Ugh... I was expecting a game in the same vein as Sam and Max, Full Throttle, Tales of Monkey Island etc... but this is nothing like any of those. This is basically an Interactive Novel, but they somehow managed to screw that up with one of the things I hate the most in modern games - Quick Time Events. The most unforgivable thing is that loads of dialog choices are attached to quick-time events - You can't listen to the awesome dialog, instead having to cut it short to pick a response before the timer runs out! It's a shame as the rest of the game in simply incredible; The graphics are true to the Borderlands universe and not only fit it perfectly, but look great. The audio is excellent - The musical choices are spot on and immersive, and the voice acting is top notch. The dialog is nothing short of legendary; This game deserves awards for it - The humor and cleverness of the writing is at a level that is rarely seen in modern games. I laughed, I cried, it was a great ride! This game is incredible and a standout star in every respect... except for the actual gameplay and mechanics - They let the rest of the game down so much that I couldn't finish playing it because they pissed me off so much. I wanted to listen to and enjoy the dialog instead of being rushed into picking a dialog choice all the time. And everything was so linear and railroaded - The pointless sections where it looks like you can walk around and explore, except you are forced along a specific path, really broke the sense of freedom. I think if you enjoyed the newer-style Tell Tale games like Game of Thrones or The Wolf Among Us, you will love this. If you wanted a game more in the vein of their older style like Back to the Future, Sam and Max or Tales of Monkey Island, this will be disappointing to you. It was for me :(
This is the only game to out-do TIE Fighter for iMUSE music. Not only does it adapt to what's happening, with strong memorable themes that help deliver just the right tension, then seamlessly escalate into adrenaline overdrive when the action kicks in, but the scores themselves are incredible. The intro music starts off as the classic John Williams theme, but then it morphs into a sinister and haunting theme that sets the tone of the game before you even get to the menus! Once you get going, the first level music delivers an incredible feel right from the get go, with a heart pounding take on John Williams' original scores with the dynamic enhancement of the iMUSE system being used to full effect. It just builds until you hit the final and most epic score - The Arc Hammer. I just sat at the beginning of the level listening to it when I first got to the Arc Hammer level; It is just mind-blowingly good and I get spine tingles everytime I hear that opening riff. In my opinion surpasses even John Williams. It is *that* good. But for the sake of your ears use a good SoundFont or at least GUS emulation in DOS Box; The OPL FM just doesn't do the music justice!!! It is my fervent hope that Tommy covers the music from this game in at least one of his Video Games Live gigs - Having the music played by a proper orchestra would bring out the full potential of the scores and surely give eargasms to all present!
It is far more addictive than it has any right to be! Not much in the way of graphics or sound, and the gameplay is relatively simple, but regardless you will have trouble stopping once you get into it! Despite such a simple premise, the game is surprisingly immersive and the underlying 'story' has lots of subtle twists and from the simple Allow or Deny decision you ultimately make for each person will affect how things progress. Very well done and a nice change from the pretty but mindless junk shooters that seems to make up the bulk of games these days!
