It’s been rather easy to gang up on Gearbox Software over the last few months, and the reasons are quite basic indeed. After all, the team launched Borderlands 4 with a lot of promises and hype. Then, when players got into the game, they found all sorts of issues that are still being dealt with today. Just as important, though, is that the team hasn’t exactly been “living up to expectations” with the post-launch content that is getting mired in controversy with each new thing that is released. It makes you wonder if there’s anything about the game that isn’t being critiqued in some way.
To that end, on Reddit, one person reminded players that Gearbox Software head, Randy Pitchford, who has absolutely been a part of the problem since the game’s launch, actually warned that one of its features wouldn’t be what many likely thought it would be. Specifically, when asked if Borderlands 4 would be an open-world game, he noted:
“I wouldn’t use “open world” to describe BL4 because the term comes with a lot of baggage that doesn’t apply. You’ll see.”
And see, we did. While the game did have some sprawling environments that were beautifully rendered, for the most part, a lot of fans have complained that the game feels “empty” in its overworld, and that traveling to certain spots just isn’t fun since there’s nothing to do in between. The world doesn’t feel “alive” like other titles of this nature feel.
That likely is what Randy was trying to make clear with his mysterious post, and on that Reddit thread, many agreed with what Randy was teasing:
“I wouldn’t consider it “baggage” but open world games offer a reward for exploration. Like those dinosaur bones on top of the mountain look cool but you can’t actually reach them..”
Would the game have been better if it had a true open-world feel? That’s hard to say. Without the open world vibe, the game already feels empty in its overworld, so there’s no guarantee that by “opening things up,” things would’ve felt better. In contrast, you could argue that because they were “going for that feeling,” they would’ve put more effort into what is all around the player as they traveled in whatever direction they wanted.
Then again, it also could’ve led to even more issues that could’ve made the game a challenge to play in some cases, so perhaps it’s for the best.
