I didn’t expect to enjoy Borderlands 4. I mean, I’ve bounced off earlier Borderlands games before and it’s not because they were, but because they felt like that one friend who tries too hard to make you laugh. Yet a few hours into this one, I found myself actually falling in love with Borderlands all over again.
That probably says a lot about where this series has gone, ever since the high point that was Borderlands 2. The latest title is still absurd, still drenched in sarcasm and bullets, but it finally feels like Gearbox remembered what makes the original Borderland games fun in the first place.
In Borderlands 4, you start, as usual, with your choice of four Vault Hunters. Nothing new there, but this time, the Hunters actually feel different. I went with Vex, partly because I like chaos builds and partly because I really do like her overall vibe. A big fun of playing her is that you can summon minions and then there’s her mad AoE elemental prowess. Then there’s Harlowe, the gravity-bending scientist, Rafa with her holographic exosuit, and Amon the close-range Forgeknight. It’s classic Borderlands, except the playstyles don’t overlap as much this time.
Image: 2K Games
sAnd yes, you can respec easily. Thank you, Gearbox. Gone are the days where you sink all your points into some terrible passive and realise two hours later you’ve created a glorified pea shooter. Here, you can experiment without fear of being punished – which, for indecisive players like me, is a blessing.
The story kicks off on a new planet called Kairos and is a proper open world this time. Pandora’s had its fun, but Kairos gives you more space to stretch your legs (and jetpacks). There’s double-jumping, grappling, even gliding, which instantly makes traveling feel fresher. It’s not perfect, because some missions still feel like a slog – I remember there’s one that makes you run halfway across the map just to talk to an NPC who says three words.
