Borderlands 4 - Angry Review

Quick Overview

The reviewer ultimately gives Borderlands 4 a 6 out of 10, downgrading an initial potential 8/10 due to abysmal PC performance issues, a lack of engaging endgame content, and a story/character set that failed to connect with him, despite acknowledging that the faster movement system and some build crafting elements were improvements.

Key Points: The final verdict for Borderlands 4 is a 6 out of 10, down from an initial potential 8/10 (similar to Borderlands 3), primarily because of performance issues, lack of endgame, and failing to connect with the story and characters. Performance was described as "abysmal" on good PCs, bad PCs, and consoles, with the reviewer noting they were still barely getting 30 frames two weeks from launch and experienced crashes, suggesting a lack of optimization time. The open world felt like "the most empty generic Borderlands world yet," preferring the distinct zones of previous games, and navigation was hampered by poor compass/mini-map guides, leading to frustrating travel. The reviewer found the new characters boring and not memorable, stating, "I'd rather have the cringy ass characters to make fun of than make fun parodies than these boring blocks of tropey, uninteresting nonsense." The vast majority of guns sucked, characterized by too many slow, charge-to-fire weapons, with the reviewer noting they were getting duplicates within hours and 99.8% of loot found was "gutter trash," only appreciating the large ordinance weapons. The endgame, including Ultimate Vault Hunter mode and raid bosses, was a letdown, consisting only of invincible versions of existing bosses without unique dungeons, making the farming loop feel like "just farming" rather than playing. Build crafting was generally good once past level 15, and the new faster movement system (gliding, double jumping, air dashing) improved gameplay, but the story felt bog-standard and didn't move the overall universe forward meaningfully.

Context: The video is an angry review of the new Borderlands installment, referred to as Borderlands 4, delivered by a long-time fan who started following the series since the first game. The review features satirical sketches involving a chaotic character named Randy who offers terrible solutions to game problems (like telling users they are poor because their PCs are bad) and discusses the core gameplay loop of looting, shooting, and character progression that defines the franchise, contrasting it with the issues present in this new release.