7 Best Games Like Borderlands Worth Playing in 2026

Games like Borderlands all share three ingredients: first-person gunplay, randomized loot, and drop-in co-op. The Borderlands series has shipped more than 77 million copies since 2009 and has earned over US$1 billion in total net revenues, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises ever. I spent three weeks replaying seven of the strongest alternatives on PS5 and PC to see which ones still hold up in 2026.

#What Makes a Game Feel Like Borderlands?

Three design choices.

The billion-gun system is the first. The Borderlands series Wikipedia page confirms that Gearbox Software built the franchise as an “action role-playing first-person looter-shooter” where weapons are procedurally generated by mixing manufacturer parts. The second is the vault hunter archetype: each playable character has a signature class skill and three branching trees. Third, the tone: comic-book cel shading, bandits insulting you as they die, irreverent writing.

When we tried each game on this list against that three-part test, only a few hit all three. Most modern alternatives trade one element for another: Destiny 2 keeps the loot chase but drops cel shading for sci-fi realism, and Warframe keeps class depth but moves to third-person parkour.

Pick your priority first. Is it loot volume, class build depth, co-op chemistry, or sheer visual chaos? That single question narrows the seven games below to two or three strong matches.

#Destiny 2 Is the Closest Class-Based Fit

Destiny 2 is the obvious first recommendation. According to Destiny 2’s Wikipedia entry, the game launched on September 6, 2017 from Bungie, with a first-person shooter core built around three guardian classes (Titan, Warlock, Hunter) that each branch into subclasses. Strikes scale to three players; raids scale to six.

The loot chase is the strongest in the genre.

Exotic weapons drop from specific activities. Each one has a named perk that changes how you build around it. In my experience across roughly 60 hours on the latest seasonal content, the shooting feels tighter than Borderlands (Bungie came from Halo). The class fantasy is deeper, too, because subclass trees include aspects and fragments that let you mix abilities.

Destiny 2 is free to download. The best endgame activities (raids, new campaigns) live behind expansion purchases. Budget one expansion before deciding. For a broader look, our guide to other games like Destiny covers the next tier.

#Warframe Has the Deepest Free-to-Play Build System

Warframe is the genre outlier that keeps winning. Digital Extremes launched it on March 25, 2013 as a free-to-play third-person shooter. Warframe’s Wikipedia page confirms the game passed nearly 50 million registered players by 2019, with every expansion since released free.

Where Warframe beats Borderlands is frame variety. Instead of four vault hunters, you unlock more than 50 warframes over time, each a distinct class with four abilities.

Loki turns invisible and teleports. Inaros tanks desert damage and revives allies. Saryn spreads disease that chain-reacts through mobs. In our testing during a weekend of Steel Path missions on PC, switching frames completely changed the same mission’s pacing.

The learning curve is steep. Expect 20 hours figuring out mods, relics, and the focus system. If that sounds punishing, our rundown of alternatives to Warframe has a few softer landings.

#Can You Play The Division 2 Solo?

Yes, The Division 2 plays well solo, but the four-player co-op is where it mirrors Borderlands most closely. Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft released it on March 15, 2019. The Division 2’s Wikipedia article states that the game sold more than 10 million copies across platforms. Main-story missions scale to four players; raids scale to eight; Dark Zones hold up to 12 players in shared PvEvP space.

The specialization system is the direct Borderlands class equivalent. Six specializations have launched since 2019: Survivalist, Sharpshooter, Demolitionist, Gunner, Technician, and Firewall. Each unlocks a signature weapon and a dedicated skill tree. Gear comes in six rarity tiers with brand sets that grant bonuses when you wear matching pieces.

Cover changes everything. Combat is third-person and cover-based, not run-and-gun.

If you came to Borderlands for the twitchy first-person shooting, this is a slower read. If you came for the loot and build depth, The Division 2 has arguably more systems to optimize. Our comparison of similar cover-shooter alternatives covers the next layer of options.

#Outriders Ships Complete With No Live-Service Grind

Outriders is the cleanest counter-argument to live service.

People Can Fly and Square Enix launched it on April 1, 2021. Full-priced single purchase. Four classes: Trickster, Pyromancer, Devastator, Technomancer.

Outriders’ Wikipedia page reported that the game reached 3.5 million players within one month of launch and that co-op supports three players.

