It’s been over 3 months since the first entry in Telltale Games’ episodic series Tales From The Borderlands was released. The first Episode was a classic example of Telltale’s character-driven narrative, coupled with the hilarious humour familiar to fans of the Borderlands series. Now Episode 2: Atlas Mugged is here, continuing on from where Episode 1 left off.
The main problem with Episode 2 is the distance of time between its release and Episode 1; after 3 months, I struggled to remember what had happened. Atlas Mugged opens gruesomely, forcing the player to (hilariously) mutilate a corpse. Despite the humour surrounding it, I found myself physically cringing as I played through it. It doesn’t entirely fit right, and is a jarring introduction to this second entry in the series.
As is always the case with Telltale Games’ titles, the characters are outstandingly well-written, although there doesn’t seem to be as much development this time round. In Episode 1, we began to get to know Rhys, Fiona and the rest of the gang, but here nothing really new happens to expand upon their characters until the episode’s final moments. It is unfortunate that Episode 1’s main problem, that it gets quite dull when the action dies down and that is much more prevalent here. It’s understandable, however, as Tales From The Borderlands is, after all, a marriage between Telltale Games’ traditional gameplay style and the Borderlands series from Gearbox Software, and there seems to be some difficulty meshing the former’s slow-burning storytelling with the latter’s frantic gameplay insanity.
Telltale seems to have listened to comments about the first episode’s muddled story, as everything is much more straightforward now, and there’s less confusion about whether Rhys’s or Fiona’s depiction of events is more accurate. The story really doesn’t go anywhere in this episode, although there are a few decisions that have to be considered carefully, and will likely come back to haunt you in later episodes. Occasionally, you’re asked to explore a small area, completely offsetting Atlas Mugged’s pacing and slowing it down to a standstill. It’s unfortunate, but it doesn’t happen often, and the story picks up again soon after.
In terms of length, Atlas Mugged is surprisingly short, disappointingly wrapping up in around just two hours. What you get in those two hours, however, is well worth the price of admission. Rhys’s story is packed with action and entertainment, largely supplied by the incredible Handsome Jack. This side of the story is all about the comedy, whereas Fiona’s is filled with quieter moments, packed with emotion rather than excitement. The fact that Telltale is able to take these different stories and combine them into a coherent whole is a testament to their story writing prowess, and their past successes leave me hopeful that they’ll maintain their usual standards of quality as Tales From The Borderlands moves closer to its finale.
Tales From The Borderlands Episode 2: Atlas Mugged doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor, but its hilarious humour, clever writing and entertaining characters more than make up for its few shortcomings. Difficult decisions and emotional moments are aplenty, and work surprisingly well with the typical insanity you’d expect from a Borderlands title. The return of old characters is a nice touch, and the episode’s final decision should be more than enough to bring you back for more.