If you are a fan of the Borderlands series then just do yourself a favor and get yourself a season pass to Tales From The Borderlands ASAP.
I’ve been a fan of Telltales work for sometime now. I can still remember spending many a late night playing Poker Night at the Inventory and not even having a remote interest in Poker. But this time around with the Borderlands franchise, I was interested the day I heard the news of a collaboration.
Telltale have managed to take the underlying humor that is Borderlands and translate it into a fast paced point-and-click adventure game. Much of what makes Telltale great is that the developers really understand the properties that they are working with. The attention to detail, both visually and from a writing perspective, can be seen in almost every scene of Tales From The Borderlands. In fact, I actually learned more about the world of Pandora from this episode than I did from the games it spun off from.
Not being burdened with being a fast-paced FPS, Tales From The Borderlands has the ability to really open up the world of Pandora to the player not only with its writing, but its mechanics as well. Everything just works wonderfully and when you finish this first episode, you’ll be clamoring for more.
This singular story revolves around two very different protagonists (and assorted friends) as they face the trials and tribulations on the world of Pandora. Rhys, a Hyperion Corporation stooge looking to up his place in the pecking order, and Fiona, a Pandora native and con-artist looking to make one last score. Typical beginnings for such things and the game does make mention of this in jest, but the chemistry between the two leads works very well.
And that’s just the thing, the melding of voice work with a tightly written narrative make for a game that begs to be enjoyed several times, even if the your actions don’t alter that much of additional playthroughs. You’ll want to play again just for the chance to see new interactions and lines of dialogue.
If you are familiar with other Telltale games then you are going to feel right at home with Tales From The Borderlands. You will spend a majority of the game watching scenes play out with you, as either Rhys or Fiona, having to make a choice in dialogue, or no choice at all, to advance the story.
These choices aren’t just for the fun of it as they will impact the relationships that you build with the characters in your party. Do you risk the saftey of someone to further your personal goal, or do you go out of your way to help/trust someone in hopes they’ll return the favor in the future? Nothing is guaranteed, so you’ll have to weigh your options as the timer ticks away.
Unlike the choices you may get in say a Mass Effect, with Tales From The Borderlands you’re on a timer as the game never pauses to let you make choices. This will force you to make split second decisions without having all the answers. It’s fun and will keep you on edge as you’ll find yourself playing the game in a manner that you would if it were happening to you, and not to the games characters.
On top of just making choices, you’ll also have limited control when moving around through environments on Pandora. Each character has different abilities to use so if you are playing a section as Rhys, he will have access to his Echo Eye that works in the same manner a scanner would, or say, the way scanning worked in the Metroid Prime series. This will have you uncovering not only plot specific items/events, but also let you learn a lot more about the Borderlands lore.
Fiona on the other hand will have access to a personal bank of sorts. As she is primarily a con-artist/thief you’ll be able to collect money that you find strewn about areas. It’s not as cool as the Echo Eye ability, but will come in handy when you are presented with the opportunity to make certain purchases.
What’s cool is that, even though you’re playing an adventure game, you’ll have the opportunity to take part in a surprising number of combat scenarios throughout the story. Sure, it’s no FPS but you’ll have to actively have to take on baddies and avoid attacks. You see, what makes Tales From The Borderlands so unique is that you aren’t a Vault Hunter. You aren’t someone that can go in guns blazing into any situation. You are quickly made aware that you are nothing more than normal people in a very dangerous place.
A lot of time and effort has been placed in making you feel, that even though you aren’t badass Vault Hunters, you are still taking part in something much bigger on Pandora. Ties to Borderlands 1 and 2 are plentiful and had me more than once pausing the game to open up the Borderlands Wiki to connect all the dots with all the references.
You are going to make a lot of new friends here on Pandora, as well as see some old heroes and even a villain or two from games long since passed. If you like Borderlands and can;t get enough of the world of Pandora, then Tales From The Borderlands: Episode 1 Zer0 Sum is a must buy on any platform.
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