Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series - Under Pressure has a stupid name. They all do; this becomes apparent each time I have to sit down and type these ludicrous titles out. But the second episode was an improvement on its opening act, doing away with fiddly epic battles and relying on the strength of its cast to carry the game. It offered glimpses into the past of Rocket, king of snark, liker of none, while continuing to further its own tale. The Guardians have found themselves in possession of a powerful artifact that can help them reclaim many things they’ve lost or, should it fall into the wrong hands, doom the world. You know, that old chestnut.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series - More Than a Feeling continues a lot of trends. Its title remains ridiculous. Seriously, look at it! It plucks an iconic song from the seventies, then doesn’t use it or any other music from the artist responsible (sorry, Boston). It’s also an improvement on its predecessor in many ways, because of how comfortable it is to let the likability and strength of its cast become the main driving point of its narrative.
While the second episode tried to explain how Rocket came to hide behind his wall of hatred, the third focuses on Gamora and her on-again-off-again desire to patch things up with her adopted sister, Nebula. Though Gamora often speaks about wanting to reconnect, putting the two together brings out the worst in both of them, and any aspiration to patch things up is lost to all the snarling and death threats. Rather than just wallow in the present, the story goes back to a time when the two were clearly close and explores the moment when a rift was forced between them. You can use your newfound knowledge to try to nurture some understanding between the two, or instead attempt to fracture the pairing forever.
It’s an involving narrative to be a part of, and any interactions or decisions you make ultimately come down to how much empathy you have with either side. Rocket’s tale is cemented in the past, not giving you a lot of options for resolution in the now, but Gamora and Nebula are right there, clearly hurting but unwilling to be the first one to bend. Even if you go in with the best of intentions, there’s no guarantee everything will turn out to be chocolate rainbows and gumdrop smiles. This is a Telltale game after all; they do enjoy the whole misery thing.
But it’s also a Guardians of the Galaxy game, and in its third appearance, really seems to be hitting all the things we’d expect from that. That includes gratuitous scenes that openly exist only so it can shoehorn in a nostalgic track (that still has nothing to do with the game’s subtitle single, for reasons that continue to bug me), and those moments feature genuinely well-written comedy. Drax is a one-liner machine, and interacting with him remains a highlight, meshing together his kind of stubborn naivety with moments of disquieting snatches of sorrow and loss. There’s an early moment with Gamora when you can act like a pompous arse or try to be a caring and understanding friend, but you’ll take neither of these options, because the remaining choice is slap fight. And you’d need a heart of stone to pass up any direction that clearly leads to a slap fight.
But some choices are less clear. While I’m aware this is an episodic Telltale game and the majority of my choices are little more than window dressing that lead me to the pre-established conclusion, there’s a moment near the end of the chapter that I truly struggled with. I think the game knew what kind of magnitude it had, because, for once, it didn’t have a timer ticking down, rushing me towards a decision. So, for several minutes, I sat there, staring at the screen, willing myself to go the way I wanted to, and trying to drown out the little inner voice screaming out the reasons why it was an awful, awful idea. I don’t know if the direction I went with was correct, or if it even makes that much of a difference. But I do know that I’m impatient for the next episode to drop so I can find out.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series - More Than a Feeling continues a lot of trends. Its title remains ridiculous. Seriously, look at it! It plucks an iconic song from the seventies, then doesn’t use it or any other music from the artist responsible (sorry, Boston). It’s also an improvement on its predecessor in many ways, because of how comfortable it is to let the likability and strength of its cast become the main driving point of its narrative.
While the second episode tried to explain how Rocket came to hide behind his wall of hatred, the third focuses on Gamora and her on-again-off-again desire to patch things up with her adopted sister, Nebula. Though Gamora often speaks about wanting to reconnect, putting the two together brings out the worst in both of them, and any aspiration to patch things up is lost to all the snarling and death threats. Rather than just wallow in the present, the story goes back to a time when the two were clearly close and explores the moment when a rift was forced between them. You can use your newfound knowledge to try to nurture some understanding between the two, or instead attempt to fracture the pairing forever.
It’s an involving narrative to be a part of, and any interactions or decisions you make ultimately come down to how much empathy you have with either side. Rocket’s tale is cemented in the past, not giving you a lot of options for resolution in the now, but Gamora and Nebula are right there, clearly hurting but unwilling to be the first one to bend. Even if you go in with the best of intentions, there’s no guarantee everything will turn out to be chocolate rainbows and gumdrop smiles. This is a Telltale game after all; they do enjoy the whole misery thing.
But it’s also a Guardians of the Galaxy game, and in its third appearance, really seems to be hitting all the things we’d expect from that. That includes gratuitous scenes that openly exist only so it can shoehorn in a nostalgic track (that still has nothing to do with the game’s subtitle single, for reasons that continue to bug me), and those moments feature genuinely well-written comedy. Drax is a one-liner machine, and interacting with him remains a highlight, meshing together his kind of stubborn naivety with moments of disquieting snatches of sorrow and loss. There’s an early moment with Gamora when you can act like a pompous arse or try to be a caring and understanding friend, but you’ll take neither of these options, because the remaining choice is slap fight. And you’d need a heart of stone to pass up any direction that clearly leads to a slap fight.
But some choices are less clear. While I’m aware this is an episodic Telltale game and the majority of my choices are little more than window dressing that lead me to the pre-established conclusion, there’s a moment near the end of the chapter that I truly struggled with. I think the game knew what kind of magnitude it had, because, for once, it didn’t have a timer ticking down, rushing me towards a decision. So, for several minutes, I sat there, staring at the screen, willing myself to go the way I wanted to, and trying to drown out the little inner voice screaming out the reasons why it was an awful, awful idea. I don’t know if the direction I went with was correct, or if it even makes that much of a difference. But I do know that I’m impatient for the next episode to drop so I can find out.
