Tales from the Borderlands

Yesterday I made my one major purchase of the Steam winter sale in the form of Telltale's Tales from the Borderlands.  I think it is the only thing I bought that cost over $10--gotta love the Steam sale.  Telltale has been branching out thanks to the success of it's hit adaptation of The Walking Dead.   The narrative driven point-and-click games might not be for everyone, but I enjoy them.  If you're a fan of the Borderlands series and any of the Telltale story games (The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Game of Thrones) then you will want to check out Tales from the Borderlands.

Firstly, let me re-establish my fandom of Borderlands.  I am a fan mostly due to the quirky style and sense of humor that is infused throughout the games.  I wouldn't really place them on my top ten list, but I appreciate them.  So last night I decided to see how Telltale had taken the humor and style of Borderlands and made it into a new point-and-click adventure.  I have to say that I am impressed and was not disappointed at all.  In fact I am now anticipating the release of the second part of this episodic series.

Tales of the Borderlands is a complete departure from the heavy, emotional story depicted in The Walking Dead.  The story takes place after the demise of Handsome Jack in Borderlands 2 and follows two different characters.  One of the characters is an ambitious Hyperion suit named Rhys who is looking to climb to the top of the corporate ladder.  Unfortunately for Rhys his trip to the top is derailed by an even more ambitious corporate douchebag named Vasquez.  Rhys winds up being demoted and seeking revenge on his new enemy Vasquez.  He over hears Vasquez making a deal to purchase a vault key and as an act of revenge decides he is going to land on Pandora and buy the key himself...using money stolen from Hyperion by his friend Vaughn, a nerdy accountant type.  Of course once they get to Pandora they learn that they are in no way prepared to navigate the violent landscape.

Something I am enjoying about this series is how they decided to split the narrative between two characters.  You also follow the story of Fiona, a Pandoran native who crosses paths with Rhys.  For the sake of not spoiling anything let's just say she's adapted well to life on Pandora and has the street smarts to survive.

Part one of this episodic series was action packed and had many humorous moments.  As a fan of the Borderlands series I was excited to see several characters make appearances--Zer0, the haiku spewing assassin and Shade, the weirdo from Oasis who turns dead bodies into his own strange puppet show.  I noticed that many of the voice actors from Borderlands are providing voices for characters like Marcus and Moxxi.  I didn't pay enough attention to the credits but I think Fiona is voiced by the same actress as Lillith.

The Steam sale is winding down but you still have a chance to grab this series for a discounted price.