Borderlands is one of gaming's wackiest, and most addictive, franchises. The game's mainline entries each feature a unique story mode, allowing up to four players to work cooperatively in an effort to save the world and secure the precious treasure rumored to exist within interdimensional hordes, called Vaults. However, many of the Borderlands series' most popular modes are unlocked once the main story is completed, including the wave-based Circles of Slaughter. Circles of Slaughter task players with defeating progressively harder waves of enemies in a closed space, with multiple locations throughout each title's map. However, once they are beaten a few times, they offer little reason to return aside from farming loot. The next Borderlands game should make Circles of Slaughter more competitive by adding unique rewards and modernizing its efforts to create a formidable challenge.
Borderlands is a popular looter-shooter series, which has been a mainstay of the gaming industry since the original title was released in 2009. The mainline series of titles consists of Borderlands, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands 3, but the franchise has seen the release of various spin-offs as well. The most recent entry in the franchise was 2022's Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, a Dungeons and Dragons-inspired spin-off, based on a popular Borderlands 2 DLC. While the next entry has yet to be revealed, many believe it will be a new entry in the mainline series, Borderlands 4.
Circles of Slaughter Are A Mainstay of Borderlands' Post-Game
Borderlands' Circles of Slaughter have been featured in the post-game of every mainline entry. In Borderlands 3, Circles of Slaughter could be tackled at a variety of levels, with players able to bring their own team of vault hunters or utilize basic matchmaking. Successfully completing a Circle of Slaughter rewards vault hunters with gear of various rarities. While this has the potential to provide players with much-needed weapons and shields, players often receive rewards unbefitting of the challenge. After some time, many players lost interest in returning to the mode.
Circles of Slaughter's rewards could be improved by completing at Borderlands 3's highest difficulty, Mayhem 10. However, the mode is extremely difficult, and finding three other players who can meet the challenge was sometimes just as hard. Borderlands 3's matchmaking was highly inconsistent, across all modes, adding yet another reason for players to find alternative means of gaining better weapons and increasing their stats.
The Next Borderlands Should Modernize Circles of Slaughter's Competitive Nature
Borderlands 4 has the potential to fix many of the series' problems and can start by modernizing Circles of Slaughter. This starts with fixing Borderlands' consistently poor matchmaking. Borderlands 4 needs to make sure that more than just Mayhem level is considered when building a squad for Circles of Slaughter. Once a formidable fire team is created, Borderlands 4 can up the competition by adding leaderboards and squad-based loot.
Borderlands' post-game modes feel trapped in the past, and adding leaderboards to challenges, such as Circles of Slaughter, could help to modernize the series moving forward. Rewarding exceptional completion times or a high number of kills by placing players on a leaderboard will increase replayability exponentially, but it shouldn't stop there. Borderlands 4 should also reward individual players within a squad with unique loot or skins for dealing the most damage or getting the most kills. These two additions would go a long way to revitalizing one of the series' oldest challenges, and, if successful, could be adapted to other post-game modes. Fans of Borderlands eagerly anticipate the next entry in the series, and, with Borderlands 3 proving so divisive, a competitive approach for Borderlands 4 could be the first step toward a brighter and more modern future.