Review: Back to the Future – The Game “A Love Letter To Fans”
Verdict: B+
Games based on movie licenses usually are terrible. Back to the Future is a prime example of a movie that had terrible games based upon the license. However, Telltale Games have come forward to break that tradition. Back to the Future: The Game is a point and click adventure that continues the story of Doc, Marty, and Hill Valley.
The story begins in 1986 with Marty trying to stop the sale of the estate of Dr. Brown. From there Marty finds himself on a new time traveling adventure to 1931. Each episode ends with a cliffhanger and the next episode picks up right where the last one ended. Although some episodes may cover similar areas, the sections that can be explored expand and change in each episode. The story moves in a mostly logical manner and the finale adds some interesting twists and surprises.
The graphics are done in a cell shaded style. Thus even on lower settings they look pretty good. The character animations can be a little stiff, but are not too distracting. The backgrounds are well designed and are very reminiscent of the movie Hill Valley. The characters from the movies look like stylized versions of the original actors. The alternate versions of characters and new characters created in the story also look good and suit the world they inhabit. Overall the atmosphere presented looks and feels in synch with the movies.
The audio is very strong. The music used in the game is from the movies, with a few extra songs to fit the time period. The voice acting is great and features Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown. The actor for Marty McFly is a great voice match for Michael J. Fox. The subsequent voice work is very good and overall the acting is some of the best that can be found in video games. In addition Michael J. Fox voices a couple characters in the final episode, which is great to hear.
The game is designed as a classic point and click adventure game. The puzzles do not stand up to the crazy puzzles from King’s Quest and Maniac Mansion. There are one or two tricky puzzles that pop up in the second and third episodes, but they can be resolved with a little patience. The ease of the puzzles do make the episodes pass by quick, but they do allow the story to move in a more logical fashion than older point and click games.
This game is like a love letter to the fans. If you love the movies then the game will be hours of fun. Even just exploring and trying different dialogue options feels like they are part of the original script and vision. The episodes go by quick, but the ride is well worth the price. Between the story and great voice acting there is quite a bit to make fans of the movies happy Back to the Future: The Game is highly recommended.
Pros
+ Amazing voice acting
+ Very reminiscent of the movies
+ Well priced
Cons
- Episodes are short
- Not as hard as classic point and click games
