Sometimes when I look back at my reviews I notice a certain formula to my critical stylings. A way in which I approach a game and subsequently put my considered words onto the virtual paper you see before you. This formula is my style I suppose, the way I like to convey my thoughts about a game to you, in a similar way to this, Telltale Games seem to approach all of the disparate licenses they acquire in a distinctly formulaic manner.
Tales from the Borderlands (specifically Episode 1: Zer0 Sum) is the not quite latest (Game of Thrones is a little newer) license adaptation to get the Telltale treatment. Deciding to partner up with Gearbox and to play around on Pandora seemed like an odd choice to many when it was announced last year. Borderlands is a franchise with distinct look and style, one until now, only ever interacted with via a first person perspective and a billion different guns.
I have enjoyed the Borderlands games a great deal over the years, having put an inordinate amount of time into both the original game and it’s sequel, so I am intimately familiar with the quirky dark place that Pandora is. Littered with bandits, hostile wildlife and unfriendly locals, every moment on it’s surface is a violent and gory fight for survival. As it turns out it also the perfect place for Telltale to let rip with a sense of humour and self awareness that fits the world perfectly.
The rest of the review can be found here.