Summary
- Borderlands 4 is stepping back to its roots by returning to the classic compass over a minimap.
- The game introduces new gameplay elements like three weapon manufacturers and a Licensed Parts system.
- The decision to forego a minimap is justified by the vast environment's verticality and new movement tech.
One of the potential blessings or curses of having a long and successful series of games is that, eventually, each title will be compared to its predecessors in some way, and Borderlands 4 is no exception. Considered the true founder of looter-shooter games, Borderlands 1 was and still is an influential game and a great classic to play at least once. While it may not have aged gracefully compared to the other entries in the series, with Borderlands 2 being considered one of the best games ever by many fans and titles like Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Borderlands 3 having their time in the limelight, Borderlands 1 remains a cornerstone of the series - and Borderlands 4 is going back to its roots.
There have been a few back-to-back showcases of Borderlands 4 lately, with Gearbox revealing how the title's new gameplay loop works as well as various intricacies tied to the story, setting, characters, and more. For example, Borderlands 4 has three new weapon manufacturers compared to the usual one or two, and on top of that, it also has the Licensed Parts system for better and more varied loot. Another big change is that Borderlands 4 will not have a minimap, and there are pros and cons to this.
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Borderlands 4 Cutting The Minimap May Be a Controversy Waiting to Happen
In the recent PAX East developer discussion about the game, Randy Pitchford himself explained a few key choices behind Borderlands 4, including the removal of the classic minimap that has been around since Borderlands 2. A minimap in looter-shooter games, or even just shooters, tends to be crucial in terms of giving players information they need to decide what to do and where to go, so losing it in Borderlands 4 may sting. Yet, Pitchford also said that this is for a good reason, as Borderlands 4's Kairos doesn't truly allow for one.
Kairos is much bigger than any other area in previous Borderlands games, and on top of that, it has increased verticality. Borderlands 4's new movement tech also makes traversal much different than past games. According to Pitchford, all this combines in a way that makes the beloved minimap redundant. If players have various things to do in a small area, the minimap would be crowded, whereas maybe other objectives would be too further out to even appear on the map. This is why Borderlands 4 is taking a different approach, and it's going back to the compass used in Borderlands 1 instead.
Why Borderlands 4's Compass Makes Sense Over the Minimap
The compass returning is not necessarily a bad thing, as it does allow the bigger open world to be explored more freely. For example, the recently released Oblivion Remastered uses a compass rather than a minimap, and while the game does have a larger map with local, smaller maps, it can be much harder to navigate. Borderlands 4 may run into the same issue, even with the compass replacing the minimap, but it may be much easier to track down quest locations, bosses, and more. Even Borderlands 4's co-op may benefit from this change, considering that now players can fast travel to their friends.
Borderlands 3's minimap does provide some additional information that the compass won't, such as places that are off-limits and a general sense of the layout of the area. Still, the fact that Borderlands 4 has a grapple hook as well as a way to glide through the air means that some of the issues with traversing areas in past games don't really apply to it. Furthermore, it would be quite complex to depict such a vertical world as Kairos on a 2D minimap, so the compass is a good replacement, even if it means going back to the very first installment of the franchise in terms of features.
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
