The Expanse: A Telltale Series Reviews
The Expanse: A Telltale Series brings one of the best storytellers in videogames back to the forefront, producing a prequel that will delight fans as well as open up the universe to newcomers.
Telltale’s entry to The Expanse feels like an obvious move. A world rife with conflict, character and violence is reimagined through the snarky and laser-focused lens of Camina Drummer - and it’s brimming with life and excitement. This carefully spun narrative buries the arbitrary action gameplay, and is totally worth the few hours you’ll need spare to sink this game.
So far, The Expanse: A Telltale Series makes for a compelling prequel to the show, but it remains to be seen if it'll manage to stick the landing once all its episodes are out.
Overall, fans of The Expanse will enjoy this story. I’m curious about what happens in the next couple of episodes, and that’s exactly the sort of narrative pull that I was looking for. But you might also get frustrated with the game at times - it’s not a flawless experience by any means, and I really wanted more from it.
Archer’s Paradox is a fantastic way for Telltale to reannounce itself to the world, doing what they do best, while working with one of the best narrative studios in the world. The Expanse: A Telltale Series starts off in an affirming, hard-hitting way, with fun mechanics, optional objectives, and some impactful decisions that will certainly have wide-reaching implications. Slight graphical hiccups, sound quality issues, and a short length do hold this one back a bit, meaning it’s not among Telltale’s best, but none of that is anywhere near enough to stop me from getting hyped for what comes next.
A good start for the new Telltale. The use of a consolidated engine like Unreal is a good choice for improving the performance and also adding new characteristics like exploration (it is enjoyable to fly in the void) that enhances the previous Telltale games. The game also captures the setting of the TV series thanks to the participation of some the original cast actresses. If you are a fan of The Expanse or a sci-fi addict, this is the game that you should play in the next months.
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The Expanse: A Telltale Series Episode 1 is a strong start for the series and this iteration of Telltale Games.
The Expanse: A Telltale Series is a welcome return for the celebrated company. Although the first episode is particularly short, it sets up an intriguing story that requires no prior knowledge of the franchise, yet will please fans of the show. Several refinements improve the gameplay, however, it doesn’t stray too far away from conventions of the genre. Most importantly though, the world, the characters and the story are fascinating and due to this, I am excited for future episodes.
Episode 1 of The Expanse: A Telltale Series is designed by and for the fans, but sci-fi aficionados will appreciate its worldbuilding and deep atmosphere. Those that like a good story will enjoy their time exploring the UNN Urshanabi.
So for now, episode one is a good start. Very much a Telltale interactive story. And if you’re down with that and not too much actual gaming you’ll be satisfied.
The first episode of The Expanse: A Telltale Series captures what’s great about both The Expanse and Telltale games. That’s the sort of synergy behind the studios’ best games of old, and it leaves me excited that their return could end up as one of their stronger efforts. Despite some concerns about the more action-oriented gameplay late in this episode, I’m certainly excited to see where things go next.
A strong opening for Telltale games in its first game back since its rebirth. They've chosen a strong IP in The Expanse to kick things off with and hopefully the future episodes will build upon the strong foundation episode one has made.
Telltale's latest story-driven adventure may be its best yet thanks to creative environmental storytelling and a strong narrative that pulls no punches.
Narrative-driven prequel for The Expanse show
While not a mind-blowing start, The Expanse: A Telltale Series - Episode 1 sets things up nicely for the rest of the story.
The closing decision ends the first episode on a promisingly divisive note, which might make repeat playthroughs, to explore different outcomes, more enticing than usual. At the moment, with four more episodes to go over the next two months, Telltale’s The Expanse is, in some respects, a step forward, but it isn’t enough to generate much enthusiasm beyond the devoted audience it’s shooting for. Telltale is back and, for the most part, it’s more of the same.
What remains to be seen is how the game’s meaningful choices will affect the story in later episodes. The plot of Episode 1: “Archer’s Paradox” doesn’t stray far from typical Expanse fare, but a revelation in a later episode seems poised to explore more of the show’s deeper themes of exploitation, injustice, and inequality.
While Camina Drummer may not have been the captain of the ship at the start of the mission, she absolutely takes the reins by the end. Telltale has stepped it up in terms of both visual quality and game play, with a solid yet short intro to their take on a gripping sci-fi narrative. The true depth of which however remains to be truly tested going into further episodes as the narrative progresses.