We’re officially at the halfway point of the Camina Drummer focused episodic adventure, The Expanse: A Telltale Series. So far, it’s fallen fairly short of being a must-play, but there have been signs of steady improvement in the storytelling department. With the third episode, “First Ones”, ready to delve into, one has to hope things will sufficiently ramp up for a thrilling second half of proceedings. Only then can a case be made to invest your time in it.
So, is The Expanse: A Telltale Series on the right path now with its narrative, or does it ultimately fail to deliver any kind of consistency?
Warning – spoilers ahead for previous episodes
Last time out, the crew of the Artemis wound up hiding out in a graveyard of shipwrecks after being hounded by pirates. While there, they decided to try and gather more supplies from the wrecks. However they weren’t alone. Through pure sneakiness on Captain Drummer’s part to avoid deadly drones, and quick-thinking from her team to evade incoming missiles, everyone lived to fight another day. As the threat is dealt with for the time-being, it’s onto the next destination, which is yet another wreckage.
Almost the entire episode is set on an abandoned wreck that was once home to one of the earliest settlements in space. Utilising those zero-g thrusters again is pretty cool as you search for anything remotely salvageable. While wandering the desolate corridors, making your way to its core, scanning and inspecting various remnants will fill you in on the previous inhabitants. It actually does a very good job of explaining their fascinating back-story, so it’s well worth seeking out every tidbit.
Rather disappointingly, the same can’t be said in regards to Drummer and the majority of her crewmates, for their involvement here is minimal. Only one character is given the chance to shine alongside Drummer, with the rest barely seen. Granted, these moments help this particular person build a better connection to the audience and almost certainly evokes emotions, but it’s at the expense of the rest of the cast. You just won’t care about most folk and that’s not ideal at all.
Aside from the aforementioned exploration aspects, the other interactive elements aren’t great. There are sections where episode three attempts to incorporate puzzles by getting you to direct power from its source to doors in order to open them up. Imagine a stripped back version of Pipe Mania, with limited options to manipulate and easy solutions. It’s pretty rubbish. The sole QTE section doesn’t fare much better either, with repetitive button prompts popping up on-screen to play out a mediocre action scene.
Decision-wise, there’s merely a single important choice to make and it comes right near the end. On the plus side, there are definitely consequences based on that specific decision and potentially as a result of earlier decisions, which is very welcome. On the other hand, when lesser decisions are to be made during conversation, the options seem too similar and as such, feel pointless. Still, it’s good to see prior actions coming into play for the bigger picture stuff.
On the visual front, credit must be given for the design of the abandoned ship interior. It’s incredibly creepy with coffins all over the place and there’s a peculiar area that’s brilliantly morbid to venture through. Fortunately, almost none of the technical issues of episode two have returned, apart from a few minor texture pop-ins. In terms of the audio, the voice acting is very well done and the performance is convincing enough to keep you invested in the conversation.
It’s difficult to weigh up episode three of The Expanse: A Telltale Series, because the positives are almost totally cancelled out by the negatives. The storytelling of the two heavily featured characters is good and I appreciate the great efforts made to inform about the people who once resided on the excellently designed wreck. The rest of the characters are terribly neglected however, while the QTE and puzzling elements included are underwhelming. Even worse, everything is over within less than an hour, which seems a bit too short.
Unless The Expanse: A Telltale Series picks up substantially in the coming episodes, I fear it’s not going to be a worthwhile adventure.
