TheBorderlandsseries has been delivering laughs and loot for almost fifteen years, with the original 2009 game breaking barriers by combining the genres of first-person shooters and loot-based RPGs in a fresh and fun new package. As we all know now, it was a massive success, kicking off a massive franchise of sequels, spin-offs, and adaptations.
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In the time since, it has become one of the best-selling video game series of all time, with a Borderlandsmovie even hitting the big screen in theaters.
We can’t speak to the quality of this movie.
Here’s a look back at the best of the game series, from least to most badass!
8Borderlands Legends
Yep, we really meant every game.
Hopping on the simultaneous success of Borderlands 2’s release and the explosion of mobile gaming, 2K cashed in on both with a Borderlandsmobile game: a real-time strategy title called Borderlands Legends. As you can probably tell from its ranking on our list, it was a bit underwhelming.
Critical reception to the mobile game was mixed, especially with the award-winning Borderlands 2 to compare it to, and the gameplay was largely unexciting and basic. Unfortunately, those hoping to check out the game nowadays will be disappointed to find out that Borderlands Legends was removed from the App Store in 2016.
7New Tales From The Borderlands
Guess who’s back?
New Tales From the Borderlands
After the collapse of narrative-adventure game developer Telltale in 2018, the futures of several Telltale series were unsure, including that of Tales From The Borderlands. Thankfully, Gearbox stepped in and took over the series, debuting anew installmentin 2022.
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New Tales From The Borderlands was set after the events of Borderlands 3and followed a new trio of playable protagonists, with cameos from characters throughout the Borderlandsuniverse throughout. Overall, the new season of Tales was underwhelming, failing to match the clever humor and writing of the original and failing to evolve in gameplay and design.
6Borderlands 3
A journey away from Pandora
Borderlands 3
WhileBorderlands 3brought a lot of new mechanics and gameplay elements to the series, those additions were bogged down by a glitchy launch-day build. Brutal frame rate drops, crashes, and game-breaking bugs plagued the entire game, and weren’t fixed until far after the game’s release.
In addition to the bugs, Borderlands 3 failed to capture the charm and quality of previous installments in the writing department. With annoying antagonists (and not in the fun way like Handsome Jack), a forgettable story, and lackluster humor and comedy across the board, Borderlands 3 fails to stand up to the other FPS games in the franchise (it’s still a fun game with friends, though).
5Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
Dungeons & Dragons… and Guns
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
If we were ranking the best BorderlandsDLCs of all time, Tiny Tina’s Assault at Dragon’s Keepwould be at the top of the list without a doubt. So it only made sense when Gearbox announced a standalone successor to the DLC, bringing the key gameplay elements of Borderlandsto a new fantasy setting, with heavier emphasis on RPG mechanics and customization.
Wonderlands is the only Borderlandsgame with custom playable characters, giving players more freedom to experiment with builds and classes as they choose. While it did come off as more of an extended DLC for Borderlands 3, feeling nearly-identical in play and engine, the new setting and the charm of chaotic narrator/dungeon master Tiny Tina more than made up for it.
4Borderlands
The original looter-shooter
Borderlands
The inaugural title in the Borderlandsseries was (and still is) a wild, fun, and unique co-op shooter, introducing the key elements of what makes a Borderlandsgame a Borderlandsgame. Lootable weapons with varying stats, cell-shaded graphics, hilarious writing and dialogue, and the skill-trees of the RPG genre have been here since the beginning.
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Running and gunning doesn’t get better than this!
While later games in the series definitely improved and expanded on the ideas originally introduced in the original, the first game earns bonus points for how truly revolutionary it was. By today’s standards, the game may be a bit slow, but it’s still a great time if you can find some friends to play with you.
3Tales From The Borderlands
The sequel to the sequel (that’s a prequel to the next sequel)
Tales From The Borderlands
Tales From The Borderlandsbrought a fresh perspective on the world of Pandora, swapping the looter-shooter action of the main series for a narrative-driven experience with branching storylines and impactful choice-making. It may seem like an idea out of left field, but given the massive successes of Borderlands 2 and Telltale Games at the time, it made perfect sense.
Jumping between the perspectives of two new characters, players are able to see a new side of the Borderlandsuniverse, getting deeper into the lore found in dialogue and audio logs in previous games. Tales From The Borderlands also brought great action sequences, a captivating story, a killer soundtrack, and plenty of cameos from series favorites like Zer0, Scooter, and Claptrap.
2Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
Before the middle, but after the beginning
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!
The irreverent and tongue-in-cheek tone of the Borderlandsgames spread into the titling of this installment, with Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel taking place in the time between the first and second Borderlandsgames. While it may seem like a smaller-scale spin-off title in the same vein as games like Far Cry: Blood Dragon or Halo 3: ODST,make no mistake: this is a full, standalone game.
The Pre-Sequel was the first game in the series to take players off of the planet of Pandora, introducing several new sci-fi elements into the mix including oxygen tanks, laser weapons, and jetpacks. Of course, the game doesn’t quite hit the same if you haven’t first played its predecessor: Borderlands 2.
1Borderlands 2
Pandora Awaits, Vault Hunters!
Borderlands 2
The best game in the series, Borderlands 2 is the ultimate Borderlandsexperience. If the game’s dozens of Game of the Year awards aren’t enough of an indicator of the game’s greatness, it’s also sold over 20 million copies on multiple generations of consoles.
The iconic and hilarious villain Handsome Jack, the return of characters from the original game, and the addition of major gameplay improvements like more diverse skill trees, higher build customization, and weapon manufacturer attributes are just some of the things that make Borderlands 2 a classic. It’s a must-play for any gaming fan, spurring the explosion of the looter-shooter genre and games like The Division and Destiny.
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