Additionally, we interviewed Cara Gee, who reprises her character Camina Drummer in the video game.
The Expanse: A Telltale Series will premiere next July with its first episode
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It was September 2018 when the news of the closure of Telltale Games, a well-known developer of graphic adventures through interactive stories in episodic games. In fact, The Walking Dead: The Final Season was at its halfway point when a 250-person team was reduced to just 25 closeouts. Luckily, a year later the miracle occurred with the studio resurrectionwhich rescued The Wolf Among Us 2 as one of its future games, although it would arrive before The Expanse: A Telltale Series.
The Expanse: A Telltale Series was announced at The Game Awards 2021 as a prequel to the well-known Amazon Prime Video series already finished. Its protagonist will be Belt Drummer, of which there is no backstory either in the series or in the novels on which it is based, which serves to be part of the canon. Now, we have had the opportunity to play the first episode of the game at an event in Los Angeles invited by Telltale Games, being able to offer you the following impressions.
We jump into space, the largest map ever created in a Telltale Games game
Despite being a Telltale Games game, The Expanse is being developed by Deck Nine, who recently brought us Life is Strange: True Colors. The story that the game presents us works perfectly for those unfamiliar with the amazon seriessince it is located in the past of the arrival of Camina Drummer to the second season of the title. Cara Geeactress who plays the character and we have been able to interview, is once again in charge of giving life to the belt.
In a fictitious and future world in which the political tension between Earth, Mars and the Belt does not stop growing, Drummer is in a ship in which Captain Cax informs him of the disappearance of another ship from which they could find all kinds of resources. The protagonist, not very convinced, agrees to accept the mission accompanied by other members of the scavengers crew, they are all well built original characterssomething that Telltale Games has us used to.
While decision-making is nothing new for a Telltale Games game, the studio does tell us that Drummer only has two answer choices at any given time as they are more important than ever before.. In fact, they also confirm that all but two of the characters can end up dead at the end of the game, which indicates that we will have to be very careful throughout the episodes…
The Expanse, the most game game from Telltale Games
The Expanse will become Telltale Games’ most explorable game
As soon as we got further into the story and were able to get into the gameplay of The Expanse, we discovered that this is the most game game from Telltale Games. The Wolf Among Us or Batman obviously had exploration sections, while The Walking Dead delved into adding collectibles and larger settings, something that has gone much deeper in The Expanse.
Drummer can interact with objects and scan some (this looks like it will serve as a collectible), but what is most striking is the breadth of the scenarios to be a Telltale Games game. When we got to the mission ship we found a scene so big that even a button was enabled that tells us which direction we should follow and, in some corridor of the ship, we can interact with a map to discover all the corners that we can explore.
Sometimes, in addition to the main mission, we could opt for a secondary one as scan a specific objectAlthough what caught our attention the most about all this is that the protagonist can even take advantage of gravity to jump to the wall or ceiling to discover new corners. It is also possible to fly to go even faster. Thus, the game invites much more to get lost and not go so directly to solve the main mission and, although we have not discovered it yet, Possibly have specific trophies or collectibles that invite the replayability of the episodes.
The Expanse does not manage to incorporate a combat system, something to which its genre has not accustomed us, so we will once again make use of quick time events (QTE) to resolve confrontations or moments of action. Luckily, the performance of the title is most remarkable, so we left behind times of frame drops that could annoy the button press at the right time.
Telltale Games on the right track
The Expanse will present a mystery that will last through its episodes
After completing the first episode of The Expanse already We are clear about its biggest weakness: its durationWell, it lasted just over an hour. Telltale Games told us that the entire story of the game, made up of five episodes, will last about 12 hours, so it is possible that the first one will be shorter and that we will leave behind some collectibles and possible trophies/achievements. The game, which will come with voices in English and texts in Spanishhad a slight error in the subtitles, although it is hoped that the final version of the game will have them corrected.
