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

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.

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.

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.

Quotation forthcoming.

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.

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

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.

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.

Doesn’t quite capture the crackling energy that we’ve seen of the Guardians on-screen, with comic delivery that often falls flat and lacks what makes each of the Guardians characters so distinct and full of personality.

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.