Can You Play The Expanse: A Telltale Series Without Watching the Show?

The Expanse is one of those shows that, in theory, I know I’d really like if I could gather enough focus to get into it. If we’re being perfectly blunt, that’s me with any semi-new IP, as I have the attention span of a goldfish, but my point still stands. The thing is, I absolutely love space exploration, and I love to live vicariously through videogame characters since I know I’ll never get the opportunity to actually go to space in real life — NASA would laugh at my maths grades, and I wouldn’t blame them. As such, I’ll happily fill that gap in any way possible.

The Expanse: A Telltale Series checks every box on offer when it comes to that criteria. The desire for a new space exploration game was great enough that I decided to risk being completely lost when it came to the lore.

Telltale made a choice that I nearly always applaud when it came to developing their newest release, which was to make this game a prequel to the show. It’s set a year before the events of the first season and, notably, is not based on the books. Telltale states in their FAQs:

“We wanted to make something that was the perfect on-ramp for anyone unfamiliar with The Expanse. The nice thing about this taking place prior to the events in season one of the show is that you can start fresh, but you’ll obviously get even more out of the game if you’ve seen the Amazon Prime series.”

For me, prequels always have a better shot at being successful because it tends to allow for fewer continuity errors and more room for the writers to play. It also makes it more accessible to people who want to dip their toes in.

As someone who has only watched an episode or two of the show but is a massive Trekkie and inhales Mass Effect like it’s the last shot of oxygen I’m getting before the fossil fuel companies finish off the air quality, I wasn’t going into this completely blind-sided. There’s a certain amount of reverence writers tend to hold onto when it comes to this flavour of sci-fi, with a lot of the same terms being universal. If you create high fantasy, it’s impossible not to use something created by Tolkien. If you create science fiction, it’s impossible not to use something from Star Trek.

This rang true for the first episode of The Expanse (Telltale is releasing each part of the game into five different episodes over the next few months). The ranking system of characters roughly lines up the same as other IPs I’m more familiar with. You have Captains, XOs, and medics. The United Nations is the main political power on Earth, which is similar to what happens in Mass Effect as well. As short as episode one is, the lore does come off as pretty approachable. That said, they seemed to have balanced it out. If you have watched the show or read the novels, you’ll certainly get more out of what you’re playing, as there are references to different cultures and strife that aren’t inherently explained yet in episode one. By no means will you struggle if you’re like me and have limited knowledge about The Expanse universe and political climate, but you also won’t be bored and feel like you’re playing a generic sci-fi game either.

Overall, you’ll get the most fun out of this game if you’re a fan of the series. The main protagonist, Drummer, is pulled directly from the show and voiced by the same actor as well. Telltale also stated that there will be more surprises from known characters in future episodes. Still, you’ll have a good time and be able to put the pieces together if you’re on my level of ignorance.

It’s a bit early to say since we’re only on episode one, but I’m going to tentatively say that Telltale did a great job balancing this game to be good across the board for every level of player. Fingers crossed that this streak continues across the next four instalments.