Can Telltale tackle the MCU?
SPOILER ALERT. THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 1. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Guardians of the Galaxy has to be one of the best Marvel films and I cannot wait to see Volume 2, but with Telltale tackling DC’s The Dark Knight, I wasn’t sure if they would delve into Marvel territory…luckily, I was wrong and we’ve got their own version of what would happen after Guardians 1.
Star-Lord and company are tracking down Thanos who has landed on a planet to obtain a relic known as the Eternity Forge, he seems utterly invincible…until Rocket’s super powered gun tears a hole in his chest…Thanos is no more. I honestly didn’t see that coming considering Thanos’ huge plot to come in the next phase of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), but this is Telltale’s separate story.
Star-Lord is the character you control through choices and navigating, but the QT fight against Thanos put you in the role of each Guardian. Star-Lord gets to use his jet pack to navigate these ruins and ascend/descend floors, something that hasn’t been done before by Telltale.
It then poses the question, what will the Guardians do now that the evillest force in the galaxy is now defeated? What can they defend it against now? We already start to see splits in the group, Rocket is determined to sell Thanos’ body to The Collector to pay off the Guardians’ massive bar tab after celebrating too hard after killing Thanos, while Gamora wants to hand him over to the authorities. You get the final decision and while it’s choices are not yet apparent to the overall plot, chances are either decision will be bad.
But after the trade or handover, a group attempt to steal the Infinity Forge from Star-Lord, which results in a great chase/quicktime event sequence, before discovering it’s the Kree. An alien race that is meant to be extinct who want the Forge to resurrect the race by sacrificing everyone else in the galaxy. It’s a great start to the series and with a few flashback/dream/vision scenes thrown in with Star-Lord’s mother, this is going to be one hell of a rollercoaster.
Performance-wise, this is definitely the strongest from Telltale to date. It’s well animated, the framerate is more consistent and it seems to run smoother overall. Voice-acting is impressive as usual and the soundtrack is classic Guardians, so all good.
The Verdict
Guardians of the Galaxy gets off to a very strong start with this opening episode. Time will tell whether it can keep it up, but this is very promising and shows a lot of potential. Hopefully the wait for Episode 2 won’t be 3-4 months…if its not, then it’s even better.