How to play the Borderlands games in order

We have an order that we think is the definitive way to do it, but here are both ways that you can play through the games and see what everyone has been raving about since the series began in 2009.

Borderlands games in order of release

Borderlands

Borderlands first burst onto the scene in 2009 and immediately captured the hearts of gamers with its distinct style and frantic, funny, gameplay. The game was a huge success and rightly so and it has not lost any of its spark or creativity in the games that have followed. Also, thanks to the remaster, it has aged well too and remains just as playable today as it was when it was first released 12 years ago.

Buy the first Borderlands game for £26.99 at Amazon.

Borderlands 2

Releasing three years after the first, Borderlands 2 came along and it only took players a few minutes to realise that this was not going to be a disappointing follow-up. The first was great fun, but this dialled things up and took the foundations from the original and crafted it into a game that is superior in many ways. And it didn't lose its heart either with the same level of insane gameplay and hilarious moments littered throughout. A very worthy sequel indeed.

Buy Borderlands: The Handsome Collection for £15.69 at Amazon. (Includes Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel).

Borderlands The Pre-Sequel

This one will cause some issues with playing through chronologically as while it does take place in between the first two games, it is framed as a giant flashback and it does feel more at home coming after Borderlands 2. As for the game itself, while not as impactful as the first two, it remains a huge amount of fun to play and garnered favourable reviews upon release. Not an integral game in the series, but one well worth playing.

Buy Borderlands: The Handsome Collection for £10.99 at Amazon. (Includes Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel).

Tales From the Borderlands

A very different experience this, but one worth including as not only is it a good game, but it really delves further into the world and lore while being an entertaining story in its own right. This one comes from Telltale, the company known for their episodic point and click stories, and it is full of incredibly funny moments and some fantastic action. The only downside to this is that we never got a follow up to it and several key things are left hanging but that aside, this is worth a play even if you have never touched a Borderlands game before.

Buy Tales From the Borderlands for £15.40 at Amazon.

Borderlands 3

The most recent game in the franchise, Borderlands 3 was released in 2019 and while changing things up a bit from what came before and giving us new planets to explore, it didn't quite capture the magic that the first two main series games did. It remains great fun, ludicrously silly, and, at times, innovative, but it suffers somewhat from franchise fatigue with issues players have had with the games, bullet sponge boss fights for one, being more prominent than ever. Hopefully, when we get Borderlands 4, the developers will take the feedback on board and come back with the best game yet.

Buy Borderlands 3 for £13.99 at Amazon.

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Borderlands games in chronological order

This one is a little complicated and, for what it's worth, we do advise playing through the games in release order but if you want to play it all in story order, mostly, here is how.

• Borderlands
• Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
• Borderlands 2
• Tales from the Borderlands
• Borderlands 3

The issue here lies with the Pre-Sequel. While yes, the bulk of the action takes place after the first Borderlands and before the second, the structure of the game is told via flashbacks and the present-day section is set after Borderlands 2.

So while, yes, you can play through this way and it will be mostly in story order, for us, the definitive way to work your way through the crazy universe that Borderlands has to offer is the release order.

For more gaming news, check out our video game release schedule for all upcoming games for all consoles.

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