Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series (PS4)

'Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale game' is an episodic adventure game that puts you in the (rocket) boots of Star-Lord and his dysfunctional bunch of dubious heroes - Drax, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot - as they find themselves inadvertently involved once more in an adventure on which the fate of the entire galaxy and all its inhabitants will rest on the decisions and actions that YOU make.**SPOILERS**This entirely original story sees the Guardians respond to a plea for help from the Nova Corps after they come under attack from Thanos, which leads them to a battle for their lives as they go toe-to-toe with the Mad Titan himself in the ruins of an ancient temple, at the conclusion of which Peter Quill and the rest of the team find themselves in possession of the source of Thanos' curiosity, an artifact named the 'Eternity Forge'.Initially dismissed as little more than a worthless trinket by Star-Lord (but a mighty fine drinking vessel!), it soon dawns on him that the item in his possession is actually an item of cosmic significance, as the Guardians find themselves under attack from the Kree - a race long thought extinct at the hands of Thanos - and their leader 'Hala the Accuser', who reveals that the Eternity Forge may actually hold sway over the powers of life and death itself!**END OF SPOILERS**Stylistically and in terms of story, the game appears to take place in the same timeline as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Exactly where in the timeline it occurs is not clear, but it would seem to be placed somewhere prior to 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2' for reasons that I wont mention here in order to avoid unnecessarily ruining that film for anyone who hasnt seen it yet, and as with previous installments from Telltale, the game is played from a third-person perspective, using a variety of cinematic camera angles for dramatic effect and also comes divided into several TV and/or comic book-like episodes, all of which contributes to a style that emulates those mediums extremely well.The game plays almost like a traditional style 'point and click' adventure. You control your characters movement with one control stick, whilst moving a target reticule with the other control stick. Moving the target reticule over a point of interest will provide you with a number of options or interactions - such as to pick up an item, look inside something, analyse something, speak to another character etc - and these actions can be confirmed via one of the four buttons.The games action sequences and combat are usually played out utilising a series of quick-time events (such as gun fights, fist fights, and sword fights) requiring the gamer to hit the correct buttons or sequences to hit targets, or swipe the directional stick in order to dodge attacks, very similar to that used in Telltales other adventure games.A new feature not previously seen in a Telltale game is that combat will sometimes be spread amongst all members of the team, such as the battle against Thanos in which you get to control each member in turn as they use their unique abilities and weapons to try and take the Mad Titan down.Other original features of this particular game include the ability of Star-Lord to use his rocket boots in order to explore multi-levelled areas and buildings, or gain a different perspective, as well as the ability to use his helmets integral radio in order to speak to the other Guardians in order to seek advice, learn useful information, or just to hear an amusing anecdote from Rocket!Of course, as with all of the other games from Telltale, the real key to playing is decision making, with a branching storyline that changes depending upon what you decisions you make at key junctures. Those decisions may involve actions - such as making choices in combat like which way to turn, or which assailant to attack, but more commonly however they occur in dialogue with other characters you meet during your adventure.Decisions are TOUGH. Rarely is a conversation choice ever straight forward or obvious, and rarely is it ever possible to appease all parties involved when you make a decision. Often it is not even possible to make a 'winning' decision, as you are left to choose from what is essentially a series of bad options of varying degrees.For example, you have to make a key decision regarding who to sell an important piece of 'cargo' to, with Gamora preferring the Nova Corp due to her strong sense of right and wrong, and Rocket preferring to sell it to the Collector due to his strong....well.....love of money. Choosing either choice will of course please the Guardian who endorsed it, but will simultaniously alienate the Guardian who disapproved of it - and you have to make these choices with absolutely no concept of how it might effect events in the future!Its all brilliantly done and helps create a game in which you will agonise over almost every choice you make - but dont agonise for too long, because the pressure is always on and you will almost always have a limited amount of time to make your decision. If that time runs out then the game will make your decision for you.In terms of graphics and sound the game is excellent. Characters, locations and backgrounds are created in a bright, colourful style remeniscent of a comic book, yet still retaining an impressive similarity to the characters from the movies as most fans will recognise them. Action sequences are fast, dynamic, exciting, and cinematically created.Telltale couldnt obtain the actual actors from the movies to provide the voices of the characters, but a team of well known voice actors, that includes mainstays such as Nolan North, fill in admirably and provide characterisations that are almost identical to those in the movie.The film also involves the use of several musical interludes featuring licensed music from the likes of Electric Light Orchestra and Hall and Oates, which helps greatly in replicating that cool retro-80's vibe that was so brilliantly captured by the movie and its soundtrack.Its funny too!From Petes often cringeworthy blend of douche and schmooze, to Rockets sarcastic belligerance, to Drax' extremely literal and unintentionally hilarious interpretation of Earth figures of speech, to Groots...well..."I am Groot" - the characters are very much the embodiment of the personalities of the Guardians of the Galaxy you will know and love, and it also involves some excellent use of comedy timing - including an inspiring pre-mission speech by Pete being ruined by the slowest elevator in existance!Besides the Guardians themselves, the game features a variety of other characters made famous by both the movies and comics, including Thanos, the Nova Corp, Nebula, Yondu, the Collector, locations such as Xandar, Knowhere, and Petes ship 'The Milano', and also numerous easter eggs relating to other characters related to the franchise, such as an e-mail from Cosmo about a lost jacket, a mention of the Church of Universal Truth, and a message from Howard the Duck enquiring about poker night - all of which makes for a very authentic feeling experience.In terms of criticism, the one thing that you need to be aware of, is that THIS IS NOT THE FULL VERSION OF THE GAME but is in fact no more than a disc containing the a season pass that will allow you to download the various episodes as they are released in the months ahead. In light of that there is little incentive to purchase this product rather than simply download each episode directly unless you are absolutely desperate for a game box to put on your shelf.Other than this however, I have no criticisms at all. Its a really cool, fun little game, that nails the tone and feel that made the Guardians of the Galaxy movies so enjoyable, with an entirely original and genuinely gripping story, plenty of drama and action, and full to the brim with signiature humour!

