The new planet of Kairos will serve as Borderlands 4’s primary setting, and based on what’s been revealed about this planet so far, it will be the franchise’s biggest planet yet. While it has been said that Borderlands 4’s Kairos won’t quite be an open world, it will still be as close to it as the franchise has ever been. Considering how big some of the existing planets like Pandora are, this has some major implications for how big Kairos could be in Borderlands 4.
Despite not being a true open-world game, it might arguably be best for Borderlands 4 to avoid a common criticism of open-world games, regardless. More specifically, Borderlands 4 should take steps to avoid the planet of Kairos ultimately feeling like an empty world. One way that Borderlands 4 could make Kairos a lively world is to pack it with some massive monsters, potentially taking inspiration from memorable enemies from throughout the franchise. Not only could massive enemies make Borderlands 4’s world feel richer, but it could also be a chance for vehicles to be more relevant in exploration and combat throughout the endgame.
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How Borderlands 4’s Kairos Can Avoid a Common Criticism of Open Worlds
A lack of enemy variety arguably hasn’t been much of a problem in the Borderlands franchise, as each new mainline game has continued to experiment with new enemy types. Still, though, as the Borderlands franchise continues to introduce original environments, the need for more original enemies inevitably grows. So, with Borderlands 4 going big with large, seamless environments on Kairos, it should also go big with its enemies, and one staple of Borderlands 3’s planet Eden-6 may provide just the inspiration for new enemies.
Throughout the Floodmoor Basin region of Eden-6 in Borderlands 3, players can occasionally encounter massive alien dinosaurs, which make for some fun encounters if players happen to fight these enemies with the Cyclone, Outrunner, and Technical vehicles. Despite only rewarding common loot, these giant dinosaurs are quite a spectacle to encounter, so it’s a shame that fights like this with massive enemies aren’t a common occurrence. Especially since Borderlands 4’s Kairos will be one of the franchise’s largest planets, this seems like the perfect opportunity to double down on giant enemies like Eden-6’s dinosaurs. Whether these same giant dinosaurs return, or if Borderlands 4 experiments with a new enemy type, this could be the perfect way to fill the world with fun encounters in a way that prioritizes quality over quantity.
More Enemies Like Eden-6’s Giant Dinosaurs Could Give Borderlands 4’s Vehicles a Chance to Shine
Not only could giant enemies help to fill out the game’s world, but open-world encounters like this could also give Borderlands 4’s vehicle gameplay some time to shine. By this point in the Borderlands franchise, it’s become a recurring problem that vehicles become increasingly more obsolete as the difficulty rises. This eventually reaches the point where enemies can destroy the player’s vehicle in a matter of seconds, where it’s no longer viable to use vehicles during combat.
Hopefully, Borderlands 4 will finally break free from this curse and realize the full potential of vehicles as a unique vessel for combat, instead of just a convenient means of traversal. Instead of one-off moments in quests that aren’t revisited, like Borderlands 3’s Carnivora boss fight, and shootouts with other cars, fights with large enemies that take place in vehicles should become a more common occurrence throughout the franchise, and Borderlands 4’s planet Kairos may be the perfect opportunity to make this happen.
Borderlands 4
- Released
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September 23, 2025
- ESRB
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Rating Pending
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
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Yes – all
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