Borderlands 4 Review: A Wild, Buggy, and Brilliant Evolution

I have been playing Borderlands since the very first vault opened back in 2009, and over the years, my passion for looter shooters has been tied closely to this series. Borderlands 3, though enjoyable in spurts, left me feeling like the franchise had started to stagnate. Thus, Borderlands 4, in my opinion, felt like such an enormous gamble right from the announcement: Gearbox wasn’t simply refining the formula this time; it was throwing the segmented maps out the window, building its first true open world, and anchoring the experience on the planet Kairos under the rule of a sinister dictator called the Timekeeper. After spending more than sixty hours in this game, I can say without hesitation that it’s both a thrilling new take on Borderlands and a messy launch packed with bugs and technical frustrations.

The most dramatic change hits you immediately. Borderlands 4 doesn’t funnel you through large zones separated by loading screens anymore. Kairos is fully open, split into four regions, and filled with things to distract you. I lost track of the number of times I wandered off the main quest line to chase a collectible, fix a massive crawler for a vehicle upgrade, or stumble into a drill site swarming with lunatics who dropped rare loot once cleared. The freedom to chart my own course across this sprawling map is a first for Borderlands, and the tools Gearbox gives you make it even more exciting. I could summon a vehicle on command without trekking to a Catch-A-Ride station, swing across cliffs with a grapple hook, or soar with a glider over deserts and crumbling ruins. Yet as much as I enjoyed those moments, the terrain revealed some glaring issues. Invisible walls constantly blocked my path, or a ledge that looked climbable refused to let me mantle up, breaking the sense of exploration. After a while, I learned to recognize the surfaces that would stop me cold, but the artificial limits made me wish for natural barriers like oceans or mountains instead of bumping into thin air.

Combat, however, feels like a revelation compared to the previous games. Borderlands 4 has the tightest gunplay the series has ever had, and the new movement options elevate battles in ways I wasn’t prepared for. I could double jump, dash, slide, grapple, glide, and for the first time in the franchise, swim without instantly dying. Enemies were designed to force me to use these abilities, and once I mastered the rhythm, I found myself soaring across arenas, dodging attacks midair, and raining destruction from every angle. The arsenal is as bizarre as Borderlands fans would hope. I found an assault rifle that launched tiny rockets, doubled as an airstrike, and exploded like a grenade when tossed on reload. Later, I stumbled across a sniper rifle that spat bullets like a Gatling gun and stopped draining ammo when overheated. Grenades still provide comic relief, bouncing around while yelling absurd and occasionally filthy lines before splattering acid across the battlefield. 

Enemy variety has taken a big leap forward, too. Kairos introduces mechanical spiders that deflect bullets by spinning their legs, along with crystal-encrusted beasts that can’t be damaged until their armor is shattered and the floating orbs they leave behind are quickly destroyed. Of course, psychos are still here, hitching a ride from Pandora and serving as the deranged mascots of the series, but now they’re mixed with opponents that forced me to adapt on the fly. Boss fights, long a weak spot for Borderlands, are vastly improved. One required me to toss toxic bombs to strip its armor, and another forced me to stay airborne with grappling and gliding when the ground became lethal. They never reached the layered complexity of a Destiny raid, but compared to the old “shoot until it’s dead” formula, they felt inventive and memorable.

The game’s story is, perhaps, the biggest highlight, mainly due to how fresh it feels. For example, instead of retreading Pandora or leaning on legacy characters who had begun to wear thin, Borderlands 4 shifts focus to Kairos, a planet controlled by the Timekeeper’s brainwashing dictatorship. The tale of rebellion against this figure is more grounded than past entries, though it still balances its trademark humor with surprising emotional beats. The cast introduces standouts like Levaine, a charming but messy figure whose romantic history with other Vault Hunters adds some fun drama. At the same time, the game dips back into nostalgia, most notably through Claptrap, who delivers his usual sassy commentary. While the narrative doesn’t achieve the unforgettable villainy of Borderlands 2’s Handsome Jack, it is a noticeable step up from Borderlands 3, weaving a more cohesive adventure that feels like a soft reboot for the series.

