Windows Central’s Michael Hoglund gave Borderlands 4 an enthusiastic review, arguing that its combat, movement, exploration, and repeatable endgame make it the series’ strongest entry yet. His recommendation comes with an important caveat: on his review PC, open areas still hitched and sometimes dipped below 60 frames per second. This is an account of Hoglund’s September 2025 review, not a current performance benchmark or a claim of critical consensus.
What is the verdict on Borderlands 4?
Hoglund calls Borderlands 4 “the ultimate Vault Hunter playground” and “the gold standard for the series moving forward.” Those are his conclusions, grounded in the way he says the game’s combat, movement, exploration, and repeatable activities work together. He recommends it to Borderlands fans and players who enjoy endgame grinding, while advising readers who are especially sensitive to performance issues to wait.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
![Borderlands 4 Standard - PC Steam [Online Game Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gpM4oUSEL._SL160_.jpg)
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Borderlands 4 Standard - PC Steam [Online Game Code] | $69.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
![Borderlands 4 Super Deluxe - PC Steam [Online Game Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51o2GwPK6zL._SL160_.jpg)
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Borderlands 4 Super Deluxe - PC Steam [Online Game Code] | $129.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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POP Funko Games: Borderlands 4 - Claptrap | $13.61 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Borderlands 4 - PlayStation 5 | $27.98 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
![Borderlands 4 Deluxe - PC Steam [Online Game Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51E96mSrZaL._SL160_.jpg)
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Borderlands 4 Deluxe - PC Steam [Online Game Code] | $99.99 | Buy on Amazon |
The review was published by Windows Central on September 11, 2025. Hoglund disclosed that 2K provided a review code and did not see the review before publication. Read the Windows Central review.
Why does combat stand out?
Combat is the review’s clearest strength. Hoglund praises the gunplay and weapon variety, saying even Tediore weapons became useful for him. He describes the feel as a source of the series’ familiar chaotic shooting, but with a more fluid, mobile rhythm.
#1 Best Overall
- Pre-order Borderlands 4 and receive the Gilded Glory Pack featuring a Vault Hunter Skin, a Weapon Skin, and an ECHO-4 Drone Skin!*
- BE A BADASS: Become an unstoppable force of battle, blasting through enemies with an all-new arsenal of outrageous weaponry. Move across the Borderlands like never before—double jumping, gliding, dodging, grappling, and more—dealing death from every direction. Explode each encounter with devastating Action Skills that unleash your Vault Hunter's unique abilities. Craft your perfect build with branching skill trees and a deep, rewarding loot chase full of wild weapons and powerful gear.
- FIGHT SOLO OR CO-OP: Wreaking havoc across Kairos is awesome alone and even better with friends in 2-player splitscreen or up to 4-player online co-op.** Borderlands 4 is designed for co-op from the ground up; whether you're hunting for loot, tackling missions, or wandering freely, level scaling and individual difficulty keeps the party together and having fun.
- LESS BORDERS, MORE LANDS: Freely explore a vast and dangerous world rife with warring factions. Hop on your hover bike and ride through lush fields, towering peaks, and deadly deserts full of fearsome enemies, dynamic events, and engaging quests with unforgettable characters. Unite the people of Kairos and ignite a revolution, tackling this adventure however you see fit in a seamless Borderlands experience.
Ordnance and movement
The redesigned Ordnance slot can hold abilities such as grenades, throwing knives, laser beams, or rockets, and recharges on a cooldown. Hoglund also highlights sliding, double-jumping, and default hovering. Together, those tools let players move vertically and reposition during fights rather than staying grounded and trading shots from one spot.
His praise is about how these mechanics felt in his playthrough; it should not be read as an independently tested comparison with earlier games.
Rank #2
- Pre-purchase now. Playable on 2025-09-12. Borderlands 4 Super Deluxe Edition includes: Full base game, the Pre-Order Bonus: Gilded Glory Pack*, the Firehawk's Fury Weapon Skin, the Bounty Pack Bundle**, the Ornate Order Pack, and the Vault Hunter Pack***.
- BE A BADASS: Become an unstoppable force of battle, blasting through enemies with an all-new arsenal of outrageous weaponry. Move across the Borderlands like never before—double jumping, gliding, dodging, grappling, and more—dealing death from every direction. Explode each encounter with devastating Action Skills that unleash your Vault Hunter's unique abilities. Craft your perfect build with branching skill trees and a deep, rewarding loot chase full of wild weapons and powerful gear.
- FIGHT SOLO OR CO-OP: Wreaking havoc across Kairos is awesome alone and even better with friends in 2-player splitscreen or up to 4-player online co-op.** Borderlands 4 is designed for co-op from the ground up; whether you're hunting for loot, tackling missions, or wandering freely, level scaling and individual difficulty keeps the party together and having fun.
- LESS BORDERS, MORE LANDS: Freely explore a vast and dangerous world rife with warring factions. Hop on your hover bike and ride through lush fields, towering peaks, and deadly deserts full of fearsome enemies, dynamic events, and engaging quests with unforgettable characters. Unite the people of Kairos and ignite a revolution, tackling this adventure however you see fit in a seamless Borderlands experience.
