Borderlands 4 Review: Worth it?

Is Borderlands 4 finally course-corrected after the September patch? Dive into story, performance, world design, combat, and 100+ hours of gameplay. Find out if it’s worth buying!

Borderlands 4 shouldn’t work, but it does. It's a co-op looter-shooter, yet the majority of players experience it solo. It’s not a live-service game, yet it promises a steady flow of free and paid post-launch content. And in a stacked season of releases like Battlefield 6 and Hollow Knight: Silksong, it carves out a unique and essential niche.

It’s been a month since release, and this review is for the fence-sitters: the sci-fi fans not into military sims, the players craving an open-world to get lost in, and anyone seeking a complete looter-shooter experience. To you, I can confidently say: I haven't been able to put it down. It’s the first game that’s pulled me away from Ghost of Yotei, and if you’ve seen that review, you know how big that is.

Now, I'll be honest: I went in sceptical. As a fan who found Borderlands 3 to be a major low point, I expected more of the same. When the good people at 2K sent me a copy for review, it didn’t help that the game launched with missing features, bugs, and poor optimisation.

But the developers at Gearbox were quick to respond. A comprehensive patch in late September addressed stability and added the holy grail for console players: an FOV slider. 

It transformed the experience. So, this review is based on the game after that crucial update. More than just a refinement, Borderlands 4 feels like a necessary course correction. The closest the series has come to reclaiming its former glory. The story is a massive leap over BL3, and the gameplay is the best it's ever been.

This is Borderlands 4 on the PlayStation 5.

Story

Borderlands has always been a reflection of its time; a snapshot of the over-the-top, "edgy" Xbox 360 era. For better or worse, that identity has stuck. 

But Borderlands 4 makes a conscious effort to mature. The crude humour is dialled back, replaced by a more grounded tone and even some genuinely serious beats.

As any Vault Hunter knows, this franchise lives or dies by its villains. The Calypso Twins from BL3 were loud and forgettable. Here, The Timekeeper is a clear improvement: more engaging, more menacing, and he makes a ferocious first impression. 

Sadly, that momentum doesn't hold. He quickly fades into the background, feeling less like an overarching threat and more like a villain-of-the-week waiting for his inevitable defeat.

It doesn’t quite hit the highs of Borderlands 2’s perfect mix of humour and heart, but it’s the most coherent and confident story since Handsome Jack’s reign.

Visuals & Performance on PS5

The signature comic-book aesthetic is back, but refined. The cel-shaded lines are subtler, giving BL4 a cleaner, more contemporary look without losing its identity. The result is the best-looking game in the series; fidelity is sharper, lighting is more dramatic, and environments pop with colour.

On PS5, Performance Mode is the clear pick. It targets 60fps and mostly delivers, though stutters crop up in long sessions. Quality Mode, which prioritises resolution, struggles even more with stability.

A huge win is the inclusion of split-screen co-op, a rare feature in 2025. It runs at a lower framerate with some screen tearing, but its mere presence is worth celebrating.

However, the true visual crime is the UI. The inventory screens are an assault on the senses; they're clunky, overcrowded, and make sorting through your loot a chore. This is a significant quality-of-life issue that desperately needs a redesign.

World Design

The first major change you’ll notice is the world design itself. Gone are the segmented planets of Borderlands 3; in their place is Kairos, a single, massive open world. This is a transformative change. Exploration now feels seamless and natural, uninterrupted by loading screens.

Kairos brims with personality. You’ll wander from lush fields to frozen wastelands to neon ruins without a single loading screen breaking immersion. Each biome feels distinct and is absolutely stuffed with content: side quests, world events, hidden challenges, and collectables.

My personal highlight? Roaming the world and seeing a dome pop up in the distance, signalling a random world boss encounter, that could go either really badly or really well. It’s a fantastic way to break up the action.

That said, the sheer volume of content exposes a weakness in mission design. While some side quests are genuinely engaging, too many slip into repetitive "fetch and kill" loops. After a while, the variety struggles to keep pace with the quantity. But if you're here for a sprawling looter-shooter, Kairos delivers in spades.

Combat & Gameplay

Gameplay is where Borderlands 4 is most improved. 

The gunplay is punchier and more precise than ever, with weapon variety that is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. Every new drop feels exciting, and experimenting with different builds still carries that addicting loop the series is known for.

The true game-changer, however, is mobility. You're no longer just running and gunning. You're double-jumping, gliding, dashing, ground-slamming, and using a grapple for traversal and combat. This new combat rhythm, combined with the ability to summon your Digirunner bike anywhere, completely transforms the game. Firefights are faster and more dynamic, encouraging exploration.

Let's talk longevity. I've sunk about 100 hours into a single character, and dipping my toes into the boss-farming endgame. With four Vault Hunters at launch, a new one on the way, each with three distinct skill trees, the build-crafting potential is staggering. Finding that one perfect item that ties your build together still sparks that unmistakable Borderlands dopamine hit. 

When everything clicks, the moment-to-moment action is the most fun Borderlands has been in over a decade.

Closing

Borderlands 4 is a testament to the idea that a modern looter-shooter doesn't need to be a predatory live-service treadmill. There's no FOMO, no level-gating grind, no forced multiplayer. You play at your own pace, on your own terms. And in 2025, that freedom is refreshing.

Of course, the lows are still here: performance dips, a forgettable villain, and repetitive side quests hold it back from true greatness.

But make no mistake: this is the course correction fans have been waiting for. The shift to a unified open world is inspired, and the new mobility injects a level of dynamism the series has needed for years. For all its flaws, Borderlands 4 is a triumphant return to form. It's a content-rich, deeply fun, and respectful looter-shooter that confidently reclaims its crown.

That’s why I believe Borderlands 4 is worth it.

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