Telltale’s second installment in the Guardians of the Galaxy series is a substantial mark above that of the already great series premiere. Whilst the time spent between the first and final chapters in episode one was quite by-the-numbers, Episode 2: Under Pressure provides meaningful and interesting downtime outside of the main plot.
Probably the most enjoyable Telltale adventure since The Wolf Among Us, Under Pressure excels in moving the series’ main plot forward whilst still maintaining the deep character interactions that Telltale are supposed to be known for. Even if there isn’t a way to tell until future episodes come along, it does seem that the choices made in this episode especially could actually have meaningful consequences instead of being throwaway.
The episode continues to play off the wit and humor of the Guardians and the comedic timing has been much improved from before. There’s less of a delay between lines allowing jokes to land faster and emotional moments to hit as hard as they’re supposed to. There’s still the occasional wonky animation—especially in facial movements—and cutting between animation sequences for choices can still result in a jerky stutter, but for the most part Guardians is one of the most fluid Telltale games we’ve seen in a while.
The main plot of the Eternity Forge continues to be an enigma throughout this episode, although answers are becoming clearer. The device leads to some important and fantastically directed sections exposing the motivations of a certain character which is one of Telltale’s finest moments, but the main threat of Hala the Accuser and the dead Kree fleet still remains an overlooming threat that will for sure become more potent during the next episode.
Surprisingly, the quick time event sections in this episode are short but sweet. Set pieces only do what they need to instead of being overly long like in, say, the premiere episode of Tales from the Borderlands. When they happen, they’re exciting and result in some great moments but don’t overstay their welcome. It’s great to see that Telltale are reserving themselves and polishing the whole package instead of wasting budget on overly prolonged set pieces. Quality not quantity.
The greatness in Under Pressure comes from all the little things. For example, if you choose to call the Nova Corps to warn them of an incoming threat the team will be disappointed in the character Rook for not being able to defend the attacker’s target when they arrive. The resulting banter is a worthy reward for thinking ahead and is just one of the reasons which brings this episode up above the premiere.
Summary
Overall, Episode 2: Under Pressure is one of the finest Telltale installments in years. It still suffers from the same animation problems as all of Telltale’s works, but the writing, characters and plot are all on point for a fantastic episode. Let’s hope they can keep it up for next time.
Lewis is a games journalist, freelance gaming and consumer-tech journalist. They contributed 344 articles to ICXM between 2015–2017, focused on opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: has since served as Editor-in-Chief at StealthOptional and Gaming Editor at MSPoweruser, with bylines at Gfinity Esports and FRVR.