Interestingly, while it launched on September 4th, advanced access became available on August 26th for Deluxe and Ultra Edition owners. This was enough for NBA 2K27 to not only rank first in the month’s sales, but also become the third-best-selling game year-to-date in the US behind Resident Evil Requiem and 007 First Light.

Unsurprisingly, Madden NFL 27 ranked second while Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls debuted third and Star Wars Zero Company in fifth. Halo: Campaign Evolved held on to its sixth-place spot from July, while Elden Ring made an unexpected comeback, jumping from 41st to seventh, likely due to the Tarnished Edition’s release on Nintendo Switch 2.

And if you thought the surprises were over, House House’s Big Walk charted in eighth place, which is pretty good for a co-op-focused indie title. Mario Kart World and Splatoon Raiders rounded out the rest of the chart.

Providence is the new map introduced in Story Pack 2, and it is one of the highlights of the expansion. The tropical setting gives the DLC a visual identity that provides a change of scenery from that seen in the base game and allows the art direction to shine. Littered with lush jungles, extravagant architecture and the bones of ancient behemoth beasts, the environment is a feast for the eyes. Along with the striking set dressing, Providence is also a lot of fun to explore, with tons of verticality and open spaces which take advantage of Borderlands 4‘s movement mechanics. These spaces also give players a range of different options when it comes to choosing how to approach each combat encounter.

With all of that said, this is a Borderlands expansion, so the main thing that matters is how well the core loot and shoot experience works here. Thankfully, the gunplay remains one of the experience’s strongest qualities. I chose to play as C4SH – one of Borderlands 4‘s DLC Vault Hunters – and I found the shooting mechanics to feel just as responsive and tight as you would expect from a Gearbox FPS game. Firearms feel good to use, movement feels pretty fluid and there’s a satisfying rhythm and weightiness to switching between different guns, reloading, and utilizing abilities when you are fighting.

FL4K and the Last Resort doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it also doesn’t need to. Borderlands has spent years refining this tried-and-tested formula, and it works well. The real hook, as always, is the loot. You’re constantly finding new weapons, while you play, leading to you comparing stats, swapping out your current loadout and wondering whether that gun you just picked up might completely change the way you’re approaching combat. Story Pack 2 leans heavily into that dynamic cycle, adding two new Pearlescent weapons alongside 18 pieces of Legendary gear and six Legendary Class Mods.

And some of the new weapons are ridiculously fun to play with. For example, The Astonisher is a Ripper shotgun that consumes its entire magazine with every shot, with its damage increasing based on how much ammunition you’re burning through. It’s a simple idea, but it gives the weapon a completely different rhythm from a conventional shotgun.

Then you’ve got weapons like Lovelorn, a Tediore assault rifle that can spawn automated kill drones to help you mow down enemies. There is also the Hand Frag, which adds a shotgun blast when you reload, and Fourier’s Malady, which throws copies of itself when fired. There’s Avarice too, which is an Order assault rifle that literally spends your money every time you pull the trigger in exchange for increased damage.

These make for some of the most refreshing elements of the DLC, and they provide a good reason for seasoned players to return to Borderlands 4 to check out the expansion. The unpredictability of the loot adds a level of spontaneity and that is where FL4K and the Last Resort excels, keeping things feeling exciting even after you’ve spent countless hours shooting your way through Pandora and beyond.

Numbers and stats are obviously important, but the most memorable weapons have an identity of their own. It would be easy enough just to look for whatever gun has a higher damage figure, but if you play that way then you are severely limiting yourself and missing out. The enemies you are fighting through are less remarkable, though. I played through the expansion solo and rarely found it to feel particularly challenging unless I was caught outside of cover and suddenly overwhelmed and outnumbered. The enemies have some visually cool designs, but I never felt they fundamentally changed how I approached combat.

