Telltale Game Availability

Gearbox Software just re-released Tales from the Borderlands to digital storefronts a few days ago. It's also coming to Switch next month.

Here's a list of the Telltale games that are available again:

The rights to Batman: The Telltale Series, Batman: The Enemy Within, Hector: Badge of Carnage, Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent, Puzzle Agent 2, and The Wolf Among Us, were acquired by LCG Entertainment. It also acquired the publishing rights to RGX Showdown. These rights were secured with their formation of Telltale 2.0 on August 28, 2019. They later acquired the rights to Tales of Monkey Island on June 26, 2020, and Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures on November 7, 2020.

The rights to Telltale's The Walking Dead games were acquired by the creator of The Walking Dead, Skybound. They are now published by Skybound Games, a subsidiary that contracted members of the Telltale staff to finish The Walking Dead: The Final Season from the Telltale 1.0 offices in 2019. They also released a remastered version of all of Telltale's The Walking Dead games titled The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series.

As mentioned above, the rights to Tales from the Borderlands were acquired by 2K subsidiary Gearbox, the company that holds the rights to the Borderlands franchise.

The rights to the Sam & Max games were acquired by Skunkape Games, a company formed by former Telltale 1.0 staff. This is the studio that's currently remastering the games.

These games are currently available again to purchase, plus Sam & Max Save the World is available to pre-order in its remastered form. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space and Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse will be available once Skunkape remasters those as well.

The rest are not available for purchase, although all are available to re-download if you purchased them from GOG.com, Steam, the Telltale Store, PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Nintendo e-Shop, etc. These remaining games presumably remain in rights limbo. I'll keep you updated as, hopefully, more legacy Telltale games become available to purchase again.

Update February 22, 2023: It's been two years to the day since this list was posted here. Since then, Sam & Max Save the World Remastered and Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Remastered were released. Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Remastered will be released in late 2023. The original Sam & Max games are available as a bonus with the remasters of the Windows versions. 

Plus, Tales from the Borderlands received a sequel and there is now a Sam & Max virtual reality game. Additionally, if all goes as planned, Telltale 2.0 will release its first games in late 2023, including The Expanse and the long-awaited sequel to The Wolf Among Us.

Choices-and-Consequences Game Review: Tales from the Borderlands Episode 5

After the surprise emotional roller coaster of episode 4, the finale kicks the adrenaline up to eleven.

This episode finds Rhys and Fiona escape the clutches of their captors, and it also sees the reveal of the stranger. This final reveal is a bit surprising, but it makes sense as the final big bad of the game is revealed. The heroes accidentally unleashed a powerful weapon, and, with the game caught up with itself into the present, they will have to team up with characters that they have already met up with, and some surprise guests to defeat it.

The choice of characters to bring into this final battle ultimately is driven both by your choices in previous episodes, as well as how much loot you had collected throughout the entire adventure. These characters range from vault collectors to unscrupulous Pandora citizens, most of whom are new to this game, however, there are two fan-favorites from the Borderlands franchise as a whole as well. Each of these characters is voiced excellently and are all funny and entertaining in their own right. This final battle is performed entirely in quick time event button presses, but it’s epic enough that it is a lot of fun and doesn’t feel like a chore. In fact. it’s worth playing through more than once to see all of the optional characters.

The final episode wraps up the story in an epic matter, with a fantastic final battle, and a fantastic story that wraps things up with just enough threads left open with which Borderlands 3 can pick up and run.

Final verdict:

4½ out of 5

Episode Four Review

Choices-and-Consequences Game Review: Tales from the Borderlands Episode 4

Tales from the Borderlands keeps up the strong momentum set by previous episodes in episode four, which ends up being another strong installment in this entertaining series.

The best part of the game from a gameplay standpoint has been the extras that Telltale has added for this series.  The bionic eye is used well as always, giving excellent information to those who use it on objects, and funny lines to those who had opted to trust Jack earlier.  It's not used in puzzles as much in this episode, which is a shame, but it's still a fun addition that is good to have.

