Fans of the Borderlands series are eagerly awaiting the launch of Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, the Borderlands action RPG spinoff that's modeled after fantasy tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons. The game will be the seventh title in the Borderlands franchise.
While most of the games in the series have been praised by fans and critics alike, there have been a few misses throughout the years. But those are fortunately few and far between, meaning that the Borderlands franchise likely has a long life ahead of it.
Borderlands Legends (2012)
To coincide with the launch of Borderlands 2, Gearbox released the mobile-exclusive Borderlands Legends. In the game, players take control of all four vault hunters, operating them as a team. It's played from a top-down perspective and mixes elements of real-time strategy games with Borderlands' classic leveling system, allowing characters to level up and upgrade their powers.
The game received mediocre reviews upon launch, with many commenting on how slow the gameplay in Borderlands Legends was, causing it to feel repetitive and clunky. Also, to make the game fit on mobile devices, the voice acting had to be removed, which severely hindered Boderlands' trademark personality and humor, resulting in a game that felt stale and tedious.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (2014)
In 2014, a new Borderlands game was released that was set in-between the events of Borderlands 1 and 2. Titled The Pre-Sequel, the game unveiled a whole new set of characters and classes, even allowing gamers to finally play as Claptrap. The storyline centered around Handsome Jack and the events that lead him to become the villain in Borderlands 2.
The concept was interesting and the new player classes added a fresh layer of paint to the franchise, but critics and gamers couldn't help but notice something felt off. A vast majority of the game takes place on Elpis, one of Pandora's moons. After a while, the repetitive setting and confusing layouts began to make the game feel a little grinding, leading to many stating that, while still a fun game, it's the least replayable of all the mainline Borderlands games.
Borderlands 3 (2019)
The newest mainline installment in the Borderlands series is Borderlands 3, which was released in 2019. It received mostly positive reviews thanks to its extensive length, refinements to its gameplay mechanics, and its new character classes (such as Moze, who gets to battle in her giant mech, Iron Bear). However, it too saw the same complaint as so many other Borderlands games... it feels like more of the same thing.
For fans of the franchise, this is likely a welcoming statement, as many players already love Borderlands and are simply wanting more of it. However, for gamers who have grown bored of the series, or for those who were never a fan from the start, it's unlikely that Borderlands 3 will be enticing.
Tales from the Borderlands (2014)
Throughout the last decade, Telltale Games has become incredibly popular (and controversial, according to Polygon). The studio is famous for creating excellent "choose your own adventure" games by letting players decide how to respond in conversations and which actions they want the characters to take.
In Tales from the Borderlands, Telltale brought their story-heavy design to the Borderlands universe, and the combo proved to be a success. The game was even nominated for the Best Narrative category at the 2015 Game Awards. With the relaunch of Telltale Games, it's also possible that a Season 2 might one day be released.
Borderlands (2009)
The game that started it all, the original Borderlands still remains impressive to this day. When Borderlands was first launched in 2009 it was met with rave reviews across the board. The first-person looter shooter combined elements of action games, RPG games, and first-person shooters. It was loaded with irreverence and grit and was presented in a unique art style that looked almost like cel-shading, giving it a comic book aesthetic.
The game transported players to a universe being destroyed by giant corporations who were all competing to mine for more resources and discover alien technology that would give them an advantage over their competition. Thanks to a powerful premise and excellent world-building, the game resonated with players and felt exciting, fresh, and addictively fun.
Borderlands 2 (2012)
Building on the success of the first game, Borderlands 2 dived deeper into the universe's lore, creating a longer game with an excellent, compelling story and even more character development. That, combined with Borderlands' already-popular looter shooter formula, proved to be a winning combination, and the 2012 sequel was met with even more praise than the original.
It was so popular that Borderlands 2 ended up receiving tons of able content to appease fans who were begging for more. In fact, the game Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is actually a sequel to the Borderlands 2 DLC Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep (which itself is now sold as its own game in anticipation of the sequel). Borderlands 2 proved to be so popular that its final DLC addition, Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary, was released in 2019, a full seven years after the game's initial launch.
