Another great episodic series.
I’ve played my fair share of Tell Tale games. In fact, I think besides Game of Thrones, I’ve played them all. I’ve enjoyed a lot of their storytelling, and the characters they bring into their series really show emotion and are believable. Combine that with the world of Borderlands, and there’s a mixture of humor, gore, and a fantastical world full of technology and tons of guns. Tales from the Borderlands is very much a Tell Tale game, and once again, they really knock this story out of the park with both flair and some pretty great moments.
Players actually control two main protagonists – Rhys, a middle management man working for Hyperion and the expert confidence woman, Fiona. Both take their turns telling the overall story throughout the five episode game, and each has their own unique dialog options along with tricks up their sleeves. Rhys has cybernetic augments that allow him to scan areas for information and Fiona is all about the money. She collects money to use in different situations.
MSRP: $24.99
Price I’d pay: $24.99
Platforms: 360, PS3, PS4, XB1, PC
Playing your role.
Just like in other Tell Tale games fashion, Tales from the Borderlands is tailor made for the player depending on the choices they make. Some may be small, but others may mean certain characters won’t show up in later episodes. For the first time in this style of game, I wasn’t able to track exactly what may or may not have changed. This is a nice feeling, as I wasn’t trying to “game” the outcomes into my favor. I was finally able to actually role play the characters, and found it really enjoyable, while I made Rhys a more bumbling idiot with a heart of gold and Fiona a skilled yet sarcastic ally. Of course, the game itself helps out with some quality character arcs and voice acting.
Speaking of, there’s an all-star cast here with the likes of Troy Baker, Lara Bailey, Patrick Warburton, and Nolan North. All deliver fantastic performance and create characters that are likeable, or ones that people will really want to blow their heads off.
Are choices smaller than you think?
I want to stay far away from spoilers as much as possible, but I do want to mention one small thing that I did notice, in fact I notice it a lot in these Tell Tale games. While the game is all about choice and experience, I feel that these games, including Borderlands, still lead down a singular path with just a few modifications. I never felt like there would be a game changing experience if I were to go with a different option. In fact, sometimes I found that my choice would be counteracted in the next episode after all. It’s not to say it wasn’t a fun ride, but I still feel a little cheapened in some aspects.
I love the style of each episode. Just like in the Borderlands games, each episode starts off with a musical introduction with the credits popping up in the environment, making it one of the small highlights of the experience as a whole. It was really great and the music selection was superb.
Obviously, fans of Borderlands will get much more out of it, but even if you haven’t played the first person shooter RPGs, you’ll still have a great time seeing this world in the eyes of a couple of cons. It is well acted, has tons of style, and brings a great story to the table. I highly suggest this adventure game to both fans of Borderlands and fans of adventure games.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
