Publisher Comment “Thanks for the review!! Another great piece 🙂 BTW thanks for the feedback..think you are the first to notice this! We will investigate it:)”
Finally, Telltale Games have released Back to the Future: The Game in the UK for all of us to enjoy. The most important thing to know about this game however is not to expect to be engaging in any major action. It is set out more like an interactive animated movie in which your decisions may influence the way you feel the story, and are also necessary to allow it to progress. The second most important thing to know about this game is that the way it is played is not a bad thing. An exciting and intriguing sequel to one of the greatest science-fiction movies of all time is now open to you to explore and to enjoy!
The storyline of the game is set after the events of Back to the Future Part 3, and before, and possibly during; well it is set at many points in the past, future and questionably the present. In any case time is and isn’t important all at once in this adventure. The game is broken down into five episodes, episode one beginning after the Doc has left Marty at the end of the third film. Without giving away too much of the storyline, the DeLorean returns to the Doc’s house but inside is only Einstein, the Doc’s loveable dog, and a tape recorder with a message telling Marty that the Doc is in trouble, and so the adventure begins. The story itself is very much set out for the you already, but your job is to follow it and allow it to progress by interacting with the people and items found around the world. At times the story can seem to move a little bit slowly. However, if you are not entirely sure how to progress through the given situation at the time, but the game includes a hint system which can be set to various levels in order for any type of player to be able to play. Despite the slow stages the story is still a gripping one for any fan of the franchise.
The game is not what some players may have hoped for or expected in that it is not a heavily controlled story with in depth playability. It is instead more of an interactive story so that the player can ride alongside an adventure instead of entirely controlling its every aspect. This may well put some people off the game, but it is maybe better to understand that this game has been put together to continue an epic story, and that the chance to help that story along is, for a fan at least, a great privilege. Therefore it is important to know what you are putting your money on the counter for when you come to purchase the game. It is also important that you do not judge it to be a pointless game because it is not the most exciting way the game could maybe have been made. Essentially, if you are a fan who wants to continue the Back to the Future saga then this game is most definitely made for you. One good point about the game in general is that it is simple enough yet interesting enough where it is fit for younger and older players. The rating given to the game however, at least for the PC version, is 16. This does make it questionable why some of the interactivity in the game seems very oversimplified and at times can seem a little bit childish.
Graphically the game has good and bad points. If you like animation then you will like the style of the game, clearly not intended to look totally realistic or to be taken too seriously, but at the same time of a good quality. A few criticisms of the graphical style are that occasionally interactions between characters and objects are not smooth or in some cases not particularly good. Towards the start of the game for example Doc Brown is putting a seatbelt around his dog, Einstein, in the DeLorean, however the seatbelt is not actually drawn into the scene. Another issue which players might pick up on is the fact that the characters’ mouths are out of synchronisation with their speech. Although no game has yet entirely perfected this fine detail to a tee, it is particularly noticeable here and may well cause a minor annoyance to players. The third key criticism of the games graphics is that often background scenery is quite low detail or even just a poor quality two-dimensional image. This just seems like a bit of a lack of effort was put into this area of detail. Finally, the scenes do not always load as smoothly as possible either. People that are supposed to fill the background of a scene do not always appear when they should and load in later. Although this may seem like a lot of criticism for the graphics of the game, given that the game is heavily based on story and not so much in depth playability I feel that the way it looks is a key area and maybe should have been better in places. In general however the graphics are not too bad at all.
The audio of the game is quite impressive. The voice acting is well incorporated and the characters featured previously in the films sound and for the most part act like themselves. The other sound effects of the game are also not too bad, although some sound a little bit generic at times. The music in the game fits closely to the original score of the movies and if it is not the true original tracks it is a good quality version of them. Aside from the fact that the audio does not synchronise particularly well with the graphics of the characters speaking it, it is rather difficult to make any major criticisms of the sounds in the game. In terms of the menus and options available in the game, the structure is basic and the options are relatively clear. There are several subtitle-style options which the effects of are not entirely clear at first but with a bit of playing around it is possible to find what does what quite quickly. Both basic and advanced options are available for graphics making it easy for any player to manipulate these to their systems specifications. Naturally if played on a console this will probably not be present as a function due to standard specifications.
Overall, Back to the Future: The Game is more of an interactive animated movie than a high-spec, intense role-playing game. This is not necessarily a bad thing for fans who are looking to simply be a part of the storyline which they love or for people who prefer this style of game in general. The games interactivity is good and can be simplified or not to the specification of individual players, allowing for wide playability for anyone. A good effort has been made to incorporate a creative style of graphics in the game, but some areas are slightly lacking in detail and others do not work as well as they maybe should. The voice actors and music of the game fits well to the preceding film trilogy, and most of the background sounds are good, but some can be somewhat generic or unimpressive at times. Overall however this is a game well worth checking out if you are a fan of Back to the Future who wants to continue the adventure!
As a small side note outside of the actual game itself and which may have already been noticed by the developers, the PC copy of the game which I received to review reads “The Gane” rather than The Game as it should. This does not affect the play.
Gameplay
Closer to an interactive movie style in ways, but gripping in story and a game that makes you think in order to help the storyline progress to the next stages
Graphics
A good attempt at an interesting style of animation, but lacking in areas with some disappointing mistakes or careless imperfections
Sounds
Great voice actors and music fitting with the movies; fair background sounds
Overall
A great game for any fan, but with some silly mistakes that could easily have been avoided.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
