PLATFORM: PC, PS5, XBOX SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Six years after the events of Borderlands 3, which saw the discovery of a previously unknown planet and the barrier around it being destroyed, four new Vault Hunters make their way to this new world of Kairos in search of treasure. But what they find is a power-mad dictator known as The Timekeeper, leading an army of synthetic followers determined to keep the planet’s treasure for themselves. The Borderlands series has been around since 2009, so chances are you know the score by now – your task is to choose one of four Vault Hunters, take down The Timekeeper, and claim the vault’s content for your own means. Shoot, loot, repeat!
For the series’ fourth instalment, a few changes have been made to shake things up a bit. Instead of separating the game’s world into multiple large areas, Kairos is one large open landmass that, impressively, has no loading screens at all while outside in the open world. A handful of new movement mechanics that allow you to double jump and glide through the air, and grapple points allow you to zip up to high ledges, cross battlefields with ease, and even catapult yourself into the sky. There’s also a wider range of vehicles, which are thankfully more easy to manoeuvre than before (it’s about time they sorted that out!), with a huge range of customisation options.
Elsewhere though, it’s business as usual. Kairos might be a new location for the series but it’s still populated by the same sort of unhinged but well-meaning locals, feral wildlife and deranged bandits that we’ve come to expect. BL3‘s divisive humour has been toned down a bit, so there’s less obnoxious quipping, but there’s still plenty of laughs to be had in the dialogue, environments and interactions with NPCs. As you make your way around the colossal map, you’ll discover plenty of things to do, from a bit of light puzzling to find collectibles and claim safehouses, to clearing fortresses, finding keys to open vaults (seriously challenging combat encounters), defeating world bosses, and even indulge in a spot of fishing (not quite as involved as some might like, but hey, it’s in there).
The main draw, as always, is the combat’s over the top chaos, and BL4 continues the series’ tradition of giving you a ridiculous amount of ways to create carnage. While there are only five types of guns (pistol, assault rifle, sniper rifle, submachine gun and shotgun), there are quite literally (according to the game’s blurb, at least) billions of guns to be found, all with an astonishing amount of variety between them. Loot can be found almost everywhere, and there’s almost no point settling on a favourite weapon because sooner rather than later you’ll find something bigger, stronger and better than your current equipment. Alt-fire modes can add all sorts of effects from elemental damage to secondary barrels, increased weapon stats, launching knives or death spheres, or anything else you can think of with every shot, and that’s before you start adding enhancements that can alter your weapons in a mind-boggling amount of ways. Grenades are more fun to use than in previous games too, benefiting from a wider range of effects, and shields and health kits have also been given additional stats and abilities.
On top of all that, your chosen Vault Hunter has their own unique skill tree, each with three specific action skills which in turn have a range of augments and upgrades associated with them. By spending points earned when you level up, you can beef up your chosen Hunter in so many ways – especially when you start accounting for additional boosts given by equipped weapon and equipment stats – that there are dozens if not hundreds of ways that each of the four characters can turn into the ultimate looting and shooting murder machine. If you’re not happy with your choices, you can always respec your character at any time to try out other branches of the skill tree, eventually finding your favourite perks that increase your performance in a way that fits your playstyle. It isn’t possible to switch between Vault Hunters mid-game though, unless you start a brand new save file, which is a bit of a shame, but after completing the campaign and moving into Ultimate Vault Hunter mode you can start a brand new character at level 30, skipping the opening hours of grinding away and getting right into a high-powered Hunter to see what they’ve got to offer.
High expectations have been placed on Borderlands‘ endgame content after well-received post-game content in previous instalments. BL4‘s Ultimate Vault Hunter mode opts for replayable bosses as one of its main draws, where players can ramp up the difficulty to earn higher-level rewards, along with weekly missions that allow you to replay specific quests from the campaign with added modifiers. And, of course, just playing the game in UVH mode increases difficulty across the board, with enemies dropping better gear wherever you go. A new “Specialisation” skill tree opens up that allows players to drop experience points into a range of stats that constantly improve your character, and there’s a very intriguing addition that allows you to combine weapon perks to effectively create your own guns. It’s still early days for BL4, so only time will tell what sort of insanity people end up being able to do with that! On a similar note, the endgame modes in previous games in the series were drastically changed and improved with updates and DLC over time, so there’s every chance that the same will be true of BL4. The base game certainly gives plenty of bang for your buck, and may well give even more in a year or so from now when more content has been added.
Aside from a few bugs that need to be ironed out (there was nothing game-breaking during this 50-hour review, although a few restarts were needed to clear up some missing quest markers), BL4 evolves the genre in satisfying ways, effortlessly continuing the series’ reign as the king of looter shooters. If its endgame can reach the heights of BL3, it will be unstoppable!
