All in all, we have a good idea of what to expect from Borderlands 4’s September release. The formula of frantic, explosive action, weird and wonderful weapons, plus a generous dose of silly humor and build-making, is well-established.
The game is, however, throwing a spanner or two into the works. This series really is full of surprises.
For one thing, a slider will allow players to completely remove or reduce the amount of Claptrap’s voice in their lives, sure to offer welcome respite for many. For another, the new installment is set to add a preposterous collectathon that few are expected to be able to handle.
As spotted by Game Rant, an X post from Randy Pitchford laid down the gauntlet.
Fans of witty weapons dealer Marcus Kincaid will be glad/completely overwhelmed to learn that, per Pitchford, there are more than 200 bobbleheads of the character spread around the game’s expansive world. The issue, according to the Gearbox CEO, is that they’ve been very, very well hidden.
So much so, in fact, that he confidently states that he believes “Some may find a few. A very, very small number of people will explore Kairos so completely that they might discover them all.” An accompanying marked map in the post gives enterprising fans the broader locations of each one, further emphasizing just how elusive these little bobbleheads are expected to be.
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Randy Pitchford Said I Couldn’t, So I Will (Or Others Will)
Pitchford didn’t elaborate on the reward for scouring the world of Kairos in this way, but did note of the bobbleheads, “each has a story.” Those who are insistent on diving into the lore of every title they play, then, will have an awful lot of work to do.
As a Borderlands fan who is likely to sink a lot of time into this one later this year, I’m as confident as Pitchford when I say that I’ll be firmly in the “finding one or two at best” camp. In the Assassin’s Creed series and titles such as Ghost of Tsushima, I love nabbing collectibles, but I do so using handy map markers that lead me straight to them.
Collecting is my thing. Scrabbling fruitlessly around nondescript sections of rock face is not.
As my faltering attempts at finding the hidden Kerotans in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater brought into sharp relief, I’m not really cut out for this sort of thing. However, simply by stating his belief that most won’t be able to find them, Gearbox’s CEO has surely awakened a desire to do so in fans. As well as many cutting pop culture references along the way.
The more implausible, difficult, and potentially infuriating a challenge in a game is, the more obstinate many are about achieving it. I have a feeling that, not so very long after the game’s release, Borderlands players will be racking up Marcus Kincaid bobbleheads like nobody’s business.
Optional bosses above and beyond those that are encountered over the course of the main story are nothing new in games. I’d take a challenging Borderlands boss like that any day over something like this.
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