Borderlands 4 Hands-On: I hated the idea of the lack of minimap at first, but after playing, I no longer miss it
One of the many changes in Borderlands 4 is the removal of the minimap, which has been a big point of controversy surrounding the game's announcement. In May, I visited Gearbox Software to play BL4 and speak to senior project producer Anthony Nicholson. After playing the game and speaking with Nicholson, I fully understand what the team is going for now, and I don't think players will miss the minimap after a while. Image via 2K "This was more of a philosophy based on the design of the game," Nicholson said of the minimap no longer being in BL4. "And so, because we want you to be able to go out and explore more. Borderlands has always been a game where you can explore and go seek out things and collectibles and points of interest and different things like that as you travel and do your missions." The minimap has been seemingly replaced with a robo sidekick named ECHO-4, who functions as an NPC partner similar to Destiny 2's Ghost (but silent, thankfully), judging from my playtime with BL4 at the hands-on event. With the press of a button, the robot sidekick scans your immediate area, points you toward a waypoint if you're on a mission, and highlights grapple points, vending machines, or other interesting items. "Because we have more activities that people can do and more side content that people can do, we wanted you to be able to go and explore and find different things," Nicholson continued. "That, coupled with the addition of ECHO-4...that makes it to where, like, we felt we didn't need also a mini map, because those two things are very, very strong to get the player the agency and the urgency to be able to do what they need to do as they travel the world." In my hours with BL4, I disliked not having a minimap at first, so I understand where the outcry is coming from. But after playing for a while and feeling the gameplay in practice, I got used to pressing the ECHO-4 button whenever necessary, and elsewise would explore the world on my own or open up the main map in the menu. I think that's exactly the kind of cadence that the Gearbox team is going for. Screenshot by Destructoid I'm sure there will be some players who are staunchly anti-compass and need their minimaps back. But I also think that everyone should be open-minded and ready to give the game a chance as to how it's being presented. Borderlands 4 launches on Sept. 12 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Lodging and travel for the Borderlands 4 hands-on event was provided by 2K. The post Borderlands 4 Hands-On: I hated the idea of the lack of minimap at first, but after playing, I no longer miss it appeared first on Destructoid.
One of the many changes in Borderlands 4 is the removal of the minimap, which has been a big point of controversy surrounding the game's announcement.
In May, I visited Gearbox Software to play BL4 and speak to senior project producer Anthony Nicholson. After playing the game and speaking with Nicholson, I fully understand what the team is going for now, and I don't think players will miss the minimap after a while.
"This was more of a philosophy based on the design of the game," Nicholson said of the minimap no longer being in BL4. "And so, because we want you to be able to go out and explore more. Borderlands has always been a game where you can explore and go seek out things and collectibles and points of interest and different things like that as you travel and do your missions."
The minimap has been seemingly replaced with a robo sidekick named ECHO-4, who functions as an NPC partner similar to Destiny 2's Ghost (but silent, thankfully), judging from my playtime with BL4 at the hands-on event. With the press of a button, the robot sidekick scans your immediate area, points you toward a waypoint if you're on a mission, and highlights grapple points, vending machines, or other interesting items.
"Because we have more activities that people can do and more side content that people can do, we wanted you to be able to go and explore and find different things," Nicholson continued. "That, coupled with the addition of ECHO-4...that makes it to where, like, we felt we didn't need also a mini map, because those two things are very, very strong to get the player the agency and the urgency to be able to do what they need to do as they travel the world."
In my hours with BL4, I disliked not having a minimap at first, so I understand where the outcry is coming from. But after playing for a while and feeling the gameplay in practice, I got used to pressing the ECHO-4 button whenever necessary, and elsewise would explore the world on my own or open up the main map in the menu. I think that's exactly the kind of cadence that the Gearbox team is going for.
I'm sure there will be some players who are staunchly anti-compass and need their minimaps back. But I also think that everyone should be open-minded and ready to give the game a chance as to how it's being presented.
Borderlands 4 launches on Sept. 12 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Lodging and travel for the Borderlands 4 hands-on event was provided by 2K.
The post Borderlands 4 Hands-On: I hated the idea of the lack of minimap at first, but after playing, I no longer miss it appeared first on Destructoid.
