Kicking off in 2009 the Borderlands sequence has develop into Gearbox’s greatest franchise over the course of a number of video games, and a disastrous film which flopped on the field workplace. What higher time to rank all of the Borderlands video games from greatest to worst, then?
All through its ups and downs, the Borderlands sequence has carved out a particular place in my coronary heart. Its mix of taking pictures, looting and stupidity are like a snug blanket spattered within the blood and gore, and peppered with a number of bullet holes.
So with the brand new movie touchdown with all of the grace of an elephant skydiving off a cliff with a defective parachute, let’s take a second to rank the Borderlands video games. Now, clearly it is a fully private record. I’m positive your rating will likely be vastly completely different from mine, so be happy to drop a remark with how you’ll price them.
Lastly, earlier than we get into the record, I’ve not included a number of releases: the varied Assortment’s, together with the Good-looking Assortment, aren’t right here, for instance. Neither is Borderlands 2 VR, or the standalone Assault on Dragon Maintain. They didn’t really feel like they wanted to be on the record as they’re primarily both the bottom sport with a number of enhancements or an add-on.
Borderlands 2 is so good that Gearbox has spent each sport within the sequence since attempting to chase the magic and by no means fairly capturing it. It’s a improbable looter-shooter, a riot from begin to end and a damn-near good evolution of what got here earlier than.
A part of the magic stems from main arsehole Good-looking Jack who shortly grew to become one of the beloved villains in all of gaming. Regardless of having little precise screen-time, his sarcastic voice follows you round on the radio, chiming in to remind you that you simply suck. Or to tell you that he’s so extremely wealthy that he purchased a pony product of diamond and named it Butt Stallion.
Good-looking Jack was consultant of the increasing storytelling. The primary sport was typically criticised for its paper-thin plot and characters. Gearbox responded completely, crafting a extra partaking story that even managed to ship a few emotional moments, too. It amped up the humour as properly, although that did come at the price of the primary sport’s darker edge.
The gameplay programs are a large leap over the primary sport, vastly increasing on not solely the weapons however on the ability timber as properly. The extent of construct crafting out there in Borderlands 2 is leagues forward of the primary sport, and regardless of having performed by way of it quite a few occasions, I nonetheless haven’t tried out the entire completely different types in Borderlands 2. It makes the sport insanely replayable.
Borderlands 2 additionally boasts some wonderful DLC, which comes packaged in The Good-looking Assortment for contemporary consoles. Two further playable characters have been added, however the actual spotlight was Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Maintain which might wind up being the inspiration for an additional entry on this record. Chock-full of pop-culture references, from Darkish Souls to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Borderlands 3 efficiently builds upon the strong gameplay basis laid by its predecessors. The improved motion mechanics, like the power to slip and mantle, add an additional layer of dynamism to the already enjoyable and frenetic fight. That is one of the best the sequence has performed, boasting the smoothest gunplay.
The weapon choice is in some way even larger and extra insane than ever. We’re speaking weapons that flip into strolling turrets. However one of the best factor is that the weapons in Borderlands 3 really feel like they hold round a bit of longer earlier than you throw them away for the subsequent, new shiny weapon. Within the unique sport, a legendary gun was one thing you’d use for some time, whereas Borderlands 2 the weapons got here so thick and so quick that even legendary weapons have been expendable. Borderlands 3 strikes a strong stability between the 2 video games.
Moreover, Borderlands 3 introduces a bunch of compelling new characters every with their very own distinctive ability timber, providing an unprecedented degree of customization and replayability. There’s loads of cool builds to mess around with.
The place Borderlands 3 falters is its villains, a duo of idiots who attempt to emulate the sarcastic chunk of Good-looking Jack and fail at virtually each flip. They find yourself being nothing greater than irritating roadblocks that derail the entire rattling sport each time they pop onto the display screen. It’s a disgrace as a result of their social media influencer gimmick and their military of drooling followers is a cool idea, nevertheless it simply by no means works.
Whether or not you’re looting, taking pictures, or exploring the far reaches of the galaxy, Borderlands 3 is an effective time, however the weaker story, characters and humour imply it could possibly’t beat out Borderlands 2.
3. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
Based mostly across the Dungeons & Dragons impressed growth for Borderlands 2, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands injects Borderlands with a hearty dose of fantasy. On paper, this could have been my favorite sport of all the franchise.
The problem in rating Wonderland’s comes from Tiny Tina being the focus. Like many Borderlands characters, her persona might be grating which is why she is greatest deployed as a assist character, very like Claptrap. Placing her entrance and centre dangers making the character going from a loud however sort of humorous distraction to a full-blown annoyance. Personally, I like her sufficient that she didn’t find yourself destroying my enjoyment, nevertheless it’s comprehensible why some individuals shut the sport off after the primary hour and by no means went again.
