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.
"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.
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.
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.
