Gearbox's release of Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition brings the missing piece of the franchise to current generation consoles. Mechanical and visual improvements solidify Borderlands has always been a fun, beautiful game that was quite forward-thinking despite some things not aging well.

Even ten years after its original release, Borderlands is still a great co-op experience, which looks great thanks to its "cel-shading" graphics (4k resolution in PS4 PRO and Xbox One X).

Quotation forthcoming.

Having already seen Borderlands 2 squeezed into the PlayStation Vita (with, admittedly, ropey results), it’s a surprise this version of the first game isn’t also coming out on Nintendo Switch, but that’s an issue for another day. For many though, having an excuse to replay Borderlands 1 on the same console as the Handsome Collection is good enough. Definitely worth a play if you’ve never done so before, but perhaps not all that essential anymore.

A fun looter shooter that needed a more polished remaster.

Between Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition and the updates to the Handsome Collection, Borderlands is back in a big way, and that’s to say nothing of the main attraction coming in September. Unlike more recent entries in this space, Borderlands doesn’t hinge on fragile in-game economies or being stingy with loot. Instead, it's a game that just wants to have fun – silly, brash, play-it-with-friends kind of fun. Welcome back old friend, you have been missed.

A mixed bag. It’s fun to revisit one of the first “looter shooters” for consoles again, and the mix of run, gun, and loot still holds up well despite its age. But this is hardly a perfect port/remaster of that game, and because of that, it’s difficult to really suggest picking it up.