Guardians Of The Galaxy: The Telltale Series debuts its first episode today, and at first, as you can see above, it’s fairly conventional, drawing as much from the movie as the comics. You’ve got your ’70s hits, your purple butt-chinned homicidal maniac, your loving arguments, your Groot. But after a few chapters, this episode takes a sharp swerve that will catch many off guard. Spoilers will be below, so if you’d rather just play the first episode of the game, please enjoy Star-Lord flipping off the Nova Corps below as you head out:
So, yeah, after you get a sense of the mechanics, and Telltale has upgraded their engine with a few new bits like the ability to chat with your teammates while solving puzzles and multiple levels you can traverse, you kill Thanos. Yes, that Thanos. He’s dead. Rocket blows a giant hole in him as you battle in a Kree temple, and all that’s left is the celebration. And also doing shots out of the ancient relic Thanos was trying to steal, because Peter Quill is, as always, something of a jackass.
That relic, it turns out, is a Kree artifact called the Infinity Forge, which has vaguely defined abilities at the moment. But it appears to put those who touch it in contact with the dead, and potentially bring them back to life. So, yeah, things are about to get weird and bad for the Guardians. Especially Peter, who’s dead mother begins appearing to him and insisting she’s alive.
Really, what stands out most about this episode is the writing. Telltale’s games have always been notable for their writing, as that’s really the game. But the script especially stands out here. The game’s often funny, but it’s also careful not to lose the personality of its characters, although clearly Gamora’s big moments lie in the game’s next few episodes. Telltale also hasn’t completely licked the freezes and bugs that plague its games, but they’re minimal here.
In all, this first episode is a good start to the series; fans of Telltale will love it, and fans of the Guardians who don’t game often will be taken by it as well. It’s out today, $5 for the first episode and $25 for the full season, which will be arriving on hopefully a monthly basis, on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, with mobile editions arriving later this week.