Since its inception, The Expanse has received constant praise for its sci-fi visuals, interesting and in-depth characters, and narrative full of political intrigue, all of which sounds like a successful formula for a video game too. The Game Awards 2021's announcement of The Expanse: A Telltale Series came as a shock then, but perhaps not exactly as a surprise. Adapting The Expanse's world into a cinematic story game seems like the best approach, especially with it being co-developed by the rebooted Telltale Games and Life is Strange studio Deck Nine.
Now, fans know that the first episode of The Expanse: A Telltale Series will release on July 27, with its subsequent episodes releasing every two weeks thereafter. Players take on the role of Camina Drummer, with Cara Gee reprising her role from the TV show, and explore her past aboard The Artemis. In this way, the video game serves as a prequel to the show. Game ZXC was recently able to play through the first episode of Telltale's The Expanse, including replaying the finale twice to check out how its last decision impacts the ending.
Without delving into spoiler territories, the narrative is quick to sink its teeth into fans. After an intense opening sequence, fans are thrust into some character introductions and worldbuilding before getting into the meat of the episode. From there, fans may just be surprised by the brutality they see within the episode between discoveries made and tough decisions. So far, nothing presented in The Expanse is perhaps as difficult as a choice as whether to let Clem shoot Lee or not in The Walking Dead, but there are definitely some brutal choices to be made already.
There is a plethora of smaller ones too and it's easy to see how some of these choices in The Expanse could impact the player down the line, but of course, it's not something we were able to experience. As it stands, it doesn't seem any decision made within the first episode had any immediate impact, including the ending choice. It's impossible to say how they could future episodes, but it's enough to believe there isn't just an illusion of choice here.
During the event, we were also told that it's possible to have every character except one die during a playthrough of The Expanse. This ever-present danger for the Artemis crew is self-evident from the onset, but it also makes it clear (in conjunction with its prequel nature) that Expanse protagonist Drummer is just fine. Luckily, the opening sequence of the game does an excellent job of endearing the crew to the player before, seemingly, meticulously teasing them about their potential fates. While the character development and storytelling are top-notch in this first episode, the gameplay does fall on the weaker side of things.
There are plenty of avenues for exploration in The Expanse, but the short and long of it is that it follows the formula of older Telltale games. Players will be able to walk around a handful of areas, search for things, interact with the environment, discover a handful of collectibles, and that's pretty much it. The intensity of the storytelling does not meet its equal in the gameplay. The general exploration is not all that enthralling, the environment does a good job of worldbuilding but that's all, and the collectibles do the same thing, unlike previous Telltale titles that saw collectibles as something a little special.
One gameplay feature that feels new and deserving of attention is the Zero-G exploration. One dev commented that past games saw players walk from place to place, but that this one allowed fans to float from place to place. This is true and it adds a dimensional feel to the exploration, as players can walk up walls, activate their suits and float around, and navigate horizontal and vertical spaces that add something unique to The Expanse's gameplay. If Deck Nine and Telltale continue to expand on this in future episodes, it could prove to be something truly special, but it's hard to say for sure based on this first episode.
This Zero-G gameplay also saw us float around space in The Expanse, with debris shuffling nearby and around us. Drummer will push them out of the way if players float near small areas, and it was these moments of strange peace in space that the beauty of the game really shined. Looking at a nearby planet in Zero-G was breathtaking, with the game's general art style being suited to hard sci-fi akin to The Expanse show. Visually, cinematically, and story-wise, episode one is a sequence best taken in the moments that players are able to breathe it all in, looking at the mechanics as a whole instead of in parts.
It's worth noting that we were playing a pre-release build and some bugs, as the developers noted, would be present here that were not at launch. That said, our experience with The Expanse was foundationally solid from a technical standpoint. We did have a few issues with clipping on various environmental assets, and there was one bug that would not let us enter certain rooms unless we sprinted. Overall, it was nothing game-breaking and hopefully something that is fixed in the release build of The Expanse.
Of course, all of this comes with the caveat that this was only the first episode, and it could easily expand from there. On its own, though, it's clear there's a lot of promise but not enough immediate payout. Classic Telltale fans and fans of The Expanse may enjoy the episode, but this does not seem like the explosive comeback some may have been hoping for, so far.
The Expanse: A Telltale Series launches July 27 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
