by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: $16.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Intro:
… a cel-shaded haven of amusing ultraviolence, solid writing and utterly compulsive gameplay.
It’s hard to believe, but according to the calendar, it’s been six whole years since the last mainline Borderlands entry, Borderlands 3, released to an audience of enthusiastic looter shooter lovers. That game, while profitable and mostly well-liked, did suffer from a lack of gameplay innovation and a script so obnoxious that it caused more annoyance than belly laughs.
A very handsome opinion-haver likened it to watching a Deadpool film where everyone is Deadpool, which is an acquired taste at best.
So, when talk of a fourth Borderlands game began, there were a lot of people asking, very nicely, if Gearbox Games could possibly calm their tits on the whole shouty/quippy front, please and thank you.
Did the crew from the stable of CEO Randy Pitchford listen to the notes? On the whole, pretty much yeah, although someone should take Randy’s phone off him, just quietly.
Borderlands 4 puts you once again in the big cel-shaded boots of one of four Vault Hunters. This time around, the story takes place on a brand spanking new planet named Kairos. You and up to three friends have been tasked with taking down a nefarious evildoer known as The Timekeeper, who is a cold and calculating mix of Big Brother and a dead-eyed serial killer. To get to the main man, you’ll have to assemble a McGuffin, which involves hunting down various bosses and getting into colourful, violent shenanigans. In other words, it’s Borderlands business as usual with some new additions that will be welcomed by many.
First off, Borderlands 4 is now an open-world game. Rather than teleporting to different biomes all the time, the action takes place on a single gargantuan map. Helping this addition is the fact that you can summon your vehicle at will, which you’ll bloody well need to because the game is massive. Loot, movement and gun feel have also been significantly reworked for the better, and while the shooting never has that perfect precision of something like Destiny 2, it feels so much better than previous entries. Oh, and the script has calmed down a lot. Maybe too much, honestly, as the new Vault Hunters never feel as distinct as previous entries, but the overall story is the best since the peak of the series, Borderlands 2.
On the downside, the performance on both PC and console is ropey at launch. PC definitely has the worst deal, with even beefy rigs struggling at time of writing but frame rate dips are also pretty common on XBOX and PS5 the longer you play. Obviously, Gearbox are on the case with patches and whatnot, but if poor performance is a deal breaker for you, maybe hold off for a few weeks. Oh, and the UI is absolutely awful. They replaced a bad UI with an equally bad one, but in different ways. Fascinatingly terrible and hard to navigate, what the hell, man?
Ultimately, Borderlands 4 is exactly the game fans were looking for. The volume has been turned down on the dumb jokes, but the environments are much larger and more explorable. Combat feels better than ever, and the looting – while less generous than the previous entry – is all the more compelling because of it. Certainly, the repetitive, grindy nature of the genre will likely turn off those who don’t want to dump hours of their life into a colourful gear chase, but those who do will find a cel-shaded haven of amusing ultraviolence, solid writing and utterly compulsive gameplay.
