"Citizen Brown" REVIEW thread
All right guys, here's the obligatory review thread for episode 3. Have at it.
"It's About Time" REVIEW thread
"Get Tannen!" REVIEW thread
"It's About Time" REVIEW thread
"Get Tannen!" REVIEW thread
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Comments
Story has become pretty great, especially after a long build-up. The tension is easy to be felt by the end of the episode, and that DAMN cliffhanger was just UNHOLY.
Puzzles... still lack complexity, but the system of solving puzzles is broken by itself as there aren't really much hotspots and inventory items to begin with. It's a popcorn game/movie/something and I believe it's what Telltale aims to accomplish. Still I felt like puzzles in this episode were twice as stronger than the first two episodes combined. Guitar duel was good and actually fun to play, Biff "fight" scene is again not that convoluted but it's something different (as it's based on timed events rather than Biff waiting for you to do your move) which I would call a "gimmick", but still, it felt more like a game. What I realized in this episode is that the only thing making the puzzles actually hard to figure out is the LACK of hotspots. Sometimes what you think is not implemented in the game and if you think about it too much, chances are you completely disregarding the very obscure hints given by the game. See, you could make use of this psychology. A witty puzzlewriting is to give the illusion of having many options but only having one straight way. There are many ways to do it, by still retaining the main structure of the puzzle. For example, not everyone is able to get that you have to use the spray can on the plank in the first glance, but why limiting it to be used in only one screen of the game to make it easy? There are many other options of using the spray can to make Einie leave a trail, such as spraying it anywhere else he passes by, but it's not established why we can't do it anywhere else other than on the plank, because that's the only hotspot we can use it on. Or you could try making the player think hotdog is the way to catch Einie, but no. Playing around with player would be the most entertaining thing to do when you're a game designer, and besides, player wants to be played around in this case. I mean, design a puzzle but also set misleading traps, like reading your players' minds! That would increase the gameplay time, I'm pretty sure.
Characters felt more alive in this episode, except for one mayhaps, that being Jennifer. At first I wasn't sure with Jennifer's voice (weird enough, she's voiced by her real actress) but she sounded perfect as I got used to it. I like how Lorraine and George sounds, too. What's better than their sounds is that their characteristics, except Jen. She's nothing like the girl we knew from movies, her character shifted more than other characters but it wasn't that much of a bad contrast. It is also true that original Jennifer didn't really have much characterization to begin with, so anything is an improvement. Actually, including Jennifer, all characters are executed so well and this episode all characters have a handful of lines. For the first time I had that significant BTTF feel by the slight characteristic shifts of the characters. All were subtle and believable. This episode also had 3 villains, a record for any Telltale game or episode perhaps; Leech, Biff and Edna. All three were wonderful and actually put Marty to danger or distress by less brutal means (save for Biff but he's doing what he does best) which was great. And AJ, I see you're on forums atm, I hope you're reading this, you're as awesome as ever. Keep rockin 'n rolling man.
Environment was a great touch. At first I was thinking of HOW boring it would be to play in Hill Valley, again, NOW full of cement; but it actually looks a lot larger -despite the fact that there are probably less scenery than the previous episodes.
Animation; I still have a beef with it. At least put a good animation sequence in the last episode, like how you guys did with Hugh Bliss right before the final confrontation. He looked so lively and all.
I actually liked this episode, liked it a lot for the pace of the story, and I believe getting used to the crap factor of the first two episodes helped me make that decision. I'm now not expecting much but to see a great storyline and I guess at least I'm getting it.
Nice touch =P
They also had a Dukes Of Hazzard reference aswell, When marty was stuck in the billboard Jennifer said "Which one are you, Bo or Luke?" I thought that was a good laugh.
Needless to say I can't wait to see the next part. It can't come soon enough. Keep up the great work.
And also, the method through which they brainwash people is clearly a nod to A Clockwork Orange - making people feel physically ill when they consider criminal actions. That and the shot of Doc with his eyes clamped open as he undergoes the "procedure" are definitely nods to that film.