If you like science fiction, it is very possible that The Expanse will win you over. The first chapter also has a very gore moment, because the missing ship features its decapitated crew with their heads floating all over the place, being very creepy the moment in which we have to find the hand that opens a closed door, offering a tense and very successful section. And be careful, if you are familiar with the series, you will discover the odd nod, just by exploring a bit we find two very notable details that involve the participation of more well-known actors…
The first episode of The Expanse: A Telltale Series will premiere next July 27, 2023 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC via the Epic Games Store sporting the best graphics Telltale has offered to date. Every two weeks from this date the next episode will be released, so in less than two months we will have the complete game, a very wise decision compared to the long waits that Telltale Games had us used to. The study now bets on this format so that social networks and forums generate a light debate about the episode at the same time that it is difficult to forget what happened in the previous episode when starting the next one.
Our first impressions of The Expanse are quite positive, as the studio has delivered on its promise.”the largest and most immersive exploration of any Telltale game to date“in a story that will see players deal with a mix of powerful personalities, face a bloody mutiny, explore places beyond The Belt, and most of all, make difficult decisions that will decide the fate of the crew of The Artemischanging the course of the story with more or less living characters.
Interview with actress Cara Gee, who plays Camina Drummer
Cara Gee Returns as Camina Drummer in The Expanse: A Telltale Series
Ask: How did you feel when you received the news to play Camina Drummer again?
Answer: Very excited. I was originally hired to play the character in the second season of The Expanse as a guest star. So to go from that beginning in the second season, to being asked to come back and be on the whole series and how that played out was already a dream come true. When I heard about making a game based on my character’s backstory I was very excited. I was also very nervous. I was like, this has to be really good.
I met Stephan Frost (game director) for the first time, he told me the story and walked me through the entire game. We were playing around, he was just telling me the story, and then I would get to a part where he had to answer a question, and he would make me choose one, and that would affect where the story went. It was such a beautiful experience, I was totally like, let’s do this. Let’s make a video game. I want an audience to have this.
Ask: What can fans of Camina expect in-game after watching her through five seasons on the show?
Answer: Well, I think for the fans of the series it will be very interesting to go back and see this background story. What are the events that shaped a belt? What has made her the person you meet at the beginning of the series? At the beginning of the game, I think she’s a little more open, a little more vulnerable, and we see those events that change her forever. Besides, walking in their shoes is another layer of fun.
Ask: You are a very nice person, but your character seems very serious at the beginning of the game. How do you manage to interpret it so well?
Answer: I do not live the same circumstances as the Belt member, but I have the capacity to be the same. ohDon’t fuck with me or you’ll see me! (Laughter).
Ask: With what aspects do you identify more and with what less with your character then?
Answer: I identify with the majority. I identify with that desperate feeling of rage at injustices. I think especially as an indigenous woman, I see senseless inequality and systematic oppression. She keeps me alive with a white-hearted rage. And certainly all my lived experience is something that I contribute to that point of view. Yes, that is what identifies the most. She really likes to get her hands dirty, she’s very mechanical, and I’m useless (Laughter). I think that would probably be my biggest difference.
Ask: You are used to participating in series and movies, but what has it been like doing it in a video game?
Answer: It’s so different, right? Many things are the same put your heart and soul is the same, but having to create different arcs depending on what choice happens and keep track of them is a lot. That’s a big difference although I think that in general it is the same. All the acting work, the relationship, the scene work, it’s all the same.
Ask: Did it take you more or less time to record for a game?
Answer: We shoot more content in a day for a game, but it’s because we only have to set up the motion capture. Shooting is much fasterbut then there is a lot of development.
Ask: Finally, would you like to dedicate a few words to your followers in Spain?
Answer: Yeah! I’m so thankful and it’s all so fun. I come from working in theater, and when you work in theater, you see your audience right there. I feel like sometimes with movies, TV, or video games, you forget about the publichence I am surprised to think that there will be people in Spain who play this video game. It’s all so huge and I’m so grateful that anyone takes time out of their day to invest in our weird story that we’re making. I am very grateful to anyone who plays this game. Thank you.
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