Look, I respect it. I think it’s cool to consistently label the Vault Hunter that’s most fun to play across multiple games with the same title of “Siren” so that I and so many others can correctly pick who to play for our first playthrough of whatever the latest Borderlands game is. And who wouldn’t want to play as the Siren, the mystic-like class that can warp reality with their mind to support allies or unleash massive destruction? No one, that’s who. So, of course, Borderlands 4’s resident Siren, Vex, is going to be a blast.
Now, granted, when I played Borderlands 4 for three hours at a preview event, we were only allowed to try two of the four playable Vault Hunters: the aforementioned Vex, and Rafa, the Soldier. “So you don’t know for sure then, huh?” I hear you ask. And, sure, maybe the Gravitar or Forge Knight do end up being more fun to play than Vex. I doubt it, though. Lilith, Maya, and Amara are my favorite characters in their respective games, so why would Vex break that trend?
Especially since Borderlands 4 clearly does not break trends anywhere else. The latest entry does change things up by adding long-requested features, like implementing firearm customization, more types of movement, and quality-of-life features, and replacing auto-healing with healing items. But even if it does play better (a lot better in some cases–healing whenever I want is a game-changer), this still feels like every Borderlands game that came before it. If you have played Borderlands, Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, or Borderlands 3, you already know whether you’re going to enjoy Borderlands 4. The answer was inside you all along! The trends remain unbroken! Borderlands 4 looks to be a familiar experience that continues to deliver what fans want from the series.
As GameSpot’s resident Borderlands sicko, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. I have enjoyed playing the Borderlands games and I would like to continue playing an experience that I have liked in the past. But if you’ve never liked Borderlands or have fallen out of love with it in recent years, this game isn’t likely to suddenly change your mind.
The latest game in the sci-fi looter shooter series seems to take cues from Destiny, putting players into a seamless world that you can sprint, glide, grapple, and hover-bike through, while random event-like encounters pop up, and a round and floating robotic companion points you to your next objective, scans and fixes machines you find, revives you when you die, and digitally constructs your hover-bike. Borderlands 4 is still very clearly a Borderlands game, but I was repeatedly struck by how certain moments of my time with it felt so much like I was suddenly replaying a vanilla version of Bungie’s 2014 first-person shooter, just with wildly different narrative trappings.
Vault Hunters continue to be the core of gameplay, informing your playstyle based on their unique abilities. Vex is primarily a summoner with specialities that allow her to create void apparitions–one gives her a dog-like skag, another lets her create multiple copies of herself, and the last one gives her wings and forms an orb that fires eldritch blasts. Meanwhile, Rafa is geared toward dealing as much damage as possible–his first specialty summons energy blades for him to wade into melee, the second gives him piercing energy lasers, and the third gives him shoulder cannons to fire bombs, bullets, and homing missiles.
I feel like I’ve made my point about this clear, but Vex is so much better than Rafa, who doesn’t affect how you play the game–he’s the general all-rounder who takes what Borderlands is all about (shooting stuff with guns) and does it even better. I understand why he’s there. Every Borderlands game has at least one Vault Hunter who is there to fill the role of “soldier” for players who want a more traditional shooter option. I can still think they’re not as fun to play, however. Vex, meanwhile, encourages you to play with a strategy, as you need to thoughtfully place summons in key spots and lean into mobility and positioning to account for her poor defensive buffs. I like that, especially as it highlights the new movement mechanics.
When it comes to the last two Vault Hunters, who I didn’t get to try, what I most want to see from them is that their abilities have a substantial impact on how I approach a firefight. In my mind, this has always been the most crucial aspect of whether a Vault Hunter is fun to play as, generally, all are built to at least be useful. The ones that are the most fun are the ones that pull you furthest away from just shooting.
Regardless of your choice, all Vault Hunters benefit from Borderlands 4’s faster and deadlier combat. Enemies hit way harder and pursue you more aggressively, and this puts a stronger emphasis on relying on movement and cover in enclosed or narrow spaces. The new traversal mechanics like the double-jump, glide, and grappling hook can make all the difference, and firefights that lean into that dependency are altogether better than anything Borderlands has had so far. There’s delightful satisfaction to pulling off trick shots and platforming around the battlefield to keep out of danger and avoid getting cornered, which just aren’t present in shootouts in wide-open fields. It takes some getting used to being mobile–and I died plenty of times trying to pull back and be more reserved rather than pressing the offensive and speeding around the battlefield–but once you do, it’s a lot of fun.
It will be interesting to see how movement is incorporated into boss battles, if at all. I got to play through a raid boss a few times, clearing it twice solo before jumping into co-op and doing it again with a partner, and the fight was mostly just circling around a big enemy and shooting it a bunch. This has been a major issue in Borderlands for several games now–the bosses are dull because the difficulty is dictated by a huge health bar, not a test of skill. There’s some hope, though. The boss I faced had a second phase where it would occasionally leap onto the ceiling and fill the arena’s floor with acid, forcing me to grapple from one descending platform to another while dodging attacks, shooting the boss, and keeping track of which platforms I could grapple to next. It was a brief thrill in an otherwise okay boss fight. I hope other bosses lean more heavily into forcing the player to move around and think about positioning during the fight.
I’m not holding my breath, though. This feels like a Borderlands game through and through where enough has changed for me to feel like this is an improvement over Borderlands 3, but it’s not so different that I can expect huge and sweeping changes. I’m not going to abandon playing as a Siren or ask my friends who are not Borderlands fans to try the game. I know who these games are for: people like me. Is it possible the snippet I played does not at all reflect the full experience? Sure. But I’m guessing it’s a pretty accurate snapshot and that Borderlands 4 is yet another game in the franchise that gives you exactly what you’re expecting.
Borderlands 4 is set to launch for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC on September 12.
