With their focus seemingly to be on Game of Thrones, it’d be reasonable to expect disappointment from Telltale Games’ Tales From The Borderlands. However, you’d be wrong; so far, Tales has been nothing but excellent, telling an interesting story set in the Borderlands universe. However, the release schedule has been inconsistent, meaning we haven’t been getting episodes on a regular basis. Which is a shame, as Tales From The Borderlands is amongst Telltale’s best work.

Episode 4 begins where Episode 3 ended; Rhys, Fiona and the rest of the gang are in a difficult situation, and are now being forced to lead a heist on Helios, Hyperion’s base of operations orbiting Pandora. Featuring the classic heist set-up, not much goes to plan, leading to hilarious hijinks, as well as a few of Telltale’s trademark emotional scenes. Up until now, Tales From The Borderlands has largely been devoid of these emotional scenes so familiar to fans of the developer, but believe me when I say that Escape Plan Bravo does not disappoint on that front.

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It would have been easy for this episode to be the most boring of the series, but thanks to a great team of writers and their witty dialogue, Escape Plan Bravo is one of the most entertaining episodes I have ever played from Telltale. As per the norm, it’s the plot and dialogue that really shines through, more than making up for the lack of important choices to make throughout its two-hour run. However, there is a huge choice to make at the conclusion of the episode, setting up Episode 5 for an epic finale.

Alongside the hilarious action scene that involves finger-pistols and oral sound-effects, the highlight of this episode is definitely the sad loss of a much-loved character (don’t worry, no spoilers). It’s a melancholy moment in an episode otherwise filled with laughs, providing something the series has otherwise been missing. As well as the surreal action scene I’ve mentioned several times, there’s a single scene that initially seems to be entirely regular, featuring dramatic music and slow-motion, before it strikes you that it’s overly-dramatic and you can’t help but laugh. It’s a great moment, and really shows off the writing prowess at Telltale Games.

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Honestly, this episode may be the craziest so far, with pizza skin parties (don’t ask) and what is by-far the most insane action sequence I have ever seen in a game. Admittedly, it does suffer from some of the same problems that afflicted previous episodes, such as a lack of length and a sudden ending, but this really is another great example of how an episodic series should be done. The lunacy sets Escape Plan Bravo apart from Telltale Games’ other, more serious episodic adventures, even previous episodes of Tales From The Borderlands, and sets-up Rhys and the gang for what will hopefully be a hilarious and exciting finale. Let’s just hope we won’t have to wait too long.

You can catch up on all of our reviews on previews episodes of Tales From the Borderlands below.



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