Borderlands 4 has a new challenge mode where you can battle high-level enemies in the Vault.
The action role-playing first-person shooter looter game (now priced at $70 instead of the previously floated $80) is coming on September 12 on the Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and the Windows PC.
The Vault missions are optional content. You will need to locate the various key fragments to unlock the vaults but it isn’t required for main game progression. They do present challenges and potential good loot.
I visited 2K’s Hangar 13 studio in Novato, California, and played a couple of hours of Borderlands 4. I have been writing up my impressions this week. I also interviewed the creative director of the game, Graeme Timmins, about what his goals were for the game and the kind of characters we’ll counter.
Like with GTA VI, there is a lot of pent-up demand for this game. Gearbox’s Borderland 3 came out six years ago in 2019. And Borderlands 4 was in the works even before that title debuted.
It takes place on a planet named Kairos, and players assume the role of a Vault Hunter who must lead resistance against a dictator named the Timekeeper and his army of synthetic followers. The game has a new planet and an all-new cast which has nothing to do with last year’s forgettable Borderlands movie. I found the Vault to be particularly difficult, while the Fadefields were more open and relaxing.
There’s a lot of at stake in this title, as Take-Two acquired Gearbox in March 2024 for $460 million. That’s a lot of cheddar, though it’s much less than the up to $1.3 billion that previous owner Embracer paid for it. I enjoyed playing both the single-player game, the time in the Fadefields section of the game and the very difficult (at least from my perspective) section of the game called The Vault.
You face off against the Timekeeper in Borderlands 4.
In the Vault mission, you have to random vault your way into rocky landscapes that are floating in space. You can purchase weapons, medical and ammo upgrades and then charge vault your way into the landscape. You clear the enemies in the level and then move on to the next vault. If you die, you start over again. For me, this was an endless loop. But others can go on and defeat bigger and badder bosses.
“That boss represents a real big step for bosses in Borderlands,” said Gearbox’s creative director Graeme Timmins, in an interview with GamesBeat. It has multiple mechanics. It’s not just a wall of damage. You have to dodge and grapple. We test you in more ways than just whether you have good guns. That’s a good example of how we’ve leveled up the bosses here in Borderlands 4.”
... continue reading