How to Play the Borderlands Games In Order

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Quickly earning a reputation as the face of the looter shooter genre in the years since its release, Borderlands really has become one of gaming's most recognisable franchises. From its cel-shaded art style to its masked psycho poster child, the foul-mouthed, tongue-in-cheek sci-fi universe is now a staple of modern video game culture. It's not stopping there though, with the series quickly morphing into a multimedia sensation in its own right, spinning off into comics, novels and even a tabletop game.

This month, that journey reaches its biggest milestone yet, with Borderlands finally making its long-awaited jump to the big screen courtesy of Hostel and Thanksgiving director, Eli Roth. Reimagining Pandora and its vault-obsessed locals for a brand new audience. And while the film did not review particuarly well, it's still a major step for any franchise.

With the Borderlands movie now in theaters, there's likely to be a lot of new and returning fans looking to dive back into the games and reacquaint themselves with where it all started. So, we decided to put together a quick timeline of the series to get you caught up on how it all fits together.

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In total, there are currently seven Borderlands games and spin-offs that are canon to the series, and two smaller, non-canon titles: Borderlands: Vault Hunter Pinball and Borderlands Legends.

While it's the simplest answer, the best place to start is arguably Borderlands 1, although if you don't care about the story, any of the three mainline games are a good introduction.

All three entries in the trilogy are relatively similar in style, scope and gameplay, and better yet, they're all available on modern consoles and PC. That being said, there is a great overarching story that runs through the Borderlands saga, and if you've just come off the movie and want to follow it as intended, starting from the beginning is the best way to play.

These blurbs contain mild spoilers for each game, including characters, settings, and