After the lows of the last two games, the Borderlands 4 review is mostly positive. With a ton of stuff to do in the new open world map, players are looking at upwards of 100 hours to see everything. If you like the looter shooter genre that Borderlands pioneered, you’ll fall in love with what the latest game has to offer. I certainly had a lot of fun chasing max-level builds on two of Borderlands 4’s characters.
I’m a huge fan of Borderlands, right from the get-go. I love the loot chase, the farming, and building my characters around a legendary weapon. Most of all, I love playing Borderlands games with my friends. Borderlands 4 coop gameplay is stellar, featuring well-designed progression systems for both characters and the story. While most Borderlands 4 reviews are positive, the game is not without its flaws. We’ll dive deep into what makes the new looter shooter work and what issues let it down.
Table of Contents
Borderlands 4 Review – Opening the World
The most significant change in the game is primarily due to the current generation of modern consoles. No longer shackled by the limited resources of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Borderlands 4 is now an open-world experience. While the Borderlands 4 gameplay edges close to the classic Ubisoft formula, the varied locations and enemies make the formula refreshing. There are towers to climb, but they are not for clearing the fog of war from the map. Instead, you are rewarded with SDU upgrade points that increase ammo, backpack, bank, and lost loot machine capacities.
Borderlands 4 release comes complete with three huge areas to explore. Each location has its own story, side quests, boss fights, optional dungeons, and collectibles. The first area is lush and green, a far cry from past games. The second and third areas are desert and snow ones. All areas are well-designed with plenty of items to discover. I would’ve liked to see no fall kills, especially since the game is now open-world, but we can’t get everything.
One of the most significant improvements is the vehicles, which you can spawn anywhere in the open world. While I can’t troll friends by driving off cliffs now, it’s an excellent quality of life improvement. The map is enormous, so you’ll need all the help you can get moving around. Fans of traditional closed arenas need not worry, though; they are still there. You get Crawlers, Drill Sites, and Safe Houses, all of which have closed areas filled with enemies. Another massive upgrade is the Moxxi’s Encore machines, which let you farm bosses without saving, quitting, and loading.
Borderlands 4 Review – The Vault Hunters
For the first time in franchise history, Borderlands 4 Vault Hunters are all amazing. Each of the four playable characters in Borderlands 4 is well-rounded. There is a Viking that throws axes, a smart mouth with turrets, a vampire-like siren, and a gravity-loving scientist. The characters all have three skill trees; however, these trees are significantly larger this time around. Gearbox cooked with the skills this time.
For example, playing with Rafa, I spent around 50 hours just with the turrets. You can freely choose the character abilities, augments, and capstones. You are free to mix and match. I picked turrets that turned explosive and an ability that threw massive fireball nukes. That’s just one combination in one of the trees. You can guess how excellent the rest of the builds would be. Even after ending the game once, I’m back trying out a new shotgun build, even though it’s in the same red tree.
I haven’t played the Siren yet, even with 150 on the clock. That’s how big and varied Borderlands 4 Vault Hunters are. When Randy Pitchford hyped the game to be the biggest in the franchise, he wasn’t lying. The character team outdid themselves this time around. There is so much to do in terms of character building. I’m sure you’ll find a playstyle that suits your style.
Borderlands 4 Review – Loot is King
The Borderlands 4 gameplay loop remains the same that fans love. Kill enemies, get experience points, and get better loot. Rinse and repeat until you reach the endgame and make a perfect build that can mow through the mobs. Loot is also revamped in the game. Borderlands 3 gave away too many legendaries, which made the rest of the rarities feel useless. The new game rectifies it by making legendaries rare and purple and blue loot viable.
I’m rocking a purple shotgun in the endgame, after the story and after hitting the max level cap of 50. I’m also using a purple ordinance, which is what the game now calls the grenade slot. Both items rip through enemies. The Borderlands 4 legendaries are also not bad. I love an assault rifle called Combo Wombo, it absolutely shreds thanks to its elemental bullets with kinetic grenades. A friend is using an SMG that throws bees at enemies. While it does OK damage, it looks super fun to use.
Chasing loot has never been easier, either; the Moxxi Encore machines ensure you don’t have to leave the area to farm a boss. I’ve probably killed the starting boss 100 times by now, it’s because he drops one of the best shields in the game. All is not well, though; there are some issues as well. A Borderlands 4 review wouldn’t be complete without addressing the UI issues, especially the inventory system. The sorting resets every time you tab out; item comparisons are also not robust. While people freaked out over Borderlands 4 price, it wasn’t even an issue.
Conclusion:
The story is a marked improvement, and I appreciate the slightly less goofy tone. There are no cringe moments, but several missions made me laugh. I had to fight a toilet seat in one of the side missions, and that’s one such whacky mission.
Apart from the tedious “Acquire” missions, the “Lost Capsules” force you to walk back to a safe house while carrying the item. I can have 72 guns on my back, but I can’t take one egg in it? Yeah, I’m not doing this. Despite my minor complaints, the Borderlands 4 review is going to recommend the game to any loot-lover wholeheartedly. The Borderlands 4 classes are excellent, and the gameplay loop is rewarding. If you are a fan of RPGs with good shooting, you should check Borderlands 4 out.
I played the game on PlayStation 5, PlayRatedGames didn’t receive a review code from Remedy Entertainment. Check out Borderlands 4 OpenCritic page to see how the game is doing in ratings.
