REVIEW -Thank God for the somewhat faster pace of Telltale Games, so now, they took roughly three months to finish the third episode of Tales from the Borderlands. (Still slower than Game of Thrones.) Although it started quite hilariously, it really flipped around by the end… with another cliffhanger.
After my last second decision taken in the end of the second episode, the third episode started off with it – after another hand drawn style recap of the previous happenings. This scene seemed to have only a minor effect for now on Rhys, but it’s important because of his relationship with Handsome Jack. Yes, I’m telling you that now, but no, I’m not going to say what I chose.
If you have an okay relationship with him, he will a hilarious jerk to Rhys (especially seen at the intro staff roll, when he tried to touch the breasts of Rhys). But eventually, the thing we got out of the facility was a new robot, who will never reach the levels of Claptrap, but she will also be a likable character.
Acting like a little kid, although being much more older than she looks. (No wonder… she’s an Atlas creation, therefore bound to be having a high age as Hyperion took over since.) She will take the major role for this episode, because we will get into some trouble twice with a new character because of her.
An old librarian-looking lady
Well yes, she is going to be much more powerful than how she looks, that’s certain. It’s going to show towards the end of the episode, when she’s going to chuck her weapon – absolutely reminding me of the rocket launcher from Unreal Tournament 2004… – at Fiona without much effort.
Of course, the first impression with her will probably count, because she will remember that. Also, you should think twice to name the person to blame for the entire situation. (Especially because you will receive more than two choices!) In the end, we’ll see how August works for her, plus, there was an agreement with two other Vault Hunters on top of the two we saw trying to kill us in Episode Two.
A returning assassin
Another surprise touch was the return of someone from the previous episode, making the ambience a bit more better. Back then, this person was trying to get rid of Fiona, but the return line will be hilarious: „I am here to help you, you IDIOTS!!!”
Fiona will be with her quite a bit throughout Catch a Ride, teaching her a few tricks in the process. Sadly, things will turn for the worst at the end, making an unexpected change in the storyline…
A masked person
Of course, that masked guy will also participate in this part – he’s only seen in the scenes, when Rhys and Fiona try to remember what happened. (One of these memories will have a quite over the line exaggaration, I had to stop the game to laugh for two minutes.)
I have a suspicion about him, but I’d not tell you who I think he is… I wouldn’t be probably surprised at the reveal later on, because that is bound to happen.
A great audio and an average visual
This episode has top-quality voice acting again. The music is great, the dialogues hit the marks quite nicely and agaiin, it’s no surprise that I think this is the best part of Tales from the Borderlands.
The graphics however, it looks quite washed here and there, some textures look pixelated. There was also a graphical glitch with a yellow laser going through a loot box for some reason. The animation has some minor errors here and there, it’s not really spottable, but you might find it here and there.
Where now?
Episode Four will go full circle: we’re going back to the planet where we came from. I can’t wait for September (I think that’s where they will push the episode out) to see how the left behind female helper of Rhys will have a role in that. But now, Rhys and Fiona is in some deep sh*t.
This episode is better than the second, which had a lot of memes and references. This one has a few too, but I think I didn’t recognize all of them. There was a Duke Nukem line in there though. I recommend this episode for Borderlands and Telltale-fans!
Végére: The Vault is far, but maybe Gortys will take us there. Or not. Tales from the Borderlands has taken a nice turn, keep it coming!
-V-
Pro:
+ Serious turns of events in the story
+ More new characters
+ Starts to pick up its style
Against:
– Lacks actual gameplay compared to the previous episodes
– A minimal graphical fallback
– Sometimes the graphics and animation are a little buggy
Publisher: Telltale
Developer: Telltale
Genres: adventure
Publication: June 24, 2015
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