>>>>>>Final edit<<<<<

I finally got around to finishing the game! It was good. The plot was a little simple for me (I was hoping for a lot more depth in the final 2 episodes) but I still found it enjoyable. However, this game pales in comparison to Telltale's The Walking Dead season 1 or 2 which unfortunately set the benchmark very high.

TLDR whole review:

Beautiful and atmospheric, with excellent character depth and voice acting which would have benefited from a far longer and more complex story arc.

Only really has replay value if you watch another player, which can be entertaining if they choose different game variables.

Negative overall because it was simply not worth the release price, with delays to episode releases and, quite simply, insufficient instalment / overall length.

Great if you can get it for under £15, otherwise you may feel rather out of pocket.

>>>>>Edit after release of Episode 3<<<<<

As I really want to enjoy this game for a good solid few hours of immersion, I'll wait until Episode 4 is out and do a combined review of episodes 3 and 4 together. My fingers are well and truly crossed for greater episode longevity.

>>>>>Edit after Episode 2<<<<<

Still beautiful, still deep and engaging, but PITIFULLY short and woeful value for money. Just look at people's game times. Episode 2 is even shorter than Episode 1 - I meandered through in only an hour and a half.

I really was expecting more considering the amount of time it took Telltale to release this installment.

>>>>>Original Review<<<<<

This game is beautifully crafted; I thoroughly enjoyed the first episode and it will I'm sure be a pleasure to play through the remaining episodes.

However. I bought this game when it came out for at least £20 (I can't remember the initial price) and so far have only been given about 3 hours of content. I am hoping the future episodes will be longer, but frankly if the future episodes are also this length then I will feel pretty let down. 15 hours total for £20 is fairly OK for a normal game, I guess - not great, but not terrible - especially if the game is as fantastic as this one clearly is. But with a game that is also a staggered series like this one, I would actually be hoping for more content for my money, not less.

So I give it 9/10 for the game itself, because the concept and execution are both superb. But in terms of value for money (as it currently stands) it's a big let-down at 5 x 3 hours. My advice would be to wait until all 5 episodes are out and buy it and play through then, as your appetite will be better sated. This is how I tackled The Walking Dead's first five episodes and it felt absolutely fantastic (although I also felt that the chapters were longer in Walking Dead, which probably helped).

The best analogy I can think of is: at an exquisite restaurant, would you rather have 5 delicious starters spread out over a year, or one slap-up perfect 3 course meal in a year's time? For me the answer is definitely the latter, and I actually regret having the cut-off and the waiting for the next installments; but for some who can better handle the anticipation and aren't binge pleasure gluttons, you may find otherwise.