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Gearbox let one lucky gamer play Borderlands 4 days before the rest of us: Conan O'Brien, who hated Claptrap after exactly one minute – "He's my least-favorite trash can I've ever met"

News
By Issy van der Velde published 9 September 2025

Instantly picking up on what fans have been feeling for years

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Claptrap in Lionsgate
(Image credit: Lionsgate)
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Comedian and talk show host Conan O'Brien is a gamer. A clueless one. His series has made a comeback with a Borderlands 4 video, and it's about as chaotic as you'd expect. From Conan immediately understanding a decade of our feelings about Claptrap to shooting everything but the enemies to simply screaming when he should be paying attention, it's a great watch.

"Is all the story necessary?" he asks during the intro cutscene that sets the stage for the game. So, we're off to a great start. Vile Lictor has become an immortal tyrant, terrorizing the good people of Kairos, but Conan is too busy doing an impression of a Russian to care. Until Claptrap appears on screen, that is.

Clueless Gamer: "Borderlands 4" | Team Coco - YouTube Clueless Gamer:
Watch On

"You know what's great about this little Claptrap guy? He'll never get annoying," he sarcastically remarks. "He's my least-favorite trash can I've ever met." That's the sentiment most fans have of Claptrap, so well done Conan for managing to tap into that so quickly. Maybe he'll turn down the Claptrap-only volume slider if he gets the full game.

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  • The best Borderlands games, ranked

Once he actually gets control of his Vault Hunter, the quips don't stop. "It's just shitting, constantly," he says about a flying enemy. It's shooting some sort of projectile and, yeah, it does look like it's just flinging poop at you.

During one tricky section where Conan is being overwhelmed by foes, the game actually crashes. "I've never seen this crash before," says producer Aaron Bleyaert, who had just changed some settings to help Conan out.

"How did you know I wasn't 'having trouble' for the comedy of it?" Conan asks incredulously. He certainly has the energy levels of a screaming streamer, which is very impressive for a host who's been around as long as he has.

And finally, before facing off against Vile Lictor for the first time, simply getting to the boss arena presents some challenges. Despite being given directions on where to go, Conan says the level "looks like any West German club." There's a lot of red light and industrial architecture, so I can see where he's coming from.

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The boss itself is pretty gruesome, a sort of cocooned bat creature with a large health bar and a lot of immunities. There's a lot going on during the battle, so be sure to pay attention when you get your hands on Borderlands 4 September 12.

While you wait, check out the best RPGs you can play today.

TOPICS
Gearbox Gearbox Software Take-Two Interactive
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Issy van der Velde
Issy van der Velde
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I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.

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