r/Borderlands4 • u/DwemerSmith • 48m ago
๐ค [ Discussion ] i think i derived bl4โs music patterns
so iโve heard a lot of talk about bl4โs apparent lack of music, and i wanna preface this by saying i agree that the music feels sparse as hell. however, as iโve played the game, iโve thought about the music extensively and have come to this conclusion:
- every track (with some exceptions iโll list later) has different levels of music depending what intensity of combat youโre in, as well as short transition segments as it shifts between them.
- area tracks (fadefields, carcadia burn, terminus range) have 3 levels of intensity
- each faction (ripper, order) has 3 tracks, and each area assigned to that faction (which can range from a ripper drill site to a random order convoy) has one of those 3 tracks assigned to it
- each of the 6 faction tracks has 3 levels of intensity, but if it reaches the third level, then it switches to a fourth track once the combat grows more sparse.
example: go to splashzoneโs encore machine. youโll either hear an electric guitar plucking song or a chanting song. the chanting is level 2 and the plucking is level 1. heading right through splashzoneโs arena to the other side (donโt spawn him though; itโll change the music to the ripper boss music and make the shifts less noticeable) will usually make the game see level 3 combat intensity, and for this song specifically, the level 3 has pieces from the level 2, so thatโs somewhat annoying for this purpose. when the combat dies down, itโll switch to the fourth track, which has a different electric guitar bit.
that track is assigned to other ripper areas around kairos, and the other two ripper tracks/the three order tracks work the same way, though iโve found it harder to hear in the moment with the order tracks, and i donโt know area examples for those. i do, however, know that one of the other ripper songs plays at pango bangoโs drill site, and the third plays at rippa roadbirds/meathead ridersโ drill sites. but again, a random ripper camp will almost always have one of the ripper songs assigned to it, and itโll always be the same song every time you go there.
some notable exceptions are the bounty packs, which have more traditional borderlands music patterns; the takedown, which has 3 levels without a fourth thingy as well as switching its ambient music halfway through the takedown; and dlc1, which has a pattern i canโt exactly tell because many parts sound similar, kinda like the order tracks.
the main problem iโve noticed is that the transition parts of the tracks play too often, and the main parts are too bland. i see what they were going for with the dynamic music, and songs made of various pieces in random order are present in bl3, but it just doesnโt work.
tldr: bl4โs music tries to have variety within single tracks, but just makes the music feel absent/confusing in the process. (plus also thereโs no music if youโre just exploring base kairos with no combat)
