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Given how unique Gearbox’s franchise is, none of the games listed are carbon copies, but they all share some elements with it, whether it be the art style, gameplay mechanics, or the addictive cycle of collecting better gear. Besides, trying to exactly replicate Borderlands is a foolish endeavor, since the series does it so well in the first place.
Updated on January 31, 2023, by Jason Wojnar: The amount of content shoved into any Borderlands game is almost obscene. Not only that but once players beat it the first time they can simply choose to go through it all over again. With Borderlands 3, some might even have opted to play it on the PS5 with all its enhancements and new bells and whistles. All the same, some fans are so ravenous in their consumption of Borderlands that they might have done all of this already. Instead of simply going through the games again, maybe they can take a small break and try out any of the titles below. The update adds a few games to this list, as well as keeps current on the existing entries, and even takes away a game whose servers are shutting down. No sense in telling players to play something if the game is shutting down soon.
17 Outriders
Whether something can be described directly as a live service game or simply a cooperative shooter with regular updates is sometimes hard to parse. Outriders certainly falls into this camp. The game is built around cooperative play and requires players to be online at all times, yet it has a fairly definitive campaign that can be finished within the length of most average shooters.
This can be good or bad depending on the type of gamer, but it is just good to know what type of game it is before going in. Updates and expansions have come out since its initial release, but it is nothing on the level of an average live service game. Like Borderlands, this is an adventure best done with friends.
16 Back 4 Blood
Turtle Rock Studios has many studio members who worked on Left 4 Dead. Their other games like Evolution tried other unique takes on cooperative multiplayer but they never hit like the classic zombie game. Back 4 Blood is more of a return to form while adding a few twists of its own.
Instead of a straight cooperative shooter, there is a card system to shake up each individual run in Back 4 Blood. While this addition might have made some apprehensive about the game, the final product was still perfectly satisfactory for fans of Left 4 Dead.
15 Tiny Tina’s Wonderland
It only makes sense to mention a spin-off to the Borderlands series here. Where Tales from the Borderlands is in the style of developer Telltale Games and is narrative-focused, Tiny Tina’s Wonderland is an action game taking place in a fantasy setting dreamt up by the titular Tiny Tina.
It does more with the formula to differentiate itself from the mainline games than The Pre-Sequel does, however. Players can use melee weapons and they create their own protagonist instead of picking from a predetermined set. Similar to the main games, it can be played either online or on split-screen.
14 Rage 2
The sequel to Id Software’s 2011 FPS has the same dark charm as the cel-shaded shooter franchise. The brutally chaotic barren waste is looked at through a tongue-in-cheek lens.
A couple of principal differences between Rage 2 and Borderlands are the setting - a post-apocalyptic planet Earth - and the lack of multiplayer, so one will have to solo when destroying enemy camps. Avalanche games worked in conjunction with Id on this project, giving it a similar open-world destructive flare to their Just Cause series.
13 Dead Island
What happens if one takes the Borderlands formula and puts it in a morose zombie-infested atmosphere? It would probably look something like Dead Island.
Tackling the story and side quests can be done solo, but journeying through the ruined island paradise with friends is what really makes this game shine. Focus steers away from guns, and instead, players rely more on melee combat to beat down the undead hordes terrorizing people in Techland’s 2011 title. Firearms play a bigger part later on, however, and players even start battling humans, giving a sense of progression and variety.
12 Plants Vs. Zombies: Battle For Neighborville
All of these shooter games are awesome, but there’s nothing for the kids. Plenty still play rated M products, but should those forbidden to play them be left in the dust? Thankfully, Plants Vs. Zombies: Battle For Neighborville is here to heed the call.
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Unlike the Garden Warfare title leading up to it, Battle For Neighborville is a larger, cooperative-focused experience where parties tackle missions from characters on a hub. Each plant is a different class, making teamwork and preparation vital to a mission’s success. Don’t be fooled by the cute aesthetic; some parts of the adventure will punish those who aren’t on their toes.
11 Wolfenstein: Young Blood
This side entry in the Wolfenstein series is a radical departure from the single-player focus of the recent titles. BJ Blazkowicz sits this one out, instead letting his daughters take the reins in a co-op romp through the streets of Nazi-occupied Paris.
Despite all the changes, slaughtering fascists is still at the core of the gameplay, and it feels just as good as ever. The action takes place on an open map, complete with numerous side missions that net players experience used to level up their character. It may not be Wolfenstein 3, but it is a more than worthy holdover until BJ’s return.
10 Path Of Exile
Borderlands feels like an action RPG shoved into a first-person shooter, though similarities are not immediately apparent. The never-ending quest for better loot and the huge hordes of enemies keep players hooked to the screen in both genres. Path of Exile also has these two facets.
