Playing A Game Tales from the Borderlands PC

Tales from the Borderlands isn't perfect, but it's pretty damn good. A couple plot threads didn't have very satisfying resolutions (although most of them did); one or two interactive sequences felt needlessly frustrating; and it's always a shame that Telltale's tech isn't better than it is.

But Tales is a thrilling, funny jaunt through an interesting world with compelling characters. I think it's about as good as a story-based adventure game can get. (It's really cool to see that Borderlands' brand of silly adventure story is still entertaining without gunplay and loot-collection.)

The worst that can be said about Tales is that its madcap sense of humor is only as good as Borderlands 2's -- which, to be clear, is a compliment. And, arguably, that its new characters aren't quite as "charming" as Mr. Torgue or Tiny Tina.

And I'm not sure if it's because the dialog was predictable, or because my own personality is such a product of irreverent videogame culture, but the dialog choices in Tales almost never frustrated me like this kind of game tends to; I always felt like at least one choice reflected what I, the player, really wanted to say.

I'm still not completely sold on Telltale adventures, but this one is definitely a "win" for them.

Better than: The Wolf Among Us
Not as good as: Borderlands 2
In fact: I'm looking forward to a replay trip through Borderlands 2, as soon as I've got the time for it.

Rating: Good