Rapidly incomes a status because the face of the looter shooter style within the years since its launch, Borderlands actually has change into considered one of gaming’s most recognisable franchises. From its cel-shaded artwork model to its masked psycho poster youngster, the foul-mouthed, tongue-in-cheek sci-fi universe is now a staple of recent online game tradition. It isn’t stopping there although, with the collection shortly morphing right into a multimedia sensation in its personal proper, spinning off into comics, novels and even a tabletop recreation.
This month, that journey reaches its largest milestone but, with Borderlands lastly making its long-awaited bounce to the large display courtesy of Hostel and Thanksgiving director, Eli Roth. Reimagining Pandora and its vault-obsessed locals for a model new viewers. And whereas the movie didn’t evaluate significantly nicely, it is nonetheless a significant step for any franchise.
With Borderlands 4 out now, there’s prone to be plenty of new and returning followers trying to dive again into the video games and reacquaint themselves with the place it began. So, we determined to place collectively a fast timeline of the collection to get you caught up on the way it all matches collectively.
Leap to:
- The right way to play in chronological order
- The right way to play by launch date
How Many Borderlands Video games Are There?
In whole, there are presently seven Borderlands video games and spin-offs which might be canon to the collection, and two smaller, non-canon titles: Borderlands: Vault Hunter Pinball and Borderlands Legends. In case you’re trying to get them suddenly, there’s presently a Humble Bundle sale on the entire Borderlands video games for PC we suggest you try.
The place’s The Finest Place to Begin?
Whereas it is the only reply, the perfect place to begin is arguably Borderlands 1, though when you do not care concerning the story, any of the 4 mainline video games (nicely, perhaps apart from Borderlands 3) are introduction.
All 4 entries within the trilogy are comparatively related in model, scope and gameplay, and higher but, they’re all out there on fashionable consoles and PC. That being mentioned, there’s a nice overarching story that runs via the Borderlands saga, and when you’ve simply come off the film and wish to observe it as supposed, ranging from the start is the easiest way to play.
Each Canon Borderlands Recreation in Chronological Order
These blurbs include delicate spoilers for every recreation, together with characters, settings, and story beats.
1. Borderlands (2009)
The sport that kickstarted all of it. The very first Borderlands launched in 2009, telling the story of Lilith, Brick, Roland and Mordecai: a gaggle of 4 “Vault Hunters” that enterprise out on the treasure hunt of a lifetime. Arriving on the unstable planet of Pandora, they search out a legendary bunker referred to as The Vault, which is alleged to deal with unimaginable treasures.
As anticipated, their expedition shortly turns right into a chaotic maelstrom of carnage, with the group dealing with off in opposition to a militia referred to as the Crimson Lance, contending with the planet’s savage wildlife and taking down hordes of bloodthirsty bandits. From the second Borderlands hit cabinets, it was an enormous hit, launching the looter shooter style into the stratosphere via its compelling gameplay loop of killing plenty of enemies, discovering a near-limitless provide of weapons and constructing your chosen character.
The sport was additionally supported closely after launch, getting an additional 4 expansions that took the sport from zombie-themed islands to a tongue-in-cheek riff on Mad Max’s Thunderdome.
2. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (2014)
Developed by 2K Australia with the help of Gearbox Software program, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel could have launched after Borderlands 2, but it surely fills within the hole between the primary two Borderlands video games. The story follows a gaggle of latest Vault Hunters, Athena, Wilhelm, Nisha and Claptrap, as they head out on a mission to discover a Vault on the moon of Elpis.
The Pre-Sequel was, in plenty of methods, a bunch extra of the Borderlands followers knew and beloved. Set in a brand new locale with recent lessons to grasp and study, it supplied extra weapons, boss fights, quests and enemy encounters to plough via whereas the world waited for an inevitable Borderlands 3. Nonetheless, its foremost promoting level was additional fleshing out the story of Borderlands 2, with the sport that includes the second recreation’s foremost antagonist, Good-looking Jack, in a number one function.
