It’s been a long old time since the gaming gods have blessed us with a new Borderlands game (six years to be exact), so you’d be forgiven for being a little tentative heading into the imminent arrival of Borderlands 4. Happily, I’m here to alleviate some of those potential worries, because, at this early stage, this latest release has all of the ingredients to really bring the series forward, whilst retaining all of the hallmarks that made it so special in the first place.
With three mainline games already under their belt, Gearbox Software has had plenty of opportunities to learn exactly what fans are looking for. Borderlands 2 inarguably remains the peak of the series, with the third game serving as a solid entry that didn’t quite manage to move everything forward as fans expected. That slightly up and down record has done little to dampen excitement heading into the arrival of Borderlands 4, and it’s an immense relief to say my time with the game so far has only solidified my belief that this could be the best one yet.
For the purpose of this preview, we’ll be taking a look at a section of the game that you’ll drop into around four hours into the main story. Those first four hours introduce us to the big bad this time around, The Timekeeper, whose tyrannical ways are bringing ruin to the planet of Kairos. Without going into the specifics there, here’s a general idea of what’s going on in this preview section, as described by the developer.
“After arriving in the Fadefields, the player Vault Hunter has teamed up with the Crimson Resistance in their fight against Idolator Sol, one of the Timekeeper’s lieutenants. Now, the player is taking the fight to Sol’s fortress.”
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So far, so Borderlands, and it’s a welcome, warming embrace of a story that immediately raises the stakes and keeps them there. Entering Sol’s fortress for the first time is a lesson in scale, with the huge environment littered with interesting features, mechanics and sources of loot. It’s also the biggest indication you’ll get that this is a Borderlands game that’s far more willing to let you play as you wish, than any of the previous three.
The long first area has ample cover if you want to hang around at the back and pick enemies off with a sniper or long range assault rifle. If that doesn’t take your fancy, there’s plenty of verticality for you to drop down on enemies and wreak havoc from above. The familiar Borderlands feelings start to creep back in and it feels worryingly great to kill everything in sight.
On that note, the developer has managed to tread a really fine line on the visuals here too. Yes, it's instantly recognisable as a Borderlands game thanks to the bold outlines and flat shading on the environmental and character assets, but it's also very efficient in the way it handles the new and complex powers and attacks of the player character and their foes.
Even in this short section of the game, you'll come across enemies with approaches that vary significantly. These many foes throw projectiles, leap and slam the ground or even send forth ruptures that rise from the floor in straight lines. They're the kind of attacks that you would more often expect to see in an MMO, yet they feel massively at home here thanks to how the Gearbox team shows the player what's going on.
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The fight against Sol himself is another example of this. The boss comes with several different cycling attack types and some special mechanics that you'll have to get to grips with if you want to beat him. On higher difficulties, you'll likely die a few times before you understand what's going on, but that learning experience is both deliberate on the part of the developer, and rewarding for the player.
Gunplay feels both comfortable and familiar as a longtime player of the series in sections like this. The linear nature of the map for this mission creates pseudo-arenas that vary in how they benefit different types of weapons. I tried several different approaches, from snipers to shotguns (and with multiple different Vault Hunters), and all proved relatively equally viable.
This might just be a microcosm of a much, much larger game but it's also a great representation of the essence of what Borderlands 4 is trying to be. All of the foundational features of the series remain, with some nice additional evolutions that bring the title forward into the modern day. There are plenty of questions left to answer, whether it be the game's complete story, the much-hyped multiplayer experience or wider worldbuilding, but the signs are all distinctly positive.
Borderlands 4 is set to release on 12 September on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
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Topics: Preview