Summary
- Borderlands 4 should focus on quality over quantity in its guns to stay engaging.
- Implementing weapon customization can offer more depth and player investment.
- Manufacturer identities in Borderlands 4 should be expanded to feel fresh and innovative.
As one of the most definitive looter-shooter franchises ever made, a staple of the Borderlands series has always been the massive amount of randomized guns it makes available. At the end of the day, such a focus on quantity gives players more than enough loot to chase as they scour every corner and space of Borderlands' environments for the next best gun. However, now that the series is over 15 years old and numerous Borderlands games have been released, that focus on quantity might be outdated at this point and need to be swapped for an emphasis on quality instead. As such, the next installment in the series, Borderlands 4, might need to finally put down that series-long crutch and start walking.
Of course, Borderlands 4 can't necessarily afford to just do away with randomized guns entirely. After all, that is not only a staple of the Borderlands series but also one of the main things that led to its success and influential power in the first place. Instead, Borderlands 4 simply needs to recognize how redundant it has become to rely on gun randomization as a method for keeping players invested and attempt to reinvent the whole system to accomodate modern expectations and breathe new life into the series.
Borderlands 4’s Timekeeper Needs to Atone for a Series-Long Antagonist Sin
Borderlands 4's Timekeeper already looks like a compelling villain, but he'll need to do more than look the part to make up for a series-long sin.
Borderlands 4 Can't Rely on Its Quantity of Guns to Keep Players Invested
Borderlands' Gun Randomization Has Become a Redundant Crutch for the Series
Borderlands 4 has been confirmed by Gearbox to have the most guns of any game in the series, explicitly stating that players will have access to "billions" of different weapons. While that number sounds enticing, it also sounds equally overwhelming and almost unnecessary. Based on what the series has done in the last couple of mainline installments, attempting to rely on the quantity of guns available in Borderlands 4 as a selling point doesn't really make sense from a marketing standpoint.
Specifically, so long as each Borderlands game features unique Legendary weapons for players to chase, almost every other weapon in the game is trivialized and deemed nothing more than garbage meant to be thrown away. This problem is similar to one that Destiny 2 fixed fairly recently, as Common rarity weapons and gear have long been regarded as unnecessary litter that only served to fill up inventory space, since they were never of any use so long as better gear was available. In response to that long-term problem, Destiny 2 made Common gear virtually absent, thereby freeing players of the tedium that came with dismantling a "white" weapon or armor piece immediately upon acquiring it.
Manufacturer gimmicks in the Borderlands series have also begun to feel repetitive, calling for a possible overhaul of their mechanics to subvert expectations.
Borderlands 4 Could Implement Weapon Customization and Expand Manufacturer Identities
To alleviate the issue of redundancy in randomized weapons and simultaneously retain one of the series' most defining characteristics, Borderlands 4 could implement weapon customization. Instead of just spending countless hours grinding for the perfect weapon roll or simply making every other weapon in the game obsolete upon obtaining the "best" Legendary gun available, Borderlands 4 could let players modify and upgrade their favorite weapons instead. Being able to tweak aMaliwan sniper rifle to switch between different elemental effects, or upgrading a Jakobs revolver to have faster reloads and a scope would allow players to invest in their favorite weapons rather than merely looking for the right one.
Additionally, Borderlands 4 could expand manufacturer identities as well to make them feel fresh again. Instead of simply bringing back existing weapon traits, Borderlands 4 could add new characteristics to each manufacturer's identity, like Tediore guns being able to reconstruct themselves after being thrown or Dahl weapons having adaptive scopes that change depending on an enemy's distance from the player. The possibilities here are endless. Borderlands 4's trailers imply that the game potentially takes place in another dimension as well, which would be a great excuse for turning manufacturer identities on their heads.
To alleviate the issue of redundancy in randomized weapons and simultaneously retain one of the series' most defining characteristics, Borderlands 4 could implement weapon customization.
Ultimately, Borderlands 4 has an opportunity to refine what has long been the franchise's defining feature. Simply increasing the number of randomized guns isn't enough to maintain player interest today, where depth and customization offer far more than quantity can. By shifting focus towards weapon personalization and perhaps even expanding manufacturer identities, Borderlands 4 can ensure that its arsenal of weapons isn't just massive but also more involving.
Borderlands 4
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 88%
- Released
- September 12, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Gearbox Software
- Publisher(s)
- 2K
WHERE TO PLAY
Borderlands 4 brings intense action, badass Vault Hunters, and billions of wild and deadly weapons to an all-new planet ruled by a ruthless tyrant.
Crash into Kairos as one of four new Vault Hunters seeking wealth and glory. Wield powerful Action Skills, customize your build with deep skill trees, and dominate enemies with dynamic movement abilities.
Break free from the oppressive Timekeeper, a ruthless dictator who dominates the masses from on high. Now a world-altering catastrophe threatens his perfect Order, unleashing Mayhem across the planet.
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- Yes - all platforms
- Prequel(s)
- Borderlands 3, Borderlands 2, Borderlands
- Franchise
- Borderlands
- Number of Players
- 1-4 players
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Unsupported
- PC Release Date
- September 12, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- September 12, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- September 12, 2025
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- Local Co-Op Support
- Yes
