It’s been a long time since Borderlands was in the spotlight for the right reasons. Gearbox clearly didn’t want the franchise to fade away, and Borderlands 4 is their attempt to bring it back in a big way. The question is—did they succeed?
For the most part, yes. While there are a few issues that hold it back from greatness, Borderlands 4 feels like a return to form. The gunplay is crisp, the gear is genuinely exciting to earn (especially because they brought back Pearlescent loot), and the revamped skill trees make experimenting with builds both intuitive and rewarding. The Vault Hunters themselves are a strong lineup this time around, each with distinct playstyles that feel more fleshed out than we’ve seen in years.
I gravitate toward tank-style characters in hero shooters, so naturally I went with Amon for my first playthrough. He’s a blast to play both solo and in co-op. His Forgefist build is fantastic for solo runs, stacking bonus damage, shield regeneration, and mobility to the point where you’ll be melting enemies while shrugging off hits. In co-op, his Shield build shines—letting you soak up damage and hold the line for your team. The Forgeaxe build, on the other hand, never really clicked for me despite trying a few variations. That said, the fact that each character has three very different paths—and that respeccing is cheap enough to encourage experimentation—adds a ton of depth.
How is the Borderlands 4 story?
The biggest surprise, though, is the story. Borderlands 3 struggled with shallow villains and humor that leaned too heavily on immaturity. Borderlands 4, by comparison, immediately feels stronger. Act 1 alone has more heart and compelling writing than the entirety of its predecessor. For the first time in a while, I actually found myself caring about the characters rather than just rushing to the next firefight.
How is the performance of Borderlands 4?
Now, about performance—the elephant in the room. On consoles, the game runs smoothly without much trouble. On PC, however, it’s another story. Despite running a solid build with a 4070 Super, I ran into constant crashes and stability issues. I eventually had to update my BIOS, reseat my RAM, and even mess with NVIDIA drivers before the game finally ran consistently. Once it was stable, performance was great—no stutters, no dips—but it shouldn’t take that much work when I could’ve just booted up an Xbox instead.
What can Borderlands 4 be better at?
Borderlands has always been the looter shooter, but here the “looter” side sometimes feels off balance. Practically every enemy drops gear, which sounds good at first, but it quickly turns into clutter. By the end of Act 1, I was spending more time sifting through weapons and shields than actually celebrating new finds. Loot should feel like a reward, not busywork. A smarter balance—either by making higher-quality loot stand out more clearly or by limiting drops to tougher enemies and bosses—would make the grind feel far more satisfying.
Final Verdict
Borderlands 4 isn’t perfect, but it’s the closest the franchise has come in years to capturing what made it special. With tight gunplay, fun character builds, and a story that finally feels worth following, it’s a big step back in the right direction. The PC performance woes and messy loot system keep it from being a slam dunk, but if Gearbox keeps refining this formula, Borderlands 5 (if it happens) could easily be the game fans have been waiting for.
Borderlands 4 is available on PC via Steam, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and will be available on Nintendo Switch 2 at a later date.
