Tales from the Borderlands, Episode 4: Escape Plan Bravo

My official review of this episode, from a few minutes after I finished it, is “…did that just happen?”

“Escape Plan Bravo” is a particularly tense episode of Tales From the Borderlands. Finding the next piece of the Beacon for Gortys, the adorable little girl robot that holds the key to finding the Vault of the Traveler, turns this episode into a heist movie, with three out of the four leads having to improvise to find their way into Handsome Jack’s old office. A lot of big decisions end up being made here, alongside one major betrayal and a potential look into the future of the Borderlands series itself.

My biggest problem with it, and it’s not really a problem, is that it’s got some mood whiplash going on. The opening part of the episode leads into a potentially emotional moment, which is supplanted later by one of the most bizarre non-sequiturs I’ve ever seen in a mainstream video game. It’s on par with that path you could take in the first True Crime game where you inexplicably ended up shooting it out with a giant Chinese dragon; it’s a sequence of events so bizarre that I’m still not entirely sure they happened.

The entirety of the episode is packed fat with spoilers, which I’d rather not discuss in any detail, but the interesting thing is how the last few episodes have all hinged upon a truly massive, game-changing choice. “Escape Plan Bravo” in particular ends with a massive cliffhanger, and I’m probably going to end up replaying it just to see the other side of that.

Reviewed By: Thomas Wilde
Publisher: Telltale Games
Rating: 90%

——————————————————————————–
This review is based on a digital copy of Tales from the Borderlands, Episode 4: Escape Plan Bravo for the PC provided by Telltale Games.

[Show as slideshow]