| Borderlands 4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Borderlands 4 Review Overview
What is Borderlands 4?
Borderlands 4 is the upcoming entry in Gearbox Software’s acclaimed looter-shooter series. Scheduled for release in 2025 for the PC (Steam, Epic Games), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2, it takes place after the conclusion of Borderlands 3.
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.
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.
Borderlands 4 features:
⚫︎ Set in a New Planet: Kairos
⚫︎ 4 Playable Vault Hunters Each With 3 Unique Action Skills to Build Around
⚫︎ More Than a Gazillion Guns
⚫︎ Raid Bosses
⚫︎ Expanded Mobility Options
⚫︎ Chaotic Gunplay
⚫︎ Split Screen and Online Multiplayer
⚫︎ New and Returning Characters
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Borderlands 4’s gameplay and story.
| Digital Storefronts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Steam |
 Epic |
 PSN |
 Xbox |
 eShop |
| $69.99 | ||||
Borderlands 4 Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Massive Open World Improved Mobility and Gunplay Great Replayability Amazing Character Variety |
Needs Better Tutorials Side Quests Are Hit and Miss Numerous Performance Issues and Bugs |
Borderlands 4 Story - 7/10
The story of Borderlands 4 is a clear improvement over the previous game. The new setting of Kairos is a refreshing change of pace, and the game has even managed to dial down its cringe
humor to a surprising balance. However, the pacing and lack of direction in the narrative make it hard to be invested in the new characters, as the story turns into a resistance versus tyranny plotline that we're all too familiar with.
Borderlands 4 Gameplay - 9/10
Borderlands 4 boasts the best gameplay that the series has ever had, introducing new options in combat yet not feeling overwhelming to use. The massive open world also allows for a wealth of exploration and side content, making sure you never run out of things to do. It’s not perfect, though, as the game has its fair share of problems, like the lack of tutorials on certain mechanics, late-game enemy variety, and many, many bugs.
Borderlands 4 Visuals - 9/10
In terms of visuals, Borderlands 4 is probably the series’ best-looking game so far. The trademark cel-shaded comic book art style and direction are considered to be a near-perfect realization of their vision. The contrast between the wild jungles, military bases, rural settlements, and urban areas of Kairos showcases just how far the series has come. The special effects, however, can get a little too much, and the game can start dropping frames when there's too much going on.
Borderlands 4 Audio - 9/10
The audio aspect of the game is also well done, with the music and the voice acting being the clear highlights. Both the music and the voice acting are well done, with the former having surprisingly good music scores for emotional segments, while the latter makes each character memorable when they get the spotlight. The sound effects leave a lot to be desired, however, as some of them were hard to distinguish.
Borderlands 4 Value for Money - 7/10
Priced at $69.99, Borderlands 4 is a full-fledged AAA game with a wealth of content to explore and do, as well as a stellar presentation backed with a narrative that’s pretty decent to follow. However, all of that content and replayability is constantly soured by the performance issues and bugs that plague it, something that doesn't seem limited to the PS5. Until it's addressed, it's hard to say it's worth the current price tag.
Borderlands 4 Overall - 82/100
Borderlands 4 is a definite return to form with clear improvements from the previous iteration across all aspects of the game. Its stunning visuals, paired with great voice acting, elevate the narrative and its side content to a higher degree, while it also manages to expand on its great gunplay and progression. However, the many issues and bugs, especially concerning its performance, harm the overall experience and prevent it from being the best it can be.
Borderlands 4 Review: A Much-Needed Second Wind
Looter shooters are a niche in the gaming sphere. Games like Destiny 2 and Warframe would be the most popular ones, as their unique gameplay patterns and MMO-like approach offer a different type of satisfaction. But if we’re being honest, it was the Borderlands series that made it bigger than it ever was, with its humor, distinct art style, and, most especially, the sheer amount of guns.
The Borderlands series has been a long-standing franchise that combines traditional ARPG and FPS mechanics to create a unique experience that has a full-blown story and endgame character progression. As a longtime fan of the series who’s been able to dip more than 1000 hours into the second game, I was excited to see what they were cooking up, especially when they mentioned that they were focused on addressing the criticism they faced in the previous game.
