Tales From The Borderlands Isn't A "Morality Game"

Cognimancer

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Jun 13, 2012
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Tales From The Borderlands Isn't A "Morality Game"



Tales From The Borderlands might come from the developers of The Walking Dead, but don't expect the same level of despair-inducing choices.

Telltale Games is still riding high on the success of The Walking Dead - a success so potent that the studio can afford to branch out with new series based on Fables, Game of Thrones, and Borderlands. That last one surprised a lot of people; the slapstick ultraviolence of Borderlands doesn't really mesh with the grim depression of The Walking Dead. Telltale isn't a one-trick pony, however - the plan for Tales from the Borderlands doesn't revolve around moral choice so much as immoral choice.

"It's not a morality game," explains Telltale Games co-founder Kevin Bruner. Whereas The Walking Dead's Lee often had to figure out the right thing to do, the protagonists of Tales from the Borderlands couldn't care less about good or bad - they're just greedy. "That generally has pretty funny, unexpected consequences, but you're rewarded for trying to lie, cheat, and steal."

"The way I look at it," adds Tales from the Borderlands lead designer Harrison Pink, "is that Walking Dead presents you with two choices, and you don't want either of them. Tales from the Borderlands will present you with two choices and you're just upset you can't have both."

Given that the two protagonists in Tales from the Borderlands are a hacker and a con artist, it seems like players will have plenty of opportunity to swindle their way to success. Say what you want about the treacherous world of Pandora - after a painstaking journey through the zombie apocalypse, this adventure is shaping up to be downright liberating.

Source: Telltale Games [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxzE9k1CzUw]

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weirdee

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Apr 11, 2011
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borderlands has a binary choice system: things that have bullets in them, and things that don't have bullets in them yet
 

TheDoctor455

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Apr 1, 2009
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Huh... so they're going back to the humor they had started with back when they were still doing Sam and Max games?

Cool.

Speaking of which...

Telltale...

PLEASE make more Sam and Max games!
 

Voulan

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Jul 18, 2011
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Oh, I'm so bad at role playing bad characters. Hopefully that won't affect the game too much.

It's still a case of wait and see.
 

Dreadman75

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Jul 6, 2011
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Awwww, I can't have both? That sucks.

Sounds like a fun game though. I wonder what the general plot will be? If the preview I saw at VGA 2012 is any indication Handsome Jack has something to do with it.
 

Elfgore

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Doesn't bother me any. Borderlands has always had a jokey, light-hearted theme to it. No point in trying to make it dark and gritty. I can't wait to see how it works out with the hacking and maybe occasional gun fight.
 

Erttheking

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I'm actually taking this as a very good sign that Telltale games isn't trying to be the type of company who does the same thing over and over again in terms of story. Glad to see that they're branching out.
 

BlueJoneleth

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erttheking said:
I'm actually taking this as a very good sign that Telltale games isn't trying to be the type of company who does the same thing over and over again in terms of story. Glad to see that they're branching out.
Well before TWD almost all their games were comedies.

Sam & Max, Monkey Island,...
 

Mortuorum

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Oct 20, 2010
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Elfgore said:
Doesn't bother me any. Borderlands has always had a jokey, light-hearted theme to it. No point in trying to make it dark and gritty. I can't wait to see how it works out with the hacking and maybe occasional gun fight.
I'm not sure I agree. While the Borderlands games are overtly comedic, Pandora is a miserable place with an undercurrent of tragedy. The endless waves of bandits and other lowlifes were once optimistic settlers whose employers exploited them and then abandoned them on a crumbling world choked with pollution, filled with hostile monsters and stripped of most of its resources. Any refuge is at best temporary (New Haven, Firestone) and all victories are fleeting.

And that's OK. I love a dark comedy. I hope that Tales from the Borderlands will be able to capture that vibe.
 

Ubiquitous Duck

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Well I really like the grim outlooks and gritty tones of games like The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us.

So I definitely hope that Borderlands isn't a light-hearted affair of the more jovial nature.

Mind you, I have next to no interest in the subject matter behind borderlands - I've played the games, but never got a great idea of overall story that I really cared about in any way.

But Telltale have won me over as such a fan boy now that I will probably buy it regardless, but may be disappoint!

Perhaps I should wait for signs of their investment in Game of Thrones, more my kind of experience.
 

JarinArenos

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Jan 31, 2012
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I dropped Walking Dead because I don't like feeling depressed, but I could recognize quality gamecrafting. This sounds like it might be right up my alley.
 

bartholen_v1legacy

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Jan 24, 2009
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Considering how much I love Borderlands, this might be the first Telltale game to interest me enough to play it. I'll keep an eye out.
 

Callate

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I'm still not sure, given the increasingly lengthy waits between entries, that branching out into three to four franchises at once was a good idea.

But I'll certainly grant that a game that doesn't involve varying degrees of failure with every choice would be a welcome change of pace. Probably a bit of a relief for them as well.
 

Malbourne

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Sep 4, 2013
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Dark comedy is Telltale's strength! Even the worlds of The Walking Dead and Wolf Among Us injected their drama with some humor.

OT: How many other games have had a cheery story about a con artist just making his or her way through the world, anyway?
 

Imp_Emissary

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That's Handsome Jack....Are we going to be playing as Handsome Jack?
Or I guess back then it was just John.
Wonder if the lady is his wife or the Sheriff.

Not sure if I'd want to do that.

Should be neat to see how this all plays out though.