It’s been almost four months since the first episode of Tales from the Borderlands was released and the wait for the next installment has been an especially long one. Telltale are obviously aware of the delay, opening their “Previously on” intro with the line “Yes, yes, it’s been a while. Everyone knows.” This cheeky, self-aware jibe sets the tone for the rest of the episode and for those looking forward to more of what the first episode dished up, “Atlas Mugged” is definitely worth the wait.
The story picks up at the end of “Zer0 Sum” and delves into an as-yet unexplored part of the Borderlands mythology: just what was the Atlas Corporation up to before Hyperion took Pandora? With Rhys and Fiona separated after escaping from Bossa Nova’s compound, the boys and the girls continue to work toward the same goal – figure out what the hell the Gortys Project is, rejoice if it’s a Vault, regret their entire lives up to this point if it’s not, and get to it before Hyperion can figure it out.
Rhys and Fiona remain your two main playable characters in this episode and they continue to recount the story of how they came to work together to their mysterious captor, complete with the usual embellishments and snarky narrative corrections when things get too exaggerated.
They’ve got problems of their own to deal with, however: Fiona is still trying to come to terms with what happened during the race at Bossa Nova’s, while Rhys is having to get along with a hologram of Handsome Jack that only he can see and hear. Jack only appears whenever Rhys takes a bump on the head and goes out of his way to create anarchy whenever he does. He’s the cackling devil on your shoulder, always trying to tempt you into doing something cruel-but-genuinely-satisfying.
Troy Baker and Chris Hardwick’s voice-over double act as Rhys and Vaughn remains as comedically strong as it was in the first ep, with Hardwick in particular really selling the hell out of the weirdly buff Vaughn. Laura Bailey and Erin Yvette continue to put in solid work as Fiona and Sasha and it’s in this episode that the sisters really do become the heart of the piece. When the story drops the jokes for a moment and switches to drama mode for a moment, it feels earned and both actresses crush in those scenes.
The game’s runtime clocked in at around two-and-a-half hours for me so not an overly long episode but worth its weight in story progression. Telltale get a lot done here in a pretty short period and they introduce a pair of cool new mechanics to boot. I’m trying to keep this spoiler-free though, so I’ll move on from the plot.
Gameplay-wise, there’s still a decent variety of point-and-click adventure tropes on offer here. There are a few puzzles but they barely register a blip on your radar. They’re really just there to keep the story barrelling along. Once again, it’s the action sequences that really let Tales from the Borderlands come alive. The rollicking title screen sequence is a great way to kick the game off again after its hiatus and reminds of just how exciting and tense these games can be when they start pulling tricks like that.
In terms of graphics, though they capture the look and feel of Borderlands perfectly, these aren’t graphics that are going to test your rig in any meaningful way – and that’s a good thing. You can play this game on just about any computer you want because it’s specs are wonderfully undemanding.
Telltale made us wait for this one but it was definitely worth it. Hopefully it won’t take as long to get Episode 3 (teasingly named “Catch a Ride!”) into our hands.
Review Score: 8.0 out of 10
Highlights: Smart, funny story; engaging characters
Lowlights: Puzzles are quite simple (I’m really stretching here tbh)
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games (Digital), 2K Games (Retail)
Released: March 17, 2015
Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and iOS.
Reviewed on PC
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