The Expanse: A Telltale Series Review (PS5) | Push Square

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The Expanse: A Telltale Series is a positive step in the right direction for the newly reconsecrated developer, capturing the essence of what made its initial efforts so successful in the first place. It's sharp, well-paced interactive media that delivers on the expected premise, telling an original story set in an established universe in that signature Telltale style.

Partnering with Deck Nine (Life Is Strange: True Colours) for this five-episode sci-fi adaptation, the story moves at a steady clip, and it's full of the kind of twists, gut-wrenching decisions, and immediate regrets you'd expect. Compared to the relatively stiff The Walking Dead: The Final Season, the shift to a full third-person perspective feels like a massive upgrade, and the extensive and detailed environments truly feel like (and are) spaces worth exploring.

While you don't necessarily need to be a fan of the original James S.A. Corey novel series or the popular Syfy TV adaptation, it would certainly enhance the experience. Telltale's game is a prequel that comprises a self-contained origin story for Camina Drummer, portrayed by Cara Gee in both the TV and Telltale iterations. In the latter's earlier timeline, Drummer is XO aboard the starship Artemis, second-in-command of a crew that makes a living scavenging wrecked ships in the uncharted edges of The Belt, the expansive asteroid field between Mars and Jupiter.

This necessitates zero-g exploration in the hard vacuum of space, where a surprising amount of the player's time will be spent, along with the expected interactive cutscenes. These sections feel good to poke around in, listening to the banter between the various oddballs who make up The Artemis' complement. There is some light puzzle-solving