Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series Episode 3 Review - I Am Groot

Published: September 9, 2017 9:00 AM /

Reviewed By:


More than a Feeling Review Header

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series has been off to a noticeably rocky start so far. The first two episodes have been unable to provide the usual interesting characters and plots that I've come to expect from Telltale's games. We're now halfway through and the chances for an improvement are looking slim. So does More than a Feeling turn things around, or are we really looking at the Guardian's darkest moment?

When Under Pressure ended Peter Quill and Gamora had just discovered the place that Peter's memories have been begging him to find. When they arrive there they find Mantis, who reveals that Peter is actually the "Celestial One" and rightful owner of the Eternity Forge. She also reveals that the Eternity Forge can be either powered up to revive anyone or be destroyed, but only by Peter. Naturally, the Guardians of the Galaxy are split on what Peter should do with the Eternity Forge, and internal conflicts quickly arise.

Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy The Telltale Series Episode 3 Review Raccoon Bad Touch
This would be considered a no-no touch for a raccoon

This internal conflict serves as the main story hook of the episode. The Guardians each struggle to give their reason for wanting to keep or destroy the Eternity Forge, many having to dig into their past to explain why. The arguments and interactions are at an all time high here, with all five Guardians getting some time to shine. Drax's arguments to bring back his family actually carry some weight, as does Gamora's desire to prevent a possible crisis. Rocket and Groot take opposite sides in an argument for the first time, which even leads to Rocket mistranslating Groot, much to the other's horror. It also helps that the episode is genuinely hilarious. By far the funniest episode of the season so far, I actually found myself smiling and laughing at various little gags in each scene.

Much like the last episode, the internal conflicts are only about half the story. While Under Pressure gave a significant chunk of time to Rocket's backstory, More than a Feeling does similar with Gamora and Nebula, giving you a chance to play as both of the assassin sisters and learn what caused the rift in their family. Unfortunately, this story isn't nearly as interesting as Rocket's story was. It's almost exactly what you'd come to expect if you have any knowledge of Guardians of the Galaxy outside of the game.

Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy The Telltale Series Episode 3 Review Fight
See, the game secretly contains shooter elements. Totally.

This really is the biggest problem with Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, it just feels like yet another obvious Guardians run. If you watched the movies then you already know exactly how each character will act and they're not different enough to make it exciting. Compared this to the recently released first episode of Batman: The Enemy Within that goes out of its way to try and find some really clever twists to put on Batman lore, and I have to wonder why they can't do the same here.

Well, one of the biggest problems. The other being the game's extremely repetitive licensed soundtrack. Electric Light Orchestra's Livin' Thing has played so many times now that it's overuse is actually a plot point. The game's soundtrack only shines when it doesn't try to shove songs down your throat over and over. Three Dog Night's Shambala is used only once this episode for a particularly hilarious montage, and that's all it honestly needs to be used for. The insistence on finding an excuse to shoehorn in songs every episode seems to just drive players mad and completely miss the point.

Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy The Telltale Series Episode 3 Review Nebula
Oh, look. It's the same conflict from the movie.

Fights bookend the episode, but that's about it as far as action goes for the entire two-hour runtime. It's a shame that Telltale's new love for entertaining and visually interesting fight scenes doesn't really get a chance to shine here. There's also a single puzzle late in the episode. Much like before, it's a simple affair that doesn't challenge players and serves instead as a quick roadblock that gets the Guardians to interact in fun ways. Sure, I found all the Guardians standing on top of each other to hold a mirror to reflect a beam of light hilarious, but it wasn't like I had to do much to get there other than select a single option.

More than a Feeling continues Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series' disappointing march into mediocrity. It's still not the worst series they've made, but it's just not good enough to be worth checking out without a discount. A decent enough conflict and a few funny jokes don't really save the game from a boring and predictable plot, the lack of gameplay elements the other series have, and a repetitive soundtrack.

Our Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series - Episode 3: More than a Feeling review was conducted on PlayStation 4 using a copy purchased by the reviewer. The game is also available on PC via Steam and GOG (Affiliate link), Xbox One, iOS, and Android devices.

Review Summary

5.0

While the internal conflict is decent and there's some great jokes, the third episode of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series just continues to cement the season's place as one of Telltale's weakest offerings.

(Review Policy)

Pros

  • Internal Guardians Conflict
  • Some Hilarious Jokes

Cons

  • Gamora's History is Boring
  • Lacks Fight Scenes or Puzzles
  • Livin' Thing is so Overused that the Writers Try to Make it a Plot Point

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Samuel Guglielmo TechRaptor
| Reviews Editor

I'm Sam. I have been playing video games since my parents brought home a PlayStation whenever that came out. Started writing for TechRaptor for 2016 and,… More about Samuel

More Info About This Game
Learn more about Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series
Developer
Telltale Games
Publisher
Telltale Games
Release Date
April 18, 2017 (Calendar)
Genre
Adventure
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