Review - The Expanse: A Telltale Series... Bosmang for Beltalowda

 

Image courtesy of Deck Nine and Telltale Games

If you know anything about the show The Expanse, then you probably remember Camina Drummer as the no-nonsense take-charge from the Belt. She spends a lot of the series in the #2 role amongst the likes of Belter leaders, those bosmangs, like Anderson Dawes or Fred Johnson, but Drummer consistently shows that her leadership style of cutting through the bullshit and doing the heavy lifting from the front will one day place her as top dog. The Expanse: A Telltale Series displays that penchant for solid leadership even more.

    Cara Gee returns to voice Drummer without skipping a beat in style, voice, and attitude in this prequel taking place around three years before the events of The Expanse's first season. Drummer is the Executive Officer, there's that #2 again, on a scavenger ship called The Artemis that is exploring the solar system in search of salvage. They're hoping to hit a score big enough to let the entire crew live like kings, whether they're Belters, Earthers, or Martians on board. Unfortunately for them, the score they stumble across is also in the sights of the Europa's Bane. The Bane is a Belter pirate ship that has already used more than nefarious means to get its booty, and Drummer and the rest of her crew are just roadblocks (spaceblocks?) in the way of a hazardous haul that could change life for everyone in the Belt.

The Good

The most compelling part of the game is certainly the story. I would imagine that this is the driving factor behind most Telltale games, because how would they be able to break even if not?

    The narrative is a strong one. Drummer is easily one of the fan-favorites from the television series so it was a good move on the part of Deck Nine and Telltale Games to have her play the protagonist. Interacting with the crew and finding out little intricacies like what they like and dislike also adds a certain flavor to the experience. While the game is short, there are definitely going to be people in the crew that you like and those you really don't. Maya always put a smile on my face in her scenes, while Arlen made me want to punch him in the face in all of his. And wouldn't you know it, I took that opportunity in the very first scene that Drummer has with him!

    Gameplay is interesting here. I'm going to put a portion in The Good but save a little something for later, too. The choice system is classic for a Telltale game, and can be fun, but the main interactions that you have while playing has to do with zero-gravity exploration. Scavenging across multiple wrecks involves a lot of turning those magboots off and using your thrusters to get from place to place. I think the game does this well. It also makes everything fully three-dimensional as you can walk on walls, ceilings, outside hulls, and just about anything in order to find the loot that will provide further lore for the game.

    Audio is great. The soundtrack made me feel like I was right back in 2022 watching the series. Not only that, but the character audio was solid too. Everyone does a great job with their voice acting, including a cameo by Chad Coleman in the role of Fred Johnson, but I think it's safe to say that Cara Gee steals the show completely. Drummer was already a compelling character brought to life by Gee in the show, but here she is front and center with great dialogue and revealing inner monologues. She nails it.

The Bad

Here's where I'm going to touch upon that gameplay again. A lot of it was pretty repetitive. I felt like the gameplay loop for zero-g exploration just got a bit overplayed, especially when there could have been easy routes for Drummer to do more with her time. In addition, while Telltale games seem to rely on the differences in choices for their their replayability, I can't imagine going back anytime soon to make different choices along Drummer's path. The end result will still be the same. And that's what really matters, here. The journey only accounts for so much.

    Visuals in the game are a mixed bag. There's a distinct style that Deck Nine and Telltale Games are going for, but sometimes it just doesn't land. Does Drummer look good? Yes. Unless she opens her mouth enough for you to see all her perfectly molded digital teeth. This is the same problem that I had with Maya's appearance. Virgil looked like he was made out of clay. And the twins looked like the creators couldn't decide if they wanted to go for cartoonish or realistic. The backgrounds and everything else look great... there's just something of a misfire on the character visuals that pulled me out a bit. This is especially true in the bonus episode "Archangel" featuring Chrisjen Avasarala (also voiced phenomenally by the series's actress, Shohreh Aghdashloo). Chrisjen's face looked slapped together in a rush. I was not a fan of that. Although I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that her narrative, however brief, was excellent.

    

The Glory

Originally I was going to have this game land in a solid 7/10, but I think a big reason for that would have been due to the fact that I wanted more. It is short, with a full completion (including the bonus episode) clocking in at nine hours, but that's pretty typical of a Telltale. I knew what I was getting into when I purchased it. And I also bought it at a pretty solid discount on PSN. Full price for any Telltale might not really be my thing.

    That said, paying $15 for nine more hours of The Expanse with a couple of my favorite characters stealing the show? Well worth it. The emotional moments will definitely remind you of the incredible amount of heart that was poured into the TV series, and it's inspired me to boot it back up again. Care to join me, copeng?

8/10

Glorious

To see my thoughts on other space operas with strong narratives, check out my review of Rogue Trader