Borderlands 4 seems to recapture the series' signature chaotic charm — a welcome return to its roots

I’ve been following the development of Borderlands since the series was revealed as a realistic-looking looter-shooter in Game Informer almost 20 years ago. Long before the cel-shaded look we’ve come to know and love. Needless to say, I’m a fanatic.

I absolutely love this franchise. So, imagine my surprise when I played Borderlands 3; I felt a growing emptiness inside me the longer I played.

I wouldn’t even say it started strong; it was more or less mid. The humor was overdone, the pace felt weird, and the mechanics didn’t evolve into something over anything I hadn’t seen before.

Enter Borderlands 4

Entering the preview area, I was nervous. Not because I thought the game looked rough in any way, shape, or form, but I wanted to chase that same feeling I had felt with the original Borderlands and Borderlands 2.

The tone is set from the opening. Without giving too much away in terms of spoilers, I can say that you arrive in the Fadefields, where 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.

The preview begins at the aforementioned fortress. Take on Sol, save the Resistance of the Fadefields, it’s that simple.

I come in as Rafa, an exo-soldier turned Vault Hunter. My starting weapons are coveted from adventures unknown: a couple of legendary items cover my weaponry with a legendary shield and class mod. The combination will prove laughably deadly come boss time.

Once in, you’re given explicit instructions from some of the resistance members.

Kill.

This is my Boom Stick!

I’ll get right to it. If you’re playing Borderlands, you’re here for the guns. Borderlands 4 does not, in any way, shape, or form, disappoint.

My assault rifle was shooting some form of mini saw blades that stay circulating enemy jugulars until they’re dead. The shotgun is some form of charged automatic monstrosity that melted whatever it touched, elemental damage be damned.

My ability, the Peacemaker Arms, soaked Synths and Armature enemies in a waterfall of crit-only bullets. Nothing was standing up to me, even in a downed state; my back-latched weapons would make quick work of a poor practice dummy, giving me a second chance at a revive.

The weaponry, combined with the updated character movement, has made this the pinnacle of any Borderlands experience. Nothing touches this moment-to-moment combat, and I can safely say that after an hour of playing the preview.

Going back to Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands or my previous favorite Borderlands 2 would feel like an actual slog. Not that the movement has become something akin to Gen-Z Call of Duty Zoomer bait, but something that, once in motion, is absolutely beautiful to control.

Mastery of the system will have you sliding and jumping around like a skybound Rakk. Pillaging timekeeper suck-ups like the XP farm they truly are.

The weapon system has also undergone some substantial changes. Remember when rockets took up a slot? Not anymore!

Instead, your grenade slot can be slotted by some form of grenade, throwing weapon, or ordnance. Ordnance comes in the form of rockets, freaking laser beams that would make Dr. Evil proud, and other booming blood soakers.

No more will you rely on finding ammo for your rockets or grenades, either. Instead, they’re treated on a cooldown. Ranging anywhere from 10 to 20 seconds or longer, players can use them in between ability uses, allowing an onslaught of damage output.

Can you tell I love the combat in this game? What about everything else?

Atmosphere done right

There’s a thin line that Borderlands has always walked when it comes to tone of humor and overall storytelling. A fan favorite, Handsome Jack once donned the realms of player minds as both equally hateful and humorous.

The twins of Borderlands 3 were the equivalent of that kid trying way too hard to be funny back in Junior High. While ever threatening, their attempt at the once humorous Handsome Jack fell flat, and those twins became the forgettable entry of your favorite book series.

That’s where the villains, thus far, come in at a different angle.

Rather than taking any crack at humor, Sol is simply demanding of presence. A face that beacons hatred and calls the vault hunters weak with a simple glance your way.

There’s no joke or punchline, just pure hatred for anyone standing in his way.

Borderlands 4, as a result, it would seem, is aiming for a much darker tone when it comes to some of its villains. While it’s not certain what lies ahead or before, it’s clear the team at Gearbox isn’t taking humorous risks when it comes to some of the obstacles that will stand in your way.

A sense of urgency overtook me as I fought through the fortress. It was clear the Crimson Resistance needed me, or they and hundreds of others would face consequences as a result.

Don’t worry, though, that doesn’t mean the comical nature of Borderlands has ceased to exist. From one of my deaths, Rafa chimed in after spawning, “Where did I go wrong? That’s rhetoric; nobody answers that.” He said to an entirely empty room.

One stupid death after another, and the one-liners coming off were perfect. Nothing felt forced or overdone; instead, they felt like actual decent jokes. Humor that seems to have grown with its audience.

Boss and loot

First of all, I need to preface this a bit. I fought Sol twice, once on my original run, and then again using the already announced Mad Moxxi Encore system.

Sol will come hard, using some form of invincibility that the player will need to combat using environmental items they can tether and launch back at him. His shields will drop, and he becomes vulnerable to all forms of damage.

I had to fight him twice because, like all Borderlands games before, there are builds that out-intention the developer's original idea. Basically, I accidentally one-shotted Sol.

You see, a small combination of my class mod, which reset grenades on ability use, mixed with an ability modifier that reset my ability on each kill, created an infinite grenade situation.

My legendary homing grenades went from one to twelve, to however many my grenade key could punch while I wasn’t in a downed state. The grenade radius was killing everything, myself included, and it absolutely melted Sol like some of the best build guides out there.

I decided I’d rather find out what the fight actually was by running it again!

My second go round, limiting my use of grenades by refusing to touch them, was a lot more fun mechanics-wise.

Almost like a mini-raid boss in Destiny, Sol had multiple stages that called for a mixture of movement and environmental use.

Phase one saw him dash at my character while also tossing area-damaging rods on the ground. Picking up the last one, like I said previously, allowed him to take damage.

The second phase saw similar attacks, but now mixed in with an electrical storm that I had to dodge by finding the electricity-free zones in the arena. Neglecting to move would be a near instant death. His attacks also killed his own men, meaning Second Wind was a no-go.

A culmination of everything followed, and once mastered, so did the loot.

You see, Borderlands is a game of colors. Seeing purple or even orange will send you on a beeline, no matter what else is happening around you.

While legendaries are supposedly far rarer compared to previous entries, I managed to get one to drop that sent my adrenaline spiking harder than the best Claptrap joke ever could. I live for these.

It ended up being for a different freaking class!

Given what I’ve seen so far, I'm not too worried. I think I could live with some disappointing loot drops in what seems to be the return of the looter-shooter king.

Just make sure you're a real fan!