The story is where Telltale always shines, and this is the strongest of the series so far.  Telltale's writers love to tickle your funny bone in their humorous games, and they do so here, in spades.  They have the best opening of the series yet, with some of the funniest moments of the series so far, once again set against music that sets the tone beautifully.  Jack gets some nice one-liners in, of course, and Gortys is wonderfully naiive as always.  There is also an over-the-top action sequence, that harkens back to the first episode.  It's heavy in quick-time-events, but, for the scene, it works.

Even Telltale's humorous games tend to get grounded at times, and pull at your heart strings as well. This episode has perhaps the most moving moment of the entire series.  By the end of the sequence I found myself in tears, which is saying something, as Telltale managed to make me care about a character that I for whom I previously didn't care anything.  The ending sequence also had some excellent dramatic moments, and set up a fantastic cliffhanger for the finale.

The penultimate episode of Tales from the Borderlands is the best yet.  It has fantastic music and the actors perform their lines wonderfully.  The bionic eye is still used to great effect when examining objects.  The best part about the episode is the story, which delivers equal amounts of humor and drama.  The tension rises at the end of the episode, and leaves things on an exciting cliff-hanger. This season has been exciting and entertaining so far.  If the last episode lives up to expectations, this series could potentially be one of the best cinematic choice and consequences game they have produced so far.

Final verdict:

4½ out of 5

Episode Three Review

Episode Five Review

Choices-and-Consequences Game Review: Tales from the Borderlands Episode 3

The third episode of Tales from the Borderlands keeps the ball running, with a fantastic chapter that keeps the momentum set by the excellent chapters that came before it.

The episode begins as the duo find themselves in danger.  There are more people who want the full power of the Gortys project, and Rhys and Fiona are their way to get what they want.  The series begins to take an interesting turn depending on your choice of who to side with, and the designers have fun with that choice.  The bionic eye of Rhys has always been a nice addition to the game, being both useful to game play, as well as bringing back the look function in a new way.  It's even more fun now. If you choose to side with Jack, the optic output of the eye implant of Rhys displays sarcastic information about an object you scanned instead of the regular information feed from Hyperion.

The voice cast once again shines, but the breakout of this episode is the voice actress of Gortys.  Her character is written with a simple, cute charm, and her voice is a big part of that.  Her interactions with Loaderbot are the highlight of this chapter.  The music once again continues to shine right alongside the excellent voice work, especially the title song.  The opening sequences in this series have been a delight since the beginning, and that trend continues in full force here.

The third chapter of Tales from the Borderlands feels a bit short. It more than makes up for it with an excellent narrative with branches from choices that are beginning to have a noticeable effect on the story line,   Both new and returning characters are excellently voiced, their interactions are memorable, and the music frames the story and blends in with the excellent voice work seamlessly. If the story continues on this path, Rhys and Fiona are truly destined for greatness.

Final verdict:

4 out of 5

Episode Two Review

Episode Four Review

Choices-and-Consequences Game Review: Tales from the Borderlands Episode 2

Telltale's second episode of their choices and consequences adaptation of the video game series Borderlands amps up the volume, delivering an experience that meets the lofty expectations set by the excellent premiere.

Rhys, Fiona, and their friends intend to follow the information they found to the top secret Gortys project, with the intention of getting their hands on enough money to get Rhys and Vaugn back on Hyperion and to get Fiona and Sasha off of the desolate planet Pandora for good.  Of course, their uneasy partnership doesn't go as planned, as they have to contend with Hyperion and a pesky artificial intelligence that isn't known for being virtuous.

The story line here is excellent, and the interaction between the characters really shines.  There are some great character building moments here already.  The actors all continue to deliver in spades.  The writing is top notch, but the performances are what really drives the scenes home.  The scenes between Rhys and the artificial intelligence are especially fun.  The music also continues to be top notch, complimenting the voice work and the story well.  The crew at Telltale really delivered with an excellent opening in the first episode, and it is matched, if not topped here.  It's a really fun way to start the episodes.  Hopefully it remains a Telltale mainstay from this point on.

The game play also continues to be put to good use here.  Whereas The Walking Dead Season Two and The Wolf Among Us devolved the game play a bit into mostly quick time events, Tales from the Borderlands seems to be putting their games back on the right track.  The action still consists mostly of quick time events, but it comes with some additional game play elements that break from the monotony.  The first episode introduced us to Rhys and his bionic echo eye, which is used in certain scenes to let Rhys inspect items and control electronics.  The fun part of the echo eye is that it can be used as a surrogate look function any time Rhys is the playable character, providing some interesting information about the surroundings, as well as an opportunity for the writers to place some additional jokes.

