Borderlands 4 Review: Bigger, Louder, Open-World Loot

Borderlands 4 at a Glance (What’s New, What’s Back, What Matters)

Borderlands finally takes the training wheels off. The series’ first true open world drops us onto Kairos, a fresh planet ruled by a time-bending tyrant called the Timekeeper, and lets the loot-grind spill across contiguous regions rather than hubbed zones. Traversal gets a glow-up (think grapples, aerial glide, and more vertical play), while gunplay stays punchy and deeply silly—loot-and-shoot at its most maximalist.

Under the cel-shaded veneer, co-op FPS DNA remains intact: four distinct Vault Hunters with class identities, a blizzard of modifiers and elemental synergies, and a long tail of side content. It’s the Borderlands you know, with a map that sprawls and a flow built for buildcrafting, world exploration, and drop-driven dopamine.

Release timing & platforms

Borderlands 4 launches September 12, 2025 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, with a Switch 2 version slated for October 3. Preloads rolled out in the 48–72 hour window before release.

“Is Borderlands 4 Going to Be Good?” (The Short Answer)

If you come for low-stakes mayhem, absurd weapons, and couch/online co-op shenanigans, yes—it’s a blast. Reviews broadly agree the campaign entertains, traversal modernizes the feel, and the humor is reined in just enough to keep the pace crackling. On the other hand, some critics find the open world uneven and the story serviceable more than sublime.

Still on the fence? Join our Borderlands 4 chat channel for live impressions, spoiler-free takes, and squad invites.

My take: it’s the series pointing forward—fun-first, friction-friendly—but at launch it’s not the cleanest build on PC. Expect patches. The console experience reads steadier, while the top-end PC crowd is reporting stutters even on monster rigs.

Borderlands 4 Characters: Which Vault Hunter Fits You?

Borderlands 4 ships with four playable classes. All four work solo, but the magic happens when you stack synergies in co-op.

Vex — The Siren (Elemental caster / sustain DPS)

Space-magic artillery with life-steal and status amplification; great for DOT-centric build diversity that melts elites and bosses.

Rafa — The Exo-Soldier (Summoner / gadgeteer)

DigiStructed tools—from shoulder turrets to melee blades—let Rafa flex between add-clear and frontline pressure.

Harlowe — The Gravitar (Control / mobility)

Gravity bubbles, aerial juggling, and positional denial; pairs perfectly with teammates who capitalize on grouped targets.

Amon — The Forgeknight (Bruiser / hybrid melee-range)

Cyber-augmented heavy with tankiness and combo-friendly melee—bring Amon to anchor squads and bully objectives.
(Official class names and roles per 2K; exact builds vary by gear and skill path.)

Combat, Loot, and Progression: The Feel of the Grind

Borderlands 4 doubles down on movement literacy—double-jumps, dashes, grapples, and glide chains tilt fights vertical and reward aggressive repositioning. Gunfeel is tight; modifiers keep you honest (e.g., element-healing enemies, black-hole death procs), and the loot treadmill sprays enough archetypes to encourage experimentation.

The open world shifts the cadence: less quest corridor, more fog-of-war clearing, incidental activities, and collectible loops. It’s liberating in co-op—friends can roam different corners and warp to each other on demand—though some critics call the world “wide but uneven,” with occasional invisible walls and biome repetition.

Endgame outlook: early guides flag a fat side-content layer and progression knobs to twist, with promises of post-launch events and balance passes. If you play Borderlands for long-tail loot gardening with friends, you’ll have lanes to run—just don’t expect Diablo-level theorycraft depth on day one.

Borderlands 4 Crash & Performance: Quick Fixes and Reality Check

Hitting stutters or hard locks? Ask in our Borderlands 4 help chat real-time fixes from readers who solved the same issues.

Launch-week PC chatter is…spicy. Steam impressions cite stutters, hitches, and hard crashes; even high-end rigs aren’t immune. Gearbox and outlets have posted early triage steps; here’s the practical checklist I’d run before blaming your build:

Fast fixes (PC)

• Kill overlays (Steam, Discord, GeForce Experience, MSI Afterburner). Overlays are frequent crash gremlins.
• Run as admin; if unstable, try Windows 10 compatibility mode.
• Update GPU drivers; toggle DX12/DX11 if the game supports it; clear shader cache. (Driver/game updates often ship hotfixes around launch.)
• Verify files (Steam/Epic); disable third-party OSD tools; test without overclocks.

Console sanity checks

• Hard-reboot the console and rebuild database (PS5) or clear cache (Xbox).
• Ensure the day-one patch fully installed before judging performance.

Known launch reality: PC performance is drawing “mostly negative” Steam sentiment due to crashes and frame pacing, though player counts are strong and hotfixes are expected to roll. If you’re sensitive to stutter, consider playing on console first or waiting a patch cycle.

Story & Tone: New Planet, Familiar Bite

Kairos works as a soft-reboot canvas—room for new faces while giving the franchise’s snark some air. The villain, the Timekeeper, anchors the conflict with a cult-state flavor that fits Borderlands’ satirical bend. The writing plays fewer easy gags than BL3 and occasionally lands something human in the chaos. It’s not Borderlands 2-tier mythmaking, but it’s coherent, propulsive, and nimble enough to keep you looting.

Verdict: Play Now, or Wait?

If you crave a co-op looter shooter that prioritizes fun per minute, Borderlands 4 delivers—especially with friends and a podcast humming. If stutter makes your eye twitch, you might wait for a couple of hotfixes. Either way, the move to open world and a modern traversal kit signals a healthier future for a series that still understands the alchemy of loot, laughter, and loud.

Quick FAQ

Is Borderlands 4 going to be good?
It’s good at being Borderlands: chaotic, generous with loot, and legitimately funny in spots. Critics praise the feel and freedom, ding the polish. If you value performance perfection, wait; if you value vibes, jump in.

Who are the Borderlands 4 characters?
Vex (Siren), Rafa (Exo-Soldier), Harlowe (Gravitar), Amon (Forgeknight)—four distinct Vault Hunters with build paths for solo or squad play.

Why does Borderlands 4 crash and how do I fix it?
Launch builds on PC show instability tied to overlays, driver issues, and shader compilation. Disable overlays, verify files, update drivers, and watch for hotfixes.