Highlights
- The Borderlands Collection: Pandora’s Box is a comprehensive bundle of all Borderlands games, including DLC packs, offering the definitive experience for newcomers at a discounted price.
- However, the collection doesn’t bring any new content or upgrades to the games, making it less appealing for die-hard Borderlands fans who likely already own most of the games.
- While the lack of additions may disappoint long-time fans, especially with the previously released Handsome Collection making improvements, the collection still provides a worthwhile and fair package for newcomers looking to jump into the series for the first time.
With some of the most critically acclaimed co-op games ever made under its banner, the Borderlands franchise has been an inescapable part of the video game landscape since its debut all the way back in 2009. Essentially pioneering the modern looter-shooter genre, Borderlands and its subsequent sequels are some of the most beloved games of all time, and fans would be hard-pressed to find a gamer who hasn’t at least given the series a go at some point in their life. But for those few, the Borderlands Collection: Pandora’s Box is ready and waiting.
Announced and shadow-dropped last week, Borderlands Collection: Pandora’s Box collects every single Borderlands game ever made, and delivers them in one neat package for modern platforms. But while this is one impressive collection, die-hard Borderlands fans aren’t overly smitten with the bundle, and it’s clear that Borderlands: Pandora’s Box could have put in a bit more effort in certain departments.
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Borderlands: Pandora’s Box Is a Great Deal, But It Could Have Been Even Better
The Borderlands Collection: Pandora’s Box is technically a great deal. This collection not only brings together all three mainline Borderlands games, but also the Pre-Sequel spin-off, and both Tales games, including the most recent one which was only released late last year. And if that wasn’t enough, every DLC pack for each Borderlands game is also included in the collection, giving players the definitive experience for every Borderlands game ever made.
Borderlands Collection: Pandora’s Box officially retails for $150, which although sounds pretty steep, works out at around $25 per game. And right now, this collection is discounted across all platforms, dropping the price to just $60, making it an absolute steal. A final cherry on the cake is that discounts are also given on the bundle if players already own one or more titles on that particular storefront. For newcomers to the Borderlands franchise, there’s never been a better time to just dive straight in, but for those who have walked Pandora’s wastelands before, this collection will do little for them.
However, this Borderlands: Pandora’s Box collection doesn’t add anything new to any of the games included. This means that there are no new story missions, no new weapons, no new NPC interactions, and no new content of any description at all. This collection also doesn’t bring any upgrades to any of the games. The versions included in the Borderlands collection aren’t remasters or upgrades, just ports. For die-hard Borderlands fans that likely already own most of, if not all of these games, there’s no reason at all to purchase the Borderlands: Pandora’s Box collection.
While the Borderlands: Pandora’s Box collection doesn’t claim to include any extra additions, and therefore doesn’t technically owe fans anything at all, it would have been nice to have gotten some kind of additional content, or at least some upgrades to the older games in the collection. The last Borderlands compilation, the Handsome Collection, included a slew of technical upgrades including improved frame rates and the addition of four-player split-screen. It also included some new content via the free-to-download Claptastic Voyage DLC. In comparison to the Handsome Collection, Pandora’s Box is pretty disappointing. But, at the end of the day, this most recent Borderlands collection isn’t for long-time fans; it’s for newcomers looking to finally jump into the series for the first time, and when looking at it through that lens it’s hard to deny that it’s a worthwhile and fair package.
Borderlands Collection: Pandora’s Box is available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