However, that’s not necessarily a major problem here. The DLC’s enjoyment comes from the combination of movement, gunplay, abilities and loot, and that core loop keeps you on your toes and remains remarkably addicting.

The plot here is similarly safe, it is perfectly functional, but it doesn’t do anything that fans of the genre haven’t seen before.

FL4K themself felt a little one-note to me as a character, but Mr. Chew is an entertaining companion and the basic premise works. There is a reason the “man risks life and limb to rescue his dog” formula has been used so many times. Give the player something they immediately want to protect and you’ve got an easy, legitimate motivation to base the rest of the narrative around.

The writing also fits comfortably within the James Gunn/Guardians of the Galaxy-style tone that has become synonymous with Borderlands. It’s witty enough, energetic enough and self-aware enough to keep the momentum going, but it never challenges the conventions of the series.

And that’s basically how I felt about FL4K and the Last Resort overall. I liked it but I didn’t love it, simply because there isn’t anything here that blew me away. It is fun enough to kill a few hours with and I didn’t encounter anything that I particularly disliked or found frustrating. It’s safe, polished and perhaps a bit shallow, but that’s not necessarily a dealbreaker for long-time fans of the series when the fundamentals are this enjoyable.

I don’t go to Borderlands to have my worldview challenged. I’m playing it for fast-paced dumb fun. To enjoy the ridiculous guns, tight shooting mechanics and colourful worlds packed with things to kill and loot. FL4K and the Last Resort understands that perfectly.

While details about the supposed PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of Mafia: Definitive Edition are difficult to discern, it is likely that the title will run at higher frame rates than its PS4 and Xbox One release did. Since current-gen consoles are considerably more powerful than their predecessors, we can expect it to run at 60 FPS while targeting 4K on PS5 and Xbox Series X, and 1440p on Xbox Series S.

While Mafia: Definitive Edition is playable on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S thanks to the current-gen consoles supporting backwards compatibility, the title doesn’t really benefit from the extra horsepower, since Hangar 13 hadn’t enabled features like an unlocked framerate mode. Until a current-gen version finally comes out, PC will continue to remain the best way to experience the crime drama with high frame rates and resolution.

A remake of 2002’s Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, Mafia: Definitive Edition tells the story of taxi driver Thomas Angelo in the city of Lost Heaven. One night in 1930, Thomas, or Tommy as he goes on to become known, finds himself involved in a car chase when two gangsters jump into his taxi. What follows is an elaborate tale about how Tommy gets further involved with the local organized crime elements and rises up a crew’s ranks. The title lays much of the groundwork for the stories that would go on to be told in later games.

On the gameplay side of things, Mafia: Definitive Edition hedges its bets by offering both open-world gameplay as well as more linear story-based missions. While the open world can be explored to find new vehicles and even weapons, the missions form the core of the game, and also happen to be the primary means of progression when it comes to unlocking more content. For more details, take a look at our review.

The most recent entry in the franchise was Mafia: The Old Country, which was released on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in August 2025. Back in June, Hangar 13 had announced that it had been working on an expansion for the title. Dubbed Man of Honor, the expansion will revolve around a younger Don Salieri. The expansion is slated for release later this week.

In the meantime, take a look at our review of Mafia: The Old Country, which we gave a score of 8 out of 10 thanks to its storytelling, character development, and simple-but-effective stealth and combat systems. Our only complaint was that the story makes a strange transition as it reaches its climax, leaving us somewhat disappointed.

We can’t say we’re surprised, though, as this one didn’t leave enough of a mark on us when we reviewed it nearly three years ago. It did come with a charming vibe and a visually striking world with great driving mechanics, but its AI was too choppy to make it feel like a legit racer, although the Story Mode didn’t do it any favors either.

Nevertheless, it has had its takers over the years, and we’re sure that some of you are going to rush to grab a copy before it’s lost to the annals of gaming history. Of course, multiplayer support will continue until May 31st, 2027, before the servers go offline. You’re still going to have access to all offline content once that window expires, and you will continue to be able to download and play the game as long as you own a copy, so there’s that.