The four new Vault Hunters each bring a distinct flavor. Vex, the Siren, bends space magic to deal elemental damage and drain life, with skill trees that can focus on summoning ghostly doppelgangers or casting powerful elemental spells. Rafa, the Exo-Soldier, can conjure DigiStructed weapons from thin air, deploying turrets or melee arm blades to dominate fights. Harlowe, the Gravitar, manipulates gravity itself, trapping enemies in floating bubbles and repositioning them mid-combat. Amon, the Forgeknight, is a massive cybernetic warrior built for devastating melee combat. Each hunter has three branching skill trees that allow for some build diversity. For example, I began with Vex’s Spectral Summoning tree, but after finding a legendary item that suited her elemental DPS tree, I respec’d and played her entirely differently. Sure, the customization doesn’t reach the complex layers of games like Diablo or Path of Exile, but it’s enough to keep builds feeling distinct across playthroughs.

Co-op has always been the soul of Borderlands, and Borderlands 4 leans into that with systems that allow teammates to roam separately, complete activities on their own, and warp to one another instantly when needed. Playing with friends was often a blast, especially when our builds worked together to melt bosses and sweep through chaotic skirmishes. Unfortunately, the bugs piled up quickly: non-host players sometimes lost progress or got locked out of quest lines, we ran into vending machines that displayed no items, enemies that teleported or became invincible, and constant lag or desyncing issues. And even worse, progress made in co-op didn’t always transfer to solo saves, which made grouping up less appealing at times. Playing solo was smoother, but still riddled with problems like severe framerate hitching, backpack space suddenly shrinking until I reloaded, and questlines breaking entirely, which locked two of my crew out of the endgame grind.

The endgame itself is structured with three recurring weekly activities. One is a harder version of a story mission with modifiers like enemies exploding into damaging black holes or healing themselves when they hurt your team. Another is a repeatable boss fight designed for straightforward loot farming. The third is a hidden vending machine that changes location each week and guarantees legendary gear. All of the activities reward better loot and unlock higher world tiers with brutal modifiers once completed. Even though the loop is not especially deep at this stage, Gearbox’s history of post-launch support and the roadmap suggest it will expand over time.

Technical performance has become the center of the game’s post-launch controversy. Borderlands 4 is built on Unreal Engine 5 and demands high system specs, surprising players who assumed its cel-shaded art style meant lighter requirements. Steam has seen the game review-bombed due to its performance, with many players frustrated over optimization. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford inflamed the situation further when he compared running the game on outdated PCs to “driving a monster truck with a leaf blower’s motor,” echoing earlier divisive comments about “real fans” being willing to pay any price for Borderlands. Plenty of remarks drew criticism, so Gearbox has responded with a patch addressing issues, optimization guides for PC, and upcoming fixes for console FOV settings, which have caused motion sickness for some gamepad players. Pitchford even advised players to refund the game if technical troubles ruined the experience, a suggestion that, while blunt, acknowledges the seriousness of the problems.

After more than sixty hours with Borderlands 4, I find myself caught between frustration and excitement. The invisible walls, the quest-breaking bugs, the multiplayer desyncs, and the demanding performance cannot be ignored, and at times, they nearly soured me on the experience. Yet when I was gliding across Kairos, swapping weapons midair, blasting psychos, mechanical spiders, and crystal beasts with friends, I felt the same spark that hooked me back in 2009. The campaign took me about forty hours with plenty of detours, and I have spent more than twenty hours since then chasing loot, battling bosses, and exploring more of the world. Borderlands 4 is messy, buggy, and occasionally infuriating, but it is also bold, fresh, and addictive. It may not yet be the definitive Borderlands game, though it is undeniably the shot of adrenaline this series has needed.