I don’t know how Telltale keeps doing it. They just keep knocking it out of the park with their various series. I’ll admit Game of Thrones was a bit of a low point, but it was still a solid game. Tales from the Borderlands eradicates any shred of doubt I had about the developer’s ability to keep delivering great stories using the same formula and engine from the first season of The Walking Dead. They certainly can, and they certainly have.
Past games from Telltale focused on the idea of making difficult choices that will have an inevitable impact on the story. This is a dramatic concept, and as such the studio has been drawn toward serious source material to reflect that. Borderlands is as goofy and aware of itself as it is graphic. Humor is the staple of the series, and Telltale has followed suit with their own brand of humor which is largely more appealing than Gearbox’s series is known for. I’m not bashing the series, but the sense of humor (Claptrap. I’m not big on Claptrap) was a turn off for me. Telltale took a character-centered approach which could have easily fallen flat on its face if it weren’t for the (mostly) stellar writing. All of the characters (both old and new) do an exemplary job of being quirky individuals. Even the more reserved, serious characters have moments to shine and keep things light.
Meet you heroes. Two of which are you.
Tales from the Borderlands is the most self-aware game to exist. Straight from the beginning it’s made clear that this game is not taking itself too seriously and neither should you. Even the small act of skipping the credits at the end of an episode prompts text saying, “Telltale will remember that.” It’s seriously just hilarious stuff. The two characters you’ll control throughout the season (Rhys and Fiona) supply plenty of humor as a duo from Rhys’ overall incompetence and Fiona’s snarky attitude. However, Tales from the Borderlands manages to break out of that humorous mold by the tail end of the season with some seriously deep moments. The characters slowly but surely bond as the walls built from living in such a harsh world slowly crumble. It’s hard to see how decisions are affecting the game until this point, but they drive the end of the game. This creates some genuinely touching moments of which are unexpected in such a comic title.
From beginning to end, the game has no problem telling you how it is.
Segue. Telltale is still using the same engine as all their other previous titles. It’s getting a little dated, but it still gets the job done. I still wish Telltale would start using motion capture for their character models. That would make a world of difference, but it may be a budgetary issue. There are a lot of action sequences in this title in comparison to others (I haven’t played The Wold Among Us), and they’re a bit awkward to look at, but I was too busy watching for QTE’s and listening to hilarious dialogue to care. The overall presentation of the game is simply wonderful. Every episode has an opening credit scene set to some great music. A couple of them had me laughing out loud from the beginning, setting the tone for the rest of the episode. With that being said, I have to acknowledge that episode two was a bit of a dud. It wasn’t all that funny, and it was overall pretty unmemorable.
Tales from the Borderlands is graphic, memorable, hilarious, thoughtful and smart. I have to recommend this title more than any of the others that Telltale has made, and that’s saying something as I’m a huge fan of the ongoing Walking Dead series. I urge you to pick this one up if you’re a fan of Telltales’ work. It also acts as the perfect stepping on point for newcomers.
The ArDIGulate 