Back to the Future: The Game Review

Game Name: Back to the Future: The Game

Developer: Telltale Games

Genre: Adventure, Problem Solving

Rating: Teen
Platforms: PC, PS3, Wii

           

Back to the future is a title that I will always hold dear in my heart. It was those films that really stuck with me from the earliest memories of my childhood. Even to this day if I see Doc Brown or Marty Mcfly on TV with that unmistakable Delorean time machine, I find myself sitting down to finish the story despite the fact that I know the script in it’s entirety. What’s not to love about those three films? The cast is flawless with even the villains being likable with a smart compelling story. That Huey Lewis soundtrack sending me back to simpler times along with that beautiful delorean hitting 88 miles per hour; constantly reminding the geek in me that I so desperately want one for myself. Yes sir, the ‘Back to the Future’ films are indeed milestones in film making history, but when it came to the games it was always a catastrophic failure. But with the future now here, the franchise may be getting the interactive treatment it deserves thanks to Telltale games forming a deal with Universal Studios to create a new story for our beloved time travelers. Telltale Games is well known for their point and click adventure titles like ‘Sam & Max Save the World’ and ‘Tales of Monkey Island’, giving BTTF the same game play style treatment. Divided into five episodes, the first was available for PC in December 2010 with the following episodes being individually released through out 2011. Now available as a complete package for PS3 and Wii, I took the time to play all of them back to back to see if I would truly be blown away, or left disappointed and maybe even insulted. With that said, grab your cassette walkman, and cue the saxophone intro to ‘Back in Time’ as we discover if this is the game fans have been waiting for or just another let down to add to the list of movie license game titles? 

            Taking place some time after the events of the third film, Marty awakes in May 14, 1986 after having a nightmare to learn that Doc Brown’s house has been reposessed from the bank and is having all his assets auctioned off. We learn that Doc has been missing for months now and to some questions arise that he may even be dead until a familiar noise is heard and Marty discovers that the Delorean has appeared out in front of Doc’s home. Investigating the time machine, Marty ends up at an old apartment owned by Edna Strickland, Principle Strickland’s sister and tries to unravel her association with Docs past. Figuring out the connection between them, Marty finds out that Emmett Brown is in fact stuck in June 13, 1931 where he is destined to be falsely convicted as an arsonist for the burning down of a speakeasy owned by Biff’s grandfather Kid Tannen. In true BTTF fashion, Marty hops in the Delorean and goes back in time where he eventually runs into Doc both young and old, the youthful yet still up tight Edna, along with Marty’s grandfather. From there it’s a race against the clock as Marty must trick young Emmett to unknowingly bust his older self out of jail, while Kid Tannen is always nipping at their heels to stop them. Who knows what the future may hold for our two time travelers.

BTTF has a unique cartoony look about it which works surprisingly well. While caricatures of themselves, Marty and Doc are still instantly recognizable from their live action counterparts. Hill Valley goes through many cool changes throughout the story and is always interesting to explore learning new interesting facts about the town’s history. Animations however can seem unpolished and glitchy at times with details like sound sync issues arising and wheels not spinning when vehicles are in motion. The facial animations on characters though are great with facial expression depicting emotions perfectly. I think the younger female faces at times can look a little odd and even creepy in the eye department but those are far in between. The artists do a great job though showing the alternate versions of characters when alternating histories affect them.

            The controls in BTTF are going to be the “make or break” factor for most players. The game is not an open world sandbox title and is instead a point and click adventure title similar to the popular ‘Myst’ PC games in the 90s. This can make Hill Valley feel small condensed, and not very lively since most of the game keeps players in the main court yard area with a handful of other areas appearing later on for short periods of time. Even with the use of the PS3’s analog stick to walk around, the world is painfully liner where you can’t even walk freely in streets because the game wants you to use the crosswalks instead. Controls become even more frustrating when camera angles change along with the directional layouts. One minute you’ll be walking left and when the angle changes, you better not keep holding left or it will take you back to the previous screen. It does seem to get a little bit more forgiving as you progress through the episodes but it is still always a rough experience.

