Borderlands 4: A Looter-Shooter Gem Entangled in Complexity

Borderlands 4 sits at the top of Gearbox Software’s 16-year franchise but is held back by odd design choices. Despite these challenges, the game’s loot-driven appeal can easily entice players to spend hours playing it. You can either question these design flaws or accept how powerful the gameplay loop is.

  • This is a new release from Gearbox Software’s loot-shooter franchise. This time, we are on Marksix, a chaotic prison planet.
  • Expected Price: $69.99.
  • Developer / Publisher: Gearbox / 2K Games.
  • Playing Environment: The review was performed on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, AMD Ryzen 7 5800, 16GB RAM, and Force MP600 SSD.
  • 4-player co-op multiplayer supported.

Unravelling the Core: A Satisfying Grind

Borderlands 4’s allure lies in its loop, an ARPG one that features an open world, shooting things and grabbing loot. At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of Hitman 3’s huge map and huge tasks. It all felt a bit overwhelming, like a huge to-do list. But, as I progressed, I began to realise how conveniently Hitman 3 makes use of its open-world design. The integration of the two systems is a welcome step up from the restrictive systems of the past.

Storyline and Atmosphere: A Balanced Narrative

Though the story isn’t earth-shattering, its understated presence lets the game shine. The story does a better job with its character, with animated cutscenes that are not overly melodramatic or datedly funny. The result is a more polished narrative approach compared to Borderlands 3.

Technical Challenges: A Rocky Ride

Borderlands 4 has performance issues, frame stuttering, and texture streaming problems that are affecting the game. Despite multiple patches and tweaks, the game still struggles from one hardware to hardware. The gameplay loop is extremely addictive in spite of the aforementioned issues.

Inventory Management: A Flawed System

One of the worst issues of the game is its UI, which is quite confusing and cumbersome for handling inventory. The sorting options present in the menus are not practical and are convoluted. This causes the game to fall flat, as this is a looter-shooter, which means dealing with items is essential. Players use clunky interfaces to try and optimise their equipment setups in the game.

The game has diverse vault hunters offering character customisation options to players. Every character has its own passive ability and multiple skill trees for a diverse experience. When players try different builds and strategies, no two playthroughs are the same.

Conclusion: A Compelling Yet Flawed Masterpiece

Borderlands 4 might not be perfect, but players find its mechanics engaging and its customisation deep. The game charms players in that it offers a great open-world experience, with a compelling looter-shooter dynamic. This game may not be perfect, but it is one of the noteworthy ones. If you’re excited about looting and levelling up characters, then you should definitely try Gearbox’s new game—but only if you can ignore its bugs and UI issues.