The Borderlands franchise is known and beloved for many things. However, one of the most divisive aspects of the series has always been the character of Claptrap. The robot, who is often present for the majority of most of the titles’ stories, tends to have players either love him or hate him, with many asking developer Gearbox for a way to mute him. It turns out Borderlands 4 will finally be fulfilling this request.
As spotted by a Twitch partner, Borderlands 4’s audio options screen features a separate slider that apparently controls specifically Claptrap’s volume. This reveal prompted narrative director Sam Winkler to reveal that the slider also has some jokes involved. In a social media post, Winkler said that one of the jokes he had written for the game’s Claptrap Volume slider features exclusive lines, including a niche reference to an older game.
“I wrote some lines just for this feature and it includes maybe the dumbest most niche reference to a certain terrible accent in a certain classic immersive sim,” wrote Winkler. While we don’t know what immersive sim he is referring to in his post, his use of the word “classic” would imply it is from the Deus Ex series.
Borderlands 4 just recently got a new trailer showcasing one of its new regions – the Wastelands. The region is a sandy one, and includes destroyed structures that would indicate that it was once inhabited by some form of industry. Going by the trailer, the level also seemingly involves a fair bit of verticality, and will likely involve quite a few bandits that have to be taken out by the player.
Gearbox also recently revealed that there will be quite a few difficult bosses for players to take on in Borderlands 4. In a social media post, the studio posted a screenshot of the boss Inceptus, claiming that “nothing goes harder” than it. Studio boss Randy Pitchford, in a response, noted that the title will definitely feature some bosses that might surpass Inceptus in terms of “going hard”.
“Actually… I can think of some bosses that go harder,” wrote Pitchford in his post. “Inceptus is pretty hard, though.”
Creative director Graeme Timmins has also confirmed that Borderlands 4 will be getting photo mode in a post-launch update. He noted that the studio’s first priority was to make sure that the moment-to-moment gameplay was good. Because of this, the feature wasn’t able to make it into the game in time for its September 12 launch.
“I had us prioritise polishing some other elements, more core to the moment-to-moment experience,” wrote Timmins. “We’ve always planned for it, and had it tasked up, we just needed to spend a bit more time on things that would directly impact QoL of playing the game.”
Borderlands 4 is currently in development for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2. As you wait for the upcoming co-op looter shooter, check out what Pitchford has said about the studio’s plans for post-launch content for the game.