It's been a long while since I last looked at any of the Borderlands games. Having already reviewed the two games that make up
The Handsome Collection and with the recent release of
Borderlands 3, I thought it would be good to look back at the series roots and not only review the third game (though in actuality it's the fifth game despite the number) but also the very first game and the TellTale series. Yes you heard me, TellTale made a Borderlands game which you know doesn't surprise me all that much. So let's venture to Pandora and its surrounding planets to find some vaults and possibly other loot along the way:
Borderlands
The series is set in the very distant future in which many major mega-corporations are trying to seek control of various planets in order to colonize and mine for wealth, minerals and resources. The setting is a planet called Pandora in which one of four playable characters (each with their own unique abilities and classes) are trying to find an ancient vault on the planet which is said to contain advanced alien technology. But these corporations are also after the vault and so it's a race against time to find it while tackling the local wildlife and general bad guys. Apart from the TellTale game, all games are first-person shooters with a focus on finding loot and other things. As it's largely a wasteland that you are exploring, the best way to travel is by a vehicle and the game supports local and online multiplayer so other players can join in the fun. And of course it has the RPG elements that let you unlock abilities and other things as you collect EXP. First game of the series and its actually pretty good. Its sets the stage for what is yet to come in the rest of the series and it's a lot of good fun if you are into games that are more about exploring and having a good time than anything else. 9/10
The TellTale Series
Up until they filed for bankruptcy and then returned suddenly, TellTale had been known as being one of those developers and publishers that use the same formula in all their games with some differences depending on the franchise in question. Nothing that they have made is original with the majority of their games being
from already well established franchises. So it came as a surprise to many that they would make a Borderlands game and one that plays out much like their other games (well except for the Poker Night games). So this game's story is one of those where it starts towards the end with the playable characters telling the story of how they got to this particular point with a few inconsistencies here and there. The two characters are Hyperion employee Rhys (voiced by legendary voice actor Troy Baker) and Pandoran con-artist Fiona (voiced by equally legendary voice actress Laura Bailey). Rhys had worked hard to rise above the ranks in the company, but things go south when he gets demoted to janitor all because his new boss just so happens to also be his rival. He learns that the company is interested in buying a vault key and decides to put himself as the guy sent out to retrieve it as a means to basically suck it to his new boss. However, its later revealed that Fiona and her little family made the vault key and is therefore a fake. Things go south and the unlikely heroes must team up to find and unlock a vault. Spread across five episodes with the usual gameplay of picking your choices, quick time events and occasional exploring,
Tales from the Borderlands is actually good fun. Obviously it's not like the rest of the games in that it's more in line with TellTale's other games in terms of gameplay. But the story is good and as Borderlands like as it's going to get. Overall another good entry into the series even if its not like the other games. 8/10
3
In the third and most recent entry in the series, a new group of Vault Hunters are sent out to work with the Crimson Raiders to stop a cult known as the "Children of the Vault" from harnessing the powers of alien vaults spread across the galaxy. While gameplay is largely the same with the new Vault Hunters having their own unique abilities such as the use of a mech, there are some new features in this one. Four players (which is higher than before) can play together at once with the option for each gamer to decide either to share the loot or keep it to yourself. Because there are more planets than just Pandora that have vaults, gamers can travel to different planets where things can get different to the norm. Not much to say about this highly anticipated game. It's largely the same as it has always been, but allowing players to share their loot, have direct integration for Twitch and be able to travel to other planets which had for a while been unheard of. Is it the best game overall? Probably not. I personally think the second game is the best, but you can still have a good time here as well. 8/10
And with that, I am now all caught up with the Borderlands games. They are good games. Great for those of us with time to kill and a need to kill things, blow things up and find loot no matter what it is. It certainly has a big fanbase and I hope we get more games down the line. 9/10
No comments:
Post a Comment