The very best Borderlands video games, ranked from finest to worst – WGB

Kicking off in 2009 the Borderlands collection has grow to be Gearbox’s largest franchise over the course of a number of video games, and a disastrous film which flopped on the field workplace. What higher time to rank all of the Borderlands video games from finest to worst, then?

All through its ups and downs, the Borderlands collection has carved out a particular place in my coronary heart. Its mix of taking pictures, looting and stupidity are like a cushty blanket spattered within the blood and gore, and peppered with a number of bullet holes.

So with the brand new movie touchdown with all of the grace of an elephant skydiving off a cliff with a defective parachute, let’s take a second to rank the Borderlands video games. Now, clearly this can be a fully private checklist. I’m certain your rating can be vastly completely different from mine, so be happy to drop a remark with how you’d fee them.

Lastly, earlier than we get into the checklist, I’ve not included a number of releases: the assorted Assortment’s, together with the Good-looking Assortment, aren’t right here, for instance. Neither is Borderlands 2 VR, or the standalone Assault on Dragon Maintain. They didn’t really feel like they wanted to be on the checklist as they’re basically both the bottom sport with a number of enhancements or an add-on.

Borderlands 2 is so good that Gearbox has spent each sport within the collection since attempting to chase the magic and by no means fairly capturing it. It’s a implausible looter-shooter, a riot from begin to end and a damn-near good evolution of what got here earlier than.

A part of the magic stems from main arsehole Good-looking Jack who rapidly turned one of the vital beloved villains in all of gaming. Regardless of having little precise screen-time, his sarcastic voice follows you round on the radio, chiming in to remind you that you just suck. Or to tell you that he’s so extremely wealthy that he purchased a pony made from diamond and named it Butt Stallion.

Good-looking Jack was consultant of the increasing storytelling. The primary sport was usually criticised for its paper-thin plot and characters. Gearbox responded completely, crafting a extra participating story that even managed to ship a few emotional moments, too. It amped up the humour as nicely, although that did come at the price of the primary sport’s darker edge.

The gameplay methods are a large leap over the primary sport, vastly increasing on not solely the weapons however on the talent bushes as nicely. The extent of construct crafting obtainable in Borderlands 2 is leagues forward of the primary sport, and regardless of having performed by way of it quite a few occasions, I nonetheless haven’t tried out the entire completely different types in Borderlands 2. It makes the sport insanely replayable.

Borderlands 2 additionally boasts some glorious DLC, which comes packaged in The Good-looking Assortment for contemporary consoles. Two additional playable characters have been added, however the actual spotlight was Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Maintain which might wind up being the inspiration for one more entry on this checklist. Chock-full of pop-culture references, from Darkish Souls to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Borderlands 3 efficiently builds upon the stable gameplay basis laid by its predecessors. The improved motion mechanics, like the power to slip and mantle, add an additional layer of dynamism to the already enjoyable and frenetic fight. That is one of the best the collection has performed, boasting the smoothest gunplay.

The weapon choice is in some way even greater and extra insane than ever. We’re speaking weapons that flip into strolling turrets. However one of the best factor is that the weapons in Borderlands 3 really feel like they grasp round somewhat longer earlier than you throw them away for the subsequent, new shiny weapon. Within the authentic sport, a legendary gun was one thing you’d use for some time, whereas Borderlands 2 the weapons got here so thick and so quick that even legendary weapons have been expendable. Borderlands 3 strikes a stable stability between the 2 video games.

Moreover, Borderlands 3 introduces a bunch of compelling new characters every with their very own distinctive talent bushes, providing an unprecedented stage of customization and replayability. There’s loads of cool builds to mess around with.

The place Borderlands 3 falters is its villains, a duo of idiots who attempt to emulate the sarcastic chunk of Good-looking Jack and fail at virtually each flip. They find yourself being nothing greater than irritating roadblocks that derail the entire rattling sport each time they pop onto the display screen. It’s a disgrace as a result of their social media influencer gimmick and their military of drooling followers is a cool idea, nevertheless it simply by no means works.

Whether or not you’re looting, taking pictures, or exploring the far reaches of the galaxy, Borderlands 3 is an effective time, however the weaker story, characters and humour imply it could possibly’t beat out Borderlands 2.

3. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Primarily based across the Dungeons & Dragons impressed enlargement for Borderlands 2, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands injects Borderlands with a hearty dose of fantasy. On paper, this could have been my favorite sport of your complete franchise.

The problem in rating Wonderland’s comes from Tiny Tina being the point of interest. Like many Borderlands characters, her character will be grating which is why she is finest deployed as a help character, very similar to Claptrap. Placing her entrance and centre dangers making the character going from a loud however sort of humorous distraction to a full-blown annoyance. Personally, I like her sufficient that she didn’t find yourself destroying my enjoyment, nevertheless it’s comprehensible why some individuals shut the sport off after the primary hour and by no means went again.

