At its peak, the era of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 produced many franchises that are still going strong, but few have maintained the same level of interest as Borderlands. The shooter role-playing game series from Gearbox Software has been extremely influential and controversial for a long time in ways that will never disappear. At the same time, it has always been the same: for better or for worse, Borderlands has no interest in changing what it is, or at least not for too long.
Gearbox and 2K first released Borderlands on October 20, 2009 for consoles (and a week later on PC), and it’s almost unrecognizable from what it is now. While it always seemed destined to be “Halo meets Diablo” and focused on four Vault Hunters seeking strange Vaults on the planet Pandora, its initial presentation featured a color palette of browns and greys reminiscent of Fallout or Mad Max. Its classic shaded art style was abandoned when developers decided it needed a more distinct visual hook, which upset the game’s original art director. But the new look served its purpose: in addition to making it distinctive, it inspired the team to become more quirky, like ditching the “boring” class abilities in favor of more magically RPG-like powers.
The end result was a shooter that felt like a breath of fresh air compared to others at the time. Borderlands came onto the scene with a lot of confidence and personality. From the still-creative opening set to the song “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” by Cage the Elephant and even the flashy and skillful title cards for the main characters and bosses, it was clear that the goal here was to get some good shooting and looting in. The audience was greatly impressed; it sold a million copies in just two months, and that number has only risen over the years. It wasn’t painful that four large DLC packs gave it a long tail and a reason to return, perhaps with some newcomers joining in on the fun.
In 2012, Borderlands 2 came out with more: more story, new classes with more outrageous abilities, more diversity in locations, and most importantly, more weapons. There’s a lot of game in that game, even before adding its DLC expansions to the stack. The acclaim for the new release was higher than the first, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say it was the most important (and perhaps still the best) release in the series. But this final status has two directions, especially when it comes to the writing. Borderlands 2 is where the cast becomes particularly chatty… perhaps too chatty, in a charitable sense, and that doesn’t always go well. Humor can be abundant and not for everyone. As I’ve perused through some games in recent years, I found myself not caring much about the story. If there’s any game series that will help you shorten your podcast or YouTube watchlist, it’s this one.
Do Borderlands games deserve a beating often? No, no; their humor is not insulting as much as it is excessive, to the point where ignoring the dialogue becomes second nature. Indeed, the only time people are fully immersed in the writing is the first Tales from the Borderlands, and that’s partly because TellTale decided to reconnect it to some degree. The shadow of this beloved narrative sidestory looms over the bigger series, and eventually Gearbox tucked characters from the original game Tales into Borderlands 3. But this is not a huge expanded franchise; the gearbox was keen on keeping Borderlands big, but not so big that it could bring down the studio. Maybe the bad movie shown last summer didn’t happen, and it’s easy to imagine that it won’t affect the series in the long run.
Unlike other franchises from the PS3/360 era, borderlands didn’t have a catastrophic low point in terms of critical and commercial reception. Everyone may have a specific share they don’t like, but this didn’t lead to a basically apologetic release for the previous game, as was the case with Mass Effect Andromeda or Halo. Gearbox was also ahead of the game in terms of keeping it: the studio made a continuous effort not only to expand the franchise to include other systems, but also to ensure that the old input and downloadable content (DLC) remained available on the current console generation. Whether intentionally or by complete coincidence, this has evolved into a future-resistant and bulletproof franchise.
Vault Hunters and locations may change, but Borderlands has otherwise stuck to the same game rules during its 15-year run. It’s noteworthy that a primary western AAA franchise from a studio that doesn’t care to reinvent the wheel with each new release. With the beginning of the current looter shooter era, this has become more apparent; it didn’t get lost in itself like it sometimes did, and competitors stumbled over both of them for not fully understanding what makes either of them so important. Gearbox doesn’t care to make these games chase current trends like the post-launch seasonal model or battle pass, even with the newest entries like the 2022 spin-off Tiny Tina’s Wonderland. Instead, players are motivated to keep chasing loot and stats in the game, waiting to find them.
If there’s a suitable word for Borderlands, it’s “reliable.” Across the main three games and two shooter games, playing with friends and watching bandits and monsters explode or ignite (or both) can be fun, and unleashing a variety of strange abilities. It’s not for everyone, and it knows that perfectly well; but it’s comforting in its own right and it’s perfectly fine to dive into while its dedicated audience keeps coming back for more. And as someone who dips in and out of that demographic, I say: bring on Borderlands 4, currently scheduled for 2025.
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