Like previous Telltale series, this is not so much a game as it is an interactive cartoon. Yes, to a degree, player choices don’t matter, and all paths seem to lead to the same destination (as far as I can tell). However, there is far more variation and consequence than most point and click adventures offer. In hindsight, adventure puzzles, as fun as they sometimes are, only hinder storytelling and don’t help you live inside a character’s head the way the Telltale dialogue system does.

Tales from the Borderlands benefits from the wonderfully unique world created by Gearbox in Borderlands 1 & 2. It’s like Mad Max meets Firefly. In this case the focus is more on the wisecracking and swashbuckling of the latter. The characters are fun and likable, and their dialogue is genuinely funny and fresh. On top of that is the stylish, cell-shaded art direction from the original games. Also included are the off-the-wall character introductions and typographical blasts. These title sequences are a real treat and a highlight of each episode.

The story, even though it’s basically a standard heist adventure, is gripping. That’s something that is missing from the actual Borderlands games. After finishing, I got the itch to jump back into Borderlands 2 and after twenty minutes of running around and engaging in repetitive gun battles, I soon remembered why I stopped playing. For me, story is the key. Another superb outing from Telltale Games.

After The Walking Dead (especially season two… which I apparently forgot to review. Well, it was great.), I was pretty much sold on the Telltale choose-your-own-adventure game formula. These games are really like watching a TV show in which you’re forced to pay close attention to what’s going on and have a say in how the characters interact with eachother. So far, the stories and characters have been engaging and satisfying.

I began The Wolf Among Us without knowing anything about the comic series on which it is based. As far as I knew it was the story of a werewolf living in the big city. It’s not. The conceit here is that all the characters are from fairy tales and myths and are trying to get by along side the humans in New York. Wolf is actually The Big Bad Wolf of Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs fame, now a film noir style PI investigating a series of murders. Sounds completely ridiculous, but somehow it all works and I loved every second of it. If I had any criticism, it’s that the choices were not nearly as gut-wrenching as they were in The Walking Dead, but, that aside, it’s an excellent interactive experience (not really a “game” per se).

Coming off of FarCry 3, I really wasn’t sure I wanted to commit myself to another massive open-world game, but San Andreas was there in my bin of unplayed games calling to me. The GTA formula, like war, never changes: huge open world, lots of driving, violent gangster themes and general mayhem. I really wish the stories were more compelling, but they tend to get lost in the huge scope of the game. Personally, I have no nostalgia or interest in Southern California gangsta culture and music. In light of the never-ending murder in Chicago, it’s a hard sub-culture to glamorize without feeling icky. I was able to set that aside and just enjoy exploring the map and all it’s diversity.

The game technology is a slight improvement over Vice City, but it still seems empty blocky by contemporary standards. The cars still drive all floaty and weird the same way they did in GTA IV. Planes played a much bigger role and were difficult to get the hang of initially. Mouse controls don’t really work for flying but the joypad sticks for everything else so I just kept it on my lap for when I was flying. I realize I don’t have much positive to say here, but, really, I liked the game. Now that I have finished I will probably go back in an explore and be a bit more crazy for a while before moving on.