There are a lot of massive games coming out in 2025. We’re almostthrough the juggernaut of February, but March isn’t slowing down withSplit FictionandAssassin’s Creed Shadows, while we knowXbox is building momentum(admittedlyoften through cross platform games on Game Pass), PlayStation hasa triple-A double header,Nintendo is launching a new consolewith what is likelya bumper catalogue, and there’s the small matter ofGTA 6(andHalf-Life 3andHollow Knight: Silksongand maybe evenBloodborne Remastered right?!).
But through all of this, the most interesting game of the year is, I would argue,Borderlands4. Not the best. Not the highest selling. Not the most experimental or boundary pushing or creative. Simply the most interesting. I say this because I have no idea what to expect, and that’s a rare thing in gaming. Most of the releases we’ve had this year have been in line with expectations, and I think I can probably call the other big hitters right now too.
Most Big Games Are Predictable. Borderlands 4 Is Not.
Let’s take a look at what we’ve had so far.Dynasty Warriors: Originshas had a bump in popularity but alienated some hardcore fans, a very predictable outcome given the game advertised itself as streamlining the experience while upping the scope. Avowed, the RPG from the people who madeThe Outer Worlds, has been nitpicked because of its similarities andshortcomings to Bethesda games, beenpraised for its combatthoughthe clunk has not gone unnoticed, and is a very fun setting to run around in butultimately feels shallow- so, it’s The Outer Worlds.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2is great so long as you liked the first one and way too complicated if you didn’t.Civilization 7is a fantastic game that everyone thinks you shouldn’t play for several months, which we all knew would happen because it’s a Civ game. I can keep going like this.
Nintendo’sfranchise games will be excellent apart from the one that over commits to whatever the Switch 2’s new gimmick is and there’ll be a weird game we’ll all forget about. Assassin’s Creed Shadows will befun but datedand all anyone will talk about isthings they’ve decided to be angry about. GTA 6 will be the biggest video game ever and this,its hype, and its competent gameplay with intricate technological peacocking and an edgy story will convince a lot of people (including possibly myself) that it’s also the best video game ever.
Of course, this might not happen. The Switch 2 could pull a Wii U and the games might suck. GTA 6 might do aCyberpunk 2077(though many werehappy to crown that the best game everdespite obvious flaws). Assassin’s Creed could finally evolve. But I think we all broadly feel the same way about the biggest games coming out this year - even people who may not like GTA 6 are expecting it to be massive, cutting edge, and be heaped with praise.
Does Borderlands Hold Up In 2025?
But what does anyone think of Borderlands 4? Of all the triple-A games launching this year, it seems like the one where people have no idea what the game will look like, play like, or feel like. Is Borderlands too far gone now and only able to be a parody of itself? Would a back to basics Borderlands even work, or is that the only path to success? Is Borderlands even Borderlands without the Impact Font era humour, and is it now so old that that humour has swung back around to being funny?
I didn’t loveTiny Tina’s WonderlandsorNew Tales From The Borderlands, but I think that’s less because I’m going off Borderlands and more because those games weren’t great. But I did still loveBorderlands 3, which is in contrast to a lot of older Borderlands fans who hit you with a shy “yeah the first two were okay when I was a kid, but now I have more mature tastes, like leatherbound books”. 3 was the best selling game in the series, but is often looked upon as the embarrassing black sheep of the family.
This makes it a fascinating game. If you told me you’d been to the future and saw what score Borderlands 3 got, there’s not a number between 60 and 92 that would surprise me. If it were 69, I’d say that was at least a poetic death for Borderlands. Obviously I’d be surprised that you’d been to the future at all, and that of all the information you’d chose to bring back it was the Borderlands review score, but the number itself would not be surprising. Don’t tell me what happens in the new season of Yellowjackets!
Where was I? Oh yeah. Borderlands 4 is going to have one of the most unpredictable launches of the year, and it might tell us a little bit about where modern gaming stands. Borderlands has always fitted multiplayer-esque mechanics into a single-player experience, but are we more or less likely to embrace that in a medium that has shifted wholesale into pushing multiplayer anyway? Will Borderlands humour land in 2025, or will Gearbox predict that it won’t and change what Borderlands is to suit? Will it score the fabled 69 review score, and other such questions? I doubt Borderlands 4 will be my favourite game this year, but depending on what happens, it might be my favourite game to think about.
