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Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford has previously said that Borderlands 4 isn't really an open-world game, but the Borderlands 4 State of Play sure made it seem like the looter-shooter sequel fits that genre description. There's a seamless planet to explore, populated with smaller activities to engage in, and even a Destiny-style on-demand vehicle to make getting around the world easier.
Borderlands 4 takes place on Kairos, which is made up of four zones "that you can seamlessly explore" with "next to no loading time," finding "dynamic weather and events" as you go. The State of Play broadcast demonstrated the path to what looks like a story mission, but it seems there'll be plenty of room to be distracted by side activities along the way, with "no need to pick up a mission" to engage with them.
As described in a follow-up post on the PlayStation Blog, you'll "come across short gameplay experiences and new activities that auto-grant a tracked mission whenever you discover them – like Silos, which house old, decommissioned Order tech that you can hijack for the Crimson Resistance."
Clear a silo, and it'll be turned into both a fast travel point and a launcher that'll send you flying into the air so you can glide down to your next destination. The glide joins double-jumping, dashing, and point grappling to vastly expand your movement options. Each cleared silo will also point you toward a Vault Key fragment. Collect enough, and you'll be able to open a Vault for a high-level dungeon run with high-level loot.
So, we've got a giant world with distinct, but seamlessly connected areas to explore, dynamic weather, optional side activities that unlock fast travel points and new content, plus an array of movement abilities engineered to help you get around. That sure sounds like an open-world game to me – and the fact that you can pull out a personal vehicle to speed up your exploration seals the deal.
Pitchford previously acknowledged that Borderlands 4 would be the "most open and free" entry in the series yet, but said he wouldn't use the term "open-world" since it "comes with a lot of baggage that doesn't apply. You'll see."
I'm guessing that means the game will try to dodge the issues that plague some open-world games, like repetitive checklist activities that offer minimal rewards. We'll see how Borderlands 4 delivers on that front when it launches on its newly minted release date of September 12.
