The Borderlands movie is such a disaster that all the games are 94% off, reflecting its miserable 6% Rotten Tomatoes score (2024)

In case you haven't heard, the Borderlands movie is finally out, and it's...not good, to say the least. Honestly, that's being generous: since the review embargo for the film lifted earlier this week, it's garnered a score of just 6% on Rotten Tomatoes, with 73 critics near-unanimously panning it at the time of writing. I haven't seen it myself, admittedly — I might give it a hate-watch this weekend — but I'm confident in saying this will go down in history as one of the worst video game adaptations of all time, right up there with 2005's Doom, 2010's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and every game movie in Uwe Boll's filmography.

But while Borderlands the film is proving to be a disaster, the games it's based on are actually quite good, and are well worth your time. Conveniently, they're all on sale right now for colossal discounts, the most notable of which is an amazing deal that knocks the Pandora's Box franchise collection down to just $37.12 at Steam (it's normally $664.47 according to the listing). That's a gargantuan 94% off markdown — hilariously, that's the exact amount of score the movie is missing on Rotten Tomatoes — but there are other awesome discounts available for the games individually, too. I've listed all of them below:

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Forget the film — just play the Borderlands games

A big reason why the Borderlands movie's horrible quality is such a disappointment is because the franchise's games are — for the most part, anyway — great. I've always felt the original 2009 title was one of the first to blend action RPG-style looting and buildcrafting with the first-person shooter genre in a satisfying way, and in its sequels, developer Gearbox Software has steadily built on the formula it kicked off with new casts of playable characters, over a billion possible procedurally generated gun variations, a diverse array of enemy types, and a lengthy character-driven narrative that spans and hooks into every entry thus far.

By far, the main thing about Borderlands that makes it one of the best Xbox games and best PC games is its gameplay. Each game features 4-6 "Vault Hunters" to choose from that each have a core ability and multiple diverse skill trees, and when paired with some of the ridiculously creative weapons you'll get from quests and grinding, these will allow you to put together some wildly fun-to-play builds (there are also lots of good support-focused options for co-op, too). In Borderlands 2, for example, there's a Legendary shotgun called the Conference Call that spawns extra projectiles as bullets travel, potentially covering the entire screen in lead; this makes it a superb option for players using the Vault Hunter Gaige and her Anarchy skill, which reduces accuracy but buffs your weapon damage. Who cares about accuracy when there's already buckshot covering every square inch of the map?

Wackiness and creativity like this is a significant part of why Borderlands has always stood out, and for better or worse, it's always extended to the franchise's storytelling. When it works (Borderlands 2), you'll be chuckling constantly at clever jokes and absurdist humor. When it doesn't, though (Borderlands 3), you'll find it hard not to wince at how cringey it is or scoff at how childishly immature it can be.

Hit-or-miss writing aside, though, the Borderlands games are absolutely worth playing, especially when they're discounted this heavily. The original is the most grounded and "tame" of the bunch, and will likely be the one you'll prefer if you want something toned down. Borderlands 2 is where both silliness and buildcrafting potential became prevalent, but it also has a strong narrative and an incredible villain in Handsome Jack, making it most players' favorite.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel takes place between the first game and its sequel, and while it's short compared to other entries, it's got everything fans loved about Borderlands 2 with a space-themed coat of paint. After that, there's Borderlands 3, which elevates the gunplay and RPG elements to even greater heights but falls off greatly in terms of writing quality. There's also the very underrated Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, which is an entire game inspired by Borderlands 2's Dungeons & Dragons-themed expansion that creatively blends Borderlands gameplay with fantasy elements like magic spells, medieval-style melee weaponry, and more.