Tales From The Borderlands: Episode 1 - Zer0 Sum

 PC
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 395 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 322 out of 395
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 395
  3. Negative: 51 out of 395

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  1. rodericrinehart
    Jun 16, 2015
    7
    I might be getting tired of the Telltale formula for sure, but this is definitely not as good as the original 3, with The Wolf Among Us as my favorite of the three). There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interaction and it just feels lifeless. There are a few good scenes and some nice dialogue, but the gameplay seems even more sparse than before. I understand it's a point-and-clickI might be getting tired of the Telltale formula for sure, but this is definitely not as good as the original 3, with The Wolf Among Us as my favorite of the three). There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interaction and it just feels lifeless. There are a few good scenes and some nice dialogue, but the gameplay seems even more sparse than before. I understand it's a point-and-click adventure game, but the interaction is at a minimum. It feels like a graphic novel with a few small "choose your own way" points.

    It is probably worth ten bucks for the five episodes, but that is the most I'll pay for Telltale games as that is their value to me personally.    … Expand
  2. Reinate
    Nov 26, 2014
    7
    Is this game perfect, Not by a long shot.
    Does it have issues, Plenty.
    Did i enjoy it ... of course. Classic Borderlands Humor, But it felt more like i was watching an interactive movie. Occasionally i could walk my characters down a hall way or make a choice how i wanted a scene to play out, but for the most part i was sitting back watching stuff unfold. If you like Heavy rain you    Is this game perfect, Not by a long shot.
    Does it have issues, Plenty.
    Did i enjoy it ... of course.
    Classic Borderlands Humor, But it felt more like i was watching an interactive movie.
    Occasionally i could walk my characters down a hall way or make a choice how i wanted a scene to play out, but for the most part i was sitting back watching stuff unfold.
    If you like Heavy rain you will love this :)    … Expand
  3. 12spageipriya
    Feb 11, 2015
    7
    Tales from the Borderlands is an episodic point-and-click graphic adventure comedy video game based on the Borderlands series, released in November 2014 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and iPhone, with planned ports to mobile platforms.
  4. mijxero
    Feb 23, 2015
    7
    This takes the humor and world from borderlands and combines it with the storytelling of other telltale games. Unfortunately it isn't as perfect of a match as I would have hoped. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the game a lot, it was just miles away from the walking dead games. It is still early in the series and I expect an interesting and funny story. If you like story basedThis takes the humor and world from borderlands and combines it with the storytelling of other telltale games. Unfortunately it isn't as perfect of a match as I would have hoped. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the game a lot, it was just miles away from the walking dead games. It is still early in the series and I expect an interesting and funny story. If you like story based games like any other telltale titles and a game that doesn't take itself too seriously you should like this game too.… Expand
  5. vorgbardo
    Jul 16, 2017
    5
    The good: graphics are excellent. Music, sound effects, and voice acting are very good. So the table looks nice, the athmosphere is pleasing, and the napkins are nicely folded.

    The bad: writing is mediocre at best, and downright poor at times. And because writing is the beef, the potatoes and the dessert in this genre, that is a huge shortfall. The story is a 100% linear jog down a    The good: graphics are excellent. Music, sound effects, and voice acting are very good. So the table looks nice, the athmosphere is pleasing, and the napkins are nicely folded.

    The bad: writing is mediocre at best, and downright poor at times. And because writing is the beef, the potatoes and the dessert in this genre, that is a huge shortfall.

    The story is a 100% linear jog down a pipe with zero chance to make an actual difference at any point with own choices. The player is limited to a very small number of actions at all times, and apart from missing a quick-time event that leads to an instant death, never feels like actually being part of the story but simply a by-watcher. The decision to tell the story as a series of flashbacks makes this problem even worse, as it further enhances the feeling of pre-defined fate.

    At several key phases of the story, drama is created or the plot is advanced with either a deus ex machina solution, or with one of the characters performing an act that is either out of character and/or has no sensible motivation behind it. Apart from one nice twist, the story unfolds like an exercise in lazy writing. Even the humour is cheap and unimaginative.

    The male main character is an unlikable loser, and the writers' idea of humour is having him make a fool of himself at every opportunity. There are a myriad of games with an anti-heroic main character, but none so annoying and void of personality as Rhys. Why would I want to have a boring no-good bumbling buffoon as my virtual alter ego? Unless the purpose is to plant seeds for some serious character development during the series, but nothing in the quality of writing during the first episode has got my hopes high for that.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

25
#25 Best PC Game of 2014
87
#87 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 43 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 43
  3. Negative: 0 out of 43
  1. CD-Action
    Feb 7, 2015
    75
    It’s more of a superbly written movie than a game. [01/2015, p.59]
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 2, 2015
    80
    Funny “wannabe-adventure” nicely expands the Borderlands universe and represents a small fragment to the mosaic of the mad world of the Pandora planet. [Issue#249]
  3. Multiplayer.it
    Feb 1, 2015
    70
    Tales From The Borderlands is more often than not a pleasure, and it has an authentic Borderlands feeling. But the the long action sequences where we have to push buttons only to let the movie play, rise a question: “why don't we play the real game, instead?”
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