Over the past two years, the development studies
Telltale Games has established themselves as one of the best development studies
currently working. First making waves over the years with the well received
"Sam & Max" games, they made it to the world stage with 2012's
"The Walking Dead Season One" noted for its emotional story, complex
characters, unique art style, and decision based dialog, the game was in
instant success winning dozens of game of the year awards. In 2013, they
launched "The Walking Dead Season Two" and a new series called
"The Wolf Among Us," both of which received wide critical acclaim and
concluded mid 2014. Telltale has already announced "The Walking Dead
Season Three" as well as a "Game of Thrones Series," but it is
their latest game that seemed to grab the most interest. Based off the hit
series from Gearbox Software, "Tales From the Borderlands" brings an
episodic and story heavy take to the over the top first person series shooter.
And despite being completely different from the other games in the series, it
works on every level.
The story is played
through two characters, Rhys and Fiona. Rhys works for Hyperion, a company
working on the planet of Pandora. One day Rhys goes into his boss's office
expecting a promotion, only to find a rival at the company has taken his boss's
position. Hating Rhys just as much as Rhys hates him, he demotes Rhys to a
janitor position. But while in the office, Rhys hears something interesting.
Hyperion is looking to buy a vault key off of some guy who came upon it (on
Pandora there are dozens of these vaults that contain untold treasures that can
only be opened with a key. So Rhys and some of his friends decide to get the
key for themselves and blackmail the company. At the same time, a young woman
and con artist named Fiona, her sister, and their adoptive father are looking
for the score of the century. Looking at a multi-million dollar pay out, they
just have to fool a few suckers. Eventually their paths and Rhys cross, and
they have to work together so everyone can get what they want. And as you can
imagine, things don't go particularly smoothly.
When I first heard
about this game I was immediately interested; one of my favorite developers
making a game in my favorite active series. I was apprehensive since it would
be so different from the other games in the "Borderlands" series, all
of which are first person shooters. I wasn't sure if Telltale's story driven,
episodic style would mesh with this new world. To my surprise the game wasn't
just as good as I hoped, it went far beyond my expectations. Now let me
emphasize, this is not a review. Only the first episode has been released, this
is more along the lines of a "first impressions." I hate when people
review each episode in one of Telltale's games, it's like reviewing 1/5th of a movie.
You have to wait until the game is completed and get a sense of the whole
picture. This is just my thoughts on the first episode and will not include a
score, but it may be foreshadowing for the entire season. But going off the
first episode, if "Tales From the Borderlands" keeps this momentum it
may turn into Telltale's best game, and certainly does the
"Borderlands" series proud. One thing that "Borderlands"
has always been known for is its sense of humor; it's crude, childish, in your
face, and more often than not hilarious. "Tales From the Borderlands"
captures that sense of humor perfectly, making it really feel like the other
games in the series. One thing that I was really looking forward to returning
to Pandora was to see some familiar faces. Chronologically, it actually takes
place after all the other games; so just in the first episode there have
already been a few old characters to make an appearance. Like almost all other
Telltale games, the voice acting is spot on for both the new and old
characters. Troy Baker and Laura Bailey take the leads as Rhys and Fiona and
are both fantastic. It does help that their characters, along with a few of the
other new ones, are so likable. It's also very interesting to play as two
characters, switching back and forth between them. While they have their own
stories, playing as them when their stories overlap adds something new. You'll
learn something from one character that didn't learn while playing the other.
It does help that the dialog is very good, both funny and interesting; it
really keeps the story going. Telltale's previous games have almost nothing in
common with any of the "Borderlands" games, except for the art style
of all things. "Borderlands" is well known for their interesting cell
shaded art style, which is very similar to other Telltale games like "The
Walking Dead" and "The Wolf Among Us." Looking at "Tales
From the Borderlands," it is gorgeous Telltale really hit the nail on the
head and did a great job emulating the "Borderlands" style. But of
everything that this game does right, there is one thing that helps it stand
above many of Telltale's other games; they fixed the technical problems. Both
"The Walking Dead" and the "Wolf Among Us" had outrageous
technical issues including: freezes, frame drops, and incredibly slow load
times. "Tales From the Borderlands" fixes those issues, most of which
were nonexistent during my play through. There are some minor audio and visual
issues like dialog not matching up with character animation, and two objects
touching and phasing through each other; but nothing game breaking. If
anything, the game’s biggest problem was that it is meant for
"Borderlands" fans. If you play "The Walking Dead" or
"The Wolf Among Us," you don't have to be fans of the work they're
based off of to enjoy them. "Tales From the Borderlands" on the other
hand kind of requires you to have played the previous games, and if you're not
a fan of its sense of humor there isn't anything here for you. Overall, I loved
episode one. It is a strong start to what looks to be an incredibly promising
game. It's out now for most everything for five dollars, and is something that
I'd highly recommend (especially if you have played any of the
"Borderlands" games). "Tales From the Borderlands" is
promising to say the least, and if the next four episodes keep it up this could
be Telltale's best game.
Pros: Has "Borderlands" since of humor, nice to see some old faces, great voice acting, fixed many technical issues other Telltale games have suffered from, good dialog, more intense combat than other Telltale games, likable new characters, "Borderlands" and Telltale's art style works great together, does "Borderlands" series proud, interesting playing as two characters.
Cons: Some audio and animation issues, really
only for "Borderlands" fans.
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