Borderlands 4 is here at last, and it's a make-or-break moment for the series

Borderlands 4 is here, and I'm actually quite excited. I fell in love with Gearbox's looter-shooter series back in my university dorm room in 2009, and I've continued to have an affinity for it ever since. The new installment has a lot to prove, to me and the wider audience; BL3 played really well at its core, but it was badly paced and its brand of in-your-face humor fell flatter than it had in the past. Perhaps this once-great name had run out of steam? Borderlands 4 restarts the engine, and takes things in a slightly new direction - but will it be enough to win hearts and minds once more?

The early signs are strong. While we didn't get Borderlands 4 review code ahead of time (and we weren't alone there), the initial round of reviews seems largely positive. At the time of writing, Metacritic lists it at an 84 critic average, while Opencritic comes in at an 85. Add in Jamie's praise for the combat during our most recent preview, and we could have one of the best FPS games of the year on our hands. But there are certainly concerns. Will the shift to a slightly more 'serious' tone leave some of the core identity behind? Then there's the specter of performance and frame rate, with rumblings of drops and hitches already circulating from those with early copies.

It's no surprise to hear Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford say that he's "freaking out" about the launch, but he says the mood in the 'war room' is good. "There's a lot of energy in the room, but so much focus," he writes in a response on X, "I'm blown away by the telemetry we're seeing. Very exciting!"

The biggest draw for me are the four playable Borderlands 4 characters. Vex, Rafa, Harlowe, and Amon have won me over as possibly the most complete-sounding lineup of Vault Hunters yet. There's not a single one I don't want to play, and it's making my choice of starter tough. There are more classes to come in the game's roadmap, too, which will also reintroduce the long-requested Pearlescent weapon rarity from Borderlands 2. Based on previews, it seems like combat is set to be a surefire winner as well.

Conversely, the biggest concern is the tone and pacing of the story. Several reviews mention that Borderlands 4 feels like too much of an overcorrection from the extreme of BL3. Love it or hate it, the intentionally loud, brash nature of humor has become one of Gearbox's signature elements. With that said, if the Borderlands 4 missions are well-structured, and the loot drops strike that balance just right, the writing will inevitably melt somewhat into the background as I blast my way through the seventh loop of Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode.

Performance is also likely to be a concern, particularly on PC. We've seen several high-profile names such as Monster Hunter Wilds fall foul of negative community reception due to framerate and smoothness issues, and some early reports show players running into frame drops during bigger battles, even when running on the best graphics card on the market right now. YouTuber Dennis 'Force Gaming' Duhamel notes that he eliminated most of his issues using DLSS and frame gen, but that's a bit more of a band-aid solution.

Borderlands 4 is out now. I'll certainly be putting in plenty of hours; only time will tell how I feel when the dust settles. Be sure to grab the latest active Borderlands 4 Shift codes if you're planning to play, and snag a few freebies for your troubles.

We've also got everything you need to know about how Borderlands 4 crossplay works, and be sure to check the Borderlands 4 system requirements to have the best chance of a good time out of the gate.

If you're playing, be sure to drop into the PCGamesN community Discord server and let us know what you think of Gearbox's latest.