While the Borderlands series has always focused primarily on its gunplay, it's the setting, lore, and the stories the series tells that make that gunplay actually mean something. With its over-the-top characters and explosive set pieces, Borderlands has told stories of world-breaking chaos underpinned by crass comedy, leading players to its current moment in Borderlands 4. While the latest entry largely retains the series' core storytelling methods, however, it bakes its narrative into the heart of its gameplay in a way that no entry before it ever has.
Borderlands 4 is a unique entry for the series, with one of its most distinctive characteristics being its seamless world. As opposed to exploration being broken up into large zones as it has before, Borderlands 4 sees players dropped into a massive open world with almost no loading screens, and it's all a part of the larger story that unfolds as players make their way through the game's campaign. What is most interesting about this design, though, is how the player's thumbprint on the world grows as they reclaim safe houses and silos, not just so they can have more fast-travel points, but so the Crimson Resistance can gradually expand its territory on a planet whose ruler has begun losing full control.
Borderlands 4's Resistance Story Lives in the Gameplay
Safe Houses and Silos Tell a Different Kind of Story
Borderlands 4's Kairos is massive, there's no denying that. There is more room to explore and more ground to cover than there has been in any Borderlands game to date, and the seamless design of the world all but demands that players have plenty of fast-travel points they can use to move around more efficiently. This is where the safe houses and silos throughout Kairos come into play, as they provide players with fast-travel opportunities once they are reclaimed. From a gameplay perspective, they play their part perfectly, but the story hidden within that loop makes capturing them all the more compelling.
Borderlands 4's story revolves around the disruption of the Timekeeper's order after Pandora's moon Elpis breaks through a cloaking shield the dictator had put in place to hide Kairos within its system. As a result, chaos breaks out on the planet's surface, bringing about the rise of the Crimson Resistance — a rebellion started by none other than Claptrap to fight the oppressive rule of the Timekeeper. So, essentially, as players move through Kairos, claiming safe houses and silos along the way, they aren't just making travel across the planet easier for them, but they're simultaneously increasing the presence of the Crimson Resistance amid the uprising against the Timekeeper.
The Player's Thumbprint on Kairos Feels Essential
In turn, Borderlands 4 manages to create the illusion that Kairos and its well-being actually needs the player — the Crimson Resistance needs the player. This makes playing as one of Borderlands 4's new Vault Hunters more than just a power fantasy and instead places them into the shoes of someone who is trying to survive like everyone else. They may be on the frontlines of the rebellion, but they are fighting, just as much as anyone, to reclaim something that has been out of their hands for far too long, and from someone who has already shown his power and influence in a way that makes victory feel like a chance more than a guarantee.
With that, there is a narrative immersion that other Borderlands games fail to manage. Borderlands 4 isn't just about defeating the Timekeeper, but about ripping an entire planet from his clutches, and to do that, players claim new ground on Kairos, silo by silo, safe house by safe house. It’s subtle, but it may be one of Borderlands' best pieces of storytelling yet.
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
