Quickly incomes a popularity because the face of the looter shooter style within the years since its launch, Borderlands actually has turn out to be one in every of gaming’s most recognisable franchises. From its cel-shaded artwork type to its masked psycho poster youngster, the foul-mouthed, tongue-in-cheek sci-fi universe is now a staple of contemporary online game tradition. It’s not 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 sport.
This month, that journey reaches its largest milestone but, with Borderlands lastly making its long-awaited soar to the large display screen 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 overview notably effectively, it is nonetheless a significant step for any franchise.
With Borderlands 4 confirmed for launch later this yr, there’s prone to be a variety 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 suits collectively.
In whole, there are at the moment seven Borderlands video games and spin-offs which are canon to the collection, and two smaller, non-canon titles: Borderlands: Vault Hunter Pinball and Borderlands Legends.
While it is the best reply, the perfect place to start out is arguably Borderlands 1, though in case you do not care in regards to the story, any of the three mainline video games are a great introduction.
All three entries within the trilogy are comparatively comparable in type, 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 by the Borderlands saga, and in case you’ve simply come off the film and need to comply with it as supposed, ranging from the start is one of the simplest ways to play.
Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition
Every Canon Borderlands Game in Chronological Order
These blurbs comprise gentle spoilers for every sport, 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 bunch 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 often called The Vault, which is claimed to deal with unimaginable treasures.
As anticipated, their expedition shortly turns right into a chaotic maelstrom of carnage, with the group going through off in opposition to a militia often called 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 by 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 four 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, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel might have launched after Borderlands 2, nevertheless it fills within the hole between the primary two Borderlands video games. The story follows a bunch 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 a variety of methods, a bunch extra of the Borderlands followers knew and liked. Set in a brand new locale with contemporary lessons to grasp and be taught, it provided extra weapons, boss fights, quests and enemy encounters to plough by whereas the world waited for an inevitable Borderlands 3. However, its foremost promoting level was additional fleshing out the story of Borderlands 2, with the sport that includes the second sport’s foremost antagonist, Handsome Jack, in a number one position.
Alongside that includes most of the second sport’s foremost bosses and characters years earlier than their roles within the sequel’s story, it additionally provided a full view of Jack’s descent into insanity, establishing the long-lasting foe’s origins. Much like 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 bold 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. However, it shortly turns into obvious that the planet’s overlord, the sadistic Handsome Jack, does not take kindly to courageous adventurers looking for fame and fortune by uncovering the most recent fabled Vault on Pandora. While driving a prepare throughout the untamed planet, Jack makes an attempt to have them killed, leaving them stranded in an icy wasteland.
Left for lifeless, the staff set out on an journey to find the reality behind Handsome Jack’s schemes, making an attempt to cease to him and discover the Vault within the course of. Borderlands 2 was primarily a much bigger, extra expansive tackle the unique sport, providing loads of quests, new lessons to grasp, a charismatic foremost villain to take down and, in some way, much more weapons to search out and gather.
It’s nonetheless regarded by many as the perfect Borderlands up to now, providing a enjoyable story, memorable fight encounters and a wholesome dose of the collection’ trademark sense of humour. Much like the primary sport, it additionally got here with a bunch of post-release assist, together with 4 extra campaigns, two bonus playable characters, and a number of other Headhunter missions.
4. Tales From The Borderlands (2014 – 2015)
The first full spin-off of the collection, Tales From The Borderlands was Walking Dead developer Telltale’s tackle the Borderlands universe, providing an episodic, story-focused journey set on the floor of Pandora. Unlike the mainline entries, Tales does not centre on a staff of super-powered, gun-obsessed Vault Hunters. Instead, it follows a criminal and a company lackey who unwittingly stumble right into a grand journey.
Set after the occasions of Borderlands 2, we comply with Rhys, a Hyperion worker lobbying for the next place within the firm, and Fiona, a con artist working along 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 series 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 decisions that may change the course of the narrative. In the years following its launch, Tales From The Borderlands has been acknowledged as a key piece of the Borderlands canon, with authentic characters from the sport even popping up in Borderlands 3.
5. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands (2022)
Gearbox Software’s most up-to-date entry within the Borderlands franchise, from the skin, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands does not seem like a Borderlands sport. Subbing out futuristic desert wastelands for a sprawling fantasy kingdom, whereas Wonderlands might have loads of dragons, goblins and unicorns, it is very a lot nonetheless a Borderlands sport in all the pieces however the setting.
Acting as a fully-fledged model of the beloved Borderlands 2 DLC, Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands as soon as once more has you getting into the world of Bunkers and Badasses; the Borderlands equal of Dungeons and Dragons. With Tina as your very enthusiastic dungeon grasp, you will battle in opposition to a spread of fantasy monsters, embark on some heroic quests and battle your strategy to the monstrous Dragon Lord.
As with all Borderlands video games, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands boasts a metric ton of weapons to search out, lessons to grasp and enemies to kill, whereas additionally incorporating new concepts to enrich the shift in setting, corresponding 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 kit.
6. Borderlands 3 (2019)
Seven years after the discharge of Borderlands 2, Gearbox Software returned for an official third entry, launching Borderlands 3 in 2019. As all the time, the threequel brings a contemporary 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 ability 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 corresponding to Lilith, Rhys, Maya, Brick, Zer0 and, in fact, Claptrap.
As all the time, you possibly can anticipate loads of looter shooter chaos to ensue, with a heap of weapons to search out, enemies to eviscerate and new character lessons to grasp. There’s additionally loads of DLC content material to leap into once you’re completed, with Borderlands 3’s extra 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’s official follow-up to Tales From The Borderlands, New Tales From The Borderlands is at the moment the final sport on the chronological timeline. Bringing in a slate of contemporary characters as a substitute of choosing a continuation of the unique Tales sport, 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 valuable 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.
Much just like the earlier sport, New Tales From The Borderlands is concentrated nearly fully on weaving a branching story that adapts and warps based mostly in your decisions. You can anticipate loads of dialogue choices, QTE combat sequences and difficult choices that may affect the end result of the journey.
Every Borderlands Game in Release 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 Next For Borderlands?
In phrases of video games, Borderlands 4 is the subsequent main launch on the horizon, set for launch on September 23, 2025. Gearbox Software revealed the sequel after the studio introduced it was being acquired by Take-Two, with Gearbox head Randy Pitchford telling us in an interview that “It’s the best factor [the studio has] ever completed.”
Although that is all we’ve got to go on for now, It appears as if tasks within the Borderlands universe could possibly be extra frequent going ahead. We discovered lately that the franchise will probably be an enormous focus for Take-Two following the acquisition, with Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick noting in a investor’s name that the corporate sees a variety of “potential development alternatives” for the IP. We’ll have to attend to see precisely what Zelnick means by that, nevertheless it seems we could possibly be trekking to Pandora much more within the coming years.
Callum Williams is an IGN freelancer masking options and guides. When he is away from his desk, you possibly can normally discover him obsessing over the lore of the most recent obscure indie horror sport or bashing his head in opposition to a boss within the latest soulslike. You can catch him over on Twitter at @CaIIumWilliams.
