Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy doesn’t look as good as Telltale’s
Curiosity's Guardians of the Milky way doesn't expect as good as Telltale'southward
Marvel's Guardians of the Milky way volition be out in simply a few short weeks, and at the risk of damning it with faint praise, it looks like a competent third-person action game. You'll take command of spacefaring superhero Star-Lord and fight off a whole lot of faceless goons with the Guardians of the Galaxy at your back. It looks fine — merely Guardians of the Galaxy games accept the potential to be then much more than than "fine." I know this because we got such a game just a few years ago.
Before the visitor went under, adventure game developer Telltale produced tie-in titles for beloved series from Batman to Borderlands. While the company's magnum opus was a heartfelt Walking Dead spinoff, back in 2017, it released five episodes of Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series. And, having finally finished the serial, I can't help but feel a bit apprehensive nearly the upcoming Eidos-Montréal adaptation. Guardians of the Galaxy absolutely can — and probably will — work every bit a standard third-person activity game. But Telltale showed united states of america that with a few smart risks, the belongings is capable of so much more.
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Subverting expectations
Offset off, this whole piece needs a disclaimer that Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is non out however, and I could be completely wrong about information technology. I played nigh two hours of the game, and from what I can tell, those two hours are by and large indicative of how the rest of the experience will go in terms of combat, puzzle-solving, dialogue and so forth. But some games radically subvert our expectations later a few hours, and if Curiosity'southward Guardians of the Galaxy is ane of them, I'll gladly eat my words.
Yet, based on my time with the game, Curiosity's Guardians of the Galaxy is pretty standard action/chance fare. You've got a protagonist who can shoot a lot of bad guys, upgrade his skills and gear over time and explore more often than not linear levels, completing platforming challenges and solving mild puzzles forth the way. He has a few non-role player companions who help him out, both in and out of combat.
There's nothing wrong with this formula. Information technology'southward worked for everything from Prince of Persia to God of War — merely it's too worked for a hundred other, less-memorable titles. What sets our favorite third-person activity games apart from the residuum of the pack are their innovative gameplay, heartfelt stories and inspired settings, and it's not articulate still whether Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy has those things.
Likewise, there's nothing especially daring or unpredictable well-nigh making a 3rd-person action game out of a superhero adventure franchise. It'southward arguably the lowest-hanging fruit for the source material.
Compare and contrast to Telltale'southward accept on the titular team. While Telltale'south gameplay is admittedly nothing special (a dialogue-driven indicate-and-click hazard), it'southward non afraid to pull the rug out from under the Guardians in the very first episode.
Beware that spoilers for Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy ensue beneath:
In the very offset episode of Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy, the team takes down the Mad Titan Thanos. It'southward not a fake-out or a misdirect; the very first affair the Guardians of the Milky way practise is destroy 1 of the Biggest Bads in the Marvel Universe. But without the franchise'south well-nigh recognizable villain hanging over their heads, the Guardians detect themselves lost and aimless.
In other words, Telltale swapped "Can the Guardians defeat Thanos?" for the considerably more interesting, "Can the Guardians stay together without Thanos?"
From in that location, the series to turn traditional Guardians lore on its head. What if squabbling siblings Gamora and Nebula could actually make peace? Y'all're welcome to try — and you might succeed. Without a common threat to unite them, could the Guardians disband? Based on your choices, it'southward a singled-out possibility. Is information technology ethical for the adept guys to control an object that has ability over life and death? You lot're allowed to say "yep" — and the story changes considerably if y'all do.
This won't daze Telltale fans, simply because y'all become to control where the story goes, the game can be surprisingly touching as well. Major character deaths hitting peculiarly hard, knowing that you lot might accept made a different choice to prevent it. When your teammates rally to your side, it'south because yous've built upwards a unique human relationship with them — it'south not just a gainsay heave, as in the upcoming activeness game. One moment toward the stop of the game just near broke my heart, but I could have chosen to bypass it entirely. (Either way, I'll never hear Dancing in the Moonlight quite the same way again.)
Combat fatigue
In other words, because combat is not at the middle of Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy, it has the ability to focus on the grapheme drama that'due south at the middle of the comics. But that's not to say the game lacks combat — but that information technology uses combat sparingly.
By and large speaking, video games have a unlike cadence than movies or comic books. While movies and comics apply occasional action scenes to raise the stakes or bring plot points to a head, virtually video games are all action, all the time, punctuated by brief cutscenes or puzzles. Combat becomes background noise, and substantially loses all impact unless it's against a particularly tough foe. Equally I mentioned in my Marvel'due south Guardians of the Galaxy preview, I was essentially over the gainsay after two hours; I'm not certain I want to play a whole game with that as its backbone.
As an adventure game, Telltale's Guardians of the Milky way is more about choosing dialogue, making decisions, solving puzzles and simply immersing yourself in an interactive feel. Most of the five episodes take 1 big activeness scene toward the beginning and some other one toward the stop; otherwise, the pacing varies a lot, from serenity character moments to intense chase scenes.
The relative scarcity of combat also gives fighting a lot of weight. When Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon and Groot stand upward to Thanos, Hala the Accuser or each other, there's a existent sense of danger and surprise. Yous don't know who volition alive or die, or what else might go destroyed in the process.
Since gainsay in Telltale games is likewise based on quick-time button prompts, the developers were able to do some cool things with timing. When you square off against the final boss, Eye'south "Crazy On You" starts playing in the groundwork. Every gunshot, sword stroke and narrow dodge syncs upward with a pivotal moment in the song, making the battle considerably more stylish than the "shoot, dodge, expect for special attacks to recharge" rhythm from the upcoming action game.
In fact, in Marvel'south Guardians of the Galaxy, I gave my team a rousing pep talk every bit Twisted Sister'due south "We're Not Gonna Take It" started playing in the background — and then we were all gunned downward past brutish enemies with nigh unbreakable shields. While Telltale'southward combat is non exactly challenging, information technology did make for a much more memorable battle.
In whatever instance, it'southward difficult to approximate a game I've played start-to-finish confronting one that I've played for but two hours. But the truth is, the Guardians of the Milky way are non exactly my favorite Curiosity franchise. (I was always more of an X-Men guy.) The constant pop culture references can be grating, and most of the characters are selfish and short-sighted, even past Marvel superhero standards. Withal, Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy made me feel completely invested in the squad and their story. Marvel'south Guardians of the Milky way reminded me why I usually stick to Curiosity's other teams.
In the meantime, the bad news is that if yous want to play Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy, it's nearly impossible to practise and then. Telltale has been defunct since 2018, and licensing problems prevent digital retailers from selling Guardians of the Galaxy. The game had a limited physical release, and even that doesn't e'er play nicely with Sony and Microsoft'south download servers.
As such, Marvel'due south Guardians of the Milky way already has one huge advantage over Telltale'southward adaptation: When it comes out, it will exist extremely easy to buy.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/opinion/marvels-guardians-of-the-galaxy-telltale
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