New Tales from the Borderlands Review Losers as Heroes

A few years ago, many gamers were addicted to a Telltale Games game. This developer came up with all kinds of story games, where you didn’t have to do much except follow conversations, make choices and let yourself be guided by quick-time events. A kind of modern point and click game, in which Telltale showed significant progress in a few years.

The first games, based on the success of Back to the Future and Jurassic Park, were still a bit clumsy in terms of controls and experience, but games like The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us hit the mark. Tales from the Borderlands, naturally inspired by 2K’s Borderlands franchise, was released in 2014.

Unfortunately, Telltale ran into heavy weather, causing 2K to take over for the sequel. The question is therefore: does New Tales from the Borderlands achieve the same quality as the first part? Or is Telltale missing the finishing touch and isn’t it just a matter of throwing ‘new’ into the title?

The story of three ‘heroes’

You don’t need any real experience with the previous game. This game offers a brand new adventure. You follow the story of three people: Anu, Octavia and Fran. Anu is a female scientist, Octavio is her brother, a boy from the street. And Fran is an elderly woman who is in a wheelchair and who runs a Frogurt business. She sure is tough! The story is a bit like so often: a world is on fire, is taken over by all kinds of enemies, aah panic, help, can you save the planet? Kind of a silly thing to say, but that’s how silly it is. In terms of story, you don’t immediately think of playing through all five episodes in a row, there is just too little happening for that.

And to be honest, you feel that the finishing touch of Telltale Games is immediately missing. The undersigned is pretty much a fan from the first hour and New Tales from the Borderlands immediately feels different, although it is difficult to put a finger on the certain spot. Maybe it has to do with the storylines.

In Borderlands games, and also in Tales from the Borderlands, humor is very important. No joke, no game, could almost be the motto. The problem is that in New Tales from the Borderlands it sometimes feels a bit forced. Of course it’s nice to end up in chaos and destruction if you have the feeling that you have three ‘losers’ under your control, who will come off pretty well. But many dialogues are a bit too much and the transitions of situations sometimes don’t feel right. Fran’s yogurt may be smooth, but that’s not always true for the game.

Borderlands feeling

Still, it’s not a punishment to play the game, certainly not. This is pre-eminently a game for people who like this kind of title and don’t want to ‘do’ too much in a game. After all, you do not go further than from dialogue to dialogue, from location to location and from quick-time event to quick-time event. A game that is great if you want to play something after work, but don’t have the focus to be the best in the multiplayer of Call of Duty, or if you want to follow a very in-depth story of a good role-playing game.

In addition, it is fun for Borderlands fans, because the game really feels like Borderlands. You can still look for money and come across crazy things and in that regard you will not be bored for a moment. In addition, the game has multiple endings and your choices gradually become decisive. Although the question is whether you want to go through everything again after playing once.

New Tales from the Borderlands review – Slightly misses the mark

Tastes differ, that’s for sure. But the undersigned has played every Telltale game and every Borderlands game. Unfortunately, it can be said that New Tales from the Borderlands just didn’t turn out as you might have hoped. The game isn’t bad, but it doesn’t rise above mediocrity. It actually misses a scene at the start where you sit on the edge of your seat. The end result is like a brook that ripples too much. We actually needed a big breath of fresh air!