Thank you Telltale Games for sending us a review code.

Well, this is awkward isn't it? I never thought I would play a Telltale game, yet today that promise to myself is now officially broken. Since I will be reviewing the entire season of the Telltale Guardians of the Galaxy game I will have to review things differently. You don't have much exploration or gameplay action in these Telltale games. Story will definitely take precedence over other elements. I'll give each episode its own individual score and when the game releases its final episode I'll give it a final score. Hopefully some surprises are left because the first episode left a very poor impression. This is Episode One of Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy, Tangled Up In Blue.

The game puts you in control of Peter Quill, aka “Star Lord”, the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, chasing after the galactic tyrant Thanos. They must stop him from retrieving an artifact named the Eternity Forge. They eventually end his life in the battle for the Forge, and with the Guardians being celebrated as the best heroes in the Galaxy. Soon they begin to drift apart, feeling separate from one another now that they have no purpose. Without Thanos to hunt they have nothing left except to decide whether to give his body to the Nova Corps or the mysterious Collector. However once Quill receives visions of his mother, new parties become very interested in the Eternity Forge and its true power. The Guardians will have to put aside their issues to work together.

Now let me get this out of the way: this first episode was extremely boring and dry. The characters seem to be built around the movie versions over the comic versions. While that would be ok, they didn't do it right at all. The Guardians in the movie are full of life while the game counterparts are cut and dry. If I didn't read the comics or watch the movie, none of these characters would be memorable aside from Peter Quill. Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, Drax and even Groot would be forgettable side characters that almost felt inconsequential. The choices didn't help this at all. Aside from deciding who to give Thanos’s corpse to, every other choice felt meaningless. If I took alternate decisions I feel I would only get alternate takes of the same cutscene. Even with the big choice, the only thing it really felt like it affected for now was whether Gamora and Rocket would like me more.

As always with a Telltale game, expect gameplay to be minimal. You'll explore areas to learn about the world around you and see certain story points. Peter does have a device that allows him to see what happened in an area a few minutes before he arrived yet that didn't change any choice or dialogue option for me. You can use Peter’s rocket boots to change where he is at in certain locations but that's a scripted option. You can't have any really goofy fun with those boots.

Any action you'll get from the game is in quicktime events only. Don't expect any complicated puzzles to impede progress either. Again, simple physical gameplay wouldn't be such a bad thing, only you have to have a good story to go with it. Right now I want to go read the comics instead or see the second movie. At least the game looks nice and the music is okay too.

Concerning morality, expect the usual amount of comic book violence and swearing, with episode one I would give it a PG-13 rating at best. You won't have any blood or gory injuries but the violence is substantial enough to give it a warning. You'll get a bit of swearing as well. This episode also has a bar scene or two. Rocket is a bit greedy too; he wants to give a dangerous tyrant over to the collector simply for a better payday then what the Nova Corps offers.

I am not ready to give up on this game yet but I will wait and see if it impresses me. This first episode hasn't left me excited for the next one that's for sure.