Going into Tales From The Borderlands i was worried that my few days worth of Co Op of Borderlands during university and a 2 hour stint of the Vita version of Borderlands 2 would drastically impact my enjoyment of the telltale spin off game and thankfully i could not of been more wrong.
Tales from the Borderlands is a point and click adventure by the masters at Telltale games set within the Borderlands universe. The story follows corporate douche bag Rhys and Gutsy con artist Fiona as they attempt to survive and make abit of cash on the desolate and frankly crazy world of Pandora. The game is set after Borderlands 2 and as such the ending of that game is referenced frequently throughout (and actually becomes a major plot point) but it didn't ruin the previous game for me, if anything its made my want to go back!
A game like this lives and dies by its settings and characters and TFTB does not disappoint. TFTB does an amazing job of fleshing out the world of Pandora, you understand its people, creatures and way of life by the end of the first episode and it entices you to play on. Fiona and Rhys are themselves likable but flawed characters that constantly screw up but still manage to survive and move forward. They are backed up by some of my favourite supporting characters of any of the Telltale titles. Its hard to talk about without getting into spoilers but from Loader Bot to Vallory everyone feels unique without feeling too cliche unless the writing dictates it.
Now this is the real shining light of TFTB - The Writing. It is incredibly cleverly written, with characters poking fun at the situations they are in and how unlikely it is for them to survive. It is believable that Rhys and Vaughan are bros, its clear that Sasha and Fiona are sisters and it is amusing how many little decisions are called back throughout its 8 hour play time. It is also supremely funny, there are a few moments where i genuinely laughed and i cant say that happens too often!
In terms of Music and Art the Telltale team's graphic design mixes well with Gearbox's wacky cell shaded world. The pop music intros for each episode fit the games themes well and are tastefully done, it doesn't feel like laborious to sit through these. The voice acting is spot on too with a couple standout voices that are easy to notice. And possibly most exciting of all is that the game engine actually feels great, during my whole Xbox One play through i didn't experience one instance of slowdown which is certainly rare for Telltale!
Overall, it is very difficult to talk about Tales From The Borderlands without ruining the stellar story and characters but i can say that it is one of the most hilarious, clever and enjoyable experiences i have had for a long time. You don't need previous Borderlands experience but you do owe it to yourself to give TFTB a shot, it is really that good.
9/10
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