Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - Episode 1: Tangled Up in Blue

Right now, in setting up a grander story, Guardians of the Galaxy can coast on its style. With a shocking revelation setting up a world of possibilities going forward, there’s plenty of promise here. Whether or not the story goes places will make or break this series, but “Tangled Up In Blue” sets up a dynamic cast that will be fun to follow on their journey.

Quotation forthcoming.

Guardians of the Galaxy is definitely starting off on the right foot, with a great script, great actors, and a universe packed with personality (and backed by catchy tunes) to explore. If it can continue to deliver the quality of dialogue and panel-perfect action over the course of the rest of the season, it may find itself seated in the upper echelons of Telltale’s catalog. I just hope that now the series has introduced itself, the series gives its environments and characters just a bit more time to breathe in between speeding the plot along.

I spent a lot of time comparing Telltale's interpretation of GotG to its MCU forebears with good reason. The two are inextricably linked for most fans, and Telltale has done a fantastic job of using that to their advantage in the game's design and presentation. It captures all of the charm of the movies while allowing enough wiggle room to chart its own path. There's certainly room for improvement, but Tangled Up in Blue is a promising start for Telltale's latest adventure.

A great introduction to this vast universe. It doesn't excel quite as much as Telltale's best, but it serves its purpose exceptionally well. Introducing us to the characters, the story, and delivering some laughs, it looks like we're in for another wonderful ride with Telltale.

As with Telltale’s other recent titles, Guardians of the Galaxy is basically an interactive movie where your choices make a minimal difference. There is only one “sort of” puzzle in the game, where you have to figure out how to open a door. Everything else happens linearly, and you only have one way to do it. Luckily, the writing is good, and the opening episode raises enough questions that I’m interested in seeing what happens next — which is certainly an improvement over Telltale’s recent Batman and Minecraft games. So everything looks good for Guardians of the Galaxy so far. Hopefully, Telltale can maintain the momentum.

Though it seems that the actual purpose of the Guardians is to take down Thanos, the story is actually linked with the Eternity Forge and so on. This episode serves the usual Telltale trick of getting the ball rolling, but it's not exciting enough on its own merit, rather a promise of things to come.

Because of its tonal misfire, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy won't end up as one of Telltale's more memorable series. But an entertaining sidetrack, a decently written plot, and a few good gameplay ideas make it an entertaining distraction and a fun way to pass the time until Guardians 2 hits theaters, or the next episode of The Walking Dead hits Steam.

Guardians of the Galaxy’s first episode, “Tangled Up in Blue,” introduces a new graphical style for Telltale which breaks with the comic cel shading of their previous titles. While there are some problems with making the player feel truly relevant in influencing the plotline, there are occasions where this does happen, and then you feel taken along for a fascinating ride. Together with the superb voice acting and quality soundtrack, this episode leaves you thirsting for more.

A solid start. While I’d definitely like to see Telltale take their foot off the gas when it comes to driving the story along in future episodes in favor of more quality time with the characters, the high-tempo introduction to the series is sure to keep players hooked. Unfortunately, Telltale’s trademark decision-based gameplay isn’t quite as strong as has been so far in The Walking Dead: A New Frontier, but if you’re a Guardians of the Galaxy fan, you’ll likely still enjoy following the story.

It takes a while to find its voice and stretches a three song soundtrack to near breaking point, but this first episode demonstrates a willingness to take a stand-alone Guardians of the Galaxy plot in intriguing directions. Most importantly: it pulls off just enough jokes.

Quotation forthcoming.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy feels like a mixed bag. While there’s the promise of a fun adventure in the Marvel universe with a likable group of characters, it’s hampered by the same problems of nearly every Telltale game in the last few years, plus a few new ones. It’s not terrible, but I’d wait to see what the other episodes look like before picking it up.

Unlike their successful big-screen debut, the narrative missteps in Tangled Up in Blue mean that players of the first episode won't immediately fall in love with this motley crew of ne'er-do-wells. Anyone that's already open to their cosmic antics will find a family that seems worth sticking with.

I expected a usual Telltale’s game and that’s exactly what I got – another IP squeezed into a worn stencil. I have to praise it for looking visibly better than Telltale’s previous games though. [06/2017, p.69]

The standard Telltale adventure, now in the merry Guardians of the Galaxy setting. Fans of Star-Lord and his crew will find a solid story in the first episode, everyone else will do better grabbing the Tales from the Borderlands.

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series is a Telltale game. It does what the studio does well, and falters where they normally falter. The first episode kicks off the overall story with some interesting moments, but Telltale's Batman adaptation had a stronger start and more interesting mechanics to paint over the formula.

Guardians of the Galaxy's story may eventually get someplace interesting, but it's a poor fit for Telltale's simple quick time events and stiff dialogue sequences.

This first chapter casts a dull light that’s lost in the eclipse of its big-screen brother.