by Nick Dowell
Borderlands has always been a unique experience for me. It took me into a genre that I’ve generally ignored and made me love it with really intuitive gameplay mechanics and a hilarious story. Tales from the Borderlands does this once again, but this time through excellent dialogue.
Borderlands is rooted in its run-and-gun gameplay combined with interesting characters and infinite supply of loot. As a player, it’s hard to expect anything other than killing thousands of beasts and bandits for a chance at fat loot. Luckily, Telltalle has managed to make a game that follows their format while still feeling like a Borderlands game.
Tales takes place after the events of Borderlands 2 and follows the journey of two characters: Rhys and Fiona. Rhys is a Hyperion programmer looking to get revenge against his boss for demoting him to Senior Vice Janitor. As a character, he’s obviously not ready for Pandora, but he tries to keep himself collected for his friend, Vaughn.
Fiona is a Pandoran con artist who is just trying to survive with her sister, Sasha. As a person, she is much like Rhys. She pretends to be calm and collected while dealing with the pure insanity of her situation.
Of the four protagonists you follow, none are anything special. That might be a negative aspect of some games, but it isn’t here. Their plainness lets the other characters shine, allowing for a huge throwback to the main series. You don’t play a Borderlands game for the main characters. You play for the crazy and hilarious supporting cast. Zer0, who was a protagonist in the previous games, gets a chance to be one of those funny cast members in this game, which he does incredibly well.
The narrative of Tales is split between the perspectives of Rhys and Fiona as they tell the story of how they got to where they are, to a bandit who kidnapped them. Being the first Telltale game to jump between characters, I was worried that the transitions would be awkward. Luckily, I was proven very wrong. They’re not awkward at all, and actually work perfectly. This is especially true in the final act of the episode, which switches seamlessly between Rhys and Fiona as Rhys helps Zer0 fight a dubstep-powered badass while Fiona participates in a chariot race to the death. Even in the less action-packed scenes, Telltale makes sure that each character’s part of the story is finished before moving on to the next character. It keeps the story interesting without being a burden.
The story itself is in the typical Borderlands style, but on a much less action-packed scale. Normally in the story, the Vault Hunters are already well known and are expected to make some massive change in the world. In Tales, that’s not the case. The story is one of revenge that leads to a con that goes downhill fast, and devolves into something much bigger. While the heroes of Tales don’t start off being huge names on Pandora, the story is set up to likely propel them into fame by episode five.
The gameplay is also split between Rhys and Fiona. Rhys is outfitted with a lot of Hyperion tech, including a robotic arm and a scanner eye that lets him see additional details of certain items. Generally, these scans don’t do much to advance the plot, but they provide more information about Pandora while also retaining some of the humor that the series is known for.
Fiona’s gameplay, however, is a little bit lacking compared to Rhys’s. I rooted for Fiona as a character, but I much preferred to play as Rhys. Instead of scanning the environment, Fiona has the ability to collect money. With the exception of a couple of dialogue options that can easily be avoided, there isn't a significant reason to collect and spend money. The one time I actually spent it was entirely for cosmetic purposes, and the item I purchased was gone in less than 20 minutes as a result of the story. It's great that you can get physical alterations for your character, but if you can't keep them then there isn't much of a point.
Tales is perfect for someone who hasn’t played a Borderlands game in the past. Much like Wolf Among Us, the game serves as a good introduction to the world while also rewarding players who are familiar with the source material. The game actually starts off by explaining the most important details of the previous games so that new players won’t feel behind. That being said, there is a return of one character that might not get the gravity it deserves from newer players, but it isn’t a huge issue.
Tales from the Borderlands is one of Telltale’s best games. It feels like a Borderlands game without ever having players find loot and shoot enemies. In the two hours or so of play, I didn’t even miss the fact that I didn’t have an arsenal in my inventory that could level a small city. All I cared about was getting deeper into the story, which had an ending that literally had me bouncing in my seat with excitement at what is to come in the next episode.
