Borderlands returns! Whilst this comes as no surprise, seeing as though the game has been out for a little while. It was greeted with much excitement amongst the Borderlands loving members of the Thumb Culture team. Although there was some trepidation hidden in the darkness.
Well, Borderlands 4 has finally been released and if you know me, you know that I am a big fan of the franchise. Does Gearbox live up to my expectations, though? Let’s find out!
GEARRRBOOOOOOOXXXX
So, all installed on the PlayStation 5 and away we go, straight into the generally expected character creation screen. I’m excited!
Gameplay
The game starts out with the normal over the top introduction sequence, we get introduced to our playable characters and a few other people we are going to come up against on our travels. Once through this section, you get to choose your companion for your game duration. I picked the ginormous Amon. Looking like a bearded Viking, I thought this was the best representation of how I see myself. (jk)
After you’ve gone through the character selection screen, you are released into the open world. Well, not quite. You have a series of tutorial missions to go through before you get into the proper open world. Oh, and what a world it is! Coming out into Kairos, you are greeted with a true open world.
When you first start venturing around, you’ll get to know the true scale. But not only that, it’s all seamless. You can move between any area without loading screens or hesitation. It’s really impressive what Gearbox have created with Borderlands 4.
Skills
No Borderlands game would be complete without an outrageous skill tree for you to build your character however you want. Borderlands 4 ups the ante and allows you to move between three different skill trees. Changing at any time to fit whatever enemy you are going up against is a great addition. Amon has these amazing axes that you can change to swords, and eventually you can up them to hammers. Effectively creating your very own Thor build, with lightning to boot.
Other characters have the same trio of trees, but just not quite as appealing as throwing hammers around the place. You start to get attached to your character as they grow. Giving them life with the cosmetic upgrades available, turning them into your very own personal assassin.
Enemies
Whilst out in the wilderness, you are going to come up against a wide variety of enemies. From easy to kill psychos, to more difficult badasses. Whilst I don’t have the word limit to name everything you’re going to come up against. I will give you this snippet of information. Aim for the head. When those big badass enemies start appearing, you are going to want to be tactical. Take a break to let your shields recharge and heal yourself. Give yourself some space to fire off a few good shots, and 100% aim for the head!
The boss battles are similarly crazy. With high amounts of health and shields, you are often left trying to work out the tactics before you can make a big dent into the enemy. Thankfully, though, you can retry these even if you beat them. Unfortunately, it will cost you some money to restart the battle.
The enemies scale up depending on where you are in the story, and also depending on your squad level. Borderlands 4 does a great job at level scaling, allowing you to join up with a friend that may be 10 or more levels ahead of you. It never ramps the difficulty up too much.
Playing with friends is where Borderlands 4 comes into its own. Joining up and taking on story missions is great, but I always found myself getting distracted as we journey towards the next story mission! Thankfully there is always something to do and you never seem to get bored.
Graphics & Audio
Graphically, Borderlands 4 is gorgeous. I love the cel shaded style, and how Gearbox have improved that over the years is impressive. The colours pop and the models are incredibly detailed. Get up close to one of the NPC’s, and you will see what I’m talking about.
From an audio point of view, the soundtrack is awesome. Heavy metal kicks in when you are in an intense battle, giving a movie fight scene feeling. Add to that a great script that gives all the characters in the world lines to say. You are left feeling well-fed when it comes to the storyline.
At first, I was a bit worried that the game wouldn’t be Borderlands enough, but that was quickly put at ease when you see the names of some of the guns. Or even when we are trying to set up two Threshers who then disappear into the Hump Hut. I think you know what happens next.
Longevity
Borderlands 4 follows in the same vein as those that have come before. The storyline is going to take you a good 30+ hours if you just focus on that, however, the fun comes when you go off the beaten track. All the side missions, the collectables, the challenges. There is honestly so much content to be had. Even if you decide to just farm for those Golden weapons! This could possibly be a game that you play for the entire year.
Oh, and did I mention DLC? Gearbox has already given details on the post launch content coming to Borderlands 4, and it is a lot.
Final Thoughts
Well, I think that it’s clear I enjoyed Borderlands 4. It brings the tried and tested formula behind every other game of the franchise. It just ramps it up a little bit for the current generation of gamers.
Giving you more content than you will ever need, the game aims to bring something new as well. The open world is gorgeous, and with the addition of it being seamless just increased the immersion for me.
The last snippet of information I will leave you with is that when you see a dome appear… get in there!
Borderlands 4 receives the Thumb Culture Platinum Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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