Telltale's Tales from The Borderlands is both a safe bet and an undeniable risk. It takes the established world of one of this generation's most beloved franchises and expands it to places it's never been before but at the extent of what made it so popular in the first place. It's a strong first entry into a promising series and serves as a welcomed book-end to the world of Pandora, Hyperion and Handsome Jack while introducing us to some great new story elements. This is Borderlands done like you've never seen before and just how much you'll like it depends on what you're looking for, a good story or some good shooting.

"...expands upon the established universe of the Borderlands games..."

If you go into Tales from the Borderlands expecting a traditional Borderlands experience, you'll unquestionably be disappointed. This is a Telltale game through and through and you'll be solving the majority of your problems with dialogue trees rather than emptying the barrels of a wide variety of guns. It's a distinct change for a franchise that's known more for it;s carnage and massive gun collection than any sort of story but it's also a necessary one. Tales from the Borderlands expands upon the established universe of the Borderlands games in a way that the core games would never be able to, and that could add life to the franchise itself.

Taking place after the events of Borderlands 2, Tales from the Borderlands tells the story of the initial meeting between Rhys, who's looking to become the next Handsome Jack and Fiona, a charming con-woman looking for her first score. It's a story that delves deep into the Borderlands mythos and it's cool to piece together the references as they roll in but a deep knowledge of the pre-existing universe is not needed to enjoy Telltale's latest.  This is a tale that would really feel at home in a lot of universes like Firefly and even something like Star Wars thanks to the wonderful writing and character development found even here in the first episode of the series.

The biggest change from previous Telltale games to Tales from the Borderlands is that for the first time you'll be controlling two characters. While the mechanic can be a bit daunting at first, it becomes clear pretty early on just how much it can open up scene like never before. Rhys and Fiona are both dynamic characters with different motivations and very different ways of going about situations and it's great to use both to your advantage. It's a lot of fun to start a scene as Rhys and then switch over to Fiona and see everything from a completely new perspective. It not only helped propel the story forward but also allowed me to feel like I was getting closer to understanding and identifying with the characters more on a personal level.

"...wasn't based on if I did certain things buy how I did them."

Much like The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead before it, Tales from the Borderlands bases just how the story progresses based on your actions and decisions throughout the experience. Here though, it felt like the story wasn't based on if I did certain things buy how I did them. Do I take a shot at the target to get out quicker or do I try to think my way out of a situation? It feels like a far more rewarding way to play through the experience and alludes to some very cool reveals later in the series that promise to take these characters in a completely different direction.

A Borderlands game just doesn't feel like a Borderlands game if it doesn't have loot and for better or worse, there's a smaller version of the loot system here. Several times in episode one Fiona is given the choice of whether to take money, be it from a dying man or hidden somewhere in the game. It's an interesting mechanic but since you can't really do anything with it at the moment it feels like a tacked on and unnecessary addition. Hopefully it's expanded upon as the story grows but as for right now it just doesn't feel needed.

Tales from the Borderlands is a a great example of how to take an established franchise and turn it on it's head. Fans of the Borderlands series will dig the expanded look into the worlds of Pandora and Hyperion, even if they don't feature the trademarked insane shooting. This is Borderlands as you've never seen it before and as the story grows with new episodes it could turn into one of Telltale's best stories to date.