Score: 9 out of 10

TellTale games are beloved. They are considered some of the best when it comes to storytelling. They have adapted many different franchises and most have been considered successes. Guardians of the Galaxy is the latest series that TellTale is taking on and with the 2nd movie, there is a lot of interest. This review will be simple. It will be divided into 3 parts. The first part will be Graphics, the second will be performance, and the third will be story. This review will also be for Episode 1 and nothing else. I also need to note that they sent me a review copy, but my opinion will be unbiased by that action.

Graphics

The graphics are very pleasing to the eyes. They decided to go the Comic route vs the movies. Drax is green instead of grey. Gamora has certain features that come from the comics. It has a dark grittiness to it and yet it doesn’t avoid showing color. This is very impressive to me. A lot of times you see games not include certain colors to give it that dark feeling to it, but Guardians isn’t a dark franchise. It can have dark moments, but it also has its comedic and light-hearted moments as well. The Graphics stand out from the rest of the TellTale games and gives it a personality of its own.

Performance

Performance is a very interesting subject when it comes to the TellTale games. Despite enjoying all the TellTale games that I have played, I have always noticed performance issues. I would notice these performance issues when playing on the Xbox 360 (before the Xbox One released), and then with the games that released on Xbox One. There would always be some sort of lag when watching the cut-scenes or playing through certain sections. I am pleased to say that Guardians of the Galaxy has yet to have a noticeable performance issue while playing on the Xbox One. I also enjoyed some of the interesting game play elements they added. One section of the game included using Star Lord’s boots to fly to a 2nd and 3rd floor in the same area. It was very creative to keep the area seeming small and yet having enough space to explore and search for the objective.

Story

The story is probably the best part of the TellTale games. They add new adventures to your favorite franchises whether it is Minecraft, Batman, Borderlands or in the instance Guardians of the Galaxy. The cut-scenes were very enjoyable. The voice acting was great. The only voice that didn’t have me completely immersed was Drax. I soon got comfortable with it, but I imagine I will have the same feeling when Episode 2 comes out. They truly have captured the feel of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie while adding some bits from the comics. The actual story is very interesting and has some surprises that was not expected. The Death of a major character in the Marvel Universe in the first episode was not expected.  Some of the lines were a little hit or miss but for the most part it is rather enjoyable.

Overall

Overall I enjoyed Episode 1 of Guardians of the Galaxy. It was a fun new adventure with characters that I know and love. It is always a bit scary to see a new writer, developer, or even movie studio take on a franchise that you love, but I am glad to say that I experienced very few issues with Episode 1. I am looking forward to Episode 2 and hope that it can continue to do what made Episode 1 so fun to play.

Written by: William McDonald Writer