Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series

Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series is an episodic graphic adventure video game series developed and published by Telltale Games. Based on Marvel Comics' Guardians of the Galaxy comic book series, the game's first episode was released in April 18, 2017.

The plot centers on the Guardians finding an artifact of great power that each individually covets, but must protect it from the malicious Kree Hala the Accuser who wants it for herself.

Gameplay
Guardians of the Galaxy plays similar to other Telltale games, in which the player's character talks to other characters, explore environments and interact with objects within it, and at times, complete action sequences made up of quick time events. Players make choices, such as dialog selection, that create determinants within the story affecting later actions within the episode and in future episodes. Within the series, the player primarily plays as Star-Lord, but may at times briefly take the role of another Guardian during action sequences, or, during specific times, play as another character in a flashback.

Development
Telltale and Marvel partnered to develop the game, quickly establishing that they wanted to make an original story that used the character's canon but was not tied to the 2014 film. Telltale decided to go against an origins story, and instead focused on the connections between each of the five Guardians. Described by Marvel's Bil Rosemann, "A good Guardians story is about them as a family and showing how they're all misfits, they're all underdogs, they all feel like they don't have a family anymore" and coming together to form their own family that they depend on. Telltale saw this as well as elements from the established character histories to find "potentially surprising" elements to include, according to Telltale producer Justin Lambros. To achieve this, they planned each episode to center around each Guardian and explore their past, though the player will primarily remain in the role of Star-Lord throughout the series. This approach was novel for Telltale, since the character interactions that the player opts for in earlier episodes can have a stronger impact on the later episodes, particularly in the relationship between the other Guardians. Telltale and Marvel's goal was to make the story accessible to people who may not have read through the comic series but had seen the film, while still dropping in hints and Easter eggs referring the Guardians' history in the comics to long-time fans.

Telltale's Guardians was first revealed during the December 2016 Game Awards, though rumors of the game had been previously found in material released by SAG-AFTRA actors as part of the 2016 video game voice actor strike in November. The game's first of five episodes was released on April 18, 2017; in additional to digital downloads, a retail version will be available for the first episode release with an online pass to acquire the other episodes once released; this is expected to be released on May 2, 2017 in North America and May 5, 2017 in Europe.

Telltale hosted a panel about the game at the 2017 PAX East event in Boston, MA in March 2017, as well as having the first episode available for a "crowd play" session during the 2017 South by Southwest event.

Audio
The game is based on the Marvel Comic series and the recent film with an exclusive storyline. It has a different set of voice actors from the film. The cast currently includes Scott Porter as Star-Lord, Emily O'Brien as Gamora, Nolan North as Rocket Raccoon, Brandon Paul Eells as Drax the Destroyer, and Adam Harrington as Groot.

Plot
On the outskirts of an long abandoned planet, the Guardians receive a call from the Nova Corps asking them to help defeat Thanos (Jake Hart). After being shot down by the mad titan's ship, they arrive at a Kree outpost where they find him in the lower section of the building, the Nova Corps having been killed during the battle. In the lower section of the building, Thanos finds an artifact called the Eternity Forge and claims it for his own. The Guardians engage him in battle, ending with Star-Lord (Scott Porter) killing him with a weapon created by Rocket (Nolan North). They celebrate at Knowhere, where several members of the team consider leaving.

The following morning, they wake up to find that they are in debt of a large bar tab. After deciding to sell Thanos' body to either the Nova Corps or the Collector, Star-Lord considers also handing over the Eternity Forge, but decides to keep it after witnessing a flashback with his mother (Courtenay Taylor). After handing the body over, the Guardians are attacked by Kree forces lead by Hala the Accuser (Faye Kingslee). After she steals the Eternity Forge away from them, Star-Lord chases after her, with either Gamora (Emily O'Brien) or Drax (Brandon Paul Elis). Onboard, they discover the bodies of thousands of Kree soldiers and learn that Hala intends to resurrect them and her son, Bal-Dinn (Johnny Yong Bosch). She mortally wounds Star-Lord, but he and his partner escapes with the Forge when the other Guardians arrive. Making it on board, Star-Lord dies from his injuries, only to be brought back to life by the Forge.

Not knowing what to do with it, they visit Yondu (Mark Barbolak), a former space-pirate and the man who raised Peter Quill after his mother's death, to help repair the ship. Whilst holding the Forge together, they share a vision where Meredith tells Peter to find her whilst Ancient Kree appears on the Forge. After finishing repairs on the ship, Gamora suggests that they find her adopted sister Nebula (Ashly Burch), who has knowledge on Ancient Kree and is currently attacking the chosen seller for Thanos' body. However, Rocket, now knowing about the Forge's resurrection powers, asks Peter to travel to Halfworld and resurrect his deceased love, Lylla (Fryda Wolff). Regardless of the choice, the group capture Nebula and discover that it cannot resurrect Lylla, but will result in Thanos' corpse being lost if the latter is chosen.

