What Borderlands 4 must get proper to win again looter shooter followers

Throughout Gamescom Opening Night Live , Gearbox introduced Borderlands 4 is debuting in 2025 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Collection X / S. Following the middling group reception surrounding 2019’s Borderlands 3, the builders have an actual shot at making Borderlands 4 an distinctive looter shooter.

Gearbox remains to be retaining issues fairly near its chest. The Borderlands 4 teaser trailer says the awaited sequel sees gamers as soon as once more taking up the “function of a legendary Vault Hunter as they blast their manner by way of hordes of enemies in the hunt for new treasures to loot on an all-new planet.” All of this suits the collection’ MO, leaving us with loads of room to take a position on how Gearbox will leverage the IP’s roots as a looter shooter. At one level, Borderlands was the poster baby of the style. Now, looter shooters have evolved and expectations of what Borderlands 4 must have as properly.

Borderlands 4 must refine its loot programs

Gearbox can give attention to a extra fulfilling endgame moderately than a slew of various weapons

Gearbox

Borderlands 4

Techniques

Franchise

Borderlands

Launched

2025

When Borderlands 2 outlined the looter shooter style again in 2012, having over 2,000,000 totally different weapons within the sport was so novel. Most of them had been generated by totally different producers, rarities, stats, and buffs. These days, gamers need extra significant weapon choices to hunt out within the sport. Video games like Future 2, The Division 2, and The First Descendant all present far more restraint.

A part of Borderlands’ DNA is the variety of weapons. Nevertheless, by scaling again its weapon pool, Borderlands 4 might think about a refined loot system in its endgame content material. Give gamers a big handful of higher-tier weapons to chase. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands confirmed that the tighter the endgame expertise, the higher the reception.

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Deal with the characters with respect in Borderlands 4, please Gearbox

Core characters had been finished soiled within the third core installment of the franchise.

Gearbox

With out spoilers for individuals who haven’t performed Borderlands 3, sure characters weren’t handled properly in any respect. This left lots of followers annoyed and downright upset by the point credit rolled. Borderlands arguably hasn’t positioned story or narrative entrance and heart. As a substitute, the sport has constructed a following for its open world co-op escapades and looter shooter mechanics. Nevertheless, since 2019, followers have adopted the likes of Lilith, Roland, Claptrap, and so on.

What actually stung for the fanbase (together with myself) was that Borderlands 3 adopted Telltale’s Tales From the Borderlands. This sport gave us our first actual instance of how and why tales inside this franchise matter. Gearbox has by no means wavered from its enjoyable gameplay loop. Nevertheless, it was disappointing when the story of Borderlands 3 missed the mark in so some ways. Return to the fundamentals and provides the tentpole characters some substance.

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Transfer away from Pandora

Pandora has been a personality unto itself in some ways however has overstayed its welcome.

Borderlands 4 can be smart to introduce a brand-new setting to discover. Judging by the trailer’s caption, it appears Gearbox agrees. As I sit right here, excited about this “all-new planet,” I hope Gearbox can craft a brand new atmosphere on the identical degree as Pandora. Exploration throughout Pandora was half the enjoyable of taking part in by way of the collection. Looting and taking pictures throughout areas just like the Salt Flats and Dahl Headlands, I’ve some nice reminiscences taking part in with pals.

Nevertheless, I feel the collection is in want of a refresh of kinds. With an all-new planet to discover, it is a phenomenal likelihood for Gearbox to flex its muscle tissues in degree design and the creation of environments. It’ll take lots for this new planet to turn into as extensively beloved as Pandora. Although, it is a means to an finish to assist make Borderlands 4 an awesome looter shooter.

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Optimize Borderlands 4 for the present {hardware}

Gearbox must keep away from launch day woes by prioritizing optimization throughout PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Collection X/S.

Gearbox

I’ll always remember the state Borderland 3 was in at launch. Navigating the menus, even on an Xbox One X on the time, was a slog. Tabbing by way of the totally different choices would take a number of seconds. Borderlands 3 additionally suffered from poor framerates and shoddy split-screen assist. Fortunately, by 2025, Gearbox may have had period of time to work on this subsequent entry.

Primarily based on the teaset trailer, Borderlands 4 will solely be playable on current-gen programs. That ought to bode properly for the event group as they gained’t should scale their imaginative and prescient again to compensate for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. I’ll have my fingers crossed that Borderlands 4 can benefit from VRR, quick loading occasions, and ray tracing to go with the sport’s iconic cell-shaded look.

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