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Reviews

Tales From The

Borderlands

O

ver the last 11 years,

TelltaleGameshas

madea namefor itself

by producingpoint-

and-clickadventure gamesthat

adhere to manyof the traditions

of this genre. The episodic

nature of thesegamesdiffers

from self-containedadventures

of old, but the puzzlesolving

elementis the same,especially

in the titlesthatresurrect names

likeSam& MaxandTalesof

MonkeyIsland.You find objects,

talk to peopleand try to work

out what’s required from you to

progress. Sometimes,a

walkthroughis youronlyhope.

But there’s also anotherside

to this company’s output:a type

of point-and-clickgamethat’s

oddlyfree of puzzles.Rather

thanperplexingplayerswith

brainteasers,gameslikeThe

WalkingDeadandTheWolf

AmongUsfocuspurely on the

themeof choice.You choose

whatyourcharacterssay to

eachotherand whatactions

theytake,but there are no

wrong choices.In fact,the only

thingyou can do incorrectlyis

to fail the frequentquick-time

events,whichnormallyresultsin

yourdeath,and the a reload

from the last checkpoint.

TalesfromtheBorderlandsis

one of thesetypesof game.

Basedon the universefrom the

popularGearbox-developed

DETAILS

•Price:£18.99forthe

fullseries

•Manufacturer:

TelltaleGames

•Website:

goo.gl/uE2AH7

•Requirements:Core2

Duoorbetter,3GBRAM,

512MBgraphicscard,

WindowsXPorlater/

MacOS10.7.xorlater

BorderlandsFPS series,it

introducesa wholecast of new

characters– althougha few

familiarfacesdo showup, with

villainHandsomeJackbeinga

particularlyprominentplayer.

As you’dexpectfrom this

typeof TelltaleGamestitle,

there’s not really any gameplay

to speakof. Yes, you do get to

clickon itemsand pickthings

up, and the aforementioned

quick-timeeventsgiveyou

somethingresemblingaction,

but there’s nevermuchof a

challenge.No, the thingsthat

keepsyou playingare the story

and the characters.

In this case,you takecontrol

of Fiona,a con artistfrom the

lawlessplanetPandora,and

Rhys,a corporatepen-pusher

workingon a spacestation

ownedby the ruthlessHyperion

company. Thesetwo complete

strangersfind themselves

throwntogether(alongwitha

selectionof theirfriendsand

family)in a raceagainsttime,as

theygo in search of a Vault Key.

As fansof the Borderlands

gameswill know, theseare

highlyprizedartifacts,which

openalien‘Vaults’on Pandora,

full of mysteryand

unimaginableriches.

The wayplotthe unfoldsis

nicelypaced,and it rampsup

the intriguetowards the end of

eachpartof the series

(thankfully, though,nowit’s

over, you don’t needto wait

monthsto findout what

happensnext).However, what

really makesTalesfromthe

Borderlandsshineis the

excellentperformancesof the

cast.Amongthemare Troy

Baker(Rhys),a manwhonever

seemsto stopworking,and

Astheseriescomestoanend,canweconsiderit a taleworthtelling?

whosevideogameCV includes

voiceworkin theCallof Duty

games,FarCry 4, MassEffect 3

and many, manyotheraward

winningtitles.He and the rest

of the castdo a fantasticjob,

but for us the real highlightis

PatrickWarburton,as Rhys’s

pompousand cruelboss.As

wellas a voiceartist,he’s also

a movieand TV actor, and if

you don’t recognisehis name,

we’re willingto bet you’ll

knowhis voice.

The inclusionof Patrick

Warburtonalso pointsto the

kindof gamethatTalesfrom

theBorderlandis: yes, you care

aboutthe characters,but it’s

primarilya comedy. Indeed,it

couldn’t really havebeen

anythingelse,consideringits

source material.Andyet there is

someemotionaldepthhere too,

and by the timeyou cometo

the end of the fifthand final

episode(TheVaultof the

Traveler),you’llbe genuinelysad

it’s over.

mmAnthonyEnticknap

Interactivestorytelling

atitsbest

8

9

Quality

Value

99

Overall