Alongside that includes lots of the second recreation’s foremost bosses and characters years earlier than their roles within the sequel’s story, it additionally supplied a full view of Jack’s descent into insanity, establishing the enduring foe’s origins. Very similar to the opposite video games, 2K Australia added a number of expansions after the sport launched, together with the Holodome Onslaught and Claptastic Voyage maps, in addition to two playable characters: the Doppelganger and the Baroness.
3. Borderlands 2 (2012)
The official sequel to Borderlands, Borderlands 2 launched in 2012, bringing gamers again to Pandora with a brand new squad of formidable Vault Hunters in tow. The story begins with our heroes, Maya, Axton, Salvador and Zer0, heading to Pandora to seek for a brand new Vault. Nonetheless, it shortly turns into obvious that the planet’s overlord, the sadistic Good-looking Jack, would not take kindly to courageous adventurers looking for fame and fortune by uncovering the most recent fabled Vault on Pandora. Whereas using a practice throughout the untamed planet, Jack makes an attempt to have them killed, leaving them stranded in an icy wasteland.
Left for useless, the workforce set out on an journey to find the reality behind Good-looking Jack’s schemes, making an attempt to cease to him and discover the Vault within the course of. Borderlands 2 was primarily an even bigger, extra expansive tackle the unique recreation, providing loads of quests, new lessons to grasp, a charismatic foremost villain to take down and, by some means, much more weapons to seek out and acquire.
It is nonetheless regarded by many as the perfect Borderlands so far, providing a enjoyable story, memorable fight encounters and a wholesome dose of the collection’ trademark sense of humour. Very similar to the primary recreation, it additionally got here with a bunch of post-release help, together with 4 further campaigns, two bonus playable characters, and several other Headhunter missions.
4. Tales From The Borderlands (2014 – 2015)
The primary full spin-off of the collection, Tales From The Borderlands was Strolling Lifeless developer Telltale’s tackle the Borderlands universe, providing an episodic, story-focused journey set on the floor of Pandora. In contrast to the mainline entries, Tales would not centre on a workforce of super-powered, gun-obsessed Vault Hunters. As a substitute, it follows a criminal and a company lackey who unwittingly stumble right into a grand journey.
Set after the occasions of Borderlands 2, we observe Rhys, a Hyperion worker lobbying for a better place within the firm, and Fiona, a con artist working together with her sister, Sasha. After Rhys makes an attempt to one-up a colleague by intercepting a deal to amass a vault key, he learns the important thing was a pretend in a con set-up by Fiona, entangling the 2 collectively and setting off a sequence response of occasions that put them on the path of a model new Vault.
As with all of Telltale’s video games, Tales From The Borderlands focuses totally on a branching, cinematic story with ethical selections that may change the route of the narrative. Within the years following its launch, Tales From The Borderlands has been acknowledged as a key piece of the Borderlands canon, with unique characters from the sport even popping up in Borderlands 3.
5. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands (2022)
Gearbox Software program’s most up-to-date entry within the Borderlands franchise, from the skin, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands would not appear to be a Borderlands recreation. Subbing out futuristic desert wastelands for a sprawling fantasy kingdom, whereas Wonderlands could have loads of dragons, goblins and unicorns, it’s extremely a lot nonetheless a Borderlands recreation in all the things however the setting.
Appearing as a fully-fledged model of the beloved Borderlands 2 DLC, Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Hold, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands as soon as once more has you coming into the world of Bunkers and Badasses; the Borderlands equal of Dungeons and Dragons. With Tina as your very enthusiastic dungeon grasp, you may battle in opposition to a variety of fantasy monsters, embark on some heroic quests and battle your approach to the monstrous Dragon Lord.