Gameplay sensible, it is a straight-forward Borderlands sport nevertheless it does use the Bunkers & Badasses premise so as to add a number of enjoyable wrinkles, like having the ability to equip armour and magic alongside the same old firearms. By the top, I felt like the sport may have finished extra with its cool premise, nevertheless it was nonetheless a good time.
4. Tales from the Borderlands
Tales from the Borderlands is a tough sport to rank as a result of it’s so basically completely different from the opposite video games within the sequence. Developed by Telltale, TFTB swaps out the looting and taking pictures for a narrative-driven journey sport set within the Borderlands universe.
By the point this sport launched, Telltale’s gameplay and sport engine have been displaying their age and the sport was understandably criticised for it. However exterior of Good-looking Jack in Borderlands 2, that is the sharpest writing in all the sequence. It takes the intentionally cringe humour of the principle sequence and turns it into one thing deeper, in addition to bringing again the a lot darker undertone and humour of the primary sport. Strongly written characters, humorous jokes and a sensible story make this the best-written sport within the franchise.
5. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
Following the success of Borderlands 2 and the glowing reception of Good-looking Jack, Gearbox determined to double-down on their villain by giving him his very personal sport, with 2K Australia dealing with many of the developement.
The Pre-Sequel takes place within the occasions between the primary two video games and options 4 new playable characters, all of whom have been bosses that gamers fought beforehand. Main this rag-tag gang of misfits is Jack himself. The narrative follows Jack’s respectable into villainy, and does a fairly good job of it. Jack isn’t fairly as entertaining as his Good-looking Jack persona in Borderlands 2, however due to that he’s additionally extra human.
By way of gameplay although, the Pre-Sequel positively seems like an enormous growth reasonably than a brand new sport. The Moon setting isn’t visually attention-grabbing, although the low-gravity is entertaining to leap round in. And we get the Butt-slam particular transfer, in order that’s someting.
General, a strong entry within the franchise but in addition the one most definitely forgotten about. Actually, I briefly forgot about it whereas penning this record.
Okay, okay, I get it. Placing the unique Borderlands to this point down the record may be a controversial resolution, and I sort of agree. Hear me out: the unique Borderlands is a seminal sport, each for the business and for myself.
I nonetheless personal my Xbox 360 copy of the sport in addition to the official technique information which I bear in mind studying on a practice getting back from GAME the place I picked up it and the sport. And on the business, it grew to become the muse for looter-shooters going ahead, persevering with to affect video games to this present day. The satisfying taking pictures, the wealth of cool weapons to fiddle with and the superb co-op all made Borderlands addictive as hell.
However whenever you fireplace up the sport in 2024 I believe it’s truthful to say that Borderlands doesn’t play anyplace close to in addition to the newer titles within the sequence, and its emptier world and paper-thin story go away so much to be desired in comparison with its sequel. That doesn’t imply its dangerous or it shouldn’t be performed, but when I used to be to recommend a Borderlands sport to a newcomer I’d most likely simply inform them to begin with the second.
There’s no denying the vibe that Borderlands has, although. The big, barren environments, lifeless our bodies, cobbled collectively buildings and psychotic inhabitants all paint the planet of Pandora as a fucked up wasteland. The humour in Borderlands is darker than the sequels. The world is tousled and the individuals on Pandora clearly use a sick sense of humour to deal with their despair and common apathy towards life. Because the sequence went on the humour would develop into zanier, sillier and ruder but in addition overpassed the darker coronary heart of Borderlands.
And let’s be actual, that trailer with No Relaxation for the Depraved by Don’t Cage the Elephant? Killer.
7. New Tales from the Borderlands
New Tales from the Borderlands got here out in 2022 and was envisioned as a non secular successor to Tales from the Borderlands. Developer Telltale had closed their doorways in 2018, so Gearbox tasked Gearbox Quebec with crafting a brand new Borderlands spin-off within the type of Telltale and the consequence was…properly, it wasn’t good.
Gearbox Quebec had no expertise with branching storylines or plotting out how participant choices may influence a story in significant methods, in order that they have been already ranging from the again foot. On high of that, the writing simply wasn’t as robust as the unique Tales from the Borderlands, an enormous downside in a style the place the writing and narrative are every part. A part of the issue is that New Tales from the Borderlands did what the franchise has been doing since Borderlands 2; failing to know what made the humour and writing tick. All the pieces must be a joke, every part must be quirky and loopy and peculiar, and nothing is ever allowed to breath or be severe for a second. The few moments by which New Tales from the Borderlands tries to dig deep and draw out some real emotion fails as a result of every part else is a joke.
It didn’t do a lot to wow critics and players on the gameplay entrance, both. Quebec aped the unique Telltale type fairly intently, however even when Telltale closed in 2018 that type was outdated and in dire want of an replace, so by 2022 individuals simply weren’t .
Even now, it has a “Largely Unfavourable” ranking on Steam, the bottom of all the franchise.