It’s always sad to see a good game let down by its systems not coming together well enough, and we wish this one did better.

“Since joining 31st Union, it’s become clear that changes need to be made to our team in order to realize our goals. Our success is dependent on our ability to work more quickly and nimbly. To do that, we’ve made the difficult decision to scale back our team to better align with where we are in development, which unfortunately means parting ways with some valued colleagues today.” As the site pointed out, he described the title as a “skill-based PVP roguelike experience” rather than a roguelike hero shooter, and you have to wonder if that means a significant shift in direction.

You might be forgiven if you’re wondering what we’re talking about. It’s been a while since there’s been news (remember that it was revealed back in October 2024). Following the radio silence, the need to “better align with where we are in development” has led the studio to let go of a portion of its team. What that entails for a title that seems rather confused about what it aims to be remains unclear, but Brinkman expressed measured optimism in his carefully-worded statement.

It isn’t the first time we’ve talked about the studio letting go of staff members, though, and we can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness for those who surely worked hard to bring the title to its current state, which the studio has “never been confident in.” Let’s just hope that this one turns out well to honor their contribution, and that it doesn’t hit any more snags along the way.

After all, the year has already seen some high-profile PvP failures, including the ill-fated Highguard, which lasted all of two months before it and developer Wildlight Entertainment shut down.

But what about Borderlands 4 on the Nintendo Switch 2? Well, an interview with Game File has shed light on why it isn’t happening anytime soon, after development on the port was paused earlier this year. Zelnick has elaborated on the reasons, citing optimizations on existing platforms as a priority.

“We want to make sure that we’ve fully addressed Borderlands 4 from a consumer’s point of view before we bring it to more platforms.”

Zelnick is referring to the PC version, a facet of the experience we even commented on in our review of the release build, where we called performance a mixed bag. Ironing out those kinks seems to be keeping the developers occupied at the moment, although Zelnick remains firmly optimistic that a Switch 2 port is “doable”.

Well, there’s still a lot of content and new additions from a very extensive 2026 roadmap to look forward to if you’ve not been able to get enough of the latest addition to the franchise. Let’s hope that it eventually makes it to the Switch 2 and brings a whole new bunch of players to the table as the year goes by.

In a recent interview with GameFile, Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Take-Two, explained that the team found it hard to work around EA’s exclusivity deal with the NFL and make a non-simulation title that would appeal to player tastes. It “didn’t work out creatively”, but Zelnick asserted that 2K would like another go at it “if the opportunity presents itself”.

We didn’t think that things were as challenging as they were, but as Insider Gaming’s Mike Straw reported back in 2023, it seems that the game’s development has bounced around quite a bit, leaving only a jumbled mess to show for it. Well, we’ll look on the bright side and call it a smart decision not to move ahead with a title that wasn’t going to do it for football fans, who are quite a discerning lot to begin with.

In the meantime, at least EA’s usual yearly iteration in the Madden NFL series should be coming this year. Whether that’s good news or not for fans who have long waited for an alternative remains to be seen.

The story sees the Vault Hunter working with Ellie as they venture into The Whispering Glacier in search of an “alien monolith” to find the titular Vault of the Damned. A “cosmic entity” that wants to ruin Kairos is apparently within, and the duo are keen to prevent that. Alongside the return of Mancubus, there’s Pickle and even Crazy Earl.

The Whispering Glacier holds plenty of secrets, including new areas hidden by massive flesh grows and an alternate dimension where a random World Boss awaits. Aside from the various bosses and mini-bosses (which include Scavs, Kraggons and even the DAHL Legion), players can look forward to 11 new Legendaries and three Pearlescent weapons. There are also 28 new cosmetics to unlock.

