Brought to early recognition by  The Walking Dead game series (based on the TV series of the same name), Telltale Games might just be the most recognised game-developing company among non-gamers. Heavily reliant on their graphic novel art style, gripping storytelling, and a not-so-intense game mechanics favoring the casual gaming audience, Telltale Games yet again showcase their mastery of episodic gaming by bringing us the untold story of the characters from the famous Gearbox shooting franchise Borderlands

While the original Borderlands was a completely manic first-person shooting game, the new Telltale instalment feels more like an interactive television series, focusing on characters and their respective storylines. Considering the huge success their previous works have garnered, the developers were expected to deliver nothing less of a spectacle with their Tales from the Borderlands series—which, fortunately, they have.

Story

Following the ending of Borderlands 2, the death of the antagonist “Handsome Jack” has created a power struggle in his infamous company Hyperion, a weapons manufacturer. You play as Rhys, an employee at Hyperion—an average guy who works hard and does not allow corporate pressure to get the best of him, in the hopes of getting a promotion. But everything seems to have been in vain when you discover that your archenemy has somehow stolen the position you were promised and now appoints you Assistant Vice Janitor—like that is a thing—and you are bound to serve the company until you die. You then decide to team up with two of your buddies and get back at him by taking over a shady deal of his —regarding a vault key—that you overheard him talking about on the phone. This is followed by a game of lies and deceit, which soon introduces you to Fiona, another playable character, who, along with her sister, is a con artist raised into a life of crime in the

merciless land of Pandora.

The story frequently takes sudden turns that will leave the player at the edge of their seat, gripping their controller/mouse and laughing their heads off. The game has not a single dull moment and, unlike other Telltale games that we have seen so far, this one has a very particular way of gripping the player’s attention during plays that involve decision making. Tales from the Borderlands, Episode 1, is a 2-hour-long thrill-filled experience that will leave you drooling for a sequel.

Gameplay

As with any other Telltale title, this game rocks game mechanics featuring basic character movements and button timings during combat. These features are as simple as they get—which should be appealing to even newbies. While playing Rhys, you possess an Echo Eye, which scans your surrounding and provides necessary intelligence. Playing as Fiona will give you the option to collect loot and spend it when you require. Telltales games are always focused on the storytelling—and this is true for this addition to their repertoire as well, where the storyline relies largely on your decision making. Assess the situation, read the facial expressions and choose between particular options to talk your way out of tight situations. Although different from Gearbox’s first-person shooter Borderland series, this game has quite a satisfying combat system.

This game will give you slight variations of how the story unfolds itself depending on the choices you make; however, the conclusions are inevitable regardless of your decisions. This might make one wonder if the option of decision making was only to give the player a false sense of control in order to keep the engaged—but then again, intense gameplay mechanics has never been Telltale’s strongest suit, and they don’t even bother with it. They tell a great story and they are pretty good at that.

Sound

The voice acting is at its finest, giving the player the experience of watching a TV series—although this can be equally credited to the story as well. Every character in the game will leave a mark on the player, as if they have known each other for a long time. Troy Baker, a veteran voice actor known as the voice of Sam Drake from the Uncharted game series, delivers a flawless performance of the cocky corporate employee Rhys who more than often falls short of his words. Laura Bailey lends her voice to Fiona, who is a master when it comes to talking her way out of a mess....supposedly.

The supporting characters help put the frosting on the cake and, with an overall background score perfectly complementing the atmosphere of the game, to describe the game sounds as ‘good’ would be an understatement.

Graphics

Staying true to Telltale’s trademark comic-like visuals, this game features an effective narrative of the original Borderlands, which looked exactly the same. Fans of the first-person shooter will instantly absorb the ambiance. There are several cutscenes supporting the narrative, which are exciting to watch—and the facial expressions of the

characters effectively portray their emotions: this is vital to the gameplay mechanics. If some of the characters seem too cartoonish for your liking, it is important to note that they were intended to be that way, and that this cartoonisation serves an important purpose.

Verdict

Tales from the Borderlands, Episode 1 is another Telltale game with an awesome narrative that will get the players hooked right in after the first episode—and what an episode it is. Each episode only requires about two hours of playing and the system requirements are very low. The gameplay suffers the usual setback as other Telltale games where, despite being given numerous choices and claiming that the game will be tailored accordingly, all decisions end up in one conclusion. Although this seems like a major flaw in the design, the narrative compensates for it. And yes, the game is derived off of the original Borderlands series and, although it has new sets of characters and an independent plot, it contains far too many references to the original shooter, which may leave new players scratching their heads. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys a good story and, with more sequel episodes to expect in the future, Tales from the Borderlands, Episode 1 is a good place to begin the journey.

8.5/10