For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a trailer to get you primed:
A warning in advance that there's going to be some serious nerdity in today's post. It's gonna be hard core nerdity. For those of you who are not interested may I suggest some Bob Ross as a substitution?
Borderlands is, at heart, a love letter to Mad Max. Throw Mad Max on an alien planet called Pandora with zany robots, hilarious megalomaniacs, and literally millions of guns and you've got one of the best game series to date.
Where Borderlands is a first person shooter, however, Tales From the Borderlands is a choice-based adventure. Now, adventure games have a bad reputation to some gamers (my eyelid still twitches when I hear the word "Sierra") but I would sooner call it more of an interactive movie because it doesn't have any puzzles (puzzles that usually break the game or else you have to look up a walkthrough and- oh dear there goes that eyelid again). Ever have a character in a movie say "Absolutely!" when in fact what you wanted them to say was "Hell no"? Then this is everything you've ever wanted and more.
Tales From the Borderlands plays in a way that even non-gamers (those of you who are still reading because you didn't partake in my Bob Ross offer, anyway) would have a blast watching/playing, and has enough interactive element for gamers to enjoy. Here's the intro for Episode 1 that sets the tone for the rest of the game:
Cool, right? A big part of the game for me was the music. Most game music is ambient, but a lot of it in Tales is downright complimentary to the mood of what's going on. It beautifully captures whatever you're feeling while you're playing and takes it up to eleven, from the synth of the halls of Helios to the eerie tones of the underground Hollow Point (the end of Episode 2 was especially evocative.) Props to Jared Emerson-Johnson for his fantastic work.
An interesting part of the story is the Unreliable Narrator trope as the main two characters (who ostensibly hate each other) tell their version of what happened. Occasionally there is a conflict in what happens leading to comedy gold.
Speaking of comedy gold the voice actors for the two main characters have had a lot of experience together. Whereas most characters in games come across as deadpan, Troy Baker as Rhys and Laura Bailey as Fiona bring their characters to absolute life, especially when bantering to each other. When I heard Patrick Warbuton's voice (which, I guarantee if you have watched anything animated, you've heard his voice) as Vasquez I smiled and knew things were going to get interesting. Chris Hardwick as Vaughn and Erin Yvette as Sasha are both pros at this and, of course, Dameon Clarke returns as the villain everyone loves to hate: Handsome Jack.
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| He looks super excited to be here. |
Another aspect of the game is the role-reversal of a trope I have mentioned before: Technology Girl and Tribal Boy. In this case Rhys is the tech-whiz and Fiona is the hardened Pandoran native.
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| He wouldn't last 5 seconds in a dark alley. |
Between both main characters, however, Rhys's spotlight shines brighter than Fiona's and I found myself drawn into Rhys's half more. His story carries a lot more weight with Hyperion gunning for him, being stranded on an alien world he's never been to before, and haunted by a hologram of a dead man who everyone on said alien world hated with a passion. Fiona has her own worries with her adopted father Felix, her sister Sasha, and finding enough money to get by, but it's with Rhys that you really sit up and take notice. By the end Rhys has done the most growing as the series progresses, but having Fiona gives a second perspective to the story, widening the narrative, and provides an excellent contrast.
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| A woman who clearly knows what she's doing. |
Gortys is another important character in the series despite being introduced in Episode 3. I will admit I let out a tired "Ugh," upon first seeing her, as I worried she was one of "those" characters. "Those" being a comic relief character, ususally with an irritating voice, that many people think shouldn't exist in a series (Like Total in Maximum Ride, or a more well-known example is Jar-Jar Binks in Star Wars. You know, that character.) It didn't take long for her to grow on me. First, she's just cute:
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| I would even go as far as to say "adorbs." |
Second, she manages to be cute and innocent without being irritating. I found myself smiling when she grabs onto Fiona in a big hug, explaining "He said to hold tight!" I can count on one hand (a hand that has been in a terrible combine harvester accident) how many times I have changed my feelings toward a character after their initial introduction.
All of this, meanwhile, rides on a story line that Telltale Games wrote (which, if you don't know them, every story they touch turns to gold.) Telltale is probably the closest to brand loyalty I have ever gotten to a gaming company. I have, in the past, bought games created by them based only on the fact that they made them and I can say wholeheartedly that I will continue to do so.
I would recommend this game even to non-gamers, for those looking for a good movie. People who don't play videogames, and know nothing about the Borderlands series, could still play Tales From the Borderlands and enjoy it.
Don't have a PC? You can get it for Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3, and Playstation 4.
Still making excuses? Got a smartphone? Cool! You can also get it for iPhone or Android! (and it plays beautifully on my 3 year old Droid Razr Maxx, so your suped up phone should handle it fine.) Best of all, all console and smartphones get Episode 1 for free! Give it a try, I promise you won't be disappointed.
It's still got a chance but, even if it doesn't win, Tales From the Borderlands is my personal Game of the Year.
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