Review: Back to the Future is… Back! We take a look at all 5 episodes of BTTF!
Hyped by George Sakalis
By: The “Q”
Great Scott! Telltale Games sure knows their game(s). I know they do, otherwise I wouldn’t be just completing Back to the Future: the Game, Episode 5. Pardon for taking so long for a review, but I wanted to wait until the final episode was out. Well, here we are then!
Back to the Future is a movie trilogy that I classify as “positive nostalgia”, one of the few things I really loved in the 80s and (partly) in the 90s too. Sure, there were movies that sucked like hell (Double Dragon and Mario Bros come to mind, oh the horrid horrors that could even scare Cthulhu to sleep) but there were real gems that remain untopped even today. I’m talking about movies that were fun, like Indiana Jones and Goonies, before Michael Bay and his buddies ruined Hollywood for us (take that, Transformers).
Following a series of awfully bad games developed under the BttF franchise in the last 25 or so years and with fans hoping for a sequel (since sequels and reboots of 80s franchises are all the rage these days), Telltale made a bold move with BttF: The Game. Is it worthy of your attention though?
Hell yeah! I cannot hold my enthusiasm and keep you in the dark any longer. The game is an old-school adventure, just the way you remember them from the 90s. Well OK, there’s no SCUMM interface, but judging from the way you interact with everything it’s a clear sign of what made adventures great in that decade (plus what made them uncool for the most people in the last decade, following the rise of health-regenerating fps’s). This translates to gathering items, advancing the story by interacting with the characters and combining items with the environments in usually peculiar ways that make no direct sense (until you complete your objective that is). It’s all a pretty linear affair, but Telltale has a few aces up its sleeve.
Aces? Yes. The first is the actors themselves. You get Christopher Lloyd starring in person as the Doc and needless to say, his performance is still amazing as it was in the movies so many years ago. Michal J. Fox couldn’t reprise his role as Marty due to his condition (but he IS making a cameo appearance), however the actor voicing Marty is pretty much flawless and I honestly couldn’t really tell them apart.
It’s a pity they couldn’t convince Thomas Wilson to star as the much beloved Tannen family of bullies, but he declined the offer, apparently not wanting to fall victim of typecasting. Tom is a great guy, an accomplished artist too (painter and musician) and I can certainly respect his wishes, but I believe he’s wrong about typecasting, since there’s been a gap of so many years between the game and the movie. Nevertheless, the actor starring as Biff (and his progenitors) does the job more than adequately.
All in all, the voice acting department was developed with the utmost care and you certainly won’t be disappointed (with the exception of one character, the older Edna Strickland, which is far too unconvincing but thankfully she’s only making a brief appearance).
Graphically, the game doesn’t offer anything exciting. The graphics are mostly cartoony and the characters themselves look like cartoon caricatures than normal human beings. The environments look so simplistic that one should wonder whether Telltale flipped a coin in order to decide the use of cell-shading. In addition, the animation is a bit flakey in (thankfully only a few) parts, increasing the aftertaste of “artificialness”.
Still, no matter how simplistic the graphics might be, they do the job and don’t get in the way of the gameplay. To tell the truth, I’m not sure what kind of graphics might have better suited the game anyway. Going for photorealistic 3D would probably not suit the overall feel the scenario has and while I’d be most satisfied with a hand-drawn style (such as the one in the Monkey Island remake) I can see that it might hurt its sales (many people classify 2D games in the “indie” category, using the term usually as a pejorative).
The gameplay (and by gameplay I mean the story too) is where the game shines and the reason it’s definitely worth its money. Speaking of the cost, it costs $25 for the whole shebang of 5 episodes and seeing how Duke Nukem Forever was priced at $60 while sucked like no man sucked before, this is a steal.
I mentioned that the game follows old-school adventure game mechanics. In reality, the game uses some adventure conventions developed later in the 90s, such as the one-click action. There’s no SCUMM interface with 10+ different verbs. Clicking on an item will make your character to pick it up, look at it or interact with it (such as talking to a person or opening a door). You also cannot combine inventory items, but selecting an item from it will allow you to use it with the environment. The interface might remind of you Legend of Kyrandia, but it works and will not confuse you.
The gameplay Is captivating due to the excellent voice acting that was mentioned before and relatively simple puzzles you’ll encounter. The difficulty is nowhere near close to the one of say, Discworld 1 & 2 (and which I also liked a lot), but won’t appear as too frustrating to the newer players and you’ll be able to proceed with the story faster (and trust me, you WILL want to find out about what happens next).
To that end, Telltale implanted an optional goals & tips system. Your next goal is displayed on the top of the screen. You can be notified whenever your goals change, but I doubt you’ll actually need to do so, since your next goal is almost always obvious.
The tips allow you to resolve a situation where you’re stuck, by providing you with gradually specific instructions on what to do next. Although I can hear the hardcore adventurers (if there’s anyone left) boasting about the needlessness of the feature, it can certainly help you with a few impossible-to-deduce moments the game has.
The story is great. Admittedly, it’s centered a bit too much on a limited set of characters rather than implementing a convincingly populated world, some scenario twists are one too many of an “amazing coincidence”, but the whole progression of the story, the steps you take towards unveiling it and the effects that your actions have in the future are all very well thought out.
You’ll certainly enjoy the game and the ending leaves a small premise for a sequel, even if it is a bit FUBAR. There’s no way you won’t enjoy the story even if you are little to not at all acquainted with the movies (that would be inexcusable though, so punch yourself and go watch the trilogy If this is the case).
Keep in mind that there are some plotholes (some of which are… daring to say the least) but nothing too serious that can detract from the overall impression).
Those of you who liked the films (even if the 2nd and the 3rd were not as good as the 1st one was) will feel a torrent of positive nostalgia. You WILL want to watch the movies again after you’ve completed the game.
All in all, the game costs only 25 bucks. It’s a bold step from Telltale to release a game on a genre that is (sadly) not popular these days, but no matter whether you like replaying the King’s Quest series for the tenth time or shooting your online buddies in Call-of-Duty combat, you will enjoy this game, even if you’ve never had the luck of playing an adventure game when it was still cool (such as Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis).
With the gameplay, voice acting, graphics and music in mind, I’m rating it with a solid 95 out of 100. Yes, it’s that good and if you haven’t bought it yet do so now: http://www.telltalegames.com/bttf . It is dirt cheap but totally worth it, plus you can get the first episode for free.
THE HYPE JUDGEMENT: 95/100
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