my god does this one take a while to get going. and once it finally hits its stride it's just. . . kind of okay? the action set-piece of the big race with the fighting in the middle was fine, i guess, but i'm just not that interested in what's being presented so far.

cards on the table, i booted this up at least 3 or 4 times trying to get into it before getting bored and distracting myself with something else. i have mutuals who swear by this game who even concede that the first half an hour of this is a slog. i really feel like these character introductions do very little service to the characters themselves, and going over the same not very interesting deal from two different perspectives slows things to a crawl.

i'm trying not to be too much of a hater, but i'm not really sure if this is just gonna be an example of this being a one-off bad episode with the rest being better, or if this is what i should expect going forward. i'm hoping the fact that the average rating being a 4.1 on here (before posting) is more a size of sampling size bias + response bias than it is indicative of fans of this game thinking this is a good opening.

also, what the hell was with felix? we barely get to know this guy and he's already pulling a late third act betrayal just to immediately get killed off? what was even the point.

One of the best starts to a Telltale series I've played yet. I consider myself a pretty mild fan of Borderlands. Love the first 2, think Pre Sequel is fine, Love the gameplay of 3, but HATE the story of it. The people at Telltale absolutely NAILED everything about this world and the characters right off the bat. Rhys, Vaughn, Fiona and Sasha are immediately interesting characters that get you invested in their goals and motives. The parallel story telling between Fiona and Rhys gameplay also is a very clever and makes the game feel all the more fresh this far into Telltales run of Narrative Adventure games. If you're even an avid fan of Borderlands or even just 1 or 2, I'd definitely give it a recommend on only the first episode alone. I can't wait to see where the rest of this series goes.

Telltale nails the look and feel of the Borderlands series. This opening episode is a blast. Zer0 Sum's introductory tale is about two different groups of swindlers whose cons go wrong, forcing them to work together. Their uneasy alliance is plagued by danger at every turn. Of course this being Pandora and all, hilarity and craziness ensue.

The writing and presentation here is some the developer's strongest. The scenes are very cinematic and the voice acting is nothing short of perfect. Expect to see some familiar faces. The humor is on point. Every joke sticks. Right from the get go the characters manage to hook you, even if you don't know who to trust. Player choice still plays a key role in things, but don't expect any big decisions here. Instead what we get a more personal moments that define what the cast thinks of each other. Perfectly fine, but a little disappointing and hopefully not the trend going forward.

There's much more action than is typical for a Telltale game. The sequences themselves are well-done and befitting of a tie-in to the popular FPS/RPG hybrid series. This is some of their best work with this kind of thing. There's a new two-protagonist system that sees you switching back and forth between different perspectives at regular intervals in the story. It's a great new way the established formula has been expanded upon.

Zer0 Sum is something for both Telltale and Borderlands fans. Great characters, strong writing, and subtle changes to the episodic structure the developer is known for all make for a compelling and highly enjoyable first chapter. Whether or not the rest of the game will hold up has yet to be seen, but so far it looks like Tales from the Borderlands might just be Telltale's best game since the first season of The Walking Dead. It could possibly even surpass it.

8/10