Sunday, January 26, 2014

Video Game Review: Back to the Future: The Game (2010-2011)


‘Back to the Future’ is my favorite movie of all time for a few reasons. Not only is the film (as well as its two sequels) highly quotable and incredibly entertaining, but in execution it’s more than just a ‘science fiction’ film; it’s a comedy film, an action film, a high school film, a romance film, and of course, a science fiction film all rolled into one. Because of this, I believe that it will stand the test of time for years to come. But this franchise hasn’t really fared well in terms of video games. There was the god-awful NES game made by LJN that barely followed the plot of the game in which protagonist Marty McFly, who for some reason was wearing an all-black shirt and not his usual red vest, went around the town of Hill Valley collecting clocks… don’t ask, and for the record if you haven’t played this game before, don’t even considering trying it out. It’s that bad. There have been a few other video games, but from what I understand, a lot of them aren’t that good as well. But in 2010, Telltale Games, the creators of the episodic ‘The Walking Dead’ video games, produced a ‘Back to the Future’ game which, while not exactly perfect, is the best representation of the ‘BTTF’ franchise in video game form to date.

Following a ‘re-creation’ of the scene in the original film where Marty McFly helps his friend Dr. Emmett Brown AKA Doc test out his new invention, a time machine made out of a DeLorean, we flash forward to a few months after the events of ‘Back to the Future Part III’ in 1986. In the time since, Marty hasn’t seen Doc at all. One day, when the bank starts to sell Doc’s house and his possessions, Marty comes across his ‘time-travel’ notebook before the DeLorean suddenly appears out of nowhere. Soon after, Marty learns that Doc is stuck in 1931 Hill Valley. Not only that, but he is also in jail for apparently burning down a local speakeasy, and is to be killed by local mob boss ‘Kid’ Tannen, the owner of the speakeasy. This leads Marty to travel back to 1931, where he gains the help of Doc’s 1931 self, in order to save the ‘present’ Doc before he is to be killed. However, in the process, Marty’s actions begin to set up a series of events that begin to drastically alter the timeline for both him and Doc.

The entire game itself is split into five separate episodes, each taking about two to three hours to complete. The story itself is very compelling, if mainly because of how this game feels so much like ‘Back to the Future’. Telltale had the help of Bob Gale, co-creator/co-writer/co-producer on the films, in developing the story and in doing so, it really helps this game feel like it’s part of the ‘Back to the Future’ universe, more so than previous games in the franchise (do I need to bring up that LJN game again?). Christopher Lloyd reprises his role as Doc and is once again excellent even after at least two decades since ‘Back to the Future Part III’ came out back in 1990. Michael J. Fox doesn’t reprise his role of Marty (well, to a certain extent but I’m not going to spoil anything about that) but his successor, A.J. Locascio, does a fantastic and very spot-on impression of him to the point where you can hardly tell any difference. All in all, the voice acting in the game is rock solid all-around. The overall presentation is this game’s greatest asset.

Now, the game itself isn’t particularly that ‘difficult’. It’s a point-and-click adventure game and in execution a rather ‘simple’ one at that. You control Marty as he travels around different ‘versions’ of Hill Valley and interacts with the various people and objects he comes across. Moving around from place to place is a little stiff because the game has a ‘fixed’ camera perspective meaning that it changes when you travel to a different part of the area you’re currently in. So, if you have Marty walking forward and the camera then switches to a different angle that’s facing him, he’ll continue to move forward if you keep the move button down, meaning that the controls become a bit inverted. You have to stop holding the move button so that the controls can revert back to their normal state. This does kind of get frustrating at times, but it’s not too big of a problem. I mean, I haven’t played a lot of games with a ‘fixed camera’ perspective so maybe it’s just me. Also, keep in mind I’m referring to the PC controls because that’s the version of the game that I played; not the PS3, Wii, or iOS versions. The game offers you hints if you get stuck on the various puzzles that you come across but even then the puzzles themselves aren’t too difficult to figure out. Some of them do require a little bit of trial and error but for the most part, they usually just consist of Marty selecting an item from his inventory and using it on either a person or an object.

‘Back to the Future: The Game’ isn’t necessarily a masterpiece, but as a video game, it is the best representation of the film trilogy in that format, even when it’s actually a follow-up to the last film (in other words, this is pretty much ‘Back to the Future Part IV’). Because Telltale was assisted by one of the film series’ writers, the game really feels like you’re in the ‘Back to the Future’ universe, thanks in part to the return of Christopher Lloyd to the role of Doc and A.J. Locascio’s dead-on impression of Michael J. Fox in the role of Marty among other things. The game itself isn’t particularly hard but at the same time, the main story is compelling enough to keep you entertained even if it only takes about two to three hours to complete each of the five episodes. If you’re a fan of the franchise, then this is an obvious must-buy and I guarantee that you will enjoy this game very much. Even if you’re not a fan, I’d still recommend it. Movie-licensed games usually tend to suck, but in the end, this is one of the best games of that genre.

Final Rating: 4.5/5

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