Tales from the Borderlands

When I heard about Tales from the Borderlands I had a lot of confidence in it. First of all, I love the Borderlands series, but the folks at Telltale Games have never steered me wrong so I was very interested to see just what these guys could do with the Borderlands license. While I was looking forward to this game, by the time the fifth episode dropped I was completely blown away by it.

Meet The Gang

The strongest thing that this game has going for it is its characters. In the hands of the people at Telltale, any game is going to have strong characters and that is the case with Tales from the Borderlands. The two main characters and the two you play as are, Rhys and Fiona. These two could not be any more different, but they along with two robots and Rhys's best friend are out to score big, but for different reasons.

The voice acting in this game is amazing. Troy Baker brings to life Rhys and Laura Bailey brings Fiona to life. What I loved about the story is that you do not just care about the characters as individuals, you really care about the kind of “family” bond that they build on their adventure.

It Is Cool To Be Bad

As great as the heroes are in Tales from the Borderlands the “bad guys” are just as good. The people trying to ruin your days are first of all Rhys boss Hugo Vasquez as well as a bandit leader called Bassanova. Oh, and Handsome Jack is here too. The whole presentation of the game is amazing. It has that Telltale look to it, but it also has the cell-shaded style of Borderlands. It is hard to explain, but the game manages to look like a Borderlands while at the same time having that signature almost comic book, Telltale style.

No Looting And Shooting Here!

The gameplay is just as tight as it has ever been in a Telltale Game. You get to walk around a little bit, but most of what drives things forward in this game is the decisions you make. When you talk to someone or do something you will have a choice of things. These things can alter the way the story goes as well as change your relationship with certain characters. It is the Telltale formula down to a T and it is just as good as it has ever been.

What is really neat about this is that the game also has elements from Borderlands such as elemental weapons, skins, and cash boxes for example. There is a boss fight at the end that is just pure awesomeness and fits the zanier side of the Borderlands world perfectly.

Pros:

• Each of the five chapters is great
• Some amazing characters
• Awesome voice acting
• The game is just a ton of fun to play
• You will get attached to some of these characters in a major way

Cons:

• I do think just one first person style section could have been interesting
• Not sure we will see a sequel to this