Borderlands 4 review — Just freakin’ fun
Summary
Gearbox returns to form with Borderlands 4, a looter‑shooter that leans hard into frantic gunplay, outrageous humour and a steady trickle of rewarding loot. Set on the lush but tyrannised planet Kairos, the new entry introduces four distinct Vault Hunters, a charismatic villain (the Timekeeper) and side missions that actually feel worth your time. Combat feels tight and messy in the best way, with new mobility and melee tools adding verticality and variety.
Key Points
- Strong return to the series’ roots: comic‑style visuals, sharp writing and excellent voice acting.
- Four playable Vault Hunters (Vex, Amon, Harlowe, Rafa) with deep, flexible skill trees for varied builds.
- New mechanics: a heavy‑ordinance slot, gliding and lash/whip grapple that increase vertical combat options.
- Huge open world (Kairos) with meaningful vaults, world bosses, safehouses and varied events.
- Weapon synergies now allow licensed parts across manufacturers, creating many new build possibilities.
- Post‑game: Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode, Specializations tree and weekly challenges promise longevity.
- Notable technical and design issues on PC: save rollbacks, crashes, lag in co‑op and occasional navigation bugs.
Content Summary
Borderlands 4 sends Vault Hunters to Kairos to topple the Timekeeper and free the planet from implanted cybernetic control. The main missions are well crafted and side quests receive unusually strong writing — often funny, occasionally touching, and never just filler.
Gunplay is satisfying across weapon classes: snipers crack, SMGs shred and shotguns hit chunky. The heavy ordinance slot expands options (throwing knives, heavy lasers), while gliding and a lash/whip mechanic introduce fresh verticality. Each character offers three skill trees with deep branching choices that support very different playstyles.
Kairos is expansive and packed with things to do: vaults, order bunkers, random world bosses and fast‑travel safehouses. Vehicles are now digitised for quick on‑demand travel. Post‑campaign content includes Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode, a Specializations tree and weekly boss challenges, with a post‑launch roadmap promising new rarities and tough encounters.
Visually and aurally the game is excellent — the art style pops, the soundtrack slams and the voice acting is top notch. However, the launch version suffers from several technical and design problems (pathing oddities, music dropouts, multiplayer lag, save rollbacks and crashes) that detract from the experience and need addressing via patches.
Context and Relevance
After mixed reactions to recent entries, Gearbox needed a course correction — Borderlands 4 largely delivers one. It matters to fans of looter‑shooters and co‑op players who value strong gunfeel, build depth and comedic writing. The game’s blend of classic Borderlands elements with new mechanical toys keeps it competitive in a crowded genre focused on replayable progression and seasonal content.
Author style
Punchy — this review cuts to what matters: fun combat, memorable characters and a mountain of loot, while not shying away from launch problems. If the post‑launch fixes land, this is the Borderlands many players have been waiting for.
Why should I read this?
Look, if you like looter shooters, loud guns and ridiculous, character‑led comedy, this one’s for you. We played dozens of hours so you don’t have to — you’ll get a clear sense of whether the new mechanics and Vault Hunters are worth your time, and what launch issues might annoy you in co‑op. Short version: it’s addictive and fun, but expect some teething pains at launch.
