Altruism is a character trait shared only by corpses.
Violence in Tales From the Borderlands rarely serves the desire for treasure, which is an almost irrelevant distraction in Episode 1: Zer0 Sum. Instead, it focuses on character without compromising the chaotic violence on the planet Pandora. In fact, Telltale accentuates that violence specifically by showing how Pandora’s people live with it. Here, you hurt people with what you say and what you do, rather than which trigger you pull.“
Leads Rhys and Fiona come from opposite ends of the social spectrum -- Rhys with his lavish life of intergalactic privilege, Fiona forced to con the rich or rob the dead so she can feed her family. Their framed narrative, which sees both telling different sides of the same story to a curious kidnapper, spotlights how both Fina and Rhys have changed, grown, and become worse people as a result of the choices you’ll make throughout these episodes.
Most games handle heists with weapons. Con artists in Tales From the Borderlands rely on reactive wit and casual improvisation. As Fiona, I loved sitting in a bar and lying to August over a drink. The less confident I felt in my lie, the more rapidly my stress mounted. Rather than relying on a text prompt celebrating my success, I had to read a man’s face to determine whether or not he bought my bullshit. This, after I tricked an illiterate idiot I didn’t feel deserved my bribe.
Rhys is often worse than Fiona. The populous hates Hyperion, his evil employer, and his responses always left me with a little doubt. Does he really believe they’re screwing him, too, or is he appealing to someone he plans to exploit? Is everything Rhys does a ploy to propel himself to the top of Hyperion’s food chain, where he desperately wants to be? I’m not entirely certain I know everything about the characters I’m playing. I can’t wait to discover the deep, dark secrets they’re hiding from me.Tales From the Borderlands does not star good people. It’s fascinating to explore a darker side of humanity in a world where altruism is a character trait shared only by corpses. None of this requires Telltale to have built this around Borderlands, but because it did, there’s a familiar, colorful, energetic place for all of these people to conduct their bad business.
When speaking with others who’ve played Tales From the Borderlands, our conversations never boiled down to the binary consequence of some momentous moral choice. The landmarks of Telltale’s Borderlands game are not individual decisions -- it’s entire scenes, poignant character moments, or a hysterical series of ongoing jokes. In passing, we discussed the significance of Handsome Jack, but Borderlands as a franchise wasn’t a talking point.
Telltale has done something special with Borderlands, in the same way it did with The Walking Dead and Fables. This is a valid, attractive entry point for those who’ve never played a minute of Borderlands. In hindsight, Tales From the Borderlands made me love the people and places in Borderlands 2 a little more than I did in the moment -- and it sold me on the notion that this is, indeed, a place with important, meaningful stories to tell. Mitch Dyer is an Editor at IGN. He hosts IGN Arena, a podcast about MOBAs, and is trying to read more. Here's his reading list. Talk to Mitch about books, Dota 2, and other stuff on Twitter at @MitchyD and subscribe to MitchyD on Twitch.