REVIEW – In 2025, Gearbox Software dusts off its flagship series once again, celebrating the return with a full-on makeover. A new planet, a new villain, and a flood of fresh ideas: on paper, Borderlands 4 looks like every loot hunter’s dream, but in practice light and shadow constantly collide. After spending more than forty hours on Kairos, here’s my verdict on the fourth mainline entry in the franchise.

This time, Gearbox made a move I’d call both bold and welcome: it let go of the series’ past and told an entirely new story set on a brand-new planet. You don’t need to know Pandora to dive headfirst into the chaos of Kairos – and that’s one of the studio’s smartest decisions. Borderlands 4 opens with a bang: a bloody, over-the-top sequence that sets the stakes and the threat before casting the player as the weapon of a fledgling resistance. What follows is a parade of colorful characters, brutal shootouts, sharp humor, and, of course, a constant hail of bullets.

A Timid Revolution

To bring down the Timekeeper, the game’s main antagonist, you have to eliminate three lieutenants, each controlling a region of Kairos. The setup – reminiscent of the more recent Ghost Recon titles – already feels outdated. It does offer some freedom, but at the cost of monotony, since repetition seeps into nearly every layer of the experience. The Timekeeper himself serves more as a narrator than a villain, rarely stepping in as a true presence. I expected a memorable foe, but he left me with only a vague aftertaste, much like the thirty-plus-hour campaign that drags on without a strong focus.

When Borderlands 4 does give its direction room to shine, it can still impress. The cutscenes are carefully staged, balancing epic flair with sly humor. The crude, lowbrow gags of the previous game have largely disappeared: Claptrap rarely shows up, and the jokes lean toward something sharper, even if they don’t always land. On this front, Gearbox clearly listened to fan feedback – and I was glad to see the shift myself.

Welcome to Kairos

From the very first steps on Kairos, what struck me most was how strong the art direction is. The comic-book aesthetic, a bit more realistic than before, suits the new planet perfectly, delivering a genuine sense of novelty across its varied landscapes. Technically, Borderlands 4 isn’t a powerhouse, but it doesn’t embarrass itself either: performance is generally smooth, though PC players will notice optimization issues, occasional frame drops, and minor bugs.

The biggest shift is the open world, promising more freedom and exploration. And yes, the early hours are genuinely fun: the main quest is peppered with side activities and discoveries. The map is crammed with points of interest, but that’s where the punk-apocalypse dream starts to unravel. Gearbox leaned heavily on familiar open-world formulas, particularly Ubisoft’s (think Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed), and it shows. As gorgeous as Kairos can be, it’s desperately “by the book” – paradoxically packed with markers yet feeling empty at the same time.

In the end, the planet carries the same flaws as many modern (well, 2010s-style) open worlds: quantity over organic discovery. Still, Gearbox’s effort and generosity are obvious. Challenges, contracts, loot, side quests, strongholds – clearing the map takes time and patience. Unfortunately, the constant repetition only magnifies the grind. The hunt for the Lost Arks is a rare bright spot that breathes hope into Kairos – but I won’t spoil it here.

Back to Looter-Shooter Roots

Borderlands 4 stays true to the DNA of a looter-shooter. This is the franchise that helped popularize the genre, and it’s not abandoning the pillars of intense combat and epic loot. The goal here was to dust off the formula, though reinventing it in 2025 proves tricky. On the gameplay side, though, firefights feel noticeably more dynamic: the addition of the grappling hook (though limited) and gliding brings much-needed spice to the action.

That said, bullet-sponge enemies and a recycled bestiary quickly eat away at the initial excitement. The AI is basic and rarely surprises, so don’t expect miracles on Kairos. Thankfully, boss fights inject adrenaline into an adventure that threatens to stall, though the difficulty curve often makes little sense. Late in the game, you’ll face hordes far stronger than expected, forcing you to grit your teeth to survive. Beating the campaign solo – even on normal – is a serious challenge.

The real backbone of Borderlands 4 is its RPG systems. Between the different Vault Hunter classes, unique action skills that define your playstyle, and an avalanche of weapons and gear to earn or buy, it’s hard not to find something that clicks. Gearbox has always excelled here, and 2025 is no exception. The flood of loot is sometimes overwhelming – often filled with junk – but that’s exactly what makes finding something truly valuable feel like an event. When it finally drops, the sense of achievement is complete.

More Fun With Friends

Borderlands 4 can be played solo, but it’s clearly built for co-op. Up to four players can band together under the Crimson Resistance banner to take on the Timekeeper and scour Kairos for glory, loot, and power. This is the series’ essence: writing the Vault Hunters’ story as a shared adventure. Gearbox also makes it easy to link up with others.

With cross-play bridging PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, there are no barriers left. Handy features like teleporting to a teammate’s location, trading loot, tackling every activity together, or letting newcomers tag along to explore Kairos all elevate the experience. Borderlands 4 unlocks its true potential in co-op. With friends, it’s simply a better game.

So, About the Endgame…

Borderlands 4 wouldn’t be a proper heir to 2K Games’ franchise without a solid endgame. Gearbox reimagined the Ultimate Vault Hunter mode, offering five escalating tiers of difficulty. Weekly challenges recycle campaign missions and boss fights with added modifiers, refreshed every week. Exclusive upgrades called Firmwares can be transferred once to another piece of gear, letting you refine your build. On paper, it looks substantial, but in practice the content can be cleared in just a few hours – not nearly enough for the most dedicated players.

The punk-apocalyptic revolution of 2025 never quite arrives. Borderlands 4 builds on the series’ strengths and tries to smooth over its flaws, but ends up shining and stumbling at the same time. The art direction, the deep RPG systems, the co-op focus, and the punchy combat all stand tall, but the open-world structure amplifies repetition instead of curing it. Loot addicts will get their fix, but explorers looking for a living world may leave disappointed.

-theGeek-

Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Gearbox Software
Genre: Looter-shooter, action-RPG
Release Date: September 12, 2025