Borderlands 4 is the best looter shooter ever - this is what it gets exactly right

It's darkly comic. It's gory. It's flat out insane. Oh yes, Borderlands is properly back.

If you're old enough to have played either of the first two, it'll be music to your ears that developers have gone back to the series' roots with Borderlands 4 following the more silly and toilet humour approach that was taken with Borderlands 3.

And it's been pulled off with aplomb.

It's wacky, successfully strange and over the top with as brilliant gameplay as ever in the series and the setting of Kairos is spectacularly stunning. It has a decent enough story too.

Mix all of that together and not only does it make the best Borderlands game yet - but it's the best looter shooter of all time.

A review code was provided by the publisher and I played through Borderlands 4 on PC through Steam using an Acer Predator Helios 16 AI with Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU and 32GB of RAM.

The Timekeeper is the main antagonist in Borderlands 4 - he's not quite the best in the series but he's still brilliant / 2K

What happens in Borderlands 4? (Spoiler free)

Borderlands 4 is set on the new planet of Kairos that's been hidden away from the universe under a veil - until now.

It's ruled by The Timekeeper, the game's main antagonist, and there is a Vault at the centre of his seat of power. Playing as a Vault Hunter, it's part of your job to loot that Vault.

The Timekeeper keeps perfect order and his robotic army aptly named The Order is responsible for keeping things under his control, disciplining anyone who even thinks about stepping out of line.

The game starts with players choosing one of four Vault Hunters, out of Rafa the exo-soldier, Harlowe the gravitar, Amon the forgeknight or Vex the siren.

It's your job to help build up a resistance to take down The Timekeeper and The Order and, of course, crack that Vault. Numerous characters are encountered throughout and with it being Borderlands, each one is uniquely bonkers but brilliant in their own way.

The story on the whole is pretty good and The Timekeeper is a great antagonist. Is he as good as Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2? In my opinion, not quite.

However there are some standout characters and storylines in the side quests and Borderlands 4 eclipses all other looter shooters in different ways.

Vault bosses offer some of the most difficult challenges in Borderlands 4 - but usually yield some of the best loot you can find / 2K

How does Borderlands 4 look visually and perform?

From a purely visual point of view, the iconic Borderlands style has never looked better and Kairos is simply stunning.

Each of the four regions of Fadefields, Terminus Range, Carcadia Burn and the Dominion are visually striking in their own way. Sections set underground or in buildings look great too and the lighting is fantastic at capturing the atmosphere.

Characters themselves look fantastic and enemies of all different types are well realised too.

Some of the textures don't look the best when close up, particularly when climbing up walls for example, but aside from that the game is pretty gorgeous.

In terms of performance, with my PC settings cranked up to the max, the game ran fairly smoothly.

There was the odd stutter, usually when reloading in a crowded area, and infrequent frame rate dips here and there but nothing to significantly detract from my experience. There is a day one patch to address these slight issues.

Console codes were not available so I don't know how Borderlands 4 will run on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S at the time of writing.

Sol is one of the big boss battles in Borderlands 4 / 2K

What's the gameplay in Borderlands 4 like?

It's fast, frantic and extremely fun. Gunplay feels as great and as tight in the series as ever and it's just incredibly satisfying poring over the stats of different guns and experimenting with them to find the ones that really suit you, especially once you get to grips with different manufacturers. Loot rarity has increased much more this time around too.

There are so many different moves and ways to slaughter enemies with the key to success staying on the move. Enemies are great and varied and each different type poses a different threat.

With it being Borderlands, each character has a skill tree where more perks and rewards can be unlocked the more you play. It was fun trying out different characters, builds and skillsets.

Side quests in Borderlands 4 are as wacky as they have ever been in the series and create their own memorable moments.

Exploration is fantastic as the open world does not fall into the trap of feeling like you have to tick things off a checklist. There is a compass that reveals question marks with areas of interest as you get close to them.

I frequently found myself doing what I should be in an open world - thinking 'what’s that over there?' instead of brainlessly going where I'm told something interesting might be. I created my own storylines and experiences this way and I had a smile on my face every time this happened, which was pretty often.

Traversal is so much quicker and more fun - early on, a vehicle can be summoned from pretty much anywhere and there's now the ability to grapple, climb, glide, swim and double jump which makes exploring and getting from point A to point B much more enjoyable.

It keeps combat feeling fresh throughout too and offers so many different and unique ways to take down enemies or even retreat if needed.

There's a drone that accompanies you called ECHO-4 that shows you points of interest nearby and even a best path to get to your next objective.

The game itself is actually quite difficult, even on normal to begin with - once you get more powerful, get better guns and equipment and unlock more perks, you quickly get into your stride though. There's also a new repkit that acts like a stim that regenerates over time to boost health and you'll need to utilise this early on.

Vaults, usually the most challenging aspect of the game but where the best loot can be found, are the perfect examples of this as you better go in with strong enough equipment to take down hordes of enemies and a strong boss or else you will struggle.

Speaking of which, bosses generally provide a good challenge too and they need to be worked out to find openings to take them down. On the whole, they're not just bullet sponges.

Borderlands 4 can be played solo or up to four-player co-op online across all platforms with two-player split screen couch co-op on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

It wouldn't be Borderlands without Claptrap now, would it? / 2K

What's the verdict on Borderlands 4?

Borderlands 4 is the best the series has ever been on the whole, even surpassing when Handsome Jack was wreaking havoc in Pandora in Borderlands 2.

It must be said, The Timekeeper is not quite as strong as the aforementioned Handsome Jack and the story has a few good twists and turns with other characters being brought to life well.

But the world of Kairos is simply fantastic and gameplay is the true standout in Borderlands 4 as it's thrilling both when taking down varied enemies with one of billions and billions of guns available or exploring the open world with amazing traversal mechanics.

It's honestly my favourite looter shooter of all time.

9/10

Borderlands 4 releases on 12 September on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC through Steam and the Epic Games store and on 3 October on Nintendo Switch 2.

Elsewhere from indy100:

• Borderlands 4: What's the difference between standard, deluxe and super deluxe editions?
• Mafia: The Old Country is a throwback with one perfect modern feature

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