The Borderlands franchise has been around for almost ten years, and in that time the series has cemented its place in gaming history, with four full releases and one episodic spin-off. While the games do not always treat their stories and lore with the most serious attitude, many of the franchise's fan-favorite characters have appeared in multiple titles and have storylines that continue throughout the series.
Luckily, Gearbox does a great job making each game's story easy to jump into for new players, but they also put in nods to past events and characters that only veteran Borderlands players will understand. With this in mind, we decided to put together a list of ten things only players of the previous games in the franchise will have noticed.
10 No More Badass Rank
Gamers who played Borderlands 2 or Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel may have been surprised to see the series' third title has replaced the Badass Rank system with Guardian Ranks. There are some similarities between Guardian Ranks and the system's predecessor, but there are also some big differences.
For example, players do not unlock the ability to invest in ranks until they complete the main story, and you put points into either the Enforcer, Survivor, or Hunter trees, which each offer different benefits and playstyles.
9 Sanctuary
In Borderlands 3, the central hub location is a ship called Sanctuary, which allows players to travel between the various planets featured throughout the story. What many first time Borderlands players may not realize, though, is that the ship's name comes from the second game's main location, which was also named Sanctuary.
Borderlands 3's Sanctuary also shares more similarities than just its name with the previous location. Many of the shop owners on the ship, like Moxxi and Earl, appear in areas that are very reminiscent of the old Sanctuary.
8 Rhys' Voice Changed
Rhys is one of the few characters from the Telltale Games Borderlands spin-off to also appear in Borderlands 3, but fans who played the episodic title and listen carefully may hear a difference in the character's voice. This is because Troy Baker, who initially voiced Rhys, did not return to reprise his role for the new game.
Baker recently revealed that this was due to the fact that Gearbox "made it impossible" because the developer "wouldn't go union." This is a problem for Baker, due to the fact that he can only work union jobs as a member of the Screen Actors Guild.
7 More Planets
One of the most significant changes between Borderlands 3 and past titles in the series is the number of planets you visit throughout the campaign. Previous games were set entirely on Pandora or Pandora's moon Elpis (depending on the release) and players were stuck with those locations for the entirety of their time playing.
The addition of multiple planets for players to visit has added some much needed environmental (and mission) variety to Borderlands 3 and provides Gearbox with a more straightforward way to add new content to the game after release.
6 Zane's Last Name
Players who did not play the other titles in the Borderlands franchise are likely unaware that Zane is related to not one but two bosses from past games. Zane's last name is Flynt, which he shares with his brothers Baron Flynt and Captain Flynt.
There are even a couple of places throughout Borderlands 3 where Zane mentions his brothers to the characters from previous games who killed them. Having Zane fill the role of the third game's Flynt family member is a fun twist from Gearbox, since he is a playable character.
5 New-U Stations Voice Lines
New-U Stations throughout the Borderlands franchise have always been packed with sarcastic fourth-wall-breaking lines, but there are a few in Borderlands 3 that could easily be missed by players who are new to the series. Additionally, the New-U Stations in Borderlands 3 are owned by Hyperion and include mentions to past actions by the gun manufacturer.
For example, one of the possible voice lines players can hear after dying is "we aren't the bad guys in this one," which is a reference to their role as villains in Borderlands 2.
4 Claptrap Sounds Different
Just like Rhys, Claptrap might also sound different to any players familiar with previous Borderlands titles, as David Eddings did not return to voice the character.
Eddings had previously been a member of the Gearbox team but did not receive any extra compensation for portraying the character. Since Eddings has moved on from Gearbox, he offered to reprise his role but with some conditions, which were ultimately deemed unrealistic by the developer.
3 The Gun Manufacturers Have Made Some Improvements
Gun variety has always been a major focus in the Borderlands series, but many players may not have noticed how significant some of the gun manufacturer changes are in Borderlands 3. With each returning company, Gearbox did a great job taking the core of what players expect from the manufacturer and adding a small but significant change.
Take the Maliwan guns for example. In past games, the weapons always have an elemental effect, but now each gun comes with two elements that can be swapped between.
2 Changes To The Siren Class
If you compare Amara to the other playable Sirens from past Borderlands games, you will notice that there are quite a few differences in the playstyles available to Amara mains. For example, while she may share the Phasegrasp ability with Borderlands 2's Maya, Amara also has a Brawl tree, which is focused on enhancing her close-quarters gunplay and melee combat.
This allows Amara to fill the role of the Bruiser or Brawler class that was held by characters like Brick and Salvador in past Borderlands titles.
1 FL4K And Zer0 Share An Ability
FL4K mains who also played Zer0 in Borderlands 2 may have noticed that the two characters share a skill. Under FL4K's Hunter tree, there is a skill called TWO F4NG, while Zer0's Cunning tree also contains a skill named Tw0 Fang.
As with the small stylistic differences in spellings, the descriptions of the skills are also slightly different, but essentially state the same thing. Zer0's version says it gives weapons a chance to fire twice, while FL4K's states that guns may fire an extra projectile.