Highlights

  • Cyberpunk 2077 offered differing "lifepaths" for the player character that had their own introductory missions.
  • The next Borderlands could take some cues from Cyberpunk 2077's lifepaths and apply them to the Vault Hunters.
  • Borderlands 4 could use this approach to potentially provide deeper character backgrounds and showcase gameplay.

After a nearly five-year wait, Borderlands is officially set to receive its fourth main installment. Following a chain of rumors, leaks, and teasers, Gearbox Software's seminal looter shooter series is back in the spotlight, having announced the next upcoming entry this past March. While gamers received Borderlands titles like New Tales from the Borderlands and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands in the time since BL3, the forthcoming entry is set to bring the franchise into the next generation.

And while fans await further word and theorize about how Borderlands 4 might play out, Gearbox might consider looking to CD Projekt Red's work on Cyberpunk 2077 in a specific area to iterate on one of its central components related to its playable cast. Cyberpunk 2077's protagonist, V, could hail from a selection of backgrounds that informed some of their personality and role-playing options, with each one having a different initial quest before jumping into the story proper. Borderlands 4 might look to this design to add another layer to its latest group of Vault Hunters, fleshing out their personalities and lore off the bat, and showcasing them all a bit more to start.

Both Borderlands 4 and Cyberpunk 2077 's followup, codenamed Project Orion , are known to be in development, though not much has been revealed regarding their details like plot, setting, and characters.

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Borderlands 4 Is At a Fork In The Road With Vault Hunters

Borderlands 4 is likely still some time in the making, but when it comes out it needs to carefully choose what it wants to do with Vault Hunters.

Borderlands 4 Can Take a Page Out of Cyberpunk 2077's Playbook To Upgrade its Vault Hunters

Cyberpunk 2077's Lifepaths

Cyberpunk 2077's starting lifepaths offered fans a selection of three archetypes for their version of V. Choosing between Street Kid, Corpo, or Nomad informed the opening playable segments that kick off the campaign, each having their own angle and broad characterization based on them. The lifepaths also affected a handful of situations and conversations via specific dialogue choices, although they ultimately did not really impact the overall story or role-playing elements as significantly as CDPR perhaps initially led on. Still, Cyberpunk 2077's lifepaths are a great concept, and there is a lot of potential for something along their lines to be incorporated into Borderlands 4.

How Borderlands 4 Could Use Cyberpunk 2077's Lifepaths to Enhance the Next Batch of Vault Hunters

Borderlands titles traditionally give players a choice between four Vault Hunter protagonists. In some cases, later DLC expanded the roster further, such as with Krieg in BL2 and Handsome Jack's body double in Borderlands The Presequel. By taking Borderlands' trademark tongue-in-cheek presentation and designs and providing a unique beginning mission or playable scenario on top that sets up the personas of each Vault Hunter, BL4 could evolve the existing structure by giving fans deeper initial insight into the characters and their related abilities.

These might take the form of generally recognizable classes and accompanying appropriate missions that naturally match Borderlands' tone and setting. Ones like bounty hunter, solider, or eccentric inventor, for example, would all be a natural fit. Given its often outlandish sense of humor, there are a variety of others that would likely make for interesting and fun starting points too. Even if Borderlands 4 includes returning NPCs as playable Vault Hunters, having an introductory quest could be beneficial by adding extra bits of narrative and flair for fan favorites in that case.

Perhaps the biggest boon these missions might provide, though, is the gameplay that would go with them. Not only would they be compelling story setups, but they could smoothly translate to players getting a feel for the style and skills of the Hunters, perhaps by offering fans the option to try each one without having to fully commit before finding the ones they like best. Borderlands 4 borrowing Cyberpunk 2077's lifepath approach for Vaunt Hunters could result in an excellent way to advance the formula and the Hunters in the latest entry.