Despite its mobile platform, fans say this looks and plays like a mainline Borderlands game
After a Borderlands 4 downloadable-content drop in March, no one expected a new game announcement. However, series developer Gearbox Software isn’t behind this title — Zynga is. Yes, the latest Borderlands is a mobile game. The good news is that Borderlands Mobile looks to be pretty true to its cel-shaded source material.
The things you’d expect from a Borderlands game, like vaults, skags, and Claptrap are all here. Critically, Borderlands Mobile is still a co-op experience where you hunt down increasingly powerful guns alongside your friends. The gameplay has been optimized for mobile touchscreens, but you could use an accessory like the Backbone controller to aim with real buttons. There’s only one playable character at the moment, though eventually there will be four Vault Hunters in total.
There’s an original campaign for this version of the game, and the missions are appropriately short for the platform. Based on early footage, Borderlands Mobile does not appear to have the expansive open world of Borderlands 4. Some features also aren’t live yet, including the pricing for the game’s battle pass. What is available in Borderlands Mobile so far is surprisingly robust, players say — especially for a game that has been released with little notice or fanfare.
“I’m genuinely shocked,” one player wrote in a Reddit thread full of surprised fans. “Just loaded in, it’s actually Borderlands. Not some gimmick.”
The game appears to be exclusive to Apple devices in the United States for the time being, and it will presumably launch in the rest of the world at some point. Some fans report that they are having trouble finding Borderlands Mobile in the App Store, but you can check it out directly here.