Back to the Future: Episode 1 may have been out since December 23rd on PC and Mac, but unfortunately we don’t have access to a time-travelling DeLorean here at TheSixthAxis so you’ll have to get the review now. So, now that we’re finished with all of the content that we had over the holidays, playing with our new toys and stuffing ourselves with food, we’ve finally managed to review Telltale Games’ latest. The game is set six months after Marty and Doc travelled back to the future from the Wild West (in the third film) and has you controlling Marty as he works out one thing – just where has Doc gone?
Doc has been missing for months now, and it’s up to Marty to work out where (or rather, when) he is. With the DeLorean time machine seemingly destroyed near the climax of the third film, what will Marty do? Thankfully, it’s not too long before the DeLorean reappears, seemingly out of nowhere, but without Doc inside. This can only mean trouble for Marty and he must travel to the past to find Doc and ultimately save the future. Confusing, isn’t it? Well, thankfully some things are tied up as you progress through Episode 1, and we can assume that any other plot points (such as Clara and the children being missing) will be dealt with in the forthcoming Episodes.
We can be sure that it’s a solid story
Fans of the series will be pleased to know that Christopher Lloyd returns, providing the voice acting for Doc and although Michael J. Fox couldn’t voice Marty, the voice actor AJ LoCascio sounds very similar to how Fox did when he starred in the trilogy.
The game is filled to the brim with movie references and Telltale collaborated with none other than the co-writer of Back to the Future himself, so we can be sure that it’s a solid story and that it’s part of the series’ continuity.
If you’ve played any of Telltale’s other games, then you’ll know exactly what to expect in terms of gameplay. The game is a point and click adventure in which you control Marty. You can engage in conversation with some NPCs, with which you’ll have a number of dialogue choices and there will be items to use and collect along the way. The game is very dialogue heavy, which means that you’ll have to ask around before solving a puzzle.
It’s great to explore Hill Valley in the past
The puzzles themselves are good and there’s one in particular near the end which is quite genius as it requires quick reactions and good hearing to complete it. It’s great to explore Hill Valley in the past too, as you are able to walk around the limited town centre and you’ll meet some characters throughout the town, although there’s really not enough of Hill Valley to get excited about. You’ll have to walk around and investigate, using your initiative to solve the puzzles throughout.
Failing that, there’s a hint system available; this can be toggled in the menu to help you by either giving you blatant statements, vague nudges towards the goal or something in between. These hints will usually point you towards the next item you need to collect or the next dialogue option you should choose and it works really well, although there’s nothing to stop you (except from guilt) from continuously looking at the hints – you’re best to only use them when you’re really stuck.
It still retains the feel of the movies
Although most of the action in the game takes place in cutscenes, with it being your job to walk around looking for clues, it still retains the feel of the movies due to some great storytelling and a superb finale. It’s probably a good thing that there’s not too much in-game action to worry about, as the movement controls aren’t perfect. When the fixed camera moves to another location, the keyboard movement becomes complicated; something that other fixed camera games usually handle well.
The sound is great; it just wouldn’t be Back to the Future if it didn’t have that theme or those little background noises and the game manages to use these very well. As mentioned before, the voice acting is fantastic and Lloyd continues to perform well as Doc, whilst LoCascio is a complete surprise; I don’t think anyone could do Marty’s voice better (unless we travelled back to 1985 and used Michael J. Fox). Visually, it’s fine; it’s nothing impressive or hyper-realistic and the speech animation isn’t great, but the characters do look similar to those from the movies, albeit more like exaggerated caricatures. It’s a good style, though, and it’s what we’ve come to expect from Telltale games, so there’s nothing to worry about here.
