While Tales from the Borderlands Episode 2: Atlas Mugged is one of the shorter chapters of any recent Telltale game, it uses this brevity in fantastic ways. It constantly oscillates between thrilling action scenes, hilarious back-and-forth banter, and some poignant character moments. Each member of your core group is fleshed out, new characters (like Handsome Jack himself) are introduced and provide some fantastic new dynamics, and the episode ends on one of the best cliffhangers in recent Telltale memory.
The 90 minutes of Atlas Mugged take the same Cowboy Bebop-esque caper vibe of the original episode and run with it. From the opening scene, in which you’re forced to go to grotesque lengths to get past a retinal scanner, characters are constantly thrown into insane situations where they just can’t seem to catch a break. I loved getting so close to my goal multiple times over the course of the episode, only to have it snatched away from me at the last second. I couldn’t predict where the next scene would lead me, but by the end of Atlas Mugged, I had full faith that it was somewhere entertaining.
The episode is rife with memorable interactions and hilarious moments, a lot of which center around the holographic ghost of Handsome Jack. The way you choose to have Rhys deal with him, whether it be through raw fear or wide-eyed admiration, leads to some of the funniest banter Telltale’s ever delivered. But the jokes aren’t just there to make you laugh – with each hilarious line, layers of Rhys’ personality are peeled back, the bond between Rhys and Vaughn transforms, and the links between Telltale’s series and the three main Borderlands games are strengthened.
While Rhys’ side of the tale delivers a series of comedic blows, Fiona’s half is a quieter, more emotional story. How you choose to have Fiona and Sasha deal with the fallout of Episode 1’s conclusion really lets you mold what kind of characters they are. Being empowered to dictate whether Fiona takes a higher road, or remains hellbent on revenge led to some really tough decisions: Do you fuel Sasha’s anger and feelings of betrayal, or try to calm her down at the risk of causing a rift between the two of you?
It’s a testament to Telltale’s storytelling that these two tonally different sides of the adventure are woven together without ever coming across as jarring. Seeing the same event from both sides, ping-ponging across Pandora to see how one’s decision impacts the other, and constantly trying to figure out how they’re going to get from their present situations to the future scenes that pepper the story give Atlas Mugged a great sense of forward momentum.
Episode 2 also succeeds at adding even more interesting characters to the already fantastic cast. Particularly interesting is Scooter, a mechanic who just might be the dumbest person on Pandora, but also the most loveable and surprisingly loyal.
Aside from the fantastic writing, Telltale’s hit a creative stride with humor that draws from the gameplay mechanics as well as fourth-wall-breaking moments. Just when I grew tired of pointing my targeting reticle to catch something falling through the air, Tales from the Borderlands delivered a joke that astutely turned this mundanity into a punchline. Likewise, having characters pose and stare at the screen when they’re introduced, completely confusing those around them as to what they’re looking at, just adds to the dense layers of jokes throughout Atlas Mugged.
While all of this is great, I’m still not entirely sold on Tales’ inventory and currency systems. Throughout Episode 2, I packed my pockets with random grenades, shields, and doo-dads that I found throughout Pandora, but still haven’t really found a use for any of them. Maybe the payoff is somewhere down the road, but we’re almost halfway through the season and the whole system still feels half-baked. Same goes for the money I’ve gathered – aside from a single aesthetic purchase in each of the two episodes, I’m not sure why I’m even bothering with rummaging through the world search of cash.