Since its launch in 2009, the Borderlands series has become Gearbox’s biggest franchise across multiple games, as well as a disastrous movie that flopped at the box office. So what better time to rank all the Borderlands games from best to worst?
Throughout its ups and downs, the Borderlands series holds a special place in my heart. It’s a mix of shooting, mugging, and goofiness that plays like a cozy blanket, splattered with blood and gore and riddled with a few bullet holes.
So with the new movie landing with the grace of an elephant parachuting off a cliff with a malfunctioning parachute, let’s take a moment to rank the Borderlands games. Obviously, this is a completely personal list. I’m sure your rankings will be very different from mine, so feel free to leave a comment saying how you rate them.
Finally, before we get into the list, there are some versions that I didn’t list: for example, the various collectibles, including the Handsome Collection, are not here. Neither is Borderlands 2 VR or the indie game Dragon Keep Assault. They don’t feel like they need to be on the list because they’re essentially either the base game with some improvements or add-ons.
Borderlands 2 is so good that Gearbox has tried to chase the magic with every game in the series, but never quite captured it. It’s a brilliant looter shooter that’s a riot from start to finish and a near-perfect evolution from its predecessor.
Part of the magic comes from Handsome Jack the Bastard, who has quickly become one of the most popular villains in all of gaming. Despite having very little actual screen time, his sarcastic voice follows you around the air to remind you that you suck. Or tell you that he was so rich that he bought a pony made of diamonds and named it “Butt Stallion.”
Handsome Jack is the epitome of ever-expanding storytelling. The first game was often criticized for its thin plot and characters. Gearbox has responded perfectly, creating a more engaging story and even managing to deliver some emotional moments. It also enhances the humor, although this does come at the expense of the first game’s darker edge.
The game system is a huge leap forward from the first game, with not only weapons but also skill trees being greatly expanded. The level of building craftsmanship in Borderlands 2 is much higher than in the first game, and even though I’ve played it many times, I still haven’t tried all the different styles in Borderlands 2. Making the game insanely replayable.
Borderlands 2 also has some great DLC included in the Handsome Collection for modern consoles. Two additional playable characters were added, but the real highlight was Tiny Tina’s raid on the Dragon Keep, which ended up being the inspiration for another entry on this list. Filled with pop culture references, from Dark Souls to Ninja Turtles.
Borderlands 3 successfully builds on the solid gameplay foundation laid by its predecessor. Improved movement mechanics, such as the ability to slide and cloak, add an extra dynamic to already fun and frantic combat. It’s the best in the series yet, with the smoothest gunplay.
Somehow, the weapon selection is bigger and crazier than ever. We’re talking about a gun that turns into a walking turret. But the best part is that the guns in Borderlands 3 feel like they stick around longer before you throw them away for a new shiny weapon. In the original game, legendary guns were something you’d use for a while, but the guns in Borderlands 2 are thick and fast, and even legendary weapons are consumable. Borderlands 3 strikes a solid balance between the two games.
In addition, Borderlands 3 introduces a number of compelling new characters, each with their own unique skill trees, providing unprecedented customization and replayability. There are a lot of cool builds available.
Where Borderlands 3 fails is with its villains, a pair of idiots who try to emulate Handsome Jack’s sarcastic style but fail almost every time. They end up being nothing more than annoying roadblocks that derail the entire damn game every time they appear on screen. It’s a shame because their social media influencer gimmick and their army of drooling fans is a cool concept, but it’s never going to work.
Whether you want to loot, shoot, or explore the far corners of the galaxy, Borderlands 3 is a solid choice, but weaker story, characters, and humor mean it can’t beat Borderlands 2.
3. Little Tina’s Wonderland
“Tina’s Wonderland” is based on the “Borderlands 2” expansion pack inspired by “Dungeons and Dragons”, injecting a large number of fantasy elements into “Borderlands”. On paper, this has to be my favorite game in the entire series.
The difficulty with ranking “Wonderland” is that little Tina is the focus. Like many Borderlands characters, her personality can be annoying, which is why she’s best deployed in a support role, much like Claptrap. Putting her front and center risks taking the character from a loud but mildly amusing distraction to an all-out annoyance. Personally, I liked her enough that she ultimately didn’t ruin my fun, but it’s understandable why some people turned the game off after the first hour and never went back.
