Practically eight years since Tales from the Borderlands first launched, followers are lastly returning to the beloved episodic journey. Whereas Telltale is now not on the helm and New Tales from the Borderlands is not a direct sequel, Gearbox Studio Quebec guarantees the identical kind of coronary heart and humor that drew gamers to the unique.Â
Forward of its launch on Oct. 21, Gearbox invited Home windows Central to view a demo and converse with a couple of of the builders about what gamers can anticipate this time round. Regardless of some mysteries remaining, it is clear that New Tales from the Borderlands is in good fingers.Â
It is clear that New Tales from the Borderlands is in good fingers.
Going down round a yr after the occasions of Borderlands 3, Promethea is in a state of reconstruction. Hoping to reap the benefits of the state of affairs and make a play for energy, Tediore steals a Vault Key from Atlas and invades the planet, intent on discovering the Vault’s untold riches beneath the floor in its sewers. Anu, Octavio, and Fran, our three playable characters and “lovable losers,” as Gearbox places it, get caught up on this whirlwind and work collectively to beat Tediore to the Vault.Â
Working for Atlas as a researcher, Anu ventures down planetside to assist Octavio, her adoptive brother, as a result of she’s anxious in regards to the Tediore invasion. Fran, proprietor of an area Frogurt store and Octavio’s boss, decides to go together with them to get revenge on Susan Coldwell, Tediore’s CEO, whom she blames for the destruction of her store.Â
Like Fran, the siblings every have their very own motives for going after the Vault, whether or not or not it’s hoping to make the galaxy a greater place with out weapons in Anu’s case, or Octavio’s want for riches and fame — he has to get on Forge’s “Tremendous Profitable Soiled Thirty,” in any case.Â
A part of the attract of the unique was the connection between Rhys and Fiona, who acted as unreliable narrators and performed off of one another nicely. This stored gamers invested find out the reality of the occasions that occurred. Gearbox Software program director of manufacturing James Lopez tells me that whereas Tales was in regards to the unreliable narrators and “two people who find themselves continuously screwing one another over,” beneath all of it “it is a story about people who find themselves residing on the margins.” That is what New Tales from the Borderlands brings again.
It additionally morphs right into a story about household and counting on each other when you possibly can’t depend on anybody else.
“[The original Tales] actually form of flipped the script from the standard Borderlands sport as a result of in your commonplace Borderlands sport, you’re all the time in management, and you’ll clear up each downside in entrance of you,” Lopez says. “So what’s it like whenever you’re one of many individuals who is simply form of caught within the combine. Vault Hunters are form of like pure disasters, and everybody has to cope with the fallout from it and there is one thing actually compelling in there. So even when they don’t seem to be grifters, we like that concept of telling tales involving people who find themselves not extremely succesful and can’t simply clear up every thing with a melee button or capturing a gun … and we discover that basically compelling.”
Lopez says that it additionally morphs right into a story about household and counting on each other when you possibly can’t depend on anybody else. The connection dynamic between all three of them will frequently evolve over the course of the sport in new and fascinating methods.Â
Like its predecessor, it options comparable gameplay with fast time occasions, dialogue selections, and interactive exploration. Fortunately, Gearbox Studio Quebec producer Frédéric Scheubel tells me that the sport will embrace accessibility choices to tweak the short time occasions to make them simpler for individuals, permitting gamers to regulate the response time and button prompts.Â
The demo I noticed adopted Fran, Octavio, and Anu delving into the sewers to observe Tediore troopers to the Vault. At one level Fran will get gunned down, prompting a sport over display (with Marcus narrating that it might be hilarious if the sport simply ended like that, would not it?).
Ultimately making it previous that phase, the trio unsuccessfully makes an attempt to sneak previous one other Tediore soldier. As an alternative of getting shot at, this kicks off a Vaultlander minigame. Octavio and the superfan soldier whip out a few Vaultlander figures and battle to see who has the most effective abilities. This minigame is essentially elective, although the one in my demo was required to progress the story and introduce gamers to the mechanics. It basically entails watching these little plastic collectible figurines stiffly assault one another as if being swung in an actual tabletop sport, whittling away at their well being.Â
Gamers can accumulate varied Vaultlander figures all through the sport, and whereas they’re going to all play the identical for essentially the most half, there will likely be small variations of their ending strikes.Â
Although gamers can fail fast time occasions and be greeted with that “sport over” display, there are different occasions the place failing a QTE will truly unlock a special path. “For instance, someday later [after the demo], Fran can get shot or not,” Scheubel says. “And if she will get shot within the shoulder, you will have to decorate her wound or one thing like that afterward within the first chapter of the story. So we need to hold the gamers on their toes, a few of them you possibly can succeed or you need to succeed, however a few of them you possibly can fail. And you will have a special phase of the story inside there.”
Gearbox is emphasizing participant alternative even tougher this time round as nicely. Scheubel says that they needed every option to have an instantaneous impression in addition to medium- and long-range impacts which will come into impact in later episodes. New Tales from the Borderlands will function 5 totally different endings, and he says that he is nonetheless discovering new jokes even after engaged on the sport for 2 and a half years.Â
Spanning throughout 5 episodes, Lopez says that there are round 12 hours of cinematic content material, although your mileage might fluctuate by way of how lengthy your playthrough will likely be due to your choices.Â
Gearbox is emphasizing participant alternative even tougher this time round as nicely.
As an alternative of a staggered launch like the unique Tales, all 5 episodes will likely be launched directly. I used to be curious how Gearbox determined to go about its storytelling as a result of the time between episodes allowed the neighborhood to develop as they swapped new concepts and theories on what would occur subsequent, very similar to a tv present. Lopez believes that the best way avid gamers devour content material has modified over time, thus making this “bingeable” expertise extra acquainted to them.Â
“We really feel like the best way that avid gamers devour content material has modified fairly a bit since then,” he tells me. “Clearly, Netflix existed again then, however binge tradition has actually grown since then. What we determined is that we needed individuals to devour this sport at no matter tempo they need to. We did not need to type of pressure individuals to attend in the event that they did not need to. It simply made essentially the most sense for us to launch it all of sudden. And if individuals need to take their time, by all means, and if individuals need to binge it over a weekend, they completely do this too.”
He continues, “So far as the neighborhood discussions, that is a really fascinating level, and one which we talked about. The best way that we’re hoping that we are able to form of tackle that’s much less in regards to the concept crafting half, however extra about having variations in playthroughs which can be price discussing.”
It hasn’t misplaced that signature humor, both. With out spoiling something, Scheubel says that the humor is one among his favourite components in regards to the sport, and gamers will encounter a number of moments that will likely be talked about inside the neighborhood, very similar to the finger gun scene from the unique. And don’t be concerned, these iconic opening scenes complemented by a killer soundtrack are again.
Close to the top of the demo I witnessed a dialog that I discovered notably humorous involving a cute little pet Ratch named Juniper. I, too, would observe her to hell and again, Fran. And that is to not point out one other scene the place Tediore troopers attempt shoving a Vault Key into some unsuspecting rocks, and nearly push their comrade into the Vault the place monsters certainly await. He finally ends up impaled on a rock shortly after. As is the Borderlands manner.Â
From the nearly-20-minute demo and my time talking with Lopez and Scheubel, I’ve excessive hopes for New Tales from the Borderlands to affix the ranks of the finest Xbox video games. Gearbox appears to know what made the unique Tales from the Borderlands so particular, melding a ton of humor and coronary heart into what hopefully seems to be unforgettable journey.Â
New Tales from the Borderlands launches on Oct. 21, 2022, for Xbox Collection X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Swap, and PC.Â
