Being a huge Back to the Future fan, needless to say I was stoked to have the opportunity to review the gamer version of one of my favorite movies from my childhood. I am as hesitant as you can get when it comes to licensed products. With in the first five minutes of the game I was pretty upset to see that the game actually takes a complete different story than the original films.
It took me all of about two minutes to figure out that when Telltale games decided to go with an alternate story, it was simply the best choice that could have been made. The story that the game tells feels strangely familiar, but at the same time feels completely new. It’s an odd situation with a game to make you feel like you know the story, but clearly you are going down a new road, but the game still makes you feel comfortable. The idea that you know all the characters and seeing them in the same familiar environments is just a heart warming feeling.
When you get into the new story of the game you find that when Doc was running the first field test on the Delorean things go bad and Doc and his beloved Einstein are sent back in time where Doc is imprisoned in the prohibition era. It’s nice to be able to see and play through time period that feels like it should have been in the original movie. To walk through Hill Valley in the 1930’s is just simply a treat. As far as game play goes, there was no loss of attention there either.
There are sure signs that the game is a Telltale game because it feels like yo’re playing an adventure game the whole time. Well, the obvious is that it is an adventure, but if you’ve ever played a Telltale game before you know what type of game play I’m speaking of. Not really as far as the kind of stretching for gags like in something like Monkey Island. The puzzle solving is not too hard and the game is obviously made for more of a casual audience. The issue does not effect the game play or the over all experience at all. This being the first episode, in the series. I’m not a huge fan of episodic releases, but this is shaping up to be something special to look forward too.