To me this wasnt BTTF at all. Started out okay with marty making cracks about Mr. Fusion being under warranty and referencing 2015. We do get to see all our characters who would be alive in 1986 under different cirumstances (other than Needles whom they had copyright issues with and Marty whom is normal) but NO time travel? It was basically the anti-biffhoric timeline; instead of a dangerous hill valley, it seemed far too similar to the future in demolition man; credit fines for everything and emmet brown and edna basically as raymond cocteaus character split (emmet the good site, edna the evil side). It was basically just an exploration of the town and very little references to the previous films/episodes aside from some 1931 references and the 2015 reference mentioned above.
Now the ending was good, pretty much from the part marty lands in the decycling underground lair and having to battle edna and biff and emmet finding out the truth so at least I have hope for the next episode although I'm already sick of the FCB 1986 and hope that most of that we get whisked back to 1931 fairly quickly.
But I remember after playing episode 2, i was excited to see walkthroughs on youtube to see what i missed. I've watched both the first 2 episodes after playing but have little interest seeing this one again.
So yeah honestly the only parts i liked were the meeting with doc in his office and the underground part. The town square parts and mcfly garage parts were awfully boring and I didn't care for them. It was mildly ammusing seeing a wussified biff but overall this was easily the worst episode of the 3 so far for me.
Dave: Marc McClure who also played Jimmy Olsen in the Superman movies
Linda: Wendy Jo Sperber who was in Bosom Buddies
Bravo to the writing team.
Also late in the game, edna makes a reference to "Mr. Wilson" with Biff around and marty says biff isn't much for humour (Thomas F Wilson is primarily a comedian)
Running around this bizarre Hill Valley gave me that feeling of seeing Marty running
around the 2015 Hill Valley in the movie.
And I really liked Claudia Wells' voice acting. Wouldn't mind hearing more of her in future TellTale games.
The guitar Battle was fun, I really like that sort of puzzle.
Finally seeing Lorraine was great too, was about time.
And I wanted to like young and old Edna in 1 & 2, but that is pretty much over.
That witch needs to get hers, and soon.
Don't forget the Tron Reference where Marty Checks the Floppy Disks and says "Greetings Programs"
I enjoyed this episode far more than the last. It's nice to be out of 1931. It is also nice to see more of the main cast besides Marty, Doc and Biff. The character animations were much more solid than the last; Marty look better while running in this one. I also think the guitar puzzle was my favorite, it wasn't too difficult but was fun to do nevertheless. Even though we knew what the characters' roles would be and who would be the villain, it was fun to watch unfold. The story kept me hooked through the end. I am more excited for the next than before.
The episode was short, but that's with all Telltale games. I usually play episodes aggressively anyway.
There were a few graphical hitches such as the paint can disappearing and a floating guitar, but those are more minor things this time. Also, the town felt empty. It seemed like George was listening to ghosts on his monitors.
There was a lot of dialogue in this one, mostly about asking every person in town about everyone else in town plus the Citizen Rules. I do feel like I watched more than played but it was enjoyable for an interactive movie.
All in all, I enjoyed this a lot and definitely feel more satisfied with the season than before.
I just didn't find the episode as enjoyable as previous installments, as it seemed to lose that sense of "fun" the Back to the Future movies and the last two games had. It was also reliant on what's becoming an increasingly annoying Telltale formula: "do 3 things, move the plot forward, do another 1-3 things, final confrontation, ending". The lack of time travel hurt as well. And yeah, that cliffhanger is evil, not only because it occurs right at the point where I actually wanted to keep moving the plot forward but because it also means we have to spend a portion of the next game as well in this boring alternate universe. And yay, we get to return to 1931 AGAIN in the next episode, thus saving Telltale again from having to make new environments since we'll have used the same ones for (at least) 3 episodes now.
And I really enjoyed getting to see Jennifer in this episode rather than have Marty just mention her in passing, like in "Get Tannen".
