I really like Borderlands 4, and was reminded of that once I returned to it earlier this month, so seeing Gearbox drop its first main replace of 2026 together with an overhauled roadmap for the approaching months is sweet information. There is a increase to devoted loot drops as you crank up UVHM ranks, a long-deserved rework for my favourite motion talent within the recreation, and even a photograph mode. But as we stay up for the Pearlescent replace and the sport’s first Story Pack DLC, I am nonetheless struck with a anxious feeling that the FPS recreation is being ignored within the chilly.
I am a typically optimistic type, so let’s begin with the great things. Harlowe’s Zero-Level ult has lengthy been essentially the most enjoyable motion talent to make use of in the entire of Borderlands 4, but it is constantly outperformed by different choices. With the intention to make it “extra satisfying and higher balanced relative to Harlowe’s different timber,” Gearbox has wrapped the Inertia increase (which causes the bubble to chain to new targets when one dies) into the bottom talent. The add-on will now improve her slam injury, standing impact injury (and likelihood), and create mini projectiles every time she smacks a hostage into one thing.
After lately boosting boss-related devoted drops, this new Borderlands 4 replace now additional will increase them proportionally to your tier of Final Vault Hunter Mode. That is a really welcome change that encourages gamers to crank the issue up. A brand new setting lets you lastly flip off mouse smoothing, and there many extra stability tweaks and bug fixes in right here, too, that are all the time welcome. There’s additionally a photograph mode, which appears to work serviceably from my preliminary assessments; it is higher than nothing in any respect, however the lack of choices to vary your Vault Hunter’s pose and expressions makes it really feel a bit half-baked.
I am very happy with the Harlowe improve, and maybe extra so to listen to that Gearbox is considering long-term about different potential changes throughout the solid. “We need to be certain that every Vault Hunter has loads of construct range, with every motion talent having its personal execs and cons,” the developer writes. “If and after we see one falling behind, we’ll proceed to discover adjustments like right now’s.”
Then we’ve got the up to date Borderlands 4 roadmap. As we beforehand knew, we’re getting a free replace a while within the first quarter of 2026 introducing the sequence’ ultra-rare, extra-special Pearlescent gear to the fray. That would effectively be a giant deal if Gearbox has been saving some methods up its sleeve – genuinely distinctive and inventive designs that you could craft a construct round would generate loads of buzz.
Additionally in the identical quarter is the second Bounty Pack, which I would anticipate to be barely beefier than the Mercenary Day drop, on condition that Gearbox handed that one out without spending a dime as a result of it ended up feeling smaller than initially deliberate. Then we’ve got the primary correct story DLC, Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned.
I am genuinely very enthusiastic about this; Gearbox has an awesome monitor report on the subject of expansions, with the likes of BL1’s Normal Knoxx and BL2’s Assault on Dragon Preserve offering a few of the greatest questlines, dialogue, and motion within the sequence. Plus it is bringing again Ellie, a long-time fan favourite, and I am all the time up for any delving into eldritch weirdness and unknowable threats.
Past that, nevertheless, particulars are fairly gentle. There is a second raid boss and a takedown, after which a sluggish drip-feed of three extra Bounty Packs earlier than we get to the following story DLC within the third quarter of 2026. After which… that is it, for now. The developer does say it is making an attempt to enhance “efficiency and stability,” and Capcom’s latest Monster Hunter Wilds enhancements have me hoping Gearbox can pull off some related wizardry right here. There are additionally imprecise guarantees of limited-time occasions, however the Halloween providing was such a shallow addition I discovered it exhausting to muster up the keenness to chase after it.
I do not take into account Borderlands 4 a live-service recreation the best way that some may, and I am pleased with going off and enjoying different video games within the interim between main expansions. However wanting on the present lineup, I see a recreation that is aware of it has to have a regular-drip feed of latest issues, however would not actually need to. I hope Gearbox is ready to determine what truly works greatest, and that the top of this yr would not spell a quiet finale for a recreation that has the potential to continue to grow into one thing really particular.