Borderlands 4 Review: Farewell Pandora, Welcome Kairos

After the cinematic devastation of Borderlands, Gearbox promised its audience a new chapter in the main saga of the work, full of novelties and fully embedded in the series' anthology. Here's the Borderlands 4 review!

The Plot of Borderlands 4: What Awaits Us on Kairos?

The plot is set in a narrative universe that, while maintaining its roots in chaos and irony, now embraces a more marked thematic maturity. After years of conflict on Pandora and the fall of tyrants like Handsome Jack, the new chapter transports us to Kairos, an uncharted and hostile planet, ruled by the Time Keeper, a despot who dominates with an army of synthetics called “The Order”. The player takes on the role of a new Vault Hunter, called to lead the resistance in a world on the brink of collapse.

Borderlands 4, the New Vault Hunters

The new hunters have new abilities, all suitable for massacring others. A first change is noticeable from the beginning – that is, not exactly from the first few lines, given that an old acquaintance makes an appearance with their over-the-top chatter – with a narrative that, while maintaining the series' typical irreverent tone, becomes more contextualized and less over-the-top, with comedic moments that fit into a more dramatic (albeit insane) context.

Gearbox has chosen a more “grounded” approach, focusing on character-driven stories, with greater attention to motivations, moral dilemmas, and the consequences of actions. The tone doesn't forgo humor, but modulates it with a seriousness that makes the conflict more engaging and much less caricatural, offering a deeper reflection on power, but also on rebellion, moving from a general sense of justice, even if all these excellent premises always remain a bit suspended, without being fully explored.

A Bigger World in Borderlands 4: Exploration and Side Missions

Compared to previous chapters, B4 introduces a series of quality-of-life improvements that make it the most ambitious in the saga. The setting on Kairos is divided into interconnected macro-zones, explorable without interruptions, with dynamic events and non-linear missions that react to the player's passage. Gearbox doesn't want to call it an open world, but the structure is that, moreover, until you unlock transport vehicles, you'll understand what it means to move back and forth on foot across such a vast map.

Side missions – and yes, I did quite a few – can be filler or more profound, but definitely have the same ups and downs that the series had accustomed us to, however, focusing more on quantity than quality (in some cases). In the end, this is a looter-shooter, but I would have preferred more attention to the quests, which the third chapter managed to do, from beginning to end, taking us back to the times of the second episode where there was indeed the wonder of some situations, but also those missions where you had to go back and forth aimlessly just because we were asked to, but without a particularly solid narrative structure to support the action: in this chapter, it's a bit like that, perhaps due to the more present seriousness, or perhaps because they want to maintain a more superficial style, but in the end, it definitely leaves less of a mark.

Gameplay and Combat in Borderlands 4

As soon as you start moving, given the speed of the gunfights, you'll notice how well the verticality of the clashes works with double jumps, glides, grappling hooks, climbing, and the ability to swim, transforming every encounter into a dance (of death). The movement system is a good mix of titles like Doom Eternal or the more recent Halo, with spectacle giving way to a touch of strategy, but all in all, the biggest weapon always wins. The arsenal, always the beating heart of the series, reaches new heights with billions of possible combinations thanks to the system that allows you to assemble firearms with components from different manufacturers. This allows for the creation of hybrid weapons with elemental effects and explosive gadgets and (adorably) unpredictable behaviors.

Gameplay is the core of Borderlands 4, a natural evolution of the irresistible, well-established formula, but with a decisive push towards fluidity and the variety of acrobatics mentioned above. The combat system has been enriched with new movement mechanics that allow you to approach encounters with greater dynamism and creativity. The environments offer vertical and horizontal spaces to exploit, with events that are activated based on the player's choices. The loot system has been enhanced, with even more refined procedural weapon generation and loot management that rewards exploration and experimentation.

Graphics and Performance of Borderlands 4 with Unreal Engine 5

From a technical standpoint, Borderlands 4 takes a leap forward thanks to the adoption of Unreal Engine 5, bringing with it: dynamic lighting, real-time reflections, and significantly improved rendering of scenarios (which are much larger). The environments range from alien deserts to snowy peaks, passing through optional dungeons and detailed interiors, with a chromatic and stylistic variety that maintains the series' cel-shaded identity. The character models don't appear to have improved compared to the third chapter, but in practice, they have, with more detailed creatures, fluid animations, and realistic impact reactions... but then try shooting with certain weapons and you'll dismember enemies.

Audio, Voice Acting, and Soundtrack

The audio has also received special treatment: the soundtrack alternates epic moments with more intimate tracks, while the voice acting, always over-the-top, adapts to the new narrative tone. I played it entirely with headphones, and the sound aspect is truly superb, with more incisive and layered sound effects for weapons, explosions, and movements. But if you ask me, do you perceive these improvements? Not really. Frankly, I adored the qualitative leap of other chapters; here it seems to be there both on paper and in the numbers, but not enough work has been done for "that wow effect" I had hoped for, giving you the feeling of evolution that occurred between the second and third episodes (very clearly) even if the moment you wield certain weapons, you will experience a "crisp" joy.