Borderlands 4 is releasing this month on the 12th. Bringing with it a new line of Vault Hunters, a new world, and more guns. A game that is described by Gearbox Boss Randy Pitchford as “They could charge $200 for Borderlands 4.” or even “I wish they’d give it away because then everyone would play it.” It gives the games value that will change the way Borderlands is going to be played. Time can only tell, but so far everything has been positive from gameplay to feedback, since Borderlands 3. I am going to review what we know so far about the release.

If your new to Borderlands, it is a Looter-Shooter, similar to Destiny, Diablo, and other related games of this genre. You will be clearing areas, bosses, and missions to get loot and enhance your arsenal.

Location of Game

Borderlands 4 takes place on a new planet called Kairos. As the Vault Hunters go against the Timekeeper, they will have to spark a revolution against him and his populace with cybernetic implants known as Bolts. After Lilith transported Eplis in Borderlands 3, it came crashing into Kairos’ protective barrier.

This alerted the Timekeeper to send his best attackers to thwart whatever threat was looming in the distance. The Crimson Resistance has been attacking the beehive and with our help will finally provoke it to make a full out war and hopefully save Karios from its dictator.

With this, you will take control of one of four new Vault Hunters: Vex, The Siren, Rafa, The Exo-Soldier, Amon, the Forgeknight, and Harlow, The Gravitar. Each having their own abilities and perks to make them unique, even when you play with a buddy. Speaking of which, it is Cross-Play ready on launch.

All the while we will see familiar faces and even the CL4P-TP Steward Bot or Claptrap. This story was said to be toned down compared to B3, which will be good. Gearbox commented on B3 being the weakest of the series, and where they went off track.

Borderlands 4 Gameplay

Now we move to the bread and butter of Borderlands 4, the gameplay. Gameplay in the game will be one of movement, and as Gearbox states: “Less Borders, More Lands.” Previous titles have had Borderlands in a sandbox; you were restricted to one area until you unlocked other areas, mainly through story progress.

Can’t say it wasn’t a bad feeling, but it definitely felt restricted, for lack of a better term. We will also be given a grappling hook to use to maneuver the world and possibly set off some nice attacks, as well as being able to summon vehicles on will known as Digirunners.

We will be able to wander and summon vehicles and ride around to our own content, until we run into bosses and enemies. These enemies will include whatever cannon fodder is out in the world but will also include World Bosses. These bosses are called Rift Champions; these champions will be random open-world bosses, along with Weekly Big Encore Bosses, to tackle for weekly loot on a weekly rotation.

There will also be Contracts to earn Eridium and Moxxi’s Big Encore Machine, where we will be able to spend the Eridium to fight bosses for farming. They announced recently that Raid Bosses will be returning with Pearl-Rarity Loot in a future update.

Kill Bosses

Why would we want to kill bosses? Well, as I mentioned before, LOOT. Loot plays a major part in this game as it will be the source of income, literally. But also the source of where we get our guns and enhancements for your Vault Hunters. Loot comes in several different colors: White (Common), Green (Uncommon), Blue (Rare), Purple (Epic), and Orange (Legendary,) with Pearl coming into the game later on.

Gearbox says there is going to be billions of weapons. These weapons also come with their own manufacturers: Jakobs, Maliwan, Tediore, Torgue, and Vladof. Each likes to tailor their guns in unique ways. While this was also in previous titles, 4 will be doing something different with a new system called the Licensed Parts System.

This will allow every weapon to be a random one, literally. Each part of the weapon will have a manufactory part from the list mentioned above, taking the unique part of that weapon and shoving it into a different weapon. Legendary Weapons have their own unique weapon effects.

Critique of Borderlands 3

Continuing into the Legendary talk, they mention that “In Borderlands 3, Legendries dropped too often, devaluing them and making other loot feel less special overall. In our new system, not only do all guns feel great, but now Legendary drops will truly be special events.

Gearbox is working to improve the system by taking inspiration from Diablo and even Baldur’s Gate 3 into consideration for the way the gameplay is created. It allows players to take a more diverse options when creating the characters.

With that being said, Skill Trees will be more diverse, and augments will be changing up skills, so they work differently. Each Vault Hunter will have different trees that will expand on their abilities and create distinct playstyles. After beating the Main Game, players are to unlock four new skill trees to make their VH even stronger.

A Look Ahead

With a roadmap that shows constant updates and some look at what’s coming, including the Invincible Boss and even a new Vault Hunter and a story with free content in between to cover things while they release DLCs. Right now, it looks like Gearbox is heading into a new direction versus Borderlands 3, and I am all for it, I am looking forward to playing this game and getting my hands on the new VHs.