In terms of gameplay, it’s a simple Borderlands game, but it does take the premise of Bunkers & Badasses and add some interesting things, like being able to equip armor and magic alongside the usual guns . By the end, I felt like the game could have done more with its cool premise, but it was still a great time.
4. Stories from the Frontier
Legends of the Borderlands is a difficult game to rank because it’s so fundamentally different from other games in the series. Developed by Telltale and set in the Borderlands universe, TFTB replaces looting and shooting with a narrative-driven adventure game.
By the time the game was released, Telltale’s gameplay and game engine were already looking outdated, and the game was understandably criticized for it. But aside from Handsome Jack in Borderlands 2, this is the sharpest writing in the entire series. It takes the intentionally cringe-worthy humor of the main series and turns it into something deeper, bringing back the darker tone and humor of the first game. Strong characters, funny jokes, and a clever story make this game the best-written in the series.
5. Borderlands: The Prequel
Following the success of Borderlands 2 and the critical acclaim of Handsome Jack, Gearbox decided to step up the development of the villain and create a game dedicated to him, with 2K Australia responsible for most of the development work.
The prequel takes place between the events of the first two games and features four new playable characters, all of whom are bosses players fought against previously. Leading this ragtag group of misfits is Jack himself. The story follows Jack’s journey from good to evil, and it’s very well done. Jack isn’t as interesting as the handsome Jack from Borderlands 2, but because of that, he’s also more human.
But in terms of gameplay, the prequel definitely feels like a big expansion pack rather than a new game. The lunar environment isn’t visually interesting, although the low-gravity jumps are fun.
Overall, this is a solid entry in the series, but also the one most likely to be forgotten. To be honest, I temporarily forgot about this while writing this list.
Okay, okay, I get it. Placing the original Borderlands at the very bottom of the list might be a controversial decision, and I kind of agree. Hear me out: the original Borderlands was a groundbreaking game for the industry and myself.
I still have an Xbox 360 copy of the game as well as the official strategy guide and I remember reading it on the train back from GAME where I picked it up along with the game. Within the industry, it became the basis for looter shooters moving forward and continues to influence gaming to this day. Satisfying shooting, an abundance of cool weapons, and a great co-op mode all make Borderlands addictive.
But when you launch this game in 2024, I think it’s fair to say that the gameplay of Borderlands is nowhere near as good as the newer games in the series, and it feels even more hollow than Borderlands The world and thin story leave a lot to be desired. That doesn’t mean it’s bad or shouldn’t be played, but if I were to recommend a Borderlands game to someone new, I’d probably just tell them to start with the second one.
There’s no denying Borderlands’ atmosphere, though. The vast, barren environment, corpses, cluttered buildings, and insane inhabitants all paint Pandora as a fucking wasteland. The humor in Borderlands is darker than in the sequel. The world is a mess, and the people on Pandora apparently cope with their despair and general apathy towards life with a morbid sense of humor. The humor gets funnier, sillier, and cruder as the series goes on, but it also misses the dark core of Borderlands.
Seriously, the trailer for Don’t Cage Elephants ? Killer.
7. New stories from the border
“New Legends of the Borderlands” will be launched in 2022 and is regarded as the spiritual successor of “Tales of the Borderlands”. Developer Telltale shut down in 2018, so Gearbox commissioned Gearbox Quebec to make a new Telltale-style Borderlands spin-off, and the results were… well, not great.
Gearbox Quebec doesn’t have the experience of branching storylines or plotting how player decisions affect the narrative in a meaningful way, so they’ve started on the back foot. On top of that, the writing isn’t as strong as it was in the original Tales from the Borderlands, which is a huge problem in a genre where writing and narrative are everything. Part of the problem is that Borderlands Stories does what the series has been doing since Borderlands 2. Can’t understand what makes the humor and writing work. Everything has to be a joke, everything has to be wacky and crazy and weird, and nothing is allowed a moment of respite or seriousness. The few moments “New Stories from the Borderlands” attempts to dig deep and extract some real emotion fail because everything else is a joke.
It also didn’t surprise critics and players much in terms of gameplay. Québec came pretty close to emulating Telltale’s original style, but even with Telltale shutting down in 2018, the style was outdated and in dire need of an update, so by 2022, people weren’t interested anymore.
Even now, its rating on Steam is “Mostly Negative,” the lowest in the entire series.
