Borderlands 4 reviews are more positive than the reviews for Borderlands 3
Borderlands 4's first reviews dropped today ahead of the looter-shooter's launch on September 12. Fortunately for Gearbox Entertainment, the reviews are positive.
While Borderlands 4 isn't among the best-reviewed games of the year, like Donkey Kong Bananza , it is still reviewed quite well. It also has higher aggregated scores than Borderlands 3 , its divisive predecessor.
How well is Borderlands 4 reviewing?
It's currently the 48th best-reviewed game of 2025
Borderlands 4 has a Metascore of 84 on Metacritic and a Top Critic Average of 84 on OpenCritic at the time of publishing. These scores are aggregated from the ratings that critics at several different gaming websites gave Gearbox Entertainment's latest.
The reviews for the latest Borderlands compliment its ability to lean into exactly what fans want from the series while still experimenting with new ideas, such as a fully open world. Even now, the lowest scores for the game come from 7 out of 10 reviews.
Game Rant praised Borderlands 4 in its review, writing that the game "is ultimately 'more Borderlands' , but it understands that assignment so well that it ends up being the best the series has felt in over a decade." Meanwhile, Polygon writes that "if you love the shooting, unique loot, or crisp sound design that have long defined Borderlands, you'll get all of those qualities at their peak."
The game's approach to comedy and narrative is proving to be a little more divisive, with Polygon's review outright claiming that the "hit rate is unbelievably low" for many of the game's punchlines. Still, the comedy and writing seem to be better received than they were in Borderlands 3.
Released in 2019, Borderlands 3 garnered respectable reviews at the time of release. In retrospect, some aspects of that game aren't looked upon very fondly by the Borderlands community, particularly in regards to its meme-filled humor. Gearbox has spoken a lot about wanting Borderlands 4 to make up for Borderlands 3's shortcomings .
Those efforts appear to have paid off, as Borderlands 4 currently sports a Metascore and OpenCritic score three points higher than Borderlands 3. It's still not the highest-rated game in the series. That honor still goes to 2012's Borderlands 2, which may not ever be dethroned as the series' best game.
Interestingly, Borderlands 4 actually shares a Metascore with the first game in the series. Ultimately, Borderlands fans should just be happy to hear that the series appears to be on the rebound following Borderlands 3 and not crumbling under pressure like Lost Soul Aside . Now, we just have to see if the game's open-world structure and new brand of humor win over people who aren't critics.
