We tell you what we thought of the first Telltale game after its resurrection, backed by Deck Nine as developer.
Almost five years have passed since the closure of Telltale Games, sad news that made us say goodbye to the graphic adventure developer that brought us interactive stories from important sagas such as The Walking Dead, Batman or Game of Thrones through episodic games. However, it was enough that a year passed for the studio resurrectionwhich announced the rescue of one of its canceled games, The Wolf Among Us 2. However, The Expanse: A Telltale Series It has been advanced as the first game of the renewed study.
The Expanse: A Telltale Series was announced at The Game Awards 2021 as prequel to the well-known Amazon Prime Video series already finished. However, the game also works for those who are unaware of the series, as the story focuses on the character of the belt walker Camina Drummer before its arrival in the series, being an original plot that does not exist in the novels on which this entire universe is based. Now, we have been able to play the first episode of the title, which allows us to present the next one on analysis of The Expanse: A Telltale Series.
+ Pros
- Its story and characters are very well built, the game feels like a season of the TV series.
- It is Telltale’s deepest game, its exploration has evolved remarkably.
- Graphically it has also improved what was seen in previous games and does not present performance problems.
– Cons
- The duration of the episodes does not reach 2 hours.
- Few major decisions at startup.
- The QTEs are anecdotal.
- If we want to repeat a section or search for a collectible that we have left behind, we will have to repeat the episode from the beginning.
The Expanse: A Telltale Series: price, release date, platforms and where to buy
| The Expanse: A Telltale Series | |
|---|---|
| Platform | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series and PC |
| Release date | July 26, 2023 |
| developer | Deck Nine |
| Gender | adventure, action |
| Language | texts in spanish |
The Expanse: A Telltale Series is a adventure and action video game through a graphic story Developed by Deck Nine and published by Telltale. The game was released on July 26, 2023 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series and PC in a temporary exclusive with the Epic Games Store. The title, which leaves behind a version for Xbox One, stars Cara Gee in the role of Camina Drummer and features translation of texts into Spanish and voices in English.
Aboard the Artemis
Despite being a Telltale game, as soon as we start The Expanse we discover that the title has been written and developed by Deck Nine, well-known study that brought us the brilliant story of Life is Strange: True Colors. This work also stars a single woman, Walk Drummerknown in the second season of the series and willing to reveal her origin story now, returning to be played by her original actress, Gee Facewhom we were able to interview a little over a month ago.
Going into the first episode of the game we discover that we are in a world in which humans live on different planets, although the political tension between Earth, Mars and the Belt does not stop growing. Drummer finds himself living with other crew members on a ship where the lack of resources is starting to wreak havoc, so Captain Cax entrusts him with a mission to explore an abandoned ship to find all kinds of valuable rewards.
In this first mission we are already getting to know the aspirations and the way of being of the characters in the game, who, as in all Telltale games, are quite well built and we can develop a different relationship with each one of them. In fact, decision-making is once again crucial in this installment in which we will only have two options when deciding and we will be able to collect objects that will also affect a story that can end with all the characters alive but one…or with all the characters dead but one.
A Telltale game that deepens exploration
Beyond the main mission, The Expanse will invite us to carry out a secondary action in some areas
Although the genre and the main features of Telltale games are still present in The Expanse, this new title presents a greater depth which not even The Walking Dead: The Final Season featured. drummer can explore large areas at all times and the sequences are smaller than what Telltale used to present.
The protagonist has a suit that allows her to fly over the scenes and play with gravity, being able to change angle and go from walking on the floor to the ceiling. In these scenarios we will be able to explore in depth and beyond finding objects that are useful for the story, we will be able to talk with our companions about different aspects that will take us into the game universe. Also, the game has two types of collectibles: loot items (as a side quest from certain areas) and data logs unlockable by scanning items.
A surprising aspect is that the game menu collects the missions or records that help us delve into the story, but does not present a map of the large areas that we will have to explore, so we will have to be aware of objects or signs that help us not to get lost or leave a corner unexplored. To follow the story we can always press a button that tells us the path to follow to continue the plot.
Unfortunately, although the chapters of The Expanse invite you to replay to discover what would happen if we made different decisions, it is a pity that if we leave behind a single object or record we are forced to repeat the entire chapter to be completists.
Learning from past mistakes
The Expanse presents some of the most disturbing situations
Making a game more playful with exploration has seemed right to us and, although we still do not have a combat system because we continue in the graphic adventure genre, The Expanse succeeds in making use of quick time events (QTE) to resolve confrontations or moments of action since it has a most remarkable performance that does not suffer frame drops that can annoy pressing the button at the right time.
The dubbing is sensational despite the fact that it is only available in English, rescuing more original actors from the Prime Video series. Likewise, we have not found any errors in the Spanish subtitles, something that could happen in past Telltale Games games. In addition, audiovisually there is a great improvementhighlighting that despite introducing larger scenarios there are no frame drops and we can accelerate both on foot and overflying without problems.
If we are once again faced with a game whose episodes are shortwith a first episode that can be completed in an hour if we don’t entertain ourselves too much, although this figure is increased if we go for all the conversations, objects, resources… In total there will be five episodespremiering each of them every two weeks, so the game will be complete on September 21.
Unfortunately, The Expanse: A Telltale Series is only released digitally. Its standard edition is available for €39.99, giving access to the full game, as Telltale will not offer the episodes of their games separately. A deluxe edition five euros more expensive adds the soundtrack of the game and an additional chapter starring the character Chrisjen Avasaralawho will return in a story in which a family drama will change his life forever.
The correct road
Camina Drummer is once again played by Cara Gee in The Expanse video game
Although the new Telltale is developed by Deck Nine, the game has taken the right path to demonstrate the evolution of the study. We are facing a title that rescues everything that Telltale fans love and presents important news to conquer new players. Likewise, the episodes have very different situations, beginning with the exploration of a ship in which the crew has been decapitated and heads are rolling everywhere.
The Expanse ends up presenting a grand adventure in space dominated by politicians from a corrupt solar system in a story in which its protagonist must face the hostilities of his crew and the responsibilities that his decisions entail, being at the end of the fourth episode and in its final chapter where decisions have serious consequences and offer very differentiated paths.
As promised by the studio since the game’s announcement, The Expanse features “the largest and most immersive exploration of any Telltale game to date“in a story that will see players deal with a mix of powerful personalities, face a bloody mutiny, explore places beyond The Belt, and most of all, make difficult decisions that will decide the fate of the crew of The Artemischanging the course of the story with more or less living characters.
If you have liked the games from Telltale Games, you will undoubtedly enjoy The Expanse, just like if you have followed the series since we are before a game that feels like a new season. If you don’t know the series (it’s not a problem for the story) or games of this style, try to travel to the future that this title presents knowing the such an important weight that history, exploration and decision making havethe great pillars of the new of a more promising Telltale from which we want to try new games.