As with all Borderlands video games, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands boasts a metric ton of weapons to seek out, lessons to grasp and enemies to kill, whereas additionally incorporating new concepts to enrich the shift in setting, comparable to an overworld space you traverse between missions and the power to make use of spells. It additionally has its personal serving to of expansions to dig into, with 4 separate DLCs that includes new dungeons, bosses and equipment.
6. Borderlands 3 (2019)
Seven years after the discharge of Borderlands 2, Gearbox Software program returned for an official third entry, launching Borderlands 3 in 2019. As all the time, the threequel brings a recent new solid of Vault Hunters into the fray, introducing gamers to Amara, FL4K, Zane and Moze, and sending them out on a chaotic new journey.
This time round, gamers are tasked with stopping a pair of murderous siren twins named Troy and Tyreen, who’re venturing throughout the galaxy and harnessing the facility contained in the vaults for a mysterious trigger. In a franchise first, gamers are tasked with travelling to a number of planets to take them down, teaming with an array of acquainted faces comparable to Lilith, Rhys, Maya, Brick, Zer0 and, after all, Claptrap.
As all the time, you possibly can anticipate loads of looter shooter chaos to ensue, with a heap of weapons to seek out, enemies to eviscerate and new character lessons to grasp. There’s additionally loads of DLC content material to leap into while you’re achieved, with Borderlands 3’s further content material providing 4 new campaigns, takedown missions and even designer and director cuts that resurrect a bunch of content material left on the slicing room flooring.
7. New Tales From The Borderlands (2022)
Gearbox Software program’s official follow-up to Tales From The Borderlands, New Tales From The Borderlands is presently the final recreation on the chronological timeline. Bringing in a slate of recent characters as a substitute of choosing a continuation of the unique Tales recreation, New Tales has three protagonists: Anu, Octavio and Fran.
The story follows the group’s adventures after stumbling right into a vault and discovering a treasured artefact, which inadvertently places them within the line of fireside of the Tediore company and its ruthless CEO, Susan Coldwell. With the relic now of their possession, the trio begins to uncover its true powers, all of the whereas making an attempt to evade Coldwell as she hunts them down.
Very similar to the earlier recreation, New Tales From The Borderlands is targeted nearly totally on weaving a branching story that adapts and warps based mostly in your selections. You possibly can anticipate loads of dialogue choices, QTE battle sequences and hard choices that can impression the end result of the journey.
8. Borderlands 4
Borderlands 4 takes place instantly after the occasions of Borderlands 3 on a brand new planet known as Kairos. To keep away from spoiling something, we can’t go into element about how this recreation connects to Borderlands 3 till individuals have had a while to play. In case you’re that curious, you possibly can try our Borderlands 4 evaluate.
Each Borderlands Recreation in Launch Order
- Borderlands (2009)
- Borderlands Legends (2012)
- Borderlands 2 (2012)
- Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (2014)
- Tales From The Borderlands (2014 – 2015)
- Borderlands 3 (2019)
- Tiny Tina’s Wonderland (2022)
- New Tales From The Borderlands (2022)
- Borderlands: Vault Hunter Pinball (2023)
- Borderlands 4 (2025)
What’s Subsequent For Borderlands?
Borderlands 4 is the newest entry within the looter-shooter collection. The fourth mainline Borderlands recreation launched on September 12 on PS5, Xbox Sequence X|S, whereas a Change 2 model shall be out there in October. The sport has been typically well-received since launch, except for a slog of efficiency points that Randy Pitchford definitely has some ideas about.
Though that is all we have now to go on for now, we discovered not too long ago the franchise shall be an enormous focus for Take-Two following its acquisition of developer Gearbox: Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick famous in an investor’s name that the corporate sees plenty of “potential progress alternatives” for the IP.
Callum Williams is an IGN freelancer protecting options and guides. When he is away from his desk, you possibly can often discover him obsessing over the lore of the most recent obscure indie horror recreation or bashing his head in opposition to a boss within the latest soulslike. You possibly can catch him over on Twitter at @CaIIumWilliams.