In a world full of guns and murder, one man desperately strives to rise out of middle management. Yes, that is the general thrust of the story of Tales from the Borderlands. Combining Telltale’s perfected adventure-style formula and the witticism of Gearbox’s Borderlands franchise, it totally works. If you want to catch up, you can check out my episode 1 review here.
Episode 2: Atlus Mugged continues the story of (mostly incompetent) Hyperion employee Rhys and lifelong grifter Fiona as they continue their search for more money after the 10 million they were chasing at the episode 1 was lost to them. The story really begins to flesh out as the character introductions are over and we delve deeper into their motivations. I’ve also started seeing some of the repercussions of decisions I made in episode 1.
Besides the fantastic writing, what I’m really loving about Tales from the Borderlands, is how this feels both like a Telltale game as well as a Borderlands game. I know I’m gushing a little, but I haven’t felt this positive about how perfectly this game is coming together in a really long time. The choices I make matter while the game pulls in important aspects of Borderlands without breaking the formula. A perfect example, albeit small, is Fiona receives an upgrade to her small one-shot pistol up her sleeve. This upgrade gives the player the ability to use an elemental effect as you would in the Borderlands universe. It is these small details that really bring it all together in harmony.
Overall, Episode 2 of Tales from the Borderlands continues to shine as the episode brings more laughter, great storytelling and increased depth and breadth of characters. If you are a fan of the Borderlands franchise or the Telltale adventure game model, I cannot recommend this title enough. Now, I just have to be patient until episode 3. It’ll be harder than it looks.