Certain trends within key franchises are what can keep people coming back to the series over time. However, if one were to stick “too closely” to that, then one runs the risk of being repetitive and milking things until the “well has run dry.” For Gearbox Software and its over-the-top FPS/RPG series, they have, in their mainline titles, at least had four characters for you to choose from at the game’s start, and that was it. However, with Borderlands 4, things are changing based on past titles, as a DLC Vault Hunter will come post-launch to give players even more to work with.
In a chat with TechRaptor, Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford talked about what it was like to make this new DLC Vault Hunter, and how they connected in a certain way to past characters that fans loved:
“One of the reasons why I think both Krieg and Gaige went well is because we didn’t have the same stakes for them that we had for the main characters. We could actually f**k around. Krieg would never work as a main playable, because the gameplay style is so weird. But because it’s so weird and interesting, it kind of resonates.”
That’s not to say that making this DLC character was easy! Given the history of the franchise and the characters they had already made, it takes a lot to make one “stand out from the crowd” and what’s come before. However, the Gearbox team was up for the challenge:
“There’s a certain point where—and that’s when you kind of know it’s going to work—where the character stops being this thing we’re making. And then the character is like, it’s there now. Now it’s telling us what it’s going to do and who it needs to be. I’m feeling the genesis of it, and I’m really kind of pumped about it. I love that moment when it shifts from being the thing that we’re trying to make to oh, now it’s got a life of its own. It’s going to tell us what it’s going to feel and say and do. I love that.”
Now, a good piece of news for gamers is that Borderlands 4 won’t require you to “start from scratch” with this new DLC character when it arrives. Instead, once you beat the main campaign, you can come back and start over with any character, including the DLC Vault Hunter, and be at Level 30 right out the gate.
