The formula of Borderlands is unquestionable. You get a wild, survival-of-the-fittest sci-fi world (that went absolutely nuts) filled with characters, writing, and a story that has a charm and comedy unique in this industry. And then there’s the loot. Oh, such glorious loot that leaves you with countless gunplay possibilities and a hunger for more.
Borderlands 4 is bold and ambitious in scope. New world, new ways to play, new movement and almost a new philosophy in both the game’s storytelling and how you go about your killing.
Three hours into Borderlands 4, and it’s clear: this isn’t just a return to form, it’s a statement of intent. At a recent press preview hosted by Gearbox, I had the chance to dive deep into a sprawling slice of the campaign, exploring the untamed alien landscapes of the new planet Kairos.
What I came away with wasn’t just an appreciation for the franchise’s evolving mechanics or its visually lush, Destiny-esque open world; it was the sense that Borderlands 4 is trying to grow up, or at least, rethink what growing up means for a series built on chaotic anarchy and meme-heavy irreverence.
Loot n’ Shoot
From the moment we landed in the Fadefields, one of Kairos’s major zones, the shift in tone was palpable. Rapid-fire absurdity can still be present here and there. It’s just ever so slightly more subdued. In its place: something more restrained, more focused. Make no mistake, the writing does not abandon its signature humour, but it’s wielded with more purpose, with a subtle undercurrent of thematic weight.
Even Claptrap, ever the court jester of the series, now feels like a character with agency rather than just a soundboard for one-liners. Though for hardcore fans, some of these characters might be a tad too ‘tame’ or wholesome for their familiar style bibles.
This philosophical shift bleeds into how the world unfolds around you. Gone are the loading screens and instanced zones. Kairos is seamless and alive, designed to reward curiosity over checklist-ticking.
With the Digi Runner, your summonable personal vehicle, I roamed across plains shimmering under twin suns, dipped into cave systems buzzing with dangerous fauna, and was sidetracked by emergent events more than once. It’s a world that trusts players to wander, not just sprint from waypoint to waypoint.
But the headline innovation is movement, and Borderlands 4 doesn’t just tweak the formula; it redefines how you play. Jetpacks, double jumps, dashes, gliding, and grappling hooks all converge into a system that feels startlingly modern. In combat, it’s transformative.
One early mission had us liberating a stronghold from the clutches of the game’s new antagonist, The Timekeeper. Waves of enemies surged, but with verticality now in your toolbox, the battlefield becomes a playground. Grappling to a rooftop, jet-boosting into midair, tossing a throwing knife mid-glide, then crashing down with a shotgun blast, it’s as kinetic as it is empowering.
The weapons, too, reflect this ethos of evolution. The new Licensed Parts system turns looting into a nuanced craft. Each firearm isn’t just a skin-deep stat stick but a unique assembly of components with distinct behaviours.
One of my favourite finds was a Jakobs revolver retrofitted with a scope and ricochet-modifier barrel. It’s brutal at range and pure chaos in close quarters. Throwing knives add a melee finesse that gels beautifully with the momentum of the new movement system. The gunplay feels tighter, smarter, and more varied.
That said, the heart of Borderlands 4 still beats strongest in its co-op DNA. Drop-in/drop-out multiplayer is as seamless as the world design. A fellow journalist joined me mid-session, enemy difficulty scaled smoothly, and the revive mechanics, including a last-stand kill-to-survive system, added high-stakes thrill to every skirmish. Side missions, dynamic events, and even entire objectives could be replayed cooperatively, suggesting a campaign built for both solo depth and group chaos.
Look the Part
Visually, the game stuns. Borderlands has always had its trademark cel-shading, but here it feels sharper, more textured, almost painterly in moments. A dynamic day-night cycle and weather effects added depth to already richly realised biomes. Rain slicked the cliffs of a mountaintop fortress mid-assault. Lightning flickered during a tense boss setup. These aren’t just flourishes, they’re part of the storytelling.
Of course, the question looms: what of the endgame? Gearbox has kept tight-lipped on what awaits players after the main story wraps. The revamped loot system, where legendary gear is rarer but far more meaningful, hints at a more curated experience. But fans will want to know whether this reimagined Borderlands can sustain the long haul.
Thoughts So Far
There’s a tightrope Borderlands 4 walks. It’s simultaneously a refinement and a reinvention, not abandoning its past, but interrogating it. Can a franchise defined by bombast and maximalism find emotional weight and narrative depth without losing its edge? Based on this preview, Gearbox believes it can. And for the first time in a long while, I believe it too.
If these three hours are anything to go by, Borderlands 4 doesn’t just want to be the best game in the series; it wants to be the smartest, most thoughtful Borderlands yet. The mayhem has evolved, and it’s looking mighty fine.
Borderlands 4 launches worldwide on September 12, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, with a Nintendo Switch 2 version arriving at a later date.