            Finding items and solving problems on the other hand is a much more forgiving element. Players can freely acquire hints from the game if they get stuck, and the game has a hot key that can show every interactive spot on the screen making searches a breeze. The choice of difficulty is completely up to the player as they can go cold turkey or have the game practically hold their hand to advance on.

            As reading my plot summary may have suggested, while the story is without a doubt the best part of the game, it isn’t without its problems. Why is the delorean back after it got destroyed in the third film I don’t know but its back. Plus there are multiple times though through out the story Marty, Doc, and the time machine honestly should have disappeared do to changes in the past but for the sake of the plot, time never properly catches up to with them while everything else is still bound to the rules of time travel. With that said though, don’t think the story in here is complete garbage. Overall, the writing is extremely smart and impressive as Telltale nailed the feel of the classic films and had me uttering to myself, “that was clever” at certain points. Marty and Doc act just as you expect they would and even Hill Valley itself is presented as a character and not just a place. The new villain aside for the usual Tannen descendant is also a well drawn out antagonist, letting players get to see sides of Emmett Brown that are truly memorable and honestly worthy of the big screen.

            The Side characters are ok and interesting, but there are a lot of times their dialog comes off ham handed and really forced do to the questions players must ask them to progress through the game. Along with that, their actions and depicted reasoning’s are nonsensical. For example, players learn that Jennifer’s grandfather was a cop back in 1931 and he’s a customer in a speak easy during prohibition. He doesn’t go in civilian clothes but instead gets drunk right in his officer uniform on duty while the owner of the speak easy is having dealings with the law trying to incarcerate him for dealing alcohol. Why would he let a cop into that establishment? That’s the world’s dumbest gangster if I ever saw one. That there leaves Marty and Doc’s story, the main part to pay attention to and with that I say it is well worth seeing unfold despite these hiccups.

            I would be nuts if I didn’t go into detail about the voice over work used in this game. Where the story is the cake, this shinny speck would be the icing. Telltale Games was able to acquire Christopher Lloyd to reprise his role as Doc Brown and damn was it good hearing his voice again. You could tell he really cares for this character as he puts his all into his performance and really drives the emotions home. If I didn’t research the cast, I would’ve never believed that Marty wasn’t voiced by Michael J. Fox. Instead Marty is voiced by A.J. Locascio and his impressions of Michael are flawless. There wasn’t a single second in this game I didn’t believe I was playing the Marty I always knew. If they ever bring back an animated series this kid deserves the job as he formed a great sense of chemistry along with Lloyd in the script. Fans will be happy to know that Michael does make a guest star appearance in the game as another character that is also brilliantly fitting. A lot of care was taken into the overall cast and I don’t see how they could’ve done better.

The soundtrack is pure nostalgia as Telltale went with the,”if it’s not broke don’t fix it” mentality porting most of the soundtrack from the films over into the game along with Huey Lewis’s famous song. The new music is kept in style of the films and doesn’t stray far from the expected style and never seems out of place. Sound effects are ok, but it’s the sounds of the time machine that really hit home when the action heats up.

Overall, ‘Back to the Future: The Game’ is an overall satisfying experience. Yes it is plagued with control issues at times and there are some plot problems but this is a game you buy for the overall story. Telltale shows they have passion for the franchise by producing a smart script, by bringing the original actors into the project and by putting nice touches of details throughout the game; fully connecting this chapter to the previous films. I found myself easily marathoning through the chapters to see what happens next. There are plenty of moments to be found here just as memorable as any of the three films produced and if you don’t almost shed tears at some points then you are a heartless human being. In the end, this left me feeling very satisfied and with this game going for only $15.00 on the Playstation Network, it makes this title a steal and all the problems it has forgivable. If you are a true fan and yearn to experience a new BTTF story this is well worth your money. I can only hope Telltale has a sequel in the works.

PROS: Stellar Story worthy of the franchise

            Difficulty is extremely forgiving making it fun for all ages

            Brings back Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox

            All Star cast who pour their hearts into their roles.

            Interesting character design and facial animations.

            Nostalgic fueled soundtrack

CONS: Controls can make you want to pull your hair out.

            World is extremely linear causing Hill Valley to seem small at times.

            Plot holes regarding continuity and effects of space time continuum

7 Out of 10

Ryan Pierce