Best of all, it is completely free. The nonexistent price doesn’t mean it is lackluster, however, as the base game was heavily praised from the outset and Grinding Gear Games has been steadily updating the product since launch. A sequel was also recently announced.
9 Fallout 4
The older Fallout games are timeless classics, but Fallout 4 makes it on the list for the changes it makes to the formula. Instead of shaping the narrative through choices and ethical dilemmas, the 2015 game instead switches focus to exploration and combat.
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Some bemoaned this change in identity, but it feels more like a dungeon crawler these days, making it more akin to Borderlands than the prior titles. Narrative and dialog still feature heavily throughout the story, though, so veteran fans aren’t left completely in the dust. If players are hankering for a multiplayer title, then they can jump into Fallout 76.This newer title had an admittedly rocky launch, but it has been much improved upon since its release and has plenty of content to devour with friends.
8 Destiny 2
Bungie’s ambitious multiplayer shooter took a while to find its footing, but now it’s in a better place than ever. Much of the content is free-to-play, meaning newcomers can enjoy dozens of gameplay hours before having to fork up a dime.
By then, its hooks will be so deep in the player, they won’t mind ponying up some cash to keep going. The distinct advantage Destiny has over other multiplayer shooters of its ilk is the near-perfect shooting mechanics. One would expect nothing less from the makers of Halo, after all.
7 Tom Clancy’s The Division
The first Division launched to a rough start, but the developer kept their heads down and worked to bring the product to quality. With The Division 2, they used all those lessons previously learned to give fans a great game out of the gate.
The ruined Washington DC setting makes for the perfect backdrop to the chaos occurring throughout the world. The multiplayer shooter has something for everyone. Newcomers tackle the story missions with friends, while hardcore players can spend their time in Dark Zones, where the stakes are high but the loot is more valuable.
6 Diablo
Blizzard’s action RPG established countless genre conventions. With Diablo 4 on the horizon, now is the perfect time to see what all the fuss is about regarding this classic series. Diablo II is still seen as the peak of the franchise, though Diablo 3 provides endless hours of entertainment and loot goodness.
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The story is laughably bad, but one can appreciate the game just as much by skipping all the dialogue. If one took a fan who had never heard of Borderlands and described it as “Diablo as an FPS,” they would know exactly what that means.
5 Dying Light
Techland left the Dead Island IP behind and started a new zombie survival series. Dying Light takes all the best things from its spiritual predecessor and fixes all the jankiness. Additionally, movement is highly improved, with players given the ability to jump and run across rooftops while avoiding the undead.
For players who have also exhausted all of Dying Light’s content, there is always Dying Light 2 for them to dive into. It maintains much of what made the first game special so fans will not be disappointed. It had an arduous development cycle, but when it came out many were satisfied with its quality.
4 Left 4 Dead 2
Zombies have almost been played out, but that does not make the classics any less enjoyable. Left 4 Dead took gamers by storm with its intense cooperative mayhem. Despite all the love for the franchise, players never received a third game in the franchise.
Even though the game is over a decade old, it is still a pleasure to revisit the classic on PC or Xbox 360. In fact, it was still receiving updates up to a couple of years ago and fans regularly support it.
3 Saint’s Row 4
While a more traditional open-world game than the looter-shooter action one finds in Borderlands, fans of the writing and atmosphere will find a lot to love in Saint’s Row 4. The third and fourth entries of the franchise are straightforward comedies filled with zany set pieces and unexpected pop culture references
Even when the jokes are not funny, they still lend to the overall jolly atmosphere. Best of all, the game can be tackled with a friend cooperatively. The newest entry in the franchise, titled Saint’s Row, tones down the inanity while still striving for the open-world mayhem for which the series is known. The reception to it was mixed, with many agreeing that the third and fourth games are still the height of the franchise.
2 Far Cry 5
RPGs and first-person shooters have become closer and closer as the years go by. The Far Cry series mostly eschews loot, but players explore a large open-world environment while upgrading their character through leveling up.
Cooperative play is also available in the fourth and fifth entries. The narrative admittedly takes a backseat, but Far Cry 5 provides countless hours of mayhem in the American midwest, an environment rarely explored in video games. True to the trend of changing environments and locations, Far Cry 6 takes place on a fictional Caribbean island where players have to take down a brutal dictator.
1 Warframe
This free-to-play title launched alongside the PlayStation 4, giving early adopters a constantly adapting game to try out. It is nearly unrecognizable from the first incarnation, with countless updates and expansions consistently giving fans more content to explore.
Whether one is into exploring open environments, player vs. player action, or cooperative experiences, Warframe offers something for every type of player. It does not look like the developer will slow the game down anytime soon, so now is as good a time as ever to jump in.
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