Kairos is a Great Change of Pace
Set 6 years after Lilith stops Elpis from tearing Pandora apart in the previous game, Elpis is teleported into the orbit of Kairos. Kairos is ruled by a tyrant named the Timekeeper, who commands an army of synthetic soldiers called The Order. His goal is to control the planet’s population with the use of a nerve implant called Bolts and use it to take control of their bodies and do his bidding.
This war for the planet ties into the mysterious strength of the Timekeeper and his connection to the Vaults, which is your job to find out and put a stop to. You, as usual, are one of 4 Vault Hunters, joining up with a resistance effort called the Crimson Resistance to fight against the Timekeeper’s forces and for the safety of Kairos.
The open-world change shines a light on the contrast of Kairos’ environments, as it’s populated by lush jungles, farmlands, plains, valleys, and even different urban areas to house many of its inhabitants. It’s a welcome change to Pandora’s mostly bleak landscape, and one that has more than enough secrets to discover for the player.
A Safe But Better Storyline
The series is known for its crudeness and its over-the-top comedy, but it got to a point where the previous iteration got a little too cringe
for the fans. This time, however, it’s surprisingly balanced, with many of its narrative chops and jokes reminiscent of the first two games. New characters like Rush, who’s both a leader and a gym rat who doesn’t fail to include protein in many conversations, feel like a natural addition to the cast.
It extends to the quests and side content as well, as some of the most memorable ones are honoring the final wish of a sentient missile AI and, to my absolute surprise, a Claptrap side quest. Claptrap has always been a character whom you either love to hate or just hate entirely, but even this quest surprised me enough that it actually brought out a different side to him.
As for the overall plotline, it does well enough to separate itself from the scattered writing of the previous installment. However, everything suddenly seems familiar, where you join a faction to overthrow a tyrant. It’s a safe and generic storyline, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction considering the dumpster fire that came before.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good call to do it this way. One of the biggest problems the previous mainline entry had was that it tried too hard to scale up in scope with a bad foundation. This time, they at least learned from their mistakes and established the world of Kairos first before continuing the existing plot lines they had in the previous games.
Its Best-Looking Form Yet
The graphics of Borderlands have always been commended for this unique comic-turned-video game style with its cel-shaded designs and vibrant colors. While it’s always had this distinct style, it feels like this is its best-looking form to date.
I brought up the different locales in the planet of Kairos earlier, and the presentation is what changes it to a whole other level. The contrast of colors between the environments is what makes them visually appealing, and it definitely adds to the wonder of exploring a new world.
Additionally, character designs are distinct and detailed, especially when you’re looking at the different Vault Hunters. Each character has an exclusive flair about them, and it shows in any scene and in gameplay.
On top of all of this, the different enemy designs from The Order’s bots, The Rippers’ psychos, and the various fauna that populate the planet of Kairos are also breathtaking in their own twisted way. One memorable example is the new enemy type called the Breaker, which is a legless variant of the psycho that breakdances to attack you.
Gunplay Has Evolved Even Further
But how does it play? Well, it has managed to top the already established gameplay of Borderlands 3. I would even say that the classic FPS mechanics have been refined to be the most satisfying form to fit the various guns, ordinances, and abilities there are in the game.
On top of all of this, the newly added movement options, such as dashing, gliding, grappling, and even double jumping, add a level of verticality and speed that elevates the shooter leagues beyond what it was before.
They’ve even learned from previous entries in the series, specifically Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, where it homogenizes grenades, launchers, and heavy gatlings into a single ordinance slot, and the fact that there were more melee-oriented abilities this time around. One example is one of Rafa’s Action Skills: Arc Knives, which equips his exo suit with shock knives that allow you to dash in and cut them up with extreme prejudice.
Explore and Catch a Ride Anywhere
With the pivot to a full open-world design, it’s important to be able to move around the map with ease. Other than the aforementioned movement options, you can call in a vehicle anytime, except when you’re in an enclosed area.
One of the main concerns with the new open world was that the world would be too big and that it would feel empty when exploring the different areas. While most of the game isn’t necessarily explored in the main campaign, the different side content that the game has is addicting enough to hook you in to spend hours just getting lost and doing random things.
