I’ve spent a long time in the barren wastelands of Pandora, braved the low-oxygen surface of the planet Elpis, and travelled through space on the Sanctuary spaceship. Still, I’ve never encountered a planet quite like Kairos. Gearbox Software and 2K Games have unveiled the four new vault hunters of Borderlands 4.

I’ve had a spicy glimpse of the gloriously chaotic adventure – running, gunning, and revving through Kairos during my preview time. I couldn’t be happier to delve right back into the action and continue the fight against The Timekeeper post-preview. Better yet, I played it with a fellow MKAU vault hunter, and we had an absolute blast taking on the world together.

Borderlands 4 has left a massive impression just in the opening hours alone. For fans of Borderlands, you’re in for quite the return to form; for new players, you’re in for a helluva good time, and it all starts the moment another iconic opening cutscene plays.

Get ready to be hyped up hard and fast for a little bit of nostalgia and a whole lot of moving into the future of the series: the game sounds, plays, looks, and feels incredible, honouring its legendary predecessors while amping up the volume tenfold.

With an eclectic mix of music styles, ranging from alternative, rock, electronic, and dubstep to sci-fi synth blends, and the oddly comforting sounds of Psycho’s being ripped limb from limb, to the satisfyingly punchy sounds of bullets flying. Now, beautiful isn’t the usual way I would think to describe the Borderlands games, but with super crisp visuals, vibrant colours, and incredibly well-done lighting, Kairos really does feel out-of-this-world.

Combat has been refined, mechanics polished, and the inclusion of a grapple, jetpack, and ready-to-summon vehicle at any time makes getting around the map a breeze. The new vault hunters bring brand-new skills that feel unlike anything previous vault hunters could do, from the Siren/Witch Vex, who can summon a massive feline friend, to a burly axe, hammer, and power-fist-wielding tank – I felt like a badass.

While solo play is excellent, the game is best experienced with friends, and Borderland 4 offers up to 4-player online co-op or 2-player split-screen for Xbox X|S and PlayStation 5. Better yet, the game is cross-platform, so none of your squad is left in the dust.

Borderlands 4 is releasing with three editions: the Standard Edition for the base game, the Deluxe Edition, which includes additional cosmetics, and the Bounty Pack Bundle, which provides for additional areas, more missions, bosses, and other goodies.

Suppose you can’t get enough of Borderlands. The Super Deluxe Edition brings all the content of the other packs, the Season Pass content, including two new playable Vault Hunters when they drop later in the year, and additional “Story Pack” expansions.

So far, the Borderlands 2 roadmap is going strong with Gearbox announcing bonus free content to be released throughout the year. Of course, there are pre-order bonus cosmetics for those I’ve convinced to pre-order before September 12th.

​So far, my preview time has shown that this game is the Borderlands series at its peak. As we know, there ain’t no rest for the wicked, so excuse me while I lose quite a few more hours of sleep hooked on Borderlands 4.

Borderlands 4 is releasing on PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store, as well as on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, on September 12, 2025. Additionally, it will be available on Nintendo Switch 2 on October 3rd.

Written by: Yasmin Noble