Bought second hand, was pleased to find the game arrived in great condition. Most important to note is that the disc allows you to play all 5 episodes of this delisted game (internet connection needed), which can no longer be downloaded directly from the PlayStation Store. And with physical disc editions limited, new unopened copies have had their price inflate quite a lot. A copy that is used - very good condition is a great and affordable to play this lost game.This is not a review of the game itself, but of the condition of the item, and how it is the best way to gain access to a delisted game. As for the game itself, having only played the first 2 episodes so far, I would recommend it to any fans of both Guardians of the Galaxy, and other Telltale games like Telltale's The Walking Dead. The voice acting is great, story is interesting so far, and has a cool soundtrack of licensed classic tunes a la the MCU movies. Possible weaknesses are some of the animations and the limitations of the Telltale engine, however if you've played a Telltale game before you know the style of game you are purchasing.

Excellent game definitely worth the money.

Now all 5 episodes I feel I can write a full reviewI was a little disappointed with Telltale games choosing guardians over The Avengers, however I was far from disappointed - this game as what you probably have come to expect from Telltale is a game the is a point and click adventure so if you enjoy those type of game and like the guardians film style and humor you'll really enjoy this game its very enjoyable from start to end the 4th episode was a little weak but over all a sold effort and i hope Telltale game do a second season 9/10

Good game. Just not many levels unless you have online access.

Absolute waste of money, so disappointing as I love marvel so much to see it is literally click and point. No actual gameplay, I played it for 10 minutes before I organised it being sent back for a refund. Not worth it

On this physical version, you get the first episode pre loaded, and as the other episodes come out they download when you insert the disc.It's early days yet but this has a better start than the hugely disappointing Walking Dead Season 3 (At the time of this post 4 episodes have been released) although it hasn't finished yet, I don't have high hopes.Great visuals and licensed music are just the tip of the iceberg, this promises to be the best telltale game since tales from the borderlands, Batman was also great but it suffered with performance issues.Stays loyal to both the films and the comics, any doubts just play the demo on the store, absolutely loving it so far hope it keeps up.

Purchased with high hopes as the films are truely brilliant and anticipated some fun gaming with the characters. Sadly the imagines on the game are quite far removed and seems aimed at a very basic level. Lots of dialogue and not much action. Not very interactive and got bored after about 30 minutes.