Tales from the Borderlands

Tales from the Borderlands is an episodic, interactive point-and-click adventure based on the Borderlands series. The game was developed by Telltale Games , under license from the rights holder 2K Games . The game follows an episodic narrative format, similar to The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us , also developed by Telltale , where the player makes decisions that affect the player's narrative .

action

The plot builds on the events of Borderlands 2 and takes place largely on the planet Pandora, which has already attracted many vault hunters in the past. They are looking for so-called "vaults" (treasure chambers).

The player controls the two protagonists Rhys, a former Hyperion employee, and Fiona, a Pandora con artist. Other characters include Fiona's sister Sasha, Rhys' best friends Vaughn and Yvette, gang leader Vallory, assassin Athena, who appeared in previous parts, and Vallory's son August.

The game was split into five episodes:


No.	title	action
1	"Zer0 Sum"	The episode starts in medias res : A stranger kidnaps Rhys and Fiona, who have now developed a rather hostile relationship with each other. He forces the two of them to tell him the story of the Gortys project. Rhys, an employee at Hyperion, is demoted to the new caretaker by his new boss Hugo Vasquez after he is promised a promotion. During this conversation, Rhys learns that Vasquez is interested in a Vault Key. In revenge for his demotion, Rhys and Vaughn decide to snatch the deal from Vasquez. With some funding from Hyperion, they are on their way to finalize the deal. However, the vault key turns out to be a fake, manufactured by Fiona's and Sasha's mentor Felix. As the story progresses, the money is stolen, and Rhys, Vaughn, Sasha, Fiona and Felix form a temporary alliance to get it back. Rhys installs a Hyperion ID chip in his cybernetics in hopes that it would help them locate the suitcase, but passes out for a short time. They eventually discover the suitcase at an old Atlas base and Felix tries to steal it. He accidentally triggers the explosive device in the lock of the suitcase and, according to the player's decision, will either escape or die. The others discover Gortys underground at the base. Handsome Jack's hologram appears to Rhys and explains that they have just found the Gortys project, which is supposed to lead to a vault.
2	"Atlas Robbed"	To find out more about the Gortys project, the group sets off in Fiona's trailer to another Atlas base. However, they are attacked by Hyperion, which results in Rhys and Vaughn falling from the vehicle. In the desert they are discovered and threatened by Vasquez, but escape with the help of Jack and Loader Bot. Together they make their way to the Atlas base. Meanwhile, Fiona and Sasha have the battered trailer repaired by the mechanic Scooter. They then visit Felix's old home, where they find various useful items, including an extension for Fiona's revolver. There they are surprised by two camps from Vallory and the assassin Athena, but are able to flee. When they arrive at the Atlas base, they are captured by Vasquez and August, and Rhys and Fiona are forced to activate the Gortys project. Rhys accidentally triggers the base's defense mechanism. Here the player can decide whether to trust Jack or Fiona.
3	"Catch a ride"	Regardless of who the player trusted, the group escapes the base, albeit very narrowly. Vaughn is paralyzed by a defense drone on his way out. Vallory confronts them in front of the base, who quickly shoots Vasquez and threatens to kill them all. However, they are quickly forced to flee when Athena appears, who turns out to be the protector and new mentor for Fiona and Sasha. Together they activate Gortys, which turns out to be a small robot. She explains to the protagonists that she was created to locate and open the traveler's chamber. However, Athena killed all of the Atlas employees before they had a chance to complete Gortys. Together they set out to find Gorty's upgrade, which is located in another Atlas base. You can find it, but are discovered and hunted again by Vallory and her people. Based on the player's decisions, Vaughn will either flee directly or disappear after being captured. Athena is defeated and taken away. Gortys is forced to reveal the location of her next upgrade, which is in Jack's office on Helios.
4th	"Bravo Escape Plan"	Vallory forces Rhys, Fiona, Sasha, Loader Bot, and Gortys to get the upgrade from Jack's office, and sends August and their handlager with them. The trailer is turned into a rocket with the help of Scooter and Athena's friend Janey. On the flight in the direction of Helios, however, the missiles malfunction. Scooter sacrifices itself so that the group can achieve its goal. The player can mount a satellite in his honor, which projects Scooter's slogan. Upon arriving at Helios, Rhys disguises himself as Vasquez, only to find out that Yvette worked with Vasquez to capture Rhys and Vaughn. When the security system in Jack's office is accidentally activated, Rhys is forced to enter through a trapdoor. There Jack will offer him control of Hyperion. If the player declines, Jack will upload himself to Helios' databases. Assuming Rhys will do this for Jack. Jack takes control of the entire ship.
5	"The Traveler's Chamber"	Jack tries to take control of Rhys' body in order to build an exoskeleton into it. He reveals to Rhys that he intends to continue living in his body. Rhys narrowly escapes while Fiona, Sasha, and Gortys take the upgrade to the hangar. However, they are deceived by Vallory's henchmen, and they flee with the caravan. Rhys sees this and is left believing that they have forgotten him. He destroys the energy core of Helios, whereupon the ship threatens to crash on Pandora. He and Fiona both escape with the help of Loader Bot, which, however, has to remain behind on the crashing ship. In the wreckage of Helios, Jack reloads Rhys cybernetics and tries to kill him. However, Rhys is able to remove his mechanical arm and ECHO eye, as well as his memory, from his body. The player can choose whether to keep the ECHO eye or destroy it. Meanwhile, Vallory has got Gortys to open the traveler's chamber. However, a huge monster came with the chamber and Gortys is unable to keep it at bay. Vallory then tries to destroy Gortys with her rocket launcher. When Fiona tries to intervene, Vallory explains to her that they have no other chance. Shortly afterwards she is killed by the monster. Fiona and Sasha use the rocket launcher to destroy Gortys at their plea. In the present, the stranger turns out to be a Loader Bot, who saw the destruction of Gorty. He reveals to them that he wants to bring them all back together to reassemble Gortys, this time destroying the monster. He wants to give Gortys a free life. With the help of old comrades, they manage to destroy the monster. Rhys and Fiona enter the chamber together, open a treasure chest and are teleported to an unknown location.

Game principle and technology

Tales from the Borderlands is very similar in structure to the previous Telltale Games games. In addition, it has some first-person shooter- like elements. It is based on decisions made by the player and the solving and implementation of puzzles and quick-time events .

reception

Tales from the Borderlands received mostly positive reviews. Metacritic aggregates 19 reviews of the game series to a mean value of 85. The German print magazine Gamestar praised the visual presentation, humor and character drawing of the game, but criticized the undemanding of the game principle, which did not offer the player any challenges.

Web links

Official website
Tales from the Borderlands at MobyGames (English)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b GameStar.de: Tales From The Borderlands - Season 1 in the test - rascals to love. Retrieved December 26, 2017 .
^ ^A ^b Metacritic.com: Tales from the Borderlands: A Telltale Games Series. Retrieved January 1, 2018 .

[GS-1] GameStar.de: Tales From The Borderlands - Season 1 in the test - rascals to love. Retrieved December 26, 2017 .

[MC-2] A ^b Metacritic.com: Tales from the Borderlands: A Telltale Games Series. Retrieved January 1, 2018 .


Main series	Borderlands • Borderlands 2 • Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel • Borderlands 3
Offshoot	Tales from the Borderlands