Borderlands 4’s New Planet Features One Huge Improvement Over Borderlands 3

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For approximately six years now, we’ve been eagerly waiting for the release of Borderlands 4 since its initial debut during the last console generation. This autumn, it’s set to leverage the capabilities of current consoles by offering a vast “uninterrupted world” with minimal loading screens, ensuring a smooth gaming experience as you delve into every nook and cranny over countless hours. Compared to Borderlands 3‘s Pandora, this reduction in loading screens is a significant upgrade, sparing players the test of their patience that came from frequent load times in earlier versions.

During my chat with Game Informer, Anthony Nicholson, our senior project producer, shared some fascinating insights. At first, the Borderlands 4 team hadn’t planned on creating Kairos as an open-world setting. But the incredible capabilities of Unreal Engine 5 opened up new possibilities for us. It allowed us to explore more avenues and eventually, we found ourselves capable of building a seamless world, among other exciting features!

Jason Reiss, the director responsible for world-building, mentioned there are numerous battle zones with a 360-degree perspective, enabling players to enter from any angle, even from the sky. This necessitates adjustments due to all these intricate movement options. The focus has been on crafting a vast, dynamic, and impressive environment where players can feel powerful and heroic.

In the enlarged game world, enemies can now be seen from greater distances, and it’s not just that they’re idly waiting for players to engage in combat. The aim was to make these enemies appear as if they are alive and actively doing things, even from a distance where they blend seamlessly into their surroundings when viewed through a sniper scope from a mile away, according to lead game designer Josh Jeffcoat.

In one of the side quests, players will assist Claptrap in retrieving souvenirs from past journeys, whereas other tasks may include narrative-driven missions or activities tailored to the unique areas of Kairos.

As an ardent fan, I’m thrilled to share that Gearbox Entertainment has unveiled an intriguing story trailer, casting the limelight on the game’s formidable antagonist, the Timekeeper, in Borderlands 4. Additionally, the team behind this epic series announced a substantial expansion in character skills compared to the last two main games. This expansion is primarily due to the immense volume of fresh content that Borderlands 4 promises. In fact, Randy Pitchford, the mastermind at Gearbox, has cautioned us that it might be several years before we see a notable price drop for this highly anticipated game due to its colossal content.

In simple terms, Borderlands 4 is set to launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on the 12th of September. A release on the Nintendo Switch 2 is planned for a future date.

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2025-07-01 14:09