Of course, to access the content, you’ll need to have finished “A Lot to Process” in the base game, which means being level 13 or higher, or starting a new character and skipping straight to the DLC. A full reveal of C4SH’s gameplay and even a new cinematic short will be released next week, so there’s plenty to help with the wait.

Borderlands 4 is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Its Switch 2 version was originally in development, but has since been paused, allegedly proving a challenge for the team.

Bounty Pack 2’s release later this month will be accompanied by a major update for Borderlands 4 that brings with it a new tier of loot rarity—Pearlescent. This new tier has been described as being “superior to even Legendary gear”, and will be available to all players regardless of which DLC they may or may not own. Bounty Pack 2 players will also get their own exclusive Pearlescent-tier gear.

Story Pack 1 will introduce an entirely new region to the game, complete with new story missions and the first post-launch Vault Hunter addition—C4SH. The character was teased back in September, giving us hints about his various abilities. C4SH is themed as a gunslinger, along with slight nods towards potential necromantic abilities. The tease was accompanied with a look at C4SH’s kit, which includes a pair of revolvers and some strange-looking artefacts.

Legend of the Stone Demon is the second of five planned post-launch Bounty Pack DLCs. It can be picked up as part of the Bounty Pack Bundle, or as part of the Deluxe and Super Deluxe Editions of Borderlands 4. Mad Ellie and the Vault of the Damned, on the other hand, is the first of two planned Story Pack DLCs, and can be picked up individually, as part of the Vault Hunter Pack, or as part of the game’s Super Deluxe Edition.

Initially, Gearbox had also planned to bring Borderlands 4 to the Nintendo Switch 2. However, poor performance of the title on PC led to the studio pushing back the Switch 2 launch in favor of ironing out its technical issues on other platforms. While things had largely been quiet since then, earlier this week, Take-Two Interactive spokesperson Alan Lewis had confirmed that development on the port had been paused.

“Our focus continues to be delivering quality post-launch content for players on the ongoing improvements to optimize the game,” said Lewis. “We’re continuing to collaborate closely with our friends at Nintendo. We have ‘PGA Tour 2K25’ coming out and ‘WWE 2K26’ [for Switch 2], and we’re incredibly excited about bringing more of our titles to that platform in the future”

A follow-up report has indicated that development on the Switch 2 port had been “paused for a couple of months.” According to notable leaker NateTheHate, the port has “proven to be a challenge and has likely crossed over into the realm of investment/time needed to port it well being too high in comparison to sales potential.”

In the meantime, Borderlands 4 is still available on other modern platforms, and Gearbox has recently unveiled an updated roadmap for its post-launch content plans. Also check out our review for more details on the co-op looter shooter.

With the news that the Nintendo Switch 2 version has been paused, one must wonder about its future (the recent 2026 roadmap notwithstanding). Speaking to GamesIndustry, Zelnick said, “We’re still supporting Borderlands. We’ll have new content coming, we have updates coming, and we still are very optimistic about that title.”

This follows president Karl Slatoff stating that, “Gearbox Software will continue to support Borderlands 4 with new content and updates, and we expect the title to achieve strong sell-through over its lifetime” in Take-Two’s latest earnings call (transcription via GamesRadar).

That’s pretty much in line with everything we already know, but what about long-term content plans? Will Gearbox deliver everything on its current roadmap, which includes a new Bounty Pack and two story expansions, before moving on? Or can we expect even more content beyond Q3 2026?

Time will tell, but for Standard Edition owners along for the ride, the looter shooter will receive new Pearlescent rarity items next month, followed by a new Invincible boss and the first Takedown in Q2 2026. Gearbox has also promised performance improvements, a level cap increase, balance updates, new endgame activities, limited-time events, and my most-wanted feature, Shared Progression.

It essentially means that all collectibles unlocked on your first playthrough, including Fast Travel kiosks, Vault Key Fragments, and more, will be available for all future characters. No more needing to hunt them down again. Unfortunately, there’s currently no ETA on its arrival.