia blinds me to the new NPCs – but I didn’t find anyone who even came close to Tiny. Enemies – excellently realized; allies – nice that they’re there… and that’s about it.

What’s great is that you can tackle the story on your own terms. What do I mean? You can start from the starting location that ultimately leads to a showdown with Idolator Sol. But if grassy areas don’t vibe with you, you can head straight to the desert to face the aforementioned Callis; and if winter and mountains are your thing, the Vile Lictor thread awaits (and it’s especially worth doing the missions tied to The Boss).

This open approach to consuming the game is something I’d love to see in every non-linear AAA title, where we don’t just want to be pulled along a string and surrender to the creators’ singular vision.

I also really appreciate that each region has different people with distinct beliefs and outlooks on events, and their settlements are styled completely differently – the team could’ve taken the easy way out, reuse the same assets everywhere with a color swap, but they aimed for authenticity and worked to capture the feeling of each area and reflect it in the population and their way of life.

We know how Borderlands 4 plays – but how does it look and sound?

The series has accustomed us to its signature cel-shaded, comic-book aesthetic. The newest entry doesn’t abandon it; instead, it elevates it to modern standards, making everything the same – only better. Paradoxical as that sounds, visually everything looks like it has from the start; obviously, rendering, color, resolution, and detail are much improved compared to Borderlands 1.

Even so, 4 doesn’t lose the visual personality tied to its look. At times, the world is downright stunning – especially when you look up and see Pandora in the sky. Many places made me pause, take in the scenery, snap a quick screenshot, and say, “Well done, Randy – you really nailed this.” In my opinion, this is the best-looking Borderlands you can play right now…

Unless you’re on older hardware or don’t own a current-gen console.

Sir, who optimized this for you?

What Randy and the Gearbox team will definitely remember is the launch of Borderlands 4 – and I’m not talking about the sheer number of players, but their comments on performance. The internet was flooded with remarks about the – and let’s not be afraid to say it – tragic optimization.

Seriously, telling fans that Borderlands 4 is a premium product and that’s why it has such requirements should make the list of “Top 10 PR Moves You Should NEVER Aim at Your Player Base.”

Unfortunately, today’s market largely leans on upscaling and AI techniques, but if someone has a graphics card worth three after-tax minimum wages, and the devs say DLSS is required for smooth play – something’s off.

Borderlands 4 looks genuinely great, but what good is pretty graphics if we pay with constant FPS drops, artifacts, or glitching textures? I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to bake ray tracing into the game with no option to disable it, but I hope they’ve learned their lesson and won’t implement something like that again.

Even though I played on relatively mid-range hardware – RTX 3070, i5-12700KF, and 32 GB of RAM – I had plenty of issues with smooth gameplay. It’s a shame that a title with such promise probably turned away a lot of people because of optimization.

Moving away from graphics, the audio – enemies, guns, and the world itself – is simply solid. The soundtrack is a bit disappointing; it feels like there are too few tracks, and they repeat often. This isn’t a game like Final Fantasy VII Remake, remembered not only for gameplay but also for music that can evoke a wide range of emotions.

What Does Borderlands 4 Do Best?

Undeniably, boss fights, Vault guardian battles, and skirmishes with world bosses are Borderlands 4’s strongest point. The addition of a boss reset machine – removing the need to quit to the menu and reload to respawn bosses – is something we all needed.

Likewise, adding perks to specific gear types gives us even more ways to craft the character we dream of. Skill trees, from the start, feel like more than tiny numbers like “hehe gun dmg 5%”; they’re abilities that actually change your playstyle.

I hugely appreciate that Gearbox added a system to create a new character straight at level 30 (assuming you’ve completed the game). It sounds like something every game should have, but it only showed up in 4 – better late than never. Replaying the story just to try a different class always pushed me away from testing others; here, four clicks and you can start as Amon at level 30 with no grind required. It’s fantastic and feels like a practice that will show up in more AAA titles.

Fun, Mayhem, and No Disappointment – Borderlands 4

Randy knew what he was saying, because everything we love about Borderlands is executed fantastically here. The aforementioned boss-respawn machines meant that, for the first time in my history with the series, I genuinely ground bosses to get the items I needed. I got so hooked that I could spend several days just to get a class mod or a shotgun so my ricochet/crit build could erase enemies faster than Warzone erases its player base by adding totally out-there skins to the game – yes, Nicki Minaj, I’m looking at you.

I’ll repeat it: the boss fights are fantastic – not just visually, but mechanically, requiring active execution to beat them. From tossing acid canisters to melt armor, to grappling-hook jumping to avoid “the floor is lava,” to excellently designed arenas. Bosslands 4 – that’s what this entry could be called, because it reflects how much attention these enemies received from the Gearbox team.

How would I sum up 80 hours with Borderlands 4?

A fantastic time I’d been missing this year. A title I can switch off with and lose myself in grind, exploration, or side activities. And don’t get me wrong – it’s not the best gameplay experience we’ve had this year – that crown firmly belongs to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and I don’t think anything will change that in 2025.

But for fans of the series, looter-shooters, FPS, or just shooters – give Borderlands 4 a chance, and you won’t be disappointed.

Side note: If your rig isn’t a NASA computer, you might want to grab the console version to save yourself the optimization-related frustration.

In Summary – The Pros and Cons of Borderlands 4

Pros

• Fantastic gameplay
• An interesting and engrossing world
• The best grind in the entire series
• Brilliantly executed bosses
• A good story
• A title with countless hours of great fun
• Memorable antagonists
• Lots of varied side activities
• Weekly events

Cons

• Poor optimization
• Main-cast characters are dull and forgettable
• An open world that’s not so open
• Not everyone likes grind
• Cl4ptr4p

The Best Game in the Series or a Letdown?

Calling Borderlands 4 the best game in the series is highly subjective, and many factors go into answering that precisely. For me, though, Borderlands 4 is the best since Borderlands 2. Remember, at this point we only have BL4’s base game, with DLC, a new character, and a full roadmap coming over the next year.

What needed fixing got fixed – and sometimes implemented in ways we probably didn’t expect.

As for the title question – revolution or evolution – as diplomatic as this may sound, Borderlands serves up both, leaning more toward evolution, though the bold moves will certainly score points for Gearbox. Let’s hope this is the wind that fills the sail called “Revolution.”

Despite major technical issues at launch, I had a wonderful time and will definitely check out the additional content that will be rolling out for Borderlands 4.

Personally, I rate Borderlands 4 an 8/10 on the popular scale, or an 84 if we go with 1–100. I sincerely recommend giving it a try – there’s a good chance it will charm you the same way Borderlands 2 charmed me over a decade ago!