Every Borderlands game, ranked
All 4 Borderlands games we hold, spanning 2012 to 2023: 3 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 507,823 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: Borderlands 2 (GamingPickz Score 8.1), the highest-rated entry we can score.
The Borderlands games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 3 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
3 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 3 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Mobile
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
3 best Borderlands games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
- 1
Borderlands 2
Best for: The safest bet on this list, by weight of evidence
8.1GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceBorderlands 2 at a glance Released 2012 Studio Gearbox Software Player sentiment 90% positive of 312,170 Critics 89/100 Price $19.99 Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 90% shrinks to 90.0 on 312,170 reviews, then blends with the 89 critic aggregate, giving 8.1.
What the data supports- 90% positive across 312,170 reviews is a strong signal at that volume, where a few enthusiasts cannot move the number.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Borderlands Game of the Year at a glance Released 2023 Studio Gearbox Software Player sentiment 90% positive of 31,877 Critics 81/100 Price $29.99 Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 90% shrinks to 89.9 on 31,877 reviews, then blends with the 81 critic aggregate, giving 7.9.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Borderlands 3 at a glance Released 2019 Studio Gearbox Software Player sentiment 81% positive of 163,776 Critics 81/100 Price $59.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 75 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 81% shrinks to 81.0 on 163,776 reviews, then blends with the 81 critic aggregate, giving 7.3.
What the data supports- Cloud saves and cross-platform play, so progress follows you between machines.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Only the 3 Borderlands games with Steam review data can be scored and ranked. The complete series, scored or not, is charted in order below.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Borderlands game we can score is Borderlands 2 at 8.1. The lowest is Borderlands 3 at 7.3, a 0.8-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
How the series scored over time
GamingPickz Score against release year, 2012 to 2023. It has held roughly steady across the years.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Borderlands 2 at $19.99. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Borderlands 2, the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Borderlands entries on Steam:
- Playable: Borderlands 2, Borderlands 3, Borderlands Game of the Year
Platforms across the series
Where the 4 Borderlands games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 4 of 4 |
| PlayStation | 1 of 4 |
| Xbox | 1 of 4 |
| Mobile | 1 of 4 |
The Borderlands series, game by game
Every Borderlands game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 2012
The Ultimate Vault Hunter’s Upgrade lets you get the most out of the Borderlands 2 experience. (Steam)
Plot
Setting and characters Dameon Clarke provided the voice for Handsome Jack . Five years have passed since the events of Borderlands , when four Vault Hunters—Roland, Mordecai, Lilith, and Brick—were guided by a mysterious entity known as "The Guardian Angel" to the Vault, an ancient alien structure that was rumored to hold exotic technology and riches. On entering the Vault, they were instead confronted by an alien abomination known as "The Destroyer". (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical reception Reception The game received generally positive reviews upon release, according to review aggregator platform Metacritic . Many reviewers agreed that the game is a notable improvement over the original. Allistair Pinsof, writing for Destructoid , praised the gunplay and the variety of guns, which can change the gameplay experience as different weapons force players to approach combat differently. (Wikipedia)
- 2019
The original shooter-looter returns, packing bazillions of guns and a mayhem-fueled adventure! Blast through new worlds and enemies as one of four new Vault Hunters. (Steam)
Plot
Setting and characters As part of the Borderlands series, Borderlands 3 is centered on the planet Pandora, which has been long-rumored to contain Vaults holding vast amounts of treasure and technology, left behind by a mysterious alien civilization known as the Eridians. In decades prior, several corporations have laid siege to Pandora to try to find the Vaults, but the constant conflict and bloodshed has left the planet and its population ravaged and… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical reception Reception The PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows versions of Borderlands 3 received "generally favorable reviews", while the PlayStation 5 version received “universal acclaim” (albeit with a much smaller number of reviews), according to review aggregator website Metacritic . GameSpot gave Borderlands 3 a positive review, noting its preservation of the franchise's hallmarks (including weapon variety, a "personable" cast, and "juvenile… (Wikipedia)
- 2023
Get ready for the mind blowing insanity! Play as one of four trigger-happy mercenaries and take out everything that stands in your way! With its addictive action, frantic first-person shooter combat, massive arsenal of weaponry, RPG elements and four-player co-op, Borderlands is a breakthrough experience that challenges all the... (Steam)
- —
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
Metacritic 75No sourced description on file.
Plot
Characters The Pre-Sequel features four playable characters, each with a different class and abilities. All four of The Pre-Sequel s protagonists were non-player characters (NPCs) or bosses in previous Borderlands games. Athena, "the Gladiator", is a rogue assassin from the Atlas Corporation introduced in the Borderlands DLC campaign The Secret Armory of General Knoxx . (Wikipedia)
Characters
The Pre-Sequel features four playable characters, each with a different class and abilities. All four of The Pre-Sequel s protagonists were non-player characters (NPCs) or bosses in previous Borderlands games. Athena, "the Gladiator", is a rogue assassin from the Atlas Corporation introduced in the Borderlands DLC campaign The Secret Armory of General Knoxx . (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel received positive reviews from critics. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 77/100 based on 24 reviews, the Windows version 75/100 based on 55 reviews and the Xbox 360 version 74/100 based on 16 reviews. Daniel Bloodworth from GameTrailers gave the game an 8. (Wikipedia)
Borderlands, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Borderlands vs other series
How Borderlands stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: Borderlands vs Mass Effect, Borderlands vs Mount & Blade, Borderlands vs Serious Sam, Borderlands vs Crysis, Borderlands vs Dead Island, Borderlands vs Deus Ex, Borderlands vs Dishonored, Borderlands vs Max Payne, Borderlands vs Red Faction, Borderlands vs Risen, Borderlands vs Sniper Elite, Borderlands vs Sniper Ghost Warrior, Borderlands vs The Witcher, Borderlands vs Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Borderlands vs Torchlight, Borderlands vs America's Army, Borderlands vs Bright Memory, Borderlands vs Dragon's Dogma, Borderlands vs Dungeon Siege, Borderlands vs ELDEN RING, Borderlands vs God of War, Borderlands vs Gothic, Borderlands vs Homefront, Borderlands vs Kingdom Come, Borderlands vs Kingdoms of Amalur, Borderlands vs Metal Gear, Borderlands vs Middle-earth, Borderlands vs POSTAL, Borderlands vs RAGE, Borderlands vs Red Dead Redemption, Borderlands vs Sea of Thieves, Borderlands vs Shadow Warrior, Borderlands vs Slime Rancher, Borderlands vs Sniper, Borderlands vs Squad, Borderlands vs Street Fighter, Borderlands vs The Surge, Borderlands vs Thief, Borderlands vs Two Worlds, Borderlands vs Z1 Battle Royale, Borderlands vs Zombie Army
Common questions
How many Borderlands games are there?
We hold 4 Borderlands games in the catalogue, released between 2012 and 2023. 3 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Borderlands game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, Borderlands 2 rates highest at 8.1. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Borderlands games in?
Release order is listed below, from 2012 to 2023. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
More franchises
Browse every game franchise ranked the same way, or head to the full grid.