The only complaint I have (and I'm sure my fellow hardcore BTTF fans noticed this straight away) is the glaring presence of the paradox plot hole. Really, the writers should have known better. But I'm willing to dismiss that as nothing more than a minor slip-up.
I LOVED this episode (finished it in 2 hours!). Now, to wait a whole month for the next installment. >_<
You're referring to the existence of the Journal, right? Yeah, that bugged me as well, though I will give the writing team credit that the game notes that the journal is mostly blank. I'm kind of kicking myself that I never noticed the symbolic similarity with that journal entry until the game itself points it out.
There's also a Pink Floyd reference. WHen you go behind the soup kitchen you'll see that the door to the old speakeasy is bricked shut. One of the bricks is off color, click on it and Marty will say "Just another brick in the wall."
And Jennifer, omg.. she is a hoot! Looks like a rebel younger version of Trixie. The comedy and comments are hilarious through out the game as well. This would make a very good part IV movie with how the chapters of this game are being played out if there ever was a chance to have a part IV. Over all I still give it a 10/10.
The only thing though I would have done if I were in Marty's place when he knocked Biff out with the table was to take the watch off. It could still be reprogramed and Biff be turned back into the 'zombie' doing Edna's bidding. Would bide marty some more time.
Just glad to get to play this before getting my torn shoulder repaired soon. Looking forward to the next installment. Will most likely be playing these from the begining to the end of part 3. And poor Doc at the end... I hope Einstein bites Edna on the .... xD
Read the hints it gives you, it tells you exactly how to do it. And you're right this is a review thread, not a tips thread.
I had to use the hints a couple of time.
The story is definitely awesome, and much more than the first and second episodes this one feels like a movie. Not just in plot.
I can barely recall any puzzles. The few that were there were simple and tedious for the most part, and there was WAY too much exposition for the amount of puzzles. Saying that this game lasts about 3 hours is an overstatement, because the actual gameplay value is around about 1 hour. The rest of it is walking from one side of Hill Valley to the other and listening to all the talking. All the exposition makes the game feel more like an interactive movie, when what people want is a game that can serve as a replacement for a movie, and this spreads the "fun" too thinly.
On that note, however, the dialogue itself is interesting, and is acted much better than the previous two episodes, and Marty's voice is getting better all the time.
Jennifer was a great character, and the different personalities of all of the characters really made it feel surreal, which was discomforting and enjoyable at the same time.
Unfortunately, the game was lacking in the sound department this time around, especially during the Guitar Fight puzzle (which, by the way, was WAY too easy and poorly animated) and this was very disappointing for me as the music in Telltale's games are usually the one shiny part of the statue, even if the rest is covered in pigeon poop. But it just wasn't there this time.
The cliffhanger at the end of the game is pure cruelty, and Telltale have really make me itching for the next episode, something that they are getting better at as the quality of the season improves.
All in all, the concept for this episode is sound, with well defined characters and a good story. I would like to see an improvement in puzzle design (an overall failure for Telltale in this season) and in the animation of the characters, and even though the game was a bit thin at times, it was still riveting throughout and I definitely enjoyed the game; which, really, is the most important thing to consider.
Especially when compared to the other episodes of BttF: The Game so far, this episode is great, and I don't hesitate to rate it an 8.5 out of 10.
UPDATE: It's on Cultural Zest now. http://www.culturalzest.com/2011/03/29/cbr/
Then after a while I set my brains to the "right mode" and the game just flew by me and in less than 2hrs I was through wondering that was that all?
It was short and nothing like the first two episodes. Not meaning it was bad - it just felt totally different maybe because the DeLoarean was wrecked and the lack of precense of Doc for the most time. Still, you get the hang of what you're trying to accomplish very quickly and you get hints about how to do it so clearly that you feel like they were just handed to you and then it ends :eek:
Maybe it's because you don't have so many places to go and don't need to waste time running around.
