2K and Gearbox Software released a story trailer for the upcoming looter-shooter Borderlands 4. And if you’re familiar with the series’ tone and storytelling (or if you might have seen the Borderlands film), you wouldn’t expect much from the story it’s trying to tell.
So it’s surprising to see how the trailer is just played straight. No cringe jokes, the psychos don’t ham it up much. We just see how serious of a villain the Timekeeper and his minions are in keeping the planet Kairos under his control. A few quips from returning Vault Hunter Zane and an appearance from Moxxi will get long-time Borderlands fans pointing at the screen. But other than that, it’s a totally serious, if not slightly generic, trailer packed with brooding long camera pans and quick-cuts of action.
After Borderlands 3’s botched story (check out our review for that), and the Borderlands film, Gearbox sure has something to prove in this aspect. But would a deadpan take on the looter-shooter, with all signs of cringe sanded out, make it a better game?
It won’t be long until we find out. Borderlands 4 releases on September 12 for the PS5, PC (Steam, Epic Games Store) and Xbox Series X|S. It’s also coming to Nintendo Switch 2 at a later date.