Summary
- Borderlands 4 features new movement tech, loot system, and Licensed Parts for guns.
- Maya and Amara return in Borderlands 4 through the new character, Harlowe.
- Harlowe's skills combine elements of Maya and Amara, potentially making her OP.
Despite some recent social media issues regarding talks about Borderlands 4's price from the fans' perspective and that of Gearbox's own Randy Pitchford, the game has been showing itself a lot lately, and it arguably seems to indeed be one of the best games in the series. Borderlands 4's movement tech and gameplay, combined with a renewed approach to loot and the Licensed Parts system for guns, all make for an exciting shooter. One of the most crucial parts of the experience is most likely going to be tied to selecting a Vault Hunter, and while Borderlands 4's VHs were initially met with poor fan reception, one of them channels the best energy from fan-favorite characters Maya and Amara.
Maya is arguably one of the most iconic characters in the franchise, to the point that her death in Borderlands 3 came as a shock to many fans, and it even sparked a controversy about whether it should have been Ava to meet that fate, instead. Amara is confirmed to be returning to Borderlands 4, though, so fans who liked her in the previous title will be able to have her as an NPC accompanying them on their quests. Yet, both these characters make a different kind of "appearance" in the game thanks to Harlowe's skills.
Borderlands 4's New Manufacturers Explained
Borderlands 4 will shake things up quite a bit from its predecessor, and it will feature three all-new weapon manufacturers.
Borderlands 4's Harlowe May Secretly Be OP
While one might think that the link between Maya and Amara would be Vex the Siren in Borderlands 4, it is actually Harlowe, the Gravitar. This is because Harlowe's gameplay loop has been shown to include elements that call back to both Maya and Amara in different ways, such as powers similar to Phaselock from Maya and Phasegrasp from Amara when it comes to enclosing enemies in bubbles and holding them midair (and possibly smashing them onto the ground). Not only that, though, but Harlowe seems to have an effect akin to Ties That Bind from Amara, as well as her elemental focus.
During the PAX East presentation held by Gearbox developers, players got more insights into Borderlands 4's Vault Hunters, including Harlowe's playstyle and skills, though her skill trees have yet to be revealed. Based on the footage, she seems to have two different Action Skills based on gadgets and elemental damage. These are:
- A cannon-like gadget that shoots what seems like an elemental bubble that passes through enemies and inflicts elemental statuses and/or damage
- A gadget that behaves exactly like Phaselock and Phasegrasp, grabbing an enemy and wrapping them into a bubble of sorts
The second is what makes Harlowe so similar to Maya and Amara, as she essentially has the powers of these Borderlands Sirens, but she's a regular Vault Hunter. However, the first Action Skill seems to share the same focus on swapping between elements that Amara had in Borderlands 3, and the second unnamed Action Skill appears to have an added functionality of lifting multiple targets into the air and "linking" them like Amara's Ties That Bind, killing them all with a single blow.
Ties That Bind builds were some of the strongest in BL3, so Harlowe combining this with Phaselock and elemental damage may make her OP from the get-go.
Borderlands 4's Harlowe Could Be The Best of Both Worlds For BL2, BL3 Fans
It remains to be seen exactly what this translates into in terms of moment-to-moment gameplay, but it does share an interesting similarity with Amara's Phasegrasp build in Borderlands 3 that functions so well for all kinds of content thanks to Ties That Bind. Considering that some returning characters in Borderlands 4 may meet their demise if past titles are anything to go by, Amara may be on the chopping block. If this is the case, at least fans can still have both her and Maya live on in the skills used by Harlowe, which could very well be a tribute to the popularity of Phaselock and Phasegrasp in their respective games.
Borderlands 4
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 88%
- Released
- September 12, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Gearbox Software
- Publisher(s)
- 2K
