Borderlands 4 takes the co-op looter shooter series to the new planet of Kairos, with a fully open world, new playable Vault Hunters, and billions of random guns to find.
Easy to Play
Great Characters
Great Graphics/Art
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Story & Themes
Set six years after Borderlands 3, Borderlands 4 drops a new party of Vault Hunters on the planet of Kairos, which has only recently been revealed to the public. Kairos is ruled by a seemingly omnipotent overlord called the Timekeeper. The Vault Hunters escape his clutches and join the resistance, where they meet up with old and new allies throughout the story.
In a series first, Borderlands 4 features a fully seamless open world, organized into several large zones and points of interest. Players can discover safehouses, Vault keys, side quests, hidden caches, and several different collectables. The fourth game also expands movement by adding a grappling hook, jetpack, and an instantly-summonable vehicle.
The series maintains its signature colorful cell-shaded art style, bloody violence, and raucous humor, which ranges from wacky to satirical, along with many fav-favorite characters such as Mad Moxxi and Claptrap. Single players can enjoy the story and gameplay, but the series shines brightest with friends. Borderlands 4 supports up to four players, including two-player split-screen on PlayStation and Xbox.
As a co-op only shooter series focused on loot and progression, Borderlands is distinctly separated from most other shooters that focus on Player vs. Player competition.
Save Points
The game autosaves frequently. When loading into a game, players appear at the last spawn point, which are fairly frequent.
Difficulty
Borderlands 4 features three difficulty modes: Easy, Normal, and Hard. Easy and Hard adjust the amount of damage taken, and the necessary effectiveness of elemental weapons, as well as loot drops. After finishing the campaign, players transition into Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode, with multiple ranks of escalating challenge and reward.
Gameplay is a typical first-person shooter, but without the stress or challenge of PvP competitive play. The huge amount of guns styles, and Vault Hunter abilities, adds an additional layer of complexity, however.
Heads Up!
Violence Borderlands 4 is a bloody, gore-filled first-person shooter. Human enemies often explode into viscera, bone, and blood, cut in half, etc. The violence is almost always played for extreme laughs and revels in its own over-the-top absurdity, however.
Sex & Nudity Some quests and dialogue feature sexual innuendo and jokes, and series favorite character Mad Moxxi is often played up for her strong sex appeal and sexually confident demeanor (while also being a fully realized character!).
Strong Language Frequent use of swearing, including the F-word.
Consumerism From launch players can purchase a season's pack worth of post-launch DLC, including new main story adventures, new regions, and new Vault Hunters.
Conversation Starters
- Have you played other Borderlands games?
- Who's your favorite Vault Hunter to play as? Which skill tree do you prefer?
- What are your favorite gun manufacturers and features?
- Do you play with friends, or solo?
- What's your favorite quest or story gag so far?
- Which Borderlands characters do you love seeing? Who are some new favorites?
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