One major example is the unlockable Vaults, where you have to find and collect different Vault key fragments to open them. When opened, you are then challenged to a gauntlet of enemy waves leading up to the Vault’s guardian. In my experience, I accidentally found this while I was just cleaning the map of collectibles, which caught me by surprise and I was in awe that something as important to the lore as a Vault could easily be stumbled into.
Replayability to the Max
Being a looter shooter, the main highlight of the genre is being able to farm gear from various sources to create the perfect build. In Borderlands 4, they amp up the replayability by allowing you to replay missions, both main quests and side quests, as well as challenge different bosses again after defeating them.
A fee of either Eridium or cash has to be paid to replay a mission or boss, but the fact that you don’t have to quit out of the game and make the process seamless is a welcome change. This is also great when you’re playing with friends, as you don’t have to stop the session and keep going.
To add to this, Borderlands is known for having additional difficulties to further progress your character. They add various features like Specializations and the like to reward you for even more progression past the base skill tree, but one of the highlighted changes for me was being able to start a new character at level 30 after finishing the campaign.
As one who likes trying out different characters, it can be tiring to go through the campaign again and again, especially when you’re going to do so anyway to get to Ultimate Vault Hunter mode. So cutting that short by one run and having access to a whole base build is a massive time saver.
Numerous Things to Fix and Address
So, let’s address the elephant in the room. Yes, the game has a lot of performance issues and bugs that plague almost all of the platforms it's on. In my case, playing on the PS5 resulted in multiple instances of frame drops when there were a lot of things going on, which is a common occurrence.
Another problem was that the game would crash randomly as well; this is especially frustrating when you’re in a dungeon
or zone leading to a boss fight, since it would essentially reset your progress in that area.
In addition to performance problems, there were also a lot of small bugs that definitely affect the experience. One of which was a ton of NPCs and enemies that clip through walls and floors, which, admittedly, can be hilarious at times.
However, the biggest annoyances were the bugs concerning inventory management. The D-pad and cursor highlight the wrong item, missing backpack slots, and probably the most annoying feature is the sort feature resetting back to the default.
Hopefully, these issues and problems get resolved sooner rather than later, as these are the main things holding the game back from being a great looting and shooting experience.
Is Borderlands 4 Worth It?
Wait For Performance Fixes, Then Visit Kairos For a Good Time
Borderlands 4 is a great game that improves on all of the aspects that the series got a bad rep for in its previous mainline iteration. However, the number of bugs and performance issues that affect the game right now make it a hard recommendation to buy on release.
It’s a great game that’s just unfortunately plagued by multiple bugs that need to be fixed to ensure the best experience it can be. I would recommend waiting for the performance and bug fixes to arrive before visiting the world of Kairos, or waiting for a sale instead, to mitigate the damage done to your wallet.
| Digital Storefronts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam |
Epic |
PSN |
Xbox |
eShop |
| $69.99 | ||||
Borderlands 4 FAQ
How do I respec my skills in Borderlands 4?
You must first complete the mission Down and Outbound,
and then the respec machine will be unlocked. The earliest respec machine you can access is in The Launchpad or the Outbounders HQ, in the room where the Golden Key Chest is located.
What are the System Requirements for PC to play Borderlands 4?
The System Requirements listed on Steam are as follows:
| Specifications | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10/11 64-bit | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-9700 / AMD Ryzen 7 2700X | Intel Core i7-12700 / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X |
| Memory | 16 GB RAM | 32 GB RAM |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 / AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT / Intel Arc A580 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT / Intel Arc B580 |
| Storage | 100 GB | |
| Additional Specs | Requires 8 CPU Cores and 8 GB VRAM; SSD required | |
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Borderlands 4 Product Information
 |
|
| Title | BORDERLANDS 4 |
|---|---|
| Release Date | September 12, 2025 (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)
October 3, 2025 (Switch 2) |
| Developer | Gearbox Software |
| Publisher | 2K |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam, Epic Games) PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X|S Nintendo Switch 2 |
| Genre | Action, Adventure, RPG, Shooter |
| Number of Players | 1-4 (Local/Online Co-op) |
| ESRB Rating | M 17+ |
| Official Website | Borderlands 4 Official Website |
