| Borderlands 4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Go down in history as a legendary Vault Hunter in search of alien treasure in Borderlands 4! Read on to learn about the game's plot, gameplay, and other information.
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Borderlands 4 Gameplay
Borderlands 4 evolves the franchise’s signature looter-shooter formula with major upgrades to movement, customization, and moment-to-moment combat, while still retaining the series’ chaotic gunplay and offbeat energy. Players choose from four entirely new Vault Hunters—Amon the Forgeknight, Harlowe the Gravitar, Rafa the Exo-Soldier, and Vex the Dark Siren—each with distinct skillsets, mechanics, and playstyles built around active abilities and synergies, rather than static skill trees.
Outside of combat, deeper build customization and streamlined UI systems make refining your Vault Hunter easier and more rewarding. Whether focusing on elemental damage, summoning allies, or full-on frontline aggression, Borderlands 4 ensures that every loadout and skill path feels distinct—and viable.
Expanded Mobility
Combat is faster and more fluid than ever, thanks in part to expanded mobility. Players can now sprint faster, mantle more responsively, and perform sliding attacks with greater freedom. The addition of mounts—both rideable and combat-capable—adds a new layer of traversal across the open, interconnected biomes of Kairos, offering mounted weapons and mobility options for both exploration and large-scale battles.
Digistruct Weapons
A major new gameplay feature is Digistruct weapons. These allow Vault Hunters to construct weapons on the fly mid-combat, switching between different forms, elements, and archetypes without opening menus. This real-time flexibility empowers players to adapt instantly to enemy types and scenarios, amplifying the game’s already loot-rich systems.
Drop-In/Drop-Out Multiplayer
Multiplayer co-op remains a core pillar, with improved drop-in/drop-out support and smarter enemy scaling. The game encourages team synergy more than before, with ability interactions and gadget-based crowd control opening up strategic combinations between Vault Hunters.
Borderlands 4 Characters
Amon
Towering over the battlefield and anchoring the Borderlands 4 Vault Hunter crew with raw elemental power, Amon the Forgeknight stands out as both a juggernaut and a furnace of destruction. Armed with elemental axes designed for brutal throws and devastating melee attacks, he’s often more dangerous up close than at range—though he’s no stranger to firearms either.
Amon’s signature ability, "Crucible," forges a powerful elemental axe to hurl at enemies, with a secondary effect that grants him another axe infused with a different element. "Onslaughter" unleashes a fiery melee combo fueled by punches and hammer strikes, while "Scourge" takes a more defensive approach, using a flaming shield to absorb damage and return it in kind. Where past Vault Huntercrews had their Sirens wielding elemental power, the Forgeknight fully embraces it, channeling the raw elements into every strike.
Harlowe
When it comes to raw crowd control, few compare to Harlowe the Gravitar and her signature "Entanglement" mechanic, which links enemies together so that damage dealt to one is shared across all affected targets. True to her Gravitar designation, she also manipulates space on the battlefield—her "Zero-Point" ability lifts enemies into the air and launches them into others for disruptive impact.
Harlowe also leans into her tech background with a variety of gadgets designed to spread Entanglement across the field. The "Chroma Accelerator" ability affects a wide area, while "Flux Generator" mines create localized traps for unsuspecting enemies. Whether she's locking enemies down or spreading damage across a sea of targets, Harlowe is well-equipped to manage the chaos.
Rafa
Versatility meets high-impact firepower in Borderlands 4 with Rafa the Exo-Soldier, whose dynamic, run-and-gun style is built around on-demand Digistruct weapons. Whether tearing through enemies with a Samus-style arm cannon or finishing them off up close with brutal arm blades, Rafa is engineered for forward momentum.
His "Apophis Lance" provides a powerful, arm-mounted ranged option for engaging enemies at a distance. When overwhelmed, Rafa can deploy "Peacebreaker Cannon" turrets to apply pressure and thin the crowd. Those who survive the barrage face his "Arc-Knives" in close quarters, as he charges in with "Overdrive"—a mobility boost that scales with each Digistructed weapon.
Vex
Every Borderlands Vault Hunter crew features a Siren, and Borderlands 4 is no exception. This time, it's Vex—the Dark Siren. Unlike the elemental-focused Sirens of past entries, Vex takes a different approach, leaning into summoning as her core playstyle. She calls forth "Reapers" for melee attacks and "Specters" for ranged support, turning the tide of battle with spectral reinforcements.
Her "Phased Phamiliar" ability summons a companion named Trouble, which deals area damage wherever it moves. Combined with her "Incarnation" ability—an AoE attack in its own right—Vex can quickly clear crowded engagements. And while she may not appear elementally attuned at first, her "Phase Covenant" ability allows her to share her gun's elemental type with all her summons, binding her arsenal together into a unified force of destruction.
Borderlands 4 Story Plot
Set six years after Lilith teleports Elpis into Kairos’s orbit, Borderlands 4 takes place on the now-exposed planet of Kairos—thrust into chaos and ruled by the Timekeeper, a tyrant who controls the population through Bolts, neural implants tied to obedience. Players join the Crimson Resistance, pushing back against The Order—his synthetic army—and hunting alien Vaults hidden across the fractured world.
With four interconnected regions to explore and returning faces like Claptrap and Zane alongside new allies, the fight spans war-torn landscapes and fortified cities. As rebellion grows, so does the mystery behind Kairos, the Timekeeper, and what’s truly buried beneath the surface.
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