I think I should play it again now after a good nights sleep, I was quite a zombie in the morning when I played it... ->
First of all, exploring the Citizen Brown version of Hill Valley was great. It was nice having a new setting after two full episodes of 1931, which I think has outlived its interestingness. (I'm kind of sad it seems we'll be going back to 1931 next episode.)
Story was great. I always liked seeing the Biffworld timeline in BttF2, so you could see just how bad the consequences of messing with history can get, so a full episode of that was fun. I like how they set up First Citizen Brown to be this cold dictator only for it to turn out he's still the Doc we all know and love, just under different circumstances. I was genuinely moved when Marty told Doc about what his life is like in the normal timeline, as well as when he realized his symbol was a flux capacitor the whole time. And the cliffhanger was just brutal.
Characters just get better and better. It was great seeing an alternate take on Jennifer (with Claudia Wells returning as her, no less) as well as Lorraine finally appearing on-screen. Biff and George have been developing (and congratulations, Telltale, for actually making me feel sorry for Biff Tannen), and their voice actors seem to be sounding more like the characters in question.
Of course, there's still one part that BttF continues to fumble on, the puzzles. Like an earlier poster said, a good adventure game should mislead the player and present all these possibilities when there's only one right choice. Not only does it make the game more challenging, but it gives the player an extra incentive to explore, maybe do a second play-through where they just mess around and try combinations they know won't help just to hear some dialogue. BttF doesn't like giving you wrong answers. If something is clickable, there's an 80% chance it's going to be part of a puzzle. The spray paint is a good example. You can only use it in one area, and the plank is the only thing you can use it on. Obviously you need to use it on the plank.
Or how about the confrontation with Biff at the end? There are literally only three things you can click on: Einstein, the records, and the panic button. And as it happens, all three of those are necessary to solve the puzzle. There's no sense of open-endedness. They could've, just for a random example, had an extra case of beer under the table next to the records. Click the beer, and Marty will try to offer Biff a bottle to calm him down, only for Biff to ignore it. Turns out the beer was a red herring and you'll need another solution. An adventure game should make the player think about the right answer, not more or less tell them the right answer.
I also don't like how superfluous Marty's inventory seems to be. Just about everything you can take is a single-use item, meant to solve one puzzle and then never do anything again. The Devil's Playhouse was fairly light on inventory puzzles too, but that's because we had the Toys of Power, which amounted to a second, more-fun-to-experiment-with inventory. Here there's just no excuse.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there was the guitar puzzle, which was challenging in a bad way. It was clear what you needed to do, but how to do it was fairly tricky, and you have a limited amount of time to pull it off (I think like after three moves Leech cuts your cord?). That's not so bad, but what was bad is that if you failed the puzzle you need to hear all this opening dialogue (and, if you fail again, more of Leech taunting you) all over again. This isn't Telltale's first puzzle that it's possible to fail, but earlier ones would cut to the chase if you kept messing up. For example, trying to beat Bugeye in a face contest in the third episode of Tales of Monkey Island. It's been a while since I played that and my memory might be a bit fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure that if you kept failing the puzzle the opening dialogue would eventually go away and cut straight to making faces. Or trying to draft Coach Z in the second episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. Keep messing up? Next time you try Homestar will quit talking and just spin the wheel. But no, here we need to listen to Leech every time.
All in all, though, I liked it. I'd call it better than Episode 2, which was in turn better than Episode 1. I hope the quality continues to improve with each episode.
This episode, despite the lack of "classic adventure puzzles", was just brilliant. The narrative seemed tenser, I almost felt a bit of time pressure, although there certainly wasn't any. I really liked the return of Jennifer and Lorraine. But the ultimate highlight of this episode is undoubtedly Citizen Brown's office. The design on the huge clock mechanism in the background was just brilliant. Kudos to the guy(s) or gal(s) who designed that.
Again, despite the (way too) easy difficulty of the game, this one is a clear winner. Sure, the Orwellian dystopia may be already a strong theme in itself that is easy to score off, nevertheless it was very well executed - including Sheriff Parker and the thugs. Also, I loved that one over-the-shoulder camera angle during the last fight with Biff, great stuff!
