The Story Timeline Order of Borderlands Games
Borderlands is a franchise of looter shooter video games. The Borderlands series of games is often credited for popularizing, or even starting, the looter shooter genre, as well as expanding the possibilities of first-person shooter (FPS) gameplay in an large environments. Borderlands games are often praised for their fun gameplay, peculiar style and engaging adventuring.
What Are Borderlands Games Like?
Borderlands video games are looter shooter games, in the sense that the player character defeats enemies and completes missions, while finding and equipping new and better equipment. Borderlands games usually take place in a dangerous, near-future wasteland, in which the player often encounters bandits and monsters.
Borderlands are first-person shooter (FPS) games that usually take place in large environments. Unlike classic FPS games such as Doom (1993), Quake (1996), Unreal (1998) and Half-Life (1998), Borderlands games mostly take place in open environments. Borderlands games often feature missions to be completed and bosses to fight. After these endeavors, players are often rewarded with better equipment or with currency which can be exchanged for better equipment.
The first Borderlands game was released in 2009. Unlike other FPS games of that same decade, such as Crysis (2007) and Far Cry 2 (2008), Borderlands games feature a unique cel-shaded aesthetic that distinguishes them. Borderlands games also often feature unique, peculiar weapons that can be used by the player in their adventures.
Due to the frequent action present in the looter shooter genre, as well as the adventuring in the different environments of Borderlands, gameplay in Borderlands games is often always engaging, with little or no downtime. Players usually do not have to travel far to find enemies, there are plenty of missions to complete and there are multiple locations to adventure in.
Besides the diverse weapons available in Borderlands games, there are also vehicles that can be used to traverse the landscapes. Player characters able to room either on foot or using these vehicles. The vehicles can be used either for faster travelling or in some cases to avoid engaging in direct combat during gameplay.
With their constant action, cel-shaded graphics and sci-fi wasteland environments, Borderlands games can be a refreshing experience in the action genre. These games are ideal for players looking for action games that also provide a sense of progression, particularly in the equipment.
What is a Looter Shooter Game?
Looter shooter video games are typically first-person shooter (FPS) games that also feature looting mechanics, which are often found in action RPGs, specially isometric action RPGs such as Diablo (1997) and Diablo II (2000). Looter shooter games usually feature a first-person camera perspective, as well as diverse, randomized equipment that is obtained by defeating enemies. The constant progression that the character achieves in looter shooter games, in which after defeating enemies the player character finds increasingly better equipment, is very akin to the loot mechanic seen in Diablo (1997) and Diablo II (2000), and some other action RPGs. Over time, this sense of progression in equipment, along with some RPG mechanics, started to be known as a new sub-genre in the video games industry: the looter shooter game. This genre is a combination of the equipment progression seen in some isometric action RPGs and of FPS gameplay mechanics.
Are Borderlands Games Connected?
Borderlands video games take place in the same universe. For this reason, there are characters that appear in multiple games, as well as story events that could be related to more than one game at a time. While it is possible to play each Borderlands game separately and enjoy both the gameplay and the story, it is suggested to play the Borderlands games in chronological story order for the most comprehensive story experience possible.
Where Is Borderlands Set?
Most Borderlands video games are set in the planet Pandora, and take place mostly during the second half of the 29th century. Pandora is a planet that previously was known for its mining activities. Eventually, in Pandora, a mysterious Vault was discovered, which could contain valuable technology. Besides these resources, the planet Pandora contains dangerous inhabitants. Due to the natural resources of the planet Pandora as well as the presence of the mythical Vault, this planet in Borderlands is often the target of different corporations that aim to either take control of its natural resources or of the famed Vault.
The Chronological Story Order of the Borderlands Video Games
This is the chronological story order of the Borderlands video games. In other words, this is the chronological order of the story events of the various Borderlands games. It is suggested to play the Borderlands games in this order for the most comprehensive story experience possible.
Borderlands
Borderlands Legends
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
Borderlands 2
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
Tales from the Borderlands
Borderlands 3
The game Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel starts after Borderlands 2, but most of the gameplay takes place before Borderlands 2. For this reason, even if the game starts after Borderlands 2, I have placed it before Borderlands 2 because most of the gameplay takes place before that period.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is set directly after the story events of the Borderlands 2 DLC Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep. The DLC itself is set in a fantasy tabletop game. There is a standalone version to this DLC, known as Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep: A Wonderlands One-shot Adventure.
The Story Timeline Order of Borderlands Games
This is a timeline of story of the Borderlands video games. The year for each game is the year in which the game starts, or the year in which most of the gameplay takes place.
2864 Borderlands
2864 Borderlands Legends
286? Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
2869 Borderlands 2
28?? Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
28?? Tales from the Borderlands
2876 Borderlands 3
As said in the previous section, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is set directly after the story events of the Borderlands 2 DLC Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep. Considering that the original DLC takes place during Borderlands 2, but not exactly when, it is reasonable to consider Tiny Tina's Wonderlands to be immediately after Borderlands 2. However, due to the lack of information regarding the exact year, I was not able to write a specific year for that game. It is specifically more complex to find an exact date, in this case, considering that the story takes place in a fantasy tabletop game in the Borderlands universe. Despite the lack of information regarding the exact time period of the story events of the Borderlands 2 DLC Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep, or its standalone version Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep: A Wonderlands One-shot Adventure, it is very likely that these events take place soon after, or immediately after Borderlands 2. Likewise, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands takes place soon after these events.
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