Gameplay smart, this can be a straight-forward Borderlands sport nevertheless it does use the Bunkers & Badasses premise so as to add a number of enjoyable wrinkles, like having the ability to equip armour and magic alongside the standard firearms. By the top, I felt like the sport might have executed extra with its cool premise, nevertheless it was nonetheless a good time.

4. Tales from the Borderlands

Tales from the Borderlands is a difficult sport to rank as a result of it’s so basically completely different from the opposite video games within the collection. Developed by Telltale, TFTB swaps out the looting and taking pictures for a narrative-driven journey sport set within the Borderlands universe.

By the point this sport launched, Telltale’s gameplay and sport engine have been displaying their age and the sport was understandably criticised for it. However outdoors of Good-looking Jack in Borderlands 2, that is the sharpest writing in your complete collection. It takes the intentionally cringe humour of the primary collection and turns it into one thing deeper, in addition to bringing again the a lot darker undertone and humour of the primary sport. Strongly written characters, humorous jokes and a wise story make this the best-written sport within the franchise.

5. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

Following the success of Borderlands 2 and the glowing reception of Good-looking Jack, Gearbox determined to double-down on their villain by giving him his very personal sport, with 2K Australia dealing with many of the developement.

The Pre-Sequel takes place within the occasions between the primary two video games and options 4 new playable characters, all of whom have been bosses that gamers fought beforehand. Main this rag-tag gang of misfits is Jack himself. The narrative follows Jack’s respectable into villainy, and does a reasonably good job of it. Jack isn’t fairly as entertaining as his Good-looking Jack persona in Borderlands 2, however due to that he’s additionally extra human.

When it comes to gameplay although, the Pre-Sequel positively looks like an enormous enlargement quite than a brand new sport. The Moon setting isn’t visually fascinating, although the low-gravity is entertaining to leap round in. And we get the Butt-slam particular transfer, in order that’s someting.

Total, a stable entry within the franchise but additionally the one most probably forgotten about. Actually, I briefly forgot about it whereas penning this checklist.

Okay, okay, I get it. Placing the unique Borderlands thus far down the checklist could be a controversial choice, and I sort of agree. Hear me out: the unique Borderlands is a seminal sport, each for the business and for myself.

I nonetheless personal my Xbox 360 copy of the sport in addition to the official technique information which I keep in mind studying on a prepare getting back from GAME the place I picked up it and the sport. And on the business, it turned the muse for looter-shooters going ahead, persevering with to affect video games to at the present time. The satisfying taking pictures, the wealth of cool weapons to fiddle with and the wonderful co-op all made Borderlands addictive as hell.

However while you fireplace up the sport in 2024 I believe it’s truthful to say that Borderlands doesn’t play anyplace close to in addition to the newer titles within the collection, and its emptier world and paper-thin story go away lots to be desired in comparison with its sequel. That doesn’t imply its dangerous or it shouldn’t be performed, but when I used to be to counsel a Borderlands sport to a newcomer I’d most likely simply inform them to begin with the second.

There’s no denying the vibe that Borderlands has, although. The big, barren environments, useless our bodies, cobbled collectively buildings and psychotic inhabitants all paint the planet of Pandora as a fucked up wasteland. The humour in Borderlands is darker than the sequels. The world is tousled and the individuals on Pandora clearly use a sick sense of humour to deal with their despair and common apathy towards life. Because the collection went on the humour would grow to be zanier, sillier and ruder but additionally overpassed the darker coronary heart of Borderlands.

And let’s be actual, that trailer with No Relaxation for the Depraved by Don’t Cage the Elephant? Killer.

7. New Tales from the Borderlands

New Tales from the Borderlands got here out in 2022 and was envisioned as a non secular successor to Tales from the Borderlands. Developer Telltale had closed their doorways in 2018, so Gearbox tasked Gearbox Quebec with crafting a brand new Borderlands spin-off within the fashion of Telltale and the end result was…nicely, it wasn’t good.

Gearbox Quebec had no expertise with branching storylines or plotting out how participant choices might impression a story in significant methods, so that they have been already ranging from the again foot. On prime of that, the writing simply wasn’t as sturdy as the unique Tales from the Borderlands, an enormous downside in a style the place the writing and narrative are the whole lot. A part of the issue is that New Tales from the Borderlands did what the franchise has been doing since Borderlands 2; failing to grasp what made the humour and writing tick. Every little thing needs to be a joke, the whole lot needs to be quirky and loopy and bizarre, and nothing is ever allowed to breath or be severe for a second. The few moments wherein New Tales from the Borderlands tries to dig deep and draw out some real emotion fails as a result of the whole lot else is a joke.

It didn’t do a lot to wow critics and avid gamers on the gameplay entrance, both. Quebec aped the unique Telltale fashion fairly intently, however even when Telltale closed in 2018 that fashion was outdated and in dire want of an replace, so by 2022 individuals simply weren’t .

Even now, it has a “Principally Damaging” score on Steam, the bottom of your complete franchise.