Ranking the Borderlands Games

Gearbox Software has seemed to have struck gold with their Borderlands franchise with it being one of the most beloved in videogames with a huge, hardcore fan base that is constantly begging for more (myself included). After years of waiting, Borderlands 3 is finally around the corner and I thought it would be fun to rank all the Borderlands games from best to worst. So, without further ado, let’s begin!

4. Borderlands

Putting the game that started it all at the very bottom of the list may seem like a bad thing, but it’s only here because the games that followed built upon the solid foundation that this game set making them better in every way. The art style was awesome, the story was great (despite its slow start), and I just loved how the game felt for a new FPS, but I knew it could only get better from here. I’ve probably played Borderlands the least from the series though, simply because at the time I didn’t have Xbox Live and the Borderlands games are at their best when playing with friends.

3. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is a weird one for me because it definitely wasn’t a bad game, it just came quickly after I played a ton of Borderlands 2 and I just wanted a direct sequel, but this was just more of the same. The Pre-Sequel takes place between Borderlands 1 and 2 and is set on the Moon which adds some weird oxygen mechanic that never really impacted the gameplay, but the low gravity was awesome. Otherwise, it played very similarly to Borderlands 2 which makes it still a great game, but at the time, I wanted more.

2. Tales from the Borderlands

Surprisingly, the second-best Borderlands game isn’t a traditional game in the series, but rather a spin-off game from Telltale Games which is by far Telltale’s best game to date. Instead of the typical looter-shooter Borderlands fans have been accustomed to, Telltale told a fantastic episodic story with the classic Telltale systems we were familiar with, hilarious dialogue and awesome openings for each episode. From the first episode to the last, I was always surprised by how great each one and the writing was, and the best part, it’s all canon so we may see some returning characters in the upcoming Borderlands 3.

1. Borderlands 2

Borderlands 2 is exactly how you do a sequel to a videogame. They took everything that made the original great, vastly improved upon it and then just doubled down on the crazy and it worked so well. I just loved the characters, the story, the insane enemies and the sheer number of guns that are jam-packed into this game. I have countless hours in Borderlands 2 considering I played it on Xbox 360 with all four characters, on PC with the two DLC characters (along with the DLC) and then one more time with The Handsome Collection on PS4. I can’t wait to see what they do with Borderlands 3, but if it’s the same leap they made from Borderlands to Borderlands 2, we’re in for something special.