Thank you Telltale Games for sending us a review code.

Well count me surprised, episode two of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The TellTale Series gave me quite an enjoyable ride. While the game still has flaws, TellTale has fans for a reason. I don't want to spoil the rest of the game at this point, so I'll review based on characters and how the story kept me interested. I may spill some minor spoilers, be warned now before you read on. Also keep in mind, anything I may say about the story is based on the choices I made.

So the story itself is still full of pretty cut and dry comic tropes; good guys and bad guys fight over the Eternity Forge, an object that can bring back the dead but at a cost. While I understand episode one is used to set up the story, it was extremely boring. Thankfully episode 2 changed that rather quickly. This idea of seeing what you would do to bring back a loved one from the dead always seems to bring out the best and worst in characters. While I understand that TellTale is all about choices, this division between Rocket Raccoon and Gamora is frustrating.

In the second episode once again the main choice that affects the rest of the story is either going with Rocket Raccoon to another planet in which you'll learn more of your past or going to stop Gamora’s sister Nebula right away. I get Drax is a simplistic character and Groot is a comic foil, yet I have barely paid attention to two Guardians and that's a problem. The drama seems to focus around a violent green woman and a heavily armed woodland creature being mediated by the big fancy jerk that is Peter Quill. Either story's side seems to have emotional moments and it does develop character. I chose Rocket's path to learn about his escape from a lab and losing the woman he fell in love with as a result. However, sacrificing development of one character doesn't make the choice any more meaningful, it makes the game a "Choose Your Own Adventure Book" you may or may not want to come back to later.

Now the main plot itself is a little stronger than the individual storylines. It's not a unique story to be sure. Item that can bring back the dead, multiple groups are after it, it's a common basis for a story. I appreciate that, as of now, the Kree haven't made its goals completely clear. Also at this point in the story the Forge has led to other items that will be revealed next episode. As the preview said, “those things we found, they were not meant to be found.” I hope this means that more will be added to the stakes than just an object that can control life and death. The biggest stakes I'm waiting for is a bigger reason to care why the Guardians are having so much infighting; was Thanatos really all that held them together?

A few notes for readers, I want to save reviewing the crowd play part of the game for the last episode review. For those who don't know, crowd play allows a streaming audience to vote on the choices made in each episode. Also as I’ve said in my previous episode review for Guardians of the Galaxy, I will give each episode an individual score and then the final episode will be a score reflecting the entire package.

With morality, the second episode is much darker and more violent than the first. Also the idea of controlling life via an ancient object may be too dark to some. As of right now a good age limit for this game is probably 14 and up.

We are at episode 2 of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The TellTale Series and it definitely has improved. Let's keep going with these adventurers and see if it's worth following them.