Borderlands 4 is absolutely looking to revamp the series in order to both appease fans that have been demanding more and see a swathe of newcomers enter the popular franchise. While the more recent entries haven't been terrible, they've certainly lacked the magic that made the first two so special, which has obviously made Gearbox rethink its approach to pretty much everything. From what we've seen so far, Borderlands 4 is addressing players' issues with story, gameplay, and characters in major ways.

Crucially, it looks like Borderlands 4 has taken inspiration from one of Xbox's surprisingly underrated first-party titles that got unfairly criticized at launch. During the Borderlands 4 State of Play, we got a good glimpse at all the new mechanics and how Gearbox is refreshing the formula. One particular facet of Borderlands 4's new gameplay stood out due to its striking similarities to the aforementioned Xbox first-party title, and I honestly couldn't be happier thanks to how much it improves the game.

Borderlands 4 Looks Inspired By Halo Infinite

Their Combat Encounters Look Very Similar

One of Borderlands 4's biggest innovations is its drastic changes to combat, specifically when it comes to movement. While Borderlands has always had pretty decent shooting mechanics, in large part thanks to the sheer variety of guns players can unlock, it has never really given players a lot of options when it comes to movement abilities, at least that aren't tied to a specific Vault Hunter. Borderlands 4 is shaking that up by introducing a swathe of movement options during combat that not only make things more fluid and exciting, but also makes gunfights feel significantly more tactical.

Whereas before, players were limited to crouching, jumping, and sprinting, now they can grapple onto certain points and swing into battle, grapple objects and wrench them towards themselves, slide, dash, and dodge, all of which greatly expand the ways players approach each encounter. Of course, some of this is present in other games, including the likes of Cyberpunk 2077, but it is also, at least to me, specifically reminiscent of the severely underrated Halo Infinite, one of the first Xbox Series X/S first-party titles that remains bizarrely insignificant, even despite its genuinely incredible moments.

There are a lot of similarities between Halo Infinite's campaign and Borderlands 4, especially when it comes to the level of freedom players are granted during combat encounters. It isn't clear whether Gearbox learned from Halo Infinite, although it wouldn't surprise me if they weren't even slightly inspired. After all, at least from my experience, Halo Infinite is one of the few first-person shooters that integrates so many movement-based abilities into its sandbox, at least outside the frantic and exceptional boomer shooters like DOOM and the best indie FPS games like Severed Steel and Echo Point Nova.

Borderlands 4 Has Taken Halo Infinite's Movement

It Looks A Lot More Fluid Now

I think the most obvious comparison point between Borderlands 4 and Halo Infinite's movement is its grappling mechanic. Again, this isn't new to either experience, but it is a staple of Halo Infinite's combat sandbox, with players able to grab distant explosive objects and throw them at a group of nearby enemies. The ability is present across all of Borderlands 4's Vault Hunters, which is great to see as it means that players will have access to this and the game's many other movement options, no matter who they choose to play as.

While other titles, like the aforementioned Cyberpunk 2077, have begun to better intensify first-person shooting mechanics by interweaving movement abilities, I do feel like Halo Infinite, at least, in my opinion, was one of the first to really perfect it in a way that felt seamless and fluid. Borderlands 4 is continuing that trend, and I couldn't be happier. There's a lot that Borderlands 4 gets wrong as it continues many of the series' mistakes, but it vastly improving its combat and learning from other games like Halo Infinite that have done it so well already is refreshing.

While not every game needs to be the next DOOM, titles like Halo Infinite and, one can only hope, Borderlands 4, prove there's a more satisfying middle ground.

Frankly, at this point, especially with the likes of Bungie illustrating just how good first-person shooting mechanics should feel, the next step in innovation to ensure that players don't grow bored is to better implement more movement. First-person shooting has evolved in such a way that it isn't fun anymore to just crouch behind a waist-high wall and take pot shots at enemies in the distance. While not every game needs to be the next DOOM, titles like Halo Infinite and, one can only hope, Borderlands 4, prove there's a more satisfying middle ground.

Borderlands 4 Combat Has Been Vastly Improved

It Looks Leagues Ahead Of Borderlands 3

I never really thought that the aspect Borderlands needed to improve upon was its combat. The series has always had, at the very least, very servicable shooting mechanics that complimented its focus on looting. It never really felt like it needed to evolve that aspect of its gameplay or its core loop. However, as Gearbox has proven that Borderlands' narrative can't improve and that it doesn't fully understand how to fix the game's servicable yet ultimately disappointing RPG systems, the only way it can keep it feeling fresh is to address its combat.

As someone who fell out of love with the Borderlands series a long time ago, I think its improved combat is what will draw me back in. First-person shooters like Borderlands, especially ones with dedicated co-op, are too few and far between, which I find extremely disappointing. The combat sandbox in Borderlands 4 looks engrossing and exciting enough to pull me back in, even if I know its narrative will be a mess of badly written dialogue and unfunny humor. I may be over generalizing, but we are far beyond the point of Borderlands being recognized for its complex stories.

If Borderlands 4 ends up feeling even remotely like Halo Infinite, then I have a feeling I'll have a great time. I'm glad that more games are looking to Halo Infinite for inspiration - if that is indeed what happened - as I really enjoyed how that game felt to play and had a lot of fun in its campaign, even if the consensus is that it isn't great. Perhaps that's why I'm drawn to Borderlands 4 so much, a game which will likely excel in its combat and feel disappointing in its campaign.