Telltale’s newest series is starting to get into its groove, but this episode takes too long to get going.

Following Episode One’s cliffhanger – Camina Drummer and the crew now find themselves in a tense, life-and-death situation with pirates that results in a mix of action and suspense.

As such, this episode throws in a stealth section, a shoot-out, and even more Zero-G gravity. Which, to be honest, is my biggest problem with Hunting Grounds.

A good half of this episode sees you floating around shipwrecks again while out in space and it just feels a bit rehashed considering we already did a lot of that in Archer’s Paradox.

In fact, half the episode plays out in much the same way, looking for optional items for your crew, looking for more valuables, opening a doorway, all while collecting more audio logs.

And weirdly, I’m actually starting to get a little bit motion sick from all the tilting and twisting the screen is doing as I’m weaving through wreckage. This never happens to me while gaming, in fact I’ve only ever had that from VR or when I’m moving too quickly in an FPS.

That said, once you get through that initial portion of the episode, Hunting Grounds gets a lot more engaging as you learn more about the enemy you’re up against, use your Zero G skills to effect rather than aimless floating and even tap back into the training you had in episode one for quick time events.

And then you get back to your ship to really integrate with your crew and become a captain they can look up and aspire to. Or fear, depending on your choices.

The humour and dialogue is really well written, with the voice actors doing an expert job with the material, really getting into the roles, feeling a natural part of this universe. And as you learn more about your crew, so you wonder about their intentions and aspirations.

At this stage, though, I feel the series is still missing a big, game-changing decision. While Episode One had a couple of pivotal moments, I didn’t really deliberate over them for any length of time. And it’s less so in Hunting Grounds, even though the story is starting to veer in an interesting direction. And you know something big is being setup.

What I will give this episode a world of credit for, though, is the amount of optional stories and conversations it has, as you really get to know your crew and try to rally together after the events of Archer’s Paradox. There’s a suggestion that the stakes are about to be raised but we’re not quite there yet.

Hopefully we get a real taste of that in First Ones, because for right now the series is veering dangerously close to repeating itself and taking a tad too long to get to the point.

Verdict

The humour and witty writing shines in Hunting Grounds, and it’s nice to see mechanics used in different ways, but this is also an episode that retreads familiar ground a bit too much and doesn’t get going until the second half. While a long-term story is being told and you get the feeling your decisions will soon have repercussions, for right now I haven’t felt much need to deliberate over my choices and I’m becoming desperate to see life on other planets/vessels rather than float aimlessly around space for another three episodes.

Pros

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