If you thought the vault-hunting madness ended with Borderlands 3, think again. This Borderlands 4 review dives into Gearbox Software’s latest looter-shooter, which slams you back into the series’ iconic chaos on the prison planet Kairos, and it’s a ride that’s equal parts exhilarating and, yes, occasionally frustrating. Gearbox Software has taken the series’ signature looter-shooter formula, injected new traversal mechanics, and packed the world with enough weapons to make any collector weak at the knees. I’ve laughed, I’ve sworn loudly at my TV, and I’ve face planted more times than I want to admit—but that’s Borderlands at its best.
Borderlands 4 Review – It’s going to be a wild ride from here on in
Gameplay: Faster, Wilder, and Lootier
The first thing you’ll notice in Borderlands 4 is the sheer freedom of movement. Double jumps, gliding, wall climbing, and grappling hook antics mean you’re not just running through corridors shooting psychos—you’re leaping into firefights like a caffeine-addled Spider-Man. The first time I tested the grapple mechanic within a firefight, I flew through the air, shotgun-blasted an enemy mid-air, then immediately fell off a cliff… I knew I was home.
Combat has never felt this kinetic, and your Vault Hunter choice really shapes how you play. This time around, the roster is fresh and actually feels experimental:
- Rafa, the Exo-Soldier: His suit makes him feel like the love child of Iron Man and a Borderlands gun nut. I built him melee-heavy and ended up pile-driving psychos with hilarious overkill.
- Harlowe, the Gravitar: Think Jedi meets black hole. Launching enemies sky-high never gets old, especially when they scream on the way down.
- Amon, the Forgeknight: A walking armoury. Summoning flaming weapons in the middle of a firefight is the kind of chaotic nonsense I signed up for.
- Vex, the Siren: Sarcastic, empathetic, and finally a Siren that feels different. Her kinetic damage and life steal make her a glass cannon. I kept swapping back to her whenever I wanted raw power with a side of sass.
The loot system backs all this up perfectly. Legendaries still feel like Christmas morning, and I’ll admit— I swear I picked up a weapon that sounded like it had a personality. Once I reloaded, I thought it yelled something (maybe just in my head). It’s ridiculous, it’s dumb, and I couldn’t stop grinning.
Story & Characters: Rebellion with Bite
Set six years after Borderlands 3, this one throws you onto Kairos, a planet locked under the thumb of the Timekeeper—a tyrant who’d definitely give Handsome Jack a run for his money in the “punchable villain” category. You join the Crimson Resistance in a revolution, and the story manages to balance the usual ridiculous humour with surprisingly heavier moments. I won’t spoil them, but let’s just say I actually stopped laughing for a minute or two. A rarity for Borderlands.
And yes, the gang’s all here. Claptrap is back to annoy you (and save you, annoyingly enough). Zane drops in with his cool one-liners, Amara shows up flexing, and Moxxi remains Moxxi (you know what that means). There is another surprise return to the game, but I shall leave that for you to find out; it’s supernatural. These returning faces add nostalgia without stealing the spotlight from the newbies.
Graphics & Sound: Pop Art Meets Boom Boom
Visually, the game looks like Borderlands cranked up to 11. The cel-shaded style is intact, but the details are sharper, the lighting is moodier, and Kairos feels like a real place. One moment, I was exploring overgrown ruins dripping with neon fungus, the next, I was slogging through a prison wasteland that looked like Mad Max had a baby with a paint factory. Boss fights are pure spectacle—half bullet hell, half rave party.
Sound-wise, it’s a sensory overload in the best way. Guns bark, explosions rumble, and the soundtrack slaps harder than I expected. The voice acting deserves a nod too—especially Vex, whose dry delivery had me cackling more than once. (Her line about psychos needing a union? Perfection.)
Performance Woes: PS5 & PC
PS5 Issues
Here’s where the party stumbles a bit. Performance is a mixed bag depending on the platform. On my PS5, I didn’t hit the catastrophic drops some players reported, but I did notice frame dips after long sessions. Apparently, there’s a memory leak issue, and even Randy Pitchford himself admitted the fix (restarting your game) is… well, dumb. His words were nicer, mine aren’t. Personally, I hovered around 55–60 FPS on my Hisense TV most of the time, so I wasn’t tearing my hair out, but others clearly had it rougher.
PC Struggles
PC players didn’t get off easy either. Even with a monster card like the RTX 5090, the game still struggles at 4K with all the bells and whistles. Gearbox insists fewer than 1% of PC players have “real” issues, but let’s be honest—if your £2,000 rig chokes on Borderlands, you’re going to be salty. The silver lining? Patches are already rolling out, and DLSS helps a lot if you tinker.
Accessibility for All
I’ll give credit where it’s due: the Vault Hunter line-up and NPC cast are diverse in gender, background, and style. Representation is clearly part of the design, and it shows. Accessibility options, though, lag behind. No FOV slider on console in 2025? Really? For a game about chaos and customisation, those omissions stand out.
Replayability & Endgame: Loot Forever
Once the credits rolled, I wasn’t done. Side quests still had me chasing after guns with names like “The Bane of Existence” (which is exactly as cursed as it sounds). World bosses, co-op chaos, and random loot events make the grind feel less like work and more like a weekend hobby. I’ve already sunk 40 hours, and my friends are still dragging me back for “just one more run.” Spoiler: it’s never just one more.
Quality of Life & Bugs
Here’s the ugly stuff. On console, frame drops and crashes can sour long play sessions. I even had my skill points vanish after a disconnect once—if I hadn’t laughed at the absurdity, I might’ve cried. PC fares better overall but still has quirks. Missing QoL features like motion blur toggles and UI scaling options are baffling omissions, though Gearbox promises they’re coming. Fingers crossed.
Borderlands 4 is chaotic, hilarious, and bursting with loot—everything you want from the series. It’s also buggy, occasionally dumb in its fixes, and missing polish in spots. But when you’re blasting psychos off cliffs with gravity powers or finding a gun that talks back, those frustrations melt away. This is Borderlands at its most ambitious, and with patches, it could become the best in the series.
Final Verdict: 9/10
This Borderlands 4 review shows that despite bugs and minor frustrations, Borderlands 4 delivers chaos, loot, and a compelling world that both longtime fans and newcomers can enjoy. From gravity-wielding antics to over-the-top boss fights, Gearbox’s latest looter-shooter is ambitious and fun. With ongoing updates, this is a title that will only improve, solidifying its place as a standout looter-shooter experience.
Borderlands 4 Trailer
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Game code was provided to us for the express purpose of reviewing.
As always, I reviewed the game, and I had my partner help me with a written version.
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