Summary
Borderlandsis a series that both matured and found its footing on the PS3/Xbox 360, being one of the premium offerings in the first-person shooter genre not namedCall of DutyorBattlefield. Instead of those, it was perfect for couch co-op or single-player gaming sessions and offered endless replay value due to the sheer volume of weapons available, which is a philosophy thatGearbox has carried to this day.
The gameplay loop was enough to keep people excited forBorderlands 3, but now that a fourth game is rumored, it’s easy to speculate what it will entail. What feels like a safe bet is what’s presented on the front cover, asBorderlandshas stuck to a very specific school of thought since the get-go, and it’s hard to believe that it will deviate from the idea forBorderlands 4.
Borderlands' Cover Art Shares a Common Consistency
The cel-shaded art style ofBorderlandsis unapologetically unique and striking in design, and it does well to differentiate it from other similar shooters likeRageandFar Cry. It’s not something that Gearbox has ever hidden, with it also featuring on the cover, being used on all three mainline games and the 2014 spin-offThe Pre-Sequel. On all four games' front is a Psycho, the defacto poster boy for the series.
Borderlands 3was released in 2019, but more recently fans were able to enjoy the spin-offTiny Tina’s Wonderlands, a 2022 tabletop RPG-inspired take on the formula.
It gives the franchise a layer of consistency and reassures players that what they’re plucking from the shelf is something that is familiar. It would be a strange deviation forBorderlands 4to stray from the ideagiven how it has become an iconic image, and holding all four products up against one another and not seeing a pattern could be frustrating for those eagle-eyed gamers. It’s a safe bet to assume thatBorderlands4 will stay with it, as it has become something that is expected by players and feels like a smart move.
Borderlands' Psychos are a Perfect Parallel for the Series
Though the vault hunters are always the ones tracking the coveted vaults on Pandora, their character development is always in the background. The likes of Lilith and Roland got fleshed out in later games, but when players assume the role of them, the first-person perspective can stifle how well they can evolve. Psychos have similarities to Splicers inBioShockin that they are unidentifiable people who have been corrupted by their surroundings. Having that on the front cover shows that the protagonists aren’t as important toBorderlandsas the enemies they have to overcome, and the terrain they have to conquer.
Borderlands is Unconventional, But Only to a Point
Borderlandsis a series that takes risks with its presentation and writing, but its loot-based gameplay has been consistent since the first game. One of the big criticisms is that it hasn’t been subject to a significant evolution since the 2009 original, and whileBorderlands 4will have to find a way to truly stand out, there is also the need to keep existing fans happy so that the core audience returns after the somewhat lukewarmgeneral reception ofBorderlands 3.
A big way to do that is to keep a sense of continuity in how the game is presented before it’s even booted up. Despite the old allegory, front covers are inherently designed to be judged, and asBorderlandsis a series that is a source of comfort to many, keeping to convention with a Psycho front and center on the box is a small, but significant way to makeBorderlands 4feel like a safe bet for returning players. It’s highly unlikely that Gearbox will break this tradition inBorderlands 4, it’s more a question of how it will be implemented.
Keeping to convention with a Psycho front and center on the box is a small but significant way to makeBorderlands 4feel like a safe bet for returning players.
