Telltale Games continue their grip on some of the world’s most popular properties this month with the release of the first episode of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series. Bringing the comic book’s most popular characters to video gamers across the planet, players are teleported out of their homes and into the galaxy they’ve fallen in love with, whether it be because of the pages of comics or the big screen Marvel Cinematic Universe release from director James Gunn.
Immediately engaging, this story plants the player straight into the boots of Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, as he and his space-travelling buddies Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon and Groot face off against the deadliest threat to the galaxy’s existence; Thanos. Surprisingly however, the story moves at a fast pace and before long, the ultimate aggressor seems to be somebody else entirely.
Exploring not only the modern day, those behind the controller are allowed access into some of Quill’s deepest memories involving his mother and the events that occurred after her death, making choices as if they were there in those past scenes. The choice system is of course now something integral to the success of Telltale games, and they work well here, but no choices made throughout the first episode seemed to be too important. You were never left wondering exactly how different the experience in the game would have been if you’d have chosen the choices opposite to your own.
That’s something that’s a major flaw when it comes to a game like this. When the unpredictability disappears entirely, you know exactly what to expect and begin to guess what’s round each corner. That’s not to say that the game is a huge disappointment; in fact, it’s far from it. It just could have been a little more earth-shattering.
Still, the foundations are laid out for what should be a fun and compelling five episode run. The voice actors do a great job of bringing these already-established characters to life, and the dialogue never feels too wooden or scripted as it has done in Telltale Games’ releases of the past.
The art is of course beautiful, and actually hugely different to the style of that which is used in many other Telltale releases such as The Walking Dead. Instead it here looks more like an animated series ripped right from the small screen, and that’s really something that works in its favour.
Then of course there’s the soundtrack; something that’s hugely important for a fan of the Guardians franchise. Fortunately, it’s intricately worked into the tale, never really seems to be too much and really adds another layer of brilliance to the overall product.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series – Episode One: Tangled Up in Blue is available now.
Tagged in Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy