A pre-Walking Dead era Telltale game make its return with some updated graphics and a new behind the scenes video. The additions are minor, so those hoping this "30th Anniversary Edition" would offer something substantially different will find themselves disappointed. While its age shows in some areas, this game still proves to be worth checking out for those Back to the Future fans who have still yet to experience it. It's easily the Back to the Future: Part IV we always wanted.
It's a much more traditional adventure game than what Telltale has been delivering as of late. The puzzles, while far from rocket science, are more open-ended and require much more head-scratching for one. The solution isn't always so linear or right in front of you. You'll have to interact with just about every part of an environment before even beginning to get an idea of what you need to do. Making it through a section often requires completing several different puzzles that all tie in together. There also isn't as much of an emphasis on player choice. It's very rare to have your own personal effect on the story or scenes. This can make all of those dialog choices seem kind of pointless. Especially during the sections where the only way to progress is through conversation. Why are there so many useless options?
The occasional technical issue may pop up from time to time, but never anything that's going to effect gameplay. It's the controls that cause the real problems. Even then it's incredibly rare. You may have trouble selecting what you want to in the more crowded scenes and moving to a new area where the camera angle changes causes the analog sticks to change the direction your character will walk in. These are all worth putting up with though for those eureka moments and the great story.
They got quite a few of the original actors to reprise their roles here. The ones that didn't return have extremely competent sound-alikes. The person they got to voice Marty blew me away with how much he sounded like Michael J. Fox. While there are plenty of references and throwbacks to the films, the game has much more to offer than simple fan-service. It's a really great continuation from where the third movie left off.
Telltale's revival of one of their pre-mainstream appeal titles shows that they pretty much always knew how to add onto an existing, beloved franchise by capturing what made them so great in the first place. The gameplay side of things is much deeper than their more recent offerings, so it's likely to have more appeal to hardcore adventure game fans. Some pacing issues aside, it's a well-told tale that fits into the Back to the Future series perfectly. So if you're a fan of the movies, give this a go. If you just like Telltale games and have to try this one out, watch the movies then play it. The film trilogy is good enough to make it worth playing catch-up.
8/10
It's a much more traditional adventure game than what Telltale has been delivering as of late. The puzzles, while far from rocket science, are more open-ended and require much more head-scratching for one. The solution isn't always so linear or right in front of you. You'll have to interact with just about every part of an environment before even beginning to get an idea of what you need to do. Making it through a section often requires completing several different puzzles that all tie in together. There also isn't as much of an emphasis on player choice. It's very rare to have your own personal effect on the story or scenes. This can make all of those dialog choices seem kind of pointless. Especially during the sections where the only way to progress is through conversation. Why are there so many useless options?
The occasional technical issue may pop up from time to time, but never anything that's going to effect gameplay. It's the controls that cause the real problems. Even then it's incredibly rare. You may have trouble selecting what you want to in the more crowded scenes and moving to a new area where the camera angle changes causes the analog sticks to change the direction your character will walk in. These are all worth putting up with though for those eureka moments and the great story.
They got quite a few of the original actors to reprise their roles here. The ones that didn't return have extremely competent sound-alikes. The person they got to voice Marty blew me away with how much he sounded like Michael J. Fox. While there are plenty of references and throwbacks to the films, the game has much more to offer than simple fan-service. It's a really great continuation from where the third movie left off.
Telltale's revival of one of their pre-mainstream appeal titles shows that they pretty much always knew how to add onto an existing, beloved franchise by capturing what made them so great in the first place. The gameplay side of things is much deeper than their more recent offerings, so it's likely to have more appeal to hardcore adventure game fans. Some pacing issues aside, it's a well-told tale that fits into the Back to the Future series perfectly. So if you're a fan of the movies, give this a go. If you just like Telltale games and have to try this one out, watch the movies then play it. The film trilogy is good enough to make it worth playing catch-up.
8/10