Borderlands 4 Xbox Series X Review So Far – Squad Goals

By Adam Vale (OG Vault Hunter)

There are a handful of games that, if a friend says “BRO! want to jump in?” I’m 100% onboard. The Borderlands series is on this short list. For me, Borderlands is one of the best co-op multiplayer series of all time. You can jump in and out of games seamlessly.

The vast customization options, along with weapon selections, keep the gameplay fresh and overall a damn good time running around with 3 other friends killing psychos and engaging in over-the-top boss battles.

With all that said, my wants or expectations for a new Borderlands may not align with some, as I’m reviewing this game based on what, in my opinion, are the key reasons the Borderlands series is so highly regarded. Is it perfect? Of course not, no game is. Now, as of the time of this writing, Friday, 14^th, 2025, I’ve spent a couple of days with the game and absolutely intend to complete the campaign like I have with all the previous Borderlands, but I do feel comfortable with putting together this review and giving my thoughts from an OG player of the series. So, let’s do this!

Borderlands 4 takes place on a completely new planet named Kairos. This planet is ruled by the Timekeeper. In traditional Borderlands fashion, we get a cool video explaining what’s going on and why the vault hunters are targeting this new planet. Check this decision as a PLUS, for it was time to move away from Pandora. Yeah, we visit other planets in Borderlands 3, but Pandora was always the focus. A new planet way out of the galaxy offers new enemy types, weapons, and out-of-left-field stories one would expect to find in a Borderlands game.

The cell shade art style is iconic to the franchise. So much so that whenever you see any game using this art style, many are quick to say, “Hey, it looks like Borderlands.” From the dynamic lighting to the environmental sound effects. All the new locations have their own unique feel, which motivates you to explore every inch. While you can do all this traversing on foot, you can also use one of the many new, fully customizable vehicles.

The first one you’ll get in during the mission “Down and Outbound.” The vehicle is called the Digirunner. Gone are the days when you had to find a vehicle spawn station. Now you just press right on the D-pad to trigger the animation of your vault hunter hopping on one instantly. This is a fantastic new feature because there was nothing more frustrating than having your vehicle get destroyed in previous Borderlands and having to trek the rest of the way on foot.

On the topic of great gameplay improvements, let’s talk about the new weapon wheel menu that is displayed in the bottom right of the screen, which shows all your current active weapons. Hold the (Y) button to bring it up and use the D-pad buttons to select the weapon you want. This is another great addition to reduce the number of times you spend in your character menu screen.

Two other notable gameplay additions are the grappling hook and glider. You get the grappling hook early in the game and will see little circles appear on high ledges, indicating this is a grapple point. Press and hold the left trigger to repel up. You can detach in mid-flight by pressing (A) or (B). Again, this is just another major new feature that greatly improves how you explore the new planet and reduces the stress of falling off a high platform and having to spend time finding your way back up.

So you repelled to the top, killed your foes, and grabbed the loot. Now, how do you get back down? Well, you use your glider! After jumping with the (A) button, simply hold the button down to glide to your desired landing spot. While on the topic, press up on the D-pad to ping your next target location, which is now displayed with a ground-level waypoint line.

I love this new navigation system, which reminds me of Dead Space, in which you would put your hand out to produce a waypoint line to your next location. All these improvements enhance the gameplay experience by making it easier and faster to explore the new locations.

There are currently 4 new vault hunters to choose from,

• Rafa (Exo-Soldier)
• Vex (Siren), Rafa (Exo-Soldier)
• Amon (Forgeknight)
• Harlowe (Gravitar)

2 additional hunters are arriving later via DLC. Each hunter has a unique combat style and skill set. Like other Borderlands games, the base max character level is 50 (which could change later). As you complete missions, objectives, etc., you will earn cash and skill points.

The cash can be used to purchase items from vending machines and the skill points to upgrade your character. You can now customize your vault hunter’s appearance on the fly. Just go into your character menu, tab over to customization, and make all the customization changes you used to do at a vending machine here instantly.

Borderlands 4 is not a repackaged version of previous releases with some tweaks. This is a fully new experience that offers new ways to navigate, a streamlined menu system, so you spend less time fiddling around in menus and more time playing. The gunplay is fast, frantic, and enjoyable. The game fully supports cross-platform play with Xbox, PlayStation, PC, and Switch 2. Though I heard the PC version is a bit rough and requires some patches.

On that note, I did not encounter any performance issues on the Xbox Series X, and it appears the same can be said for the PlayStation 5. The Borderlands series always provided a fun co-op experience, and I’m glad to see that in the year 2025, Borderlands 4 is still achieving this goal and producing one hell of a good time with friends.

This review was written based on a digital review copy of Borderlands 4 for the Xbox Series X provided by 2K.