Does the world reward exploration?
The game takes place on Kairos, with three major regions: Fadefield, Carcadia Burn, and Terminus Range. Hoglund says the connected world feels larger than the previous zone-based structure and gives players reasons to leave the main path: side missions, dynamic events, hidden areas, and activities that feed into progression and loot.
He reports spending his first 20 hours on side missions and other content in Fadefield. That is his own reported playtime, not a general estimate of the campaign’s length or the time required to complete the game.
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How does the story and humor compare?
Borderlands 4 follows Vault Hunters on Kairos, ruled by the Timekeeper, as a resistance story unfolds after the events involving Elpis in Borderlands 3. Hoglund describes the tone as darker than the series’ prior entry while saying the humor—particularly in side missions—landed more often for him than the jokes in Borderlands 3. He also cautions that the story is not groundbreaking.
What is the endgame like?
Hoglund praises the range of repeatable activities available to him, including Ultimate Vault Hunter challenges, Vaults, weekly challenges, and Mad Moxxi’s Encore. Those systems support the review’s case that the game is built for continued character progression and loot hunting after the main story.
Rank #4
- BE A BADASS: Become an unstoppable force of battle, blasting through enemies with an all-new arsenal of outrageous weaponry. Move across the Borderlands like never before—double jumping, gliding, dodging, grappling, and more—dealing death from every direction. Explode each encounter with devastating Action Skills that unleash your Vault Hunter's unique abilities. Craft your perfect build with branching skill trees and a deep, rewarding loot chase full of wild weapons and powerful gear.
- FIGHT SOLO OR CO-OP: Wreaking havoc across Kairos is awesome alone and even better with friends in 2-player splitscreen or up to 4-player online co-op.* Borderlands 4 is designed for co-op from the ground up; whether you're hunting for loot, tackling missions, or wandering freely, level scaling and individual difficulty keeps the party together and having fun.
- LESS BORDERS, MORE LANDS: Freely explore a vast and dangerous world rife with warring factions. Hop on your hover bike and ride through lush fields, towering peaks, and deadly deserts full of fearsome enemies, dynamic events, and engaging quests with unforgettable characters. Unite the people of Kairos and ignite a revolution, tackling this adventure however you see fit in a seamless Borderlands experience.
He had not played through the entire endgame when writing, so his enthusiasm is not an exhaustive assessment of every late-game activity or how long-term play holds up.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did it perform on the review PC?
Performance is the main qualification in Hoglund’s recommendation. He says open-world traversal initially felt choppy and improved after a pre-launch patch sent to reviewers, but he still encountered intermittent loading hitches and frame-rate drops below 60 frames per second in demanding areas. He played the Steam version on an RTX 3080, Ryzen 9 5900X, 32 GB of RAM, and NVMe storage, at 1440p on medium settings with DLSS set to Performance.
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- Pre-purchase now. Playable on 2025-09-12. Borderlands 4 Deluxe Edition includes: Full base game, the Pre-Order Bonus: Gilded Glory Pack*, the Firehawk's Fury Weapon Skin, and the Bounty Pack Bundle**
- BE A BADASS: Become an unstoppable force of battle, blasting through enemies with an all-new arsenal of outrageous weaponry. Move across the Borderlands like never before—double jumping, gliding, dodging, grappling, and more—dealing death from every direction. Explode each encounter with devastating Action Skills that unleash your Vault Hunter's unique abilities. Craft your perfect build with branching skill trees and a deep, rewarding loot chase full of wild weapons and powerful gear.
- FIGHT SOLO OR CO-OP: Wreaking havoc across Kairos is awesome alone and even better with friends in 2-player splitscreen or up to 4-player online co-op.** Borderlands 4 is designed for co-op from the ground up; whether you're hunting for loot, tackling missions, or wandering freely, level scaling and individual difficulty keeps the party together and having fun.
- LESS BORDERS, MORE LANDS: Freely explore a vast and dangerous world rife with warring factions. Hop on your hover bike and ride through lush fields, towering peaks, and deadly deserts full of fearsome enemies, dynamic events, and engaging quests with unforgettable characters. Unite the people of Kairos and ignite a revolution, tackling this adventure however you see fit in a seamless Borderlands experience.
Those observations describe one reviewer’s hardware and review-time software, not a benchmark across PC configurations or a statement about the game’s current patch status. Hoglund’s results cannot predict performance on your system; the available review does not establish current performance across platforms.
Who is the review’s recommendation for?
- Consider it if you enjoy Borderlands’ gunplay, want a more mobile combat kit, or look for repeatable endgame progression and loot activities.
- Be more cautious if stable performance is a priority, especially on PC. Hoglund recommends that performance-sensitive players wait rather than assume the issues he saw will or will not affect their own setup.
Hoglund’s review states that Borderlands 4 released on September 11, 2025 for Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5. Take-Two’s 2025 investor-relations document described a Nintendo Switch 2 release as planned for October 2025; that prospective guidance does not confirm present availability. See Take-Two’s 2025 investor-relations materials. Current pricing, inventory, patch status, and Switch 2 availability are not established by these sources.
Quick Recap
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