Guardians of the Galaxy: Episode 1 Review - The Awesome Trip

Guardians of the Galaxy has been a huge success within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but in a world where many games based on films fail to deliver, does Telltales' take on the series offer something awesome, or is this just space trash, destined to fly by?

When the initial trailer for the original Guardians of the Galaxy film dropped, I was intrigued. It was a Marvel movie featuring characters I'd never even heard of. So, when I went to the Cinema and watched it for the first time, I was completely blown away by just how fun and enjoyable the film was. The characters were great, the actors/actresses playing them were great, the visuals were great and even the music was great. Everything was great!

I'm yet to see the sequel, but having already grown an understanding of the characters and their motives, I was a little sceptical on whether the Telltale Series would actually be any good. I have nothing against Telltale Games and really enjoyed my time with their Back to the Future series, but was unsure on how well the characters would translate into the gaming space. Understandably, I wanted to experience a game with its own original, believable plot and not some kind of cash-in.

Thankfully, the characters are very enjoyable to watch/interact with and although it would have been nice to hear the same cinematic voices, the actors chosen do a pretty good job at portraying their characters, with Nolan North being the stand out performer as he perfectly portrays Rocket Raccoon. So much so in fact, that he's almost indistinguishable from Bradley Cooper (who voices Rocket in the films).

Without spoilers, the story has a lot of charm. It delves deeper into Starlord's past, gives greater insight into the thoughts and feelings of Drax, Gamora and Rocket, with dialogue options being both comical and perfectly on point. Thanos is the main villain of Episode 1, but with an artifact making those who come into contact with it question even their own reality, trouble can't be far as the Guardians journey through space and time.

Episode 1 does a pretty good job at setting the scene for what's to come, but when you're a fairly impatient gamer, the wait for each episode to release can become pretty frustrating. I personally prefer to wait for the series to complete before making a purchase, but if you're a die hard fan who just can't wait to try it, you shouldn't have any regrets after making your purchase.

Livin' Thing by ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) is the main theme song to Episode 1 and while this fits the scene perfectly, a part of me wishes there was more than just one song within the episode. On the other hand, Episode 1 is so short that there really isn't a need for more and Livin' Thing is used at all of the right moments.

Episode 1 is interesting because there's a very thin line between calling it a game and an interactive cutscene. This is also partially down to how seamless the transitions are between cutscene and gameplay.

If you're like me and love to explore every corner of a game, Guardians of the Galaxy Episode 1 will give you roughly two and a half to three hours of play time and ends in such a way that you're left wanting more. This is great for fans of the series wishing for a longer, more drawn out experience, but if you were expecting each episode to have their own resolution, this Telltale adventure probably isn't for you. At least, not until every episode has released.


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