Gearbox has been surprisingly hushed when it comes to Borderlands 4. That is, until the end of April, when the developer finally revealed more information about the game. During a 20-minute-long PlayStation State of Play, Gearbox showed off the new Vault Hunters, some action skills, gameplay mechanics, and the world of Kairos. The developer even talked about the game’s story. Here is everything Gearbox revealed about Borderlands 4 gameplay in the State of Play.
Everything revealed in the Borderlands 4 State of Play
A lot more information about Borderlands 4 and its gameplay was revealed during the PlayStation State of Play on April 30. For starters, the story focuses on the Timekeeper’s subjugation of Kairos and how the citizens are trying to break free from his rule. As many have pointed out, this story is supposed to be more grounded and serious than it was in Borderlands 3 – a step in the right direction for the fanbase.
The new Vault Hunters look good
Part of the extended gameplay look revealed more information about the Vault Hunters. Primarily, the stream focused on Vex – the new Siren, and Rafa – an ex-Tediore soldier. Vex is a Siren that uses supernatural phase energy to power her abilities. As shown during the stream, she has the ability to summon a copy of herself that fights alongside her, summon a tiger-like creature that attacks enemies, and empower herself.
Rafa, on the other hand, uses a rig for his action skills. The primary skill that was revealed is one that lets him construct blades using digistruct technology. He then spins around, slicing up foes caught in his path. He also appears to have the ability to summon an energy weapon using this technology. The other Vault Hunters are Harlowe – the Gravitar, and Among – the Forgeknight. These characters were briefly shown during the new gameplay trailer, but were not talked about heavily.
Additional gameplay information
Along with the new characters, players got a glimpse of some of the game’s traversal mechanics as well as the all-important guns. Gearbox confirmed that players will have access to a double-jump, glide, and grappling hook for traversal across Kairos. Along with this, the world will be made up of large segmented areas and not one continuous open world like many believed.
The guns are the Borderlands series’ bread and butter, and they are getting a good overhaul in Borderlands 4. Weapons can now drop with parts from different manufacturers, giving them bonuses based on what parts are combined to make up the weapon. Players will also be able to use enhancements that give them bonuses to their weapons. This system will replace artifacts from previous games in the series.
Finally, Gearbox confirmed that it listened to the fans and is making some key changes. For starters, players will be able to replay boss fights. This allows them to farm bosses more easily without needing to back out of the game and reload it. This also allows players to farm bosses together, something the community has been asking about for a while. On top of this, Gearbox stated that legendary weapons will actually be legendary again, meaning they won’t be handed out like candy as they were in Borderlands 3.
