Borderlands Game of the Year rated by ESRB

Borderlands Game of the Year has popped up on the ESRB website seemingly out of nowhere. This special edition of the game has already been released in the past, but this new ESRB entry lists the PS4 and Xbox One as platforms. No official announcement has been made as of yet. That said, it seems clear that we’re getting the first Borderlands game in some form on modern consoles. The devil, however, is in the details.

The Borderlands Game of the Year package will include the base game along with the following DLC: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot, The Secret Armory of General Knoxx, and Claptrap’s Robot Revolution. While the game is certainly available on PCs, it hasn’t quite made its way to modern consoles. As an example, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection only includes Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.

Here’s the ESRB Rating description in full:

Borderlands Game of the Year

Platform: Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Rating Category: M (Mature 17+)

Content Descriptors: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, Mature Humor

Other:

• Users Interact (PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)

• In-Game Purchases (PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)

Rating Summary: This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of a Vault Hunter (i.e., treasure hunter) on a quest to uncover an alien vault on the planet of Pandora. Players explore an open-world environment and interact with characters, while completing mission objectives. Combat missions require players to use futuristic firearms (e.g., acid pistols, electrical shotguns, grenade launchers) to kill human bandits, alien creatures, and robotic sentries. Battles are frenetic and accompanied by screams of pain, gunfire, and large explosions. Human enemies emit large splashes of blood when shot and killed; some attacks may result in dismemberment and/or decapitation. The game contains frequent instances of mature humor, sometimes suggestive/sexual in nature: radio advertisements for male-enhancement products (e.g., “Do you ever feel like you are firing blanks?”); dialogue and text about body parts and other innuendo (e.g., “Really ‘preciate you takin’ a poke at that…uh, the system, not my mom”; “And pop! Went the weasel. I like it when things pop.”). The words “sh*t” and “a*shole” are heard in the game.

Although we now know that Borderlands Game of the Year is coming to the PS4 and Xbox One, there’s one critical piece of information missing: is this a straight port or will this version of the game have visual enhancements? The Handsome Collection saw some improvements for current-gen consoles, so let’s hope that Gearbox does the same for the O.G. wasteland adventure.