The second episode of Tales from the Borderlands is every bit as engaging as the first.  It has a great story, interesting characters, great humor, excellent voice acting, and a soundtrack that sets the tone of the game quite well.  In addition, the echo eye mechanic introduced in the first chapter is really put into use here, helping to break from the monotony of the action scenes framed by quick time events. Telltale is really setting up this series to be something special.  If the rest of the episodes continue at this quality, Tales from the Borderlands might end up being one of the best choices and consequences game to come out from Telltale.

Final verdict:

4½ out of 5

Episode One Review

Episode Three Review

Tales from the Borderlands is Now On GOG.com

Tales from the Borderlands is now available at GOG.com, and is currently 50% off as part of their summer sale, which ends tomorrow. All of the Telltale games available at GOG.com are currently on sale, ranging from 50% off to 90% off, as part of the summer sale as well.

Choices-and-Consequences Review: Tales from the Borderlands: Zer0 Sum

The announcement that Telltale was making Tales from the Borderlands came as a surprise.  A cinematic adventure set in the world of a first person shooter seemed like an odd choice.  The results should put any remaining skepticism to rest, as Zer0 Sum manages to deftly craft a fantastic experience, blending the gameplay of The Walking Dead with some of the most important aspects of the Borderlands franchise.

As this is a Borderlands game, the game is set on the planet of Pandora, which is a desolate place full of psychotic people and dangerous creatures.  A company named Hyperion has become rich by supplying weapons to the planet, and is headquartered in a base in Pandora's orbit.  There are two playable characters, a recently downsized employee from Hyperion named Rhys and a woman from Pandora named Fiona who has been raised with her sister as a con artist in order to survive in the harsh conditions of the planet.  The story actually takes place in the past, as Fiona and Rhys are both recounting the the tale of their shared story.  Both of these people are unscrupulous individuals would would do anything to improve their station in life, so both of their stories are exaggerated and can't be taken at face value.

The graphical presentation fits right into the Borderlands universe, and the presentation of the story manages to do so as well.  The decision to opt for the two tale presentation of the story helps the game a lot.  It's a return to Telltale's comedic routes, and the fast pace, brought on both by the urgency of the stories, and by the nature of the way the stories are told, makes for a very enjoyable game.  All of the characters are well rounded, even this early in the season, and each is voiced extremely well.  Bay Area Sound has done their usual excellent job on the sound front, as in addition to the impeccable voice talent, the music in the game is superb as well.  The game's opening song, in particular, is a great choice.  The Borderlands games are known for having memorable moments in their introduction videos.  Zer0 Sum manages to stand up with the best of them, and the song choice is a big reason for that.

The gameplay is mostly like the style found in all of their main games since The Walking Dead.  The gameplay is mostly choice based, and as usual there are decisions that affect the fate of the characters.  There is also action mixed in, which, as usual, are quick time events.  Telltale has managed to blend their style with Borderlands quite well in the action aspect, as the action is dispersed with heavy weaponry and machinery.  Telltale also makes good use of the bionic eye implant that one of the main characters, Rhys, is outfitted with.  Every object which can be viewed with the usual look command can also optionally be viewed with the bionic eye.  This gives a detailed readout of the description of each object, and is used to great extent in both providing more insight into the game's universe as well as a unique opportunity to deliver some funny jokes.

Zer0 Sum is one of the best cinematic adventures that Telltale has produced yet.  The two story, big fish tale presentation leads to some clever ways to deliver the story, and the well written and well voiced characters help to make that story memorable.  The graphical presentation and music are also top notch, and the choice based mechanics are used to great effect.  The thing that brings this game up to the heights of the best games in Telltale's cinematic adventure catalog is the addition of features that are new to Telltale's arsenal.  The choice of weapons to deploy is nice, and helps to give this game a real Borderlands feel.  But the real gem of this game is the bionic eye.  It's mostly totally optional, but it really adds to the game, as it is used well to provide story background and humor.  Hopefully Telltale goes even further with it's use in further installments, as that gameplay mechanic has great story telling potential.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Episode Two Review