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Tales from the Borderlands Review

"Episode 4: Escape Plan Bravo"

Campaign (Spoiler Free)

Like this episode the Tales from the Borderlands season has somewhat been in decline. Not saying the first three episodes haven't been solid, but I have been giving a lower score each time round. With this episode I really felt they missed the mark, it started off great with a hilarious opening and even set up a great ending. From there it didn't capture the same magic shown in their elaborate heist set-up early on or even the episodes previous. It still had great moments such as a massive gun scene, though really no action going on in this episode. It seemed to focus more on the relations with these characters though it really doesn't develop anything further with them. I was hoping that even though there wasn't much action that they would build on some thoughts of the characters and this portion of the season just continued on what we were doing. It didn't really do anything special and just acts as a bridge towards the final episode. This was also the first time that Telltale didn't seem to set up an epic ending episode and just trailed off at the ending. Some other notes to mention were that there are major revelations revealed this episode in terms of certain characters. Telltale also displayed that they can directly control the canon of Borderlands as they created an emotional section as well which may anger fans of the franchise. Should be interesting to see how this effects the main games if we do get another Borderlands title in the future.

Gameplay

The graphic style is perfect and akin to that of both Borderlands and Telltale Games. They both use that cartoon look that makes the two groups a perfect match. The game is largely told through cinematic play with the individual controlling what choices are made and that therefore affects what is going to happen. All these choices you make add up changing the moment and having an impact on the future episodes. This is largely what makes all games of this sort completely unique and each journey special to the individual playing.

The Conclusion

While I still enjoyed this episode for Tales from the Borderlands it certainly was not up to the standards of the past episodes and other Telltale episodes. It was also a bit of display of how Telltale can now handle canon directly for the Borderlands series which may cause some disappointment for some with the emotional scene of the episode. The opening of this was actually hilarious in a slow motion space walk of sorts. From there it never picked up and just stretched itself along until it ended without much of a build towards the finale episode. I'm still anticipating the ending as this has been a great season with tons of laughs, but I'm unsure if they can finish strong or not after this. I also hope that some of the relations between these characters get more development in this final episode, but I feel it’ll be brushed over with time constraints.


Tales from the Borderlands Xbox One Box Art

Review Done on Tales from the Borderlands for Xbox One
Review Code Provided by Sandbox Strat


Rating Overall: 5.5

Reviewed by: Jason Stettner
@Skycaptin5

Gamerheadquarters Reviewer Jason Stettner
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