With its first full trailer being shown at this year’s The Game Awards,Borderlands 4has a lot riding on it from fans hoping for a return to form for the franchise. Despite recent entries having their share of criticism, bothBorderlands3 andTiny Tina’s Wonderlandswere great financial successes for Gearbox Software. Even with the success of its most recent additions to the beloved Borderlands franchise, the developers are aiming to improve the overall writing quality moving forward.
For years theBorderlandsfranchise has provided excellent co-op gameplay experiences, being one of the most iconic entries in the looter shooter genre. To this day,theBorderlandsfranchise is still as popular as ever, with each game grossing higher and higher player counts, but they haven’t avoided their share of criticism and controversies. The core gameplay ofBorderlands 4is expected to be as bombastic as always while keeping itssplit-screen co-op functionalityalive and well, with a new writing direction that is just what the franchise needs.
Borderlands 4 Is Cutting Down On The Toilet Humor
Addressing The Biggest Complaints Over Borderlands 3’s Writing
The writing style of theBorderlandsfranchise has always ridden the line between humor and visceral action, but recent entries have tended to lean too much into over-the-top comedy. While it’s fine to have more of a focus on humor in a game likeBorderlands,problems started arising when it affected the quality of the game’s overall writing, with jokes leaning into a more childlike sense of humor. Even the developers have acknowledged this issue, with one of the lead writers forBorderlands 4,Sam Winkler, expressing his complaints over this issue in a thread on X.
Even those who enjoyed the gameplay style or writing ofBorderlands 3have admitted there’s an over-reliance on toilet jokes or low-brow humor, feeling out-of-place even with the less serious tone prevalent in the franchise.Even with these complaints,Borderlands 3was still an easily enjoyable experience that didn’t stray too far from what made the original games great,although it still struggles to find a unique identity compared to the original games.
Potentially Returning To The Style Of The Original Borderlands
Understanding What Made The Franchise Successful In The First Place
Aside from the pacing of the writing and humor,Borderlands 4has another chance to emulate the greatness of the original entries by building upits villain, the Timekeeper, like Handsome Jack. While it will be an incredible challenge to create a character that can come close to the popularity of Handsome Jack,it’s clear that a good villain was an essential part of what made the franchise so iconic.
The Twins fromBorderlands 3had great potential to create memorable stories by teasing infighting between the two, but many of its potential storylines ended up fizzling out by the time the credits rolled.
10 Features We Desperately Want To See In Borderlands 4
Gearbox Software has scheduled Borderlands 4 for a 2025 release, and there are a number of features the game can improve the series with.
With the writers clearly acknowledging the problems withBorderlands 3’s writing and even admitting it publically, there is plenty of potential forBorderlands 4to be one of the best games the franchise has seen in years. Even if it doesn’t achieve the legendary status of the original twoBorderlandsgames, the newest entry in the beloved franchise is bound to be an exciting venture for fans and new players alike.
WhileBorderlands 4is scheduled to release this year, it’s still a long wait until it makes its way into the hands of fans, making it the perfect time to pick up other entries in the franchise with theirfrequent and significant discounts.
Source:ThatSamWinkler/X
Borderlands 4
InBorderlands 4, players assume the role of a legendary Vault Hunter, exploring a new planet in search of secret alien treasures.