Can't wait for the next one!
A glitch I found, when you return to the Back Alley after finding out Biff beat up George (you have to cancel the conversation with him - or possibly go back after he jumped down the decycling bin) you see a flying spray can, acting as if Jennifer was still holding and using it
and I think Jennifer's new look it sexy :DDDD
Overall this episode was alright...I just didn't like the ending,didn't seem as epic as the last two episodes endings..
As for the episode. I think it was the best one so far.
I liked the fact that there were so many of the familiar characters appearing constantly, and that they all contributed to the story. There was also lots of dialog with them.
I think Edna makes a great villian. And she reminds me a lot of a teacher i had in primary school... really creeped me out. *shudder*
The story was really suspenseful. And I like this timeline ... as in the story about it, finding out about it.
Im glad they didnt timetravel in this episode. I liked having a goal to accomplish that took some work, and not getting it so fast and then end up constantly jumping back and forth.
Best post in the topic! I thought the dialogus were over drawn out. It took far too much dialogue to get the point across; Emmet and Edna wussified hill valley. I have hope for the next game, while 90% of the setting was boring here, the underground lair part and docs office were the best parts. Although Jennifer is needed as well so it looks like marty will need to venture back into the boring hill valley. I'm definitely rooting to get back to 1931 as quickly as possible (ironic that i'm sayng that, after episode 2 i felt we were spending far too much time there but now i just want to get away from this 1986).
And yes i get that parts I and III of the trilogy only had 2 time travels but part I showed 2 different time periods (3 if you count both versions of 1985) and part III showed 3. This episode had no time travel and only one timeline and a boring alternate one at that. I'd rather it were the biffhoric one. This one got awfully stale real quick.
They were mentioned in the first episode, during Marty's conversation with Doc at the prison. Doc mentions both he and Clara are picking out which college/timeline to send their sons.
It is true the game is more of an interactive movie now, but if you acknowledge that, having many lines by Chris Lloyd, AJ or Claudia isn't really a bad thing. At least, it's not to be appreciated by EVERYONE, perhaps.
I'd like to remind you that it's only natural for only one episode to show you one timeline (or two, like in Get Tannen and presumably Double Visions) because you're expected to take all the episodes as one big plotline. We're halfway through the entire game and Marty already travelled through time FIVE times; more than he did in any movie.
Actually, even in the second movie he only travelled three times. All in all, Marty makes seven trips in the entire trilogy.
I wonder if he'll top that in the game.
Yeah, I was lazy to count/remember there...
Seems like he's going to top that. I also suspect a fail-retry puzzle that may require the player to travel through time in the final episode, so the count may end up being vague.
Despite the lack of action in this episode, I loved the bizarro hill valley and the story was very interesting. I enjoyed talking with the characters but I was hoping for a little more action after waiting for a whole month. But the people over at TTG are doing a wonderful job at staying loyal to the original movies. Think about it people, these series could've been a lot worse in the hands of others.
With that being said, I would have to say that I agree that this is the best episode mainly because in comparison with the other ones, I was more into this story. I did expect Edna to be the villain after the end of episode 2 but the way she was played out was great and the ending was painful for me because I now have to wait for episode 4 and see the resolution. It's a mark of a good storyteller though that each episode has a cliffhanger.
I'm glad to see Jennifer written in a new way rather than having her role in the movies to be dead weight. At least we'll see more next time so that's a bonus.
Like everyone mentioned here the puzzles. I also struggled with the fact that I wouldn't have guessed that I would spray the plank to get dog tracks. Although each episode I played always had a puzzle that would stump me which would result in me having to get all the hints. For example, episode 1 it was the Tape Recorder and episode 2 was the picture of Arthur using George's photo. Plus, I do find it a little far fetched that the wheel of the Delorean can be connected to a battery but it was still fun.
Overall it was probably the best. I liked the characters and the timeline and I can't wait for the next one now.