Telltale and I go way back: back to when I got my first gaming PC more than a decade ago. One of the first five games I purchased was The Walking Dead Season One. Up to that point, I didn’t care what story a game told, I was all for the gameplay. This title challenged my expectations of storytelling and the comic book came to life on my screen. Ten years later, after Telltale had a bumpy road, LCG Entertainment has revived the studio and is set to return to form with The Expanse: A Telltale Series. Releasing new episodes bi-weekly, how does this tale kick-off?

Serving as a prequel to The Expanse TV series, you assume the role of Camina Drummer, a regular on the show starting from its fourth season. In typical Telltale fashion, The Expanse: A Telltale Series‘ story is presented as you progress through tight environments checking out anything you wish to, revealing more of the story to those who wish to scan every nook and cranny for details.

Aboard a ship and with a full crew in episode one, you’re set to excavate a recently-ravaged escort fleet looking for “one last score” according to your captain. Tensions are already high between the crew and you’ll be the decision-maker from early on.

In its opening beats, you’re introduced to your entire team as you make your first batch of story-impacting choices in The Expanse: A Telltale Series. You’ll soon get a grasp on what kind of personality each person exhibits which will likely influence how you treat them when it comes time to make even bigger decisions as the episodes progress. I’ve learned to not make hasty decisions in these games, though. Thinking about the long run will almost always outweigh impulsive choices, and I have a sneaking suspicion that will become apparent in the episodes to come.

I can’t give enough praise to how The Expanse: A Telltale Series lets you explore in the second half of episode one. With six degrees of freedom and intuitive controls, this section is an absolute joy to navigate through its zero-gravity environments. This far surpasses the adventure gameplay in Telltale’s past where you just walk around a small space. There is a wide-open level design that I almost wish the entire episode took place in. So long as there are more areas like this in future episodes, this will be a blast.

It was always going to take a lot for Telltale to make a big splash after more than four years of absence. Yet with the capable help of Deck Nine (Life is Strange: True Colors/Before the Storm), I’m thrilled to dive into the rest of The Expanse: A Telltale Series. Thankfully, instead of having to wait months for new episodes, players will only have to wait two weeks between episodes. This is stellar in retaining the player base as it’ll be more than fresh in their memories as they continue this sci-fi escapade.

A PlayStation 5 review copy of The Expanse: A Telltale Series was provided by Telltale Games for this review.

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The Expanse: A Telltale Series

39.99

8.5

Score

8.5/10

Pros

• Positively Gorgeous
• Captures That Old Telltale Magic
• Compelling Characters
• Tough Choices, As Usual
• Awesome Zero-Grav Traversal

Cons

• Some Off-putting Face Models
• Short, Even For a Telltale Episode