Since its launch last week, there has been one serious complaint about Borderlands 4 that has been repeated near endlessly: optimization issues. Not unlike many other AAA titles out there, Gearbox Software didn’t prepare every system to handle the game properly, and as a result, both PC and console gamers have been suffering, as they WANT to enjoy the game, but with the frame rate dips and other visual issues, it’s kind of hard to look beyond the flaws sometimes. However, if you really wanted to “see this in action” without having to get the game yourself, Digital Foundry is here to help you.
If you don’t know, Digital Foundry has made its name in figuring out just how well a game does or doesn’t run, and then showing you, via their reviews, the various issues that can be found. Sure enough, as they played, they saw firsthand that even in the so-called “performance modes” on high-end consoles like the PS5 and PS5 Pro, the game doesn’t maintain a steady 60 FPS. You should instead go to the “quality mode,” where it’ll cap at 30 FPS and be a bit easier to “handle.”
In the video, they show how on consoles like the PS5, the frame rate can start out at 60 FPS, but then, over time, it’ll struggle to stay in the 40s, even when there’s not a lot going on outside of a boss fight in a basic room. That’s not the kind of thing you want to hear, especially for a team that has been making games for quite a while.
Just as bad was that on the Xbox Series X, not only do the frame rate issues continue, but there’s also “Screen Tearing” that happens, which no one wants to see as they’re moving through the world. Plus, on all the platforms, it continues to get worse the more you go on. In one mission, they pointed out, the new area you’re in can dip things all the way to the 30s, which is pretty bad.
They did note that if you restart the game every 30 minutes, the game DOES get better, but that’s something that the gamer shouldn’t be “relied upon” to fix, as that’s very much something that shouldn’t happen in a AAA title.
In short, despite the statements of Randy Pitchford recently, Borderlands 4 clearly has issues that need to be addressed. When they’ll be addressed, though, is unclear.
