Biltong & Bytes: Borderlands 4 Review and First Impressions

There’s nothing like diving into a new Borderlands with a bag of biltong close by and a controller in hand. After about 10 hours with Borderlands 4, here’s the lowdown: same mayhem we love, new world to explore, and… some performance headaches.

Welcome to Kairos

Borderlands 4 trades the dusty wastelands of Pandora for the lush, chaotic world of Kairos. Think less “Mad Max desert” and more green, vibrant jungle vibes — but with the same wild humour and over-the-top action the series is known for.

And ja, Claptrap is still here, still his annoying but lovable self. Borderlands 4 keeps tradition alive: loot, chaos, and Claptrap still giving you lip like a laaitie with too much energy.

The New Vault Hunters

We jumped in with Amon the ForgeKnight. He’s a beefy tank-meets-damage machine, and by speccing into his Crucible skill tree, we were juggling fire-and-ice axes like a braai master flipping wors. He scales beautifully with elemental builds, and honestly, he feels lekker strong.

The other newcomers — Vex the Siren, Rafa the Exo-Soldier and Harlowe the Gravitar — look just as interesting. This feels like a game worth replaying just to try them all.

Borderlands 4 Vault Hunters

Loot, Guns, and More Loot

Borderlands has always been about the loot — and 4 doesn’t disappoint. What’s different this time is that the loot feels meaningful. I’m not just picking up trash to vendor, there’s balance.

Weapon variety is massive: even if two guns look the same, their alt-fire or elemental variations can flip the script. One of my snipers can switch between electric and acid rounds, and those bullets stick to enemies, ticking damage over time while applying elemental debuffs. Classic Borderlands chaos.

The Story So Far

Six years after the Moonfall incident, Vault Hunters land on Kairos chasing a new Vault. But standing in their way is The Timekeeper and his Order forces. It’s classic Borderlands: chaotic, pulpy, over-the-top — just the way we like it.

Co-op Mayhem

Solo is fun, but co-op is where Borderlands shines. Competing for loot, making jokes while the world explodes around you, or just teaming up to smash bosses — it’s a proper jol. Add the soundtrack (which slaps hard during battles), and you’ve got a weekend sorted.

Performance Woes

Here’s the kicker though: optimization is rough. On our rig (Ryzen 9 6900X, 64GB DDR5 RAM, RTX 3070Ti), We are barely hitting 40–50 FPS on low settings with DLSS on Performance. Most modern titles run fine on this system, so this is a bit of a letdown.

In big fights, those drops really mess with the flow. Hopefully, the devs drop some patches soon, because right now performance is the one big buzzkill in an otherwise excellent Borderlands entry.

Verdict

Borderlands 4 has:

✅ Chaotic fun

✅ Fresh new world

✅ Loot Galore

✅ Co-op mayhem at its best

✅ Hilarious characters and banter

❌But it’s being held back by performance issues right now.

Our score: 7/10. One point docked for making us fiddle with settings like we’re tuning a carburettor on an old bakkie.

Final Thought:

If your idea of a good time is loot, guns, chaos, and even more loot — Borderlands 4 delivers. Just keep that biltong close, and maybe lower your settings until Gearbox sorts out the optimization.