The loot and class systems are textbook looter-shooter. Each class has a three-branch skill tree and a class-specific mechanic. Trickster stops time, Pyromancer ignites enemies for mark-kill healing, Devastator uses rocks and seismic pulses, and Technomancer deploys turrets. Gear drops come in five rarity tiers with mods you can strip and re-apply to any legendary piece.

Mod swapping matters. Re-rolling a bad stat means hunting a single purple and transplanting the mod, not farming a new legendary from scratch. That single design choice removes most of the grind that dominates Destiny 2, and it’s the reason Outriders felt so refreshing at launch compared to competing looter-shooters from the same year.

No live service, no season pass, no battle pass, no daily login rewards. Buy once, finish the campaign and Worldslayer expansion, shelve it.

#Remnant Is Harder Than Borderlands

Remnant: From the Ashes is noticeably harder than any mainline Borderlands. Gunfire Games released it on August 20, 2019. The Remnant Wikipedia entry records sales above 3 million units by December 2021. Three-player co-op is the cap.

Souls-like difficulty is the hook. Bosses have multi-phase patterns; your checkpoint is a crystal; enemies respawn when you rest. Procedurally linked world layouts mean each campaign run drops different bosses, different merchants, and different loot, and because the zone order reshuffles each time you can get a completely different run length by rerolling the adventure mode. Most players see roughly 20-30 hours per full campaign with heavy replay incentive.

I tested three fresh campaigns during one weekend on PS5. All three dropped meaningfully different rare weapons from the same boss tier.

The loot is tighter than Borderlands (no billion-gun procedural system), but every weapon has a unique mod ability you craft from boss drops. If you want depth over volume, Remnant wins. If you want slot-machine legendaries, stick with Destiny 2 or Outriders.

#Rage 2 Is the Solo Chaos Pick

Rage 2 is the only entry on this list I recommend for purely solo play. Avalanche Studios and id Software built it with Bethesda Softworks and released it on May 14, 2019. The Rage 2 Wikipedia article notes the game was the best-selling retail game in the UK during its launch week.

Where Rage 2 beats Borderlands is raw combat feel.

id Software handled the gunplay and it shows. Overdrive mode turns you into a damage-stacking nightmare who heals on kill. Vehicle combat is first-class, with trucks, gyrocopters, and buggies all drivable and weaponized.

The open world is smaller than modern looter-shooters, but every hideout, ranger echo, and mutant nest is dense with encounters. The trade-off is no co-op and thinner loot. You get nanotrite abilities and weapon mods, but no randomized drops. If you’re coming to Borderlands for the chaos and first-person shooting and you don’t care about grind, Rage 2 is 20 to 30 hours well spent at sale prices.

#Doom Eternal for Pure Combat Flow

Doom Eternal is the last-resort pick if you want Borderlands-grade shooting without any looter-shooter scaffolding. No randomized loot, no classes, no co-op campaign (although Battlemode is asymmetric PvP).

What it has is the sharpest first-person combat loop in the genre. Glory kills refund health, chainsaws refund ammo, flame belch refunds armor, and the game forces you to cycle all three. id Software’s Doom Eternal supports solo and competitive multiplayer only.

In my experience finishing Nightmare difficulty on PC, the combat feels tighter than any Borderlands mainline because every enemy has a specific counter that teaches you which weapon to swap to next.

If you loved Borderlands for the moment-to-moment shooting and hated the bullet-sponge endgame grind, Doom Eternal is the fastest detox. Our list of games like Doom covers the next layer, and our games like Left 4 Dead list pairs well if you also want horde-shooter co-op energy.

#Bottom Line

For Borderlands fans who still want the four-player co-op and class fantasy, Destiny 2 is the first download. It has the tightest shooting in the genre and the deepest exotic loot chase, although expansions cost extra. Warframe is the best free commitment if you want to keep playing for years. Outriders is the pick if live service fatigue is real and you just want a full campaign you finish and shelve.

Solo players should start with Rage 2 for chaos or Doom Eternal for combat purity. If you want the looter-shooter formula but harder and with real boss design, Remnant: From the Ashes is underrated. The Division 2 rounds out the list for anyone who prefers grounded cover-shooting to cel-shaded bandit farming.

Platform availability varies. Destiny 2, Warframe, and Doom Eternal run on virtually everything. Outriders, Remnant, and Rage 2 skip Nintendo Switch on current hardware. Confirm your target platform on Steam or the publisher’s store before buying.

#Frequently Asked Questions