Pros:
- Great continuation of the Back to the Future series
- Superb voice acting and sound
- Fun puzzles and quests throughout
- Will make fans very happy
- A lot of dialogue to sink your teeth into
Cons:
- Somewhat confusing if you’re not a fan of the series
- Control problems
- Not enough of Hill Valley to explore, hopefully there will be more areas in future episodes
- A lot of dialogue to sink your teeth into
A Back to the Future game was definitely the best way to extend the series. Whilst it’s not a perfect game, it’s ultimate fan service; from the sounds to the location to the story itself. The fact that there are four more episodes releasing in the coming months, not to mention that the PSN and iPad releases are just around the corner makes it unmissable for any fan. Great Scott! I’ve even managed to avoid the 1.21 gigawatts of quotes throughout this review. This is heavy.
Score: 8/10
Thanks to Person678 for gifting me a copy of the series on Steam.
Kamokazi-UK
Hopefully in the next PSN update! I’m nearly through BttF Pt 3 that I got on Blu Ray last week.
Person678
Damn straight! I’m too nice.
fattyuk
Really looking forward to this! Most of your cons where pros to me lol
Foxhound_Solid
Far out!
**Boards off with Power of Love Blasting from his Ghetto Blaster**
R1MJAW
I know I’ll probably get lambasted for this, but I never got the hype surrounding the BttF franchise. I have watched the movies, but don’t get why they are so highly praised … so I’ll probably give the game a miss.
fattyuk
You what? You don’t get why the bttf films are brilliant
My my my.
moshi
Must not be a child of the 80’s
R1MJAW
Not true moshi, I was born in 1972.
moshi
Well then I have no answer for your lack of film tastes. Each to there own I guess. The third was crap admittedly.
JoshHood
I was born in 1992 and I still love BTTF.
teflon
Enjoyed the first episode of this. The opening sequence in particular was pitched to perfection, and scary as frak.
I did find it rather simplistic on the whole, and hope the difficulty ramps up fairly over the next 4 episodes.
I’m a little disappointed by some of the initial plot holes, such as the DeLorean suddenly being back in existence, and, as you said, Clara and the kids being nowhere to be seen.
Last main complaint is that the graphics engine Telltale use is now in dire need of a massive overhaul. In fact, they might as well start from scratch. Its sole plus side is scalability, but with them now moving into film licenses and more action based sequences, it just doesn’t have the oomph with detail or animation to pull them off convincingly. Animation in particular.*
But the plus sides far outweigh the negatives. The story has plenty of potential, and we’ve only just got to the first cliffhanger! The voice acting is superb, the depth and variety of the scripting excellent as ever, and… It’s BACK TO THE FUTURE!!! How can that /possibly/ be a bad thing?!
*Rumours that Jurassic Park will take a more Heavy Rain-like approach to parts of the gameplay mean that the animation has to improve leaps and bounds.
Person678
We know via leaks that the DeLorean thing is resolved in a future episode.
mynameisblair
Really loved the voice acting and the sound, was perfect. The story was great too.
These all bring it from what would be an average game to something that’s great.
Cathaloh
Ask Doc, he tells you what happened to the deLorean.
tantalus_blank
I always thought this was only planned for PC – I may have to pick this up on the PSN now
aerobes
Definitely be buying this! Love the movies. I’m a little surprised it’s actually turned out to be rather good though!
Cathaloh
Got it on PC when it came out, I absolutely love it, as a huge Back to the Future fan, and games from Telltale (Sam & Max, Strong Bad, Puzzle Agent, Wallace & Gromit, Monkey Island etc) I don’t consider lots of dialogue a bad thing. The main problem I found with it though was that there was this shadow glitch around Marty if you set the shadow effect full. Also, it is true that some of the puzzles were way too easy and it’s too short (even for Telltale’s standards)
I’m reviewing the game in one of my blogs on another sit soon. I think I’ll give it an 8.5 or a 9.
Nice review by the way.
Cathaloh
Meant to say site where it say sit…. whoopsie. =P
rainydays458
Telltale are the kings of the point and click genre!!! Loved the Sam and Max games, so I can’t wait how this turns out on the PS3.