Borderlands 4 dev says “the way we’ve done guns before is great,” but Gearbox is still overhauling its weapons to offer even “more opportunity for surprise”

Borderlands 4’s innovative gun manufacturer mechanism presents “greater chances for surprise,” although Gearbox admits that the earlier system was quite effective.

In a conversation with GamesRadar+, executive producer Chris Brock mentioned that with Borderlands 4, Gearbox aims to reinvent movement and exploration, akin to its previous attempts to refresh gunplay in Borderlands 3. Nevertheless, that doesn’t imply that shooting and looting aren’t also focal points for the studio.

Five firearm manufacturers are making a comeback in the Borderlands realm, along with three fresh ones. However, Gearbox is introducing the concept of ‘licensed components’ in Borderlands 4, enabling characteristics from various manufacturers to manifest on identical firearms. “We assign distinct behaviors to all these parts and let the system operate,” Brock clarifies.

“The manner in which we previously crafted guns was excellent,” he continues, “but this new approach allows for increased opportunities for surprise.” Acquiring a new weapon and discovering it possesses an entirely different effect could have its advantages and disadvantages – in his Borderlands 4 preview, Josh West remarked that obtaining a favorable roll still feels rewarding, but the challenge of discerning if an item genuinely suits your build poses a tougher dilemma.

I am curious about how this will resonate with players. The ‘one billion guns’ claim that Gearbox touted for Borderlands 3 and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands felt somewhat daunting, even if I recognized I would only encounter a minuscule portion of the total variations. Introducing even more randomness into this seems to be a method to amplify the colossal number, but the unpredictability might feel a bit excessive.

Feedback from the Borderlands fan fest demo appears to have been favorable, but there’s evidently no real sense of endgame in such a slim portion of gameplay. I sincerely hope the system functions well, but I still harbor concerns about the backlash from hardcore Borderlands enthusiasts if it falters.

In other areas, matters appear to be a bit more straightforward, with Borderlands 4 revisiting some of the “simpler” mission structures from Borderlands 1.

I’m GamesRadar’s Managing Editor for news, influencing the news direction across the team. I initiated my journalistic journey while pursuing my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also served as Games Editor on the student publication, The Boar. Subsequently, I’ve overseen the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might guess, PC is my preferred platform, so you can frequently find me engaging in League of Legends or Steam’s latest indie sensation.