Nebula provides them with the translation, leading them back to the temple where they discovered the Forge. Reinvestigating the site, they discover the location of "Meredith" is Emnios and that the Forge is only at its minimum capacity, explaining why it didn't resurrect Lylla. After another battle with Hala and her forces, they arrive at the planet, where they find what seems to be the area where Peter grew up. After breaking Gamora out of a flashback, they enter the temple and discover the person sending the messages, Mantis (Sumalee Montano). An empath, she has been using Peter's memories to bring him to the temple and free her, so that she could guide him on how he used the Eternity Forge. Mantis further explains that the Forge has the powers to control life-energy, allowing the user to control death and bring back the dead. Having been charged by the Kree to be kept away until a person called the "Celestial One" had discovered her, Mantis is meant to lead the person to the means of either empowerment or destroy the Forge.

Though split on what they should do with it, the Guardians agree to let Mantis guide them to the final temple. After resolving conflict within the group, during which Nebula is either convinced to join them or leave, Mantis guides them to the temple, where they discover the device that can empower or destroy the forge. After managing to activate it, Star-Lord decides the Forge's fate, during which Hala and her forces attempt to retrieve it. Depending on the decision made, she either resurrects Bal-Dinn with the empowered Eternity Forge or is severely burned when it is destroyed.

After being thrown to the lower levels of the temple by Hala, the team escape, though are attacked by many rock worms. After making it back to the Milano, they are swallowed by a giant variant and trapped in the creature's stomach where they have the option to adopt a younger worm that they find. Using the engines of other ships while also emptying out the Milano to lighten the load, they manage to find a way to escape the creature, but it still pursues them, forcing Drax to seemingly sacrifice himself to let the others escape or Groot (Adam Harrington) being injured in the process.

With the team in disarray, members leave the group. However, after seeing the devastation they are partially responsible for and being confronted by Bal-Dinn if he was revived, Star-Lord, with help from Mantis, decides to unite them together and defeat Hala. If Peter allowed Drax to sacrifice himself, he finds that he is alive and rescues him from the planet. After finding and convincing the other members to rejoin, they formulate an attack on Hala's ship and stop her from destroying Knowhere. After placing charges on the main cannons (as well as fighting Nebula if she was told to leave earlier), the Guardians battle and defeat her, with her destroying the ship when she attempts to fire them. In the aftermath, Hala either is handed over to Bal-Dinn or the Nova Corps to stand trial, or dies either from Bal-Dinn killing her or from the remnants of the Eternity Forge taking her life.

Having once again saved the Galaxy, the Guardians celebrate having defeated Hala at the same bar; their tab having been muted by saving both it and Knowhere. Mantis offers Peter the opportunity to talk to his mother or use the last of the Eternity Forge's power to resurrect one of the people who they have lost, depending on if the Eternity Forge was destroyed or empowered in the temple. During the midst of the celebrations, the Guardians are once again contacted by the Nova Corps, asking them to help with another situation.

In the post-credits, it is shown that Thanos' corpse is retrieved by an unknown individual from its current location in either Nova Corps custody, the Collector, or deep space depending on the player's choices.

Episodes
The game was separated into five episodes for release on mobile devices, personal computers, and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles. The version of the series for the Nintendo Switch was announced in August 2017, though its release date is not yet known.

Reception
Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series received favorable reviews from critics earning praise for its story, voice acting, action sequences, and portrayal of the titular characters, although its humor, animation, and technical issues have been criticized.

Episode 1: Tangled Up in Blue
Episode 1 received "average" reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.

Episode 2: Under Pressure
The Xbox One version of Episode 2 received "generally favorable reviews", while the PC and PlayStation 4 versions received "average" reviews, according to Metacritic.

Episode 3: More Than A Feeling
Episode 3 received "mixed or average reviews" on all platforms according to Metacritic.

Episode 4: Who Needs You
Episode 4 received "mixed or average reviews" on all platforms according to Metacritic.

Episode 5: Don't Stop Believin
Episode 5 received "average" reviews on all platforms according to Metacritic.

Accolades
The game won the awards for "Performance in a Comedy, Lead" with Scott Porter, and for "Performance in a Comedy, Supporting" with Adam Harrington at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards; in addition, it was nominated for "Excellence in Convergence" at the 2018 SXSW Gaming Awards.