Already completed episode one and I have to say that telltale did an awesome job with the storyline. I liked how you had to sort out for clues and talk to people in the game too. I won't mind though that in one of the episodes you get too drive the Delorean.
Overall it was great, and I'm used to the Telltale storytelling structure. There were a couple of glitches:
- minor lines where the characters mutely said something that was supposed to be dialogue.
- birds chirping amid the closing credits was weird.
Those were minor though and didn't interfere with completion of the chapter. One caveat, the old Sam and Max click-navigation works much better than the Monkey Island drag-navigation; a little disappointed to see the latter here.
Kid Tannen stepping in Manure........after a trolley passes that same exact spot and no horse passes? or hitting the manure truck in the middle of large field??? Really?
You noticed those too, huh? I guess they came from the same place as Marty's 1931 clothes.
....I just played a game with damn near zero actual gameplay time. The closest thing to an actual puzzle was midway through(the alcohol puzzle). Everything else more or less played itself, and I was often left wondering "Why did I even have to take control of Marty for that one?" This is something of a new low for Telltale from a puzzle design standpoint. I truly, honestly feel actively insulted by this game, I feel like it is looking down on me and treating me like a 10 year-old child. Its assuming I'm stupid and talking to me as though it's worried that if I have to put more than two thoughts together at the same time, I might get a headache.
Maybe they should open a CGI movie studio instead.
Ouch. I hope that telltale comes out with some more difficult adventure games sometime in the future. Monkey island 2 seemed like a difficult one to me which is where I want my level of game. Maybe it only seemed that difficult because I was 9 when I played it...
Eh, it's all part of one large storyline -- some eps are more complicated than others, since the episodes cut off where it naturally makes for good storytelling. I'd rather have Telltale Games than Equally-Parsed Out Difficulty Per Episode Games.
If you think gameplay in a game is a "distraction" or a "chore", then why are you playing games? Stop that. You're destroying an entire industry. I don't buy knives and then complain that they're sharp and cut things.
You know, it's one thing to act like complaints about puzzle difficulty or game length (or number of locations) are anything new in regards to Telltale games. Considering that every single series TTG has ever released has seen these complaints, and people who should know better insist on acting like they have no idea what types of games TTG makes. And they're shocked and disappointed and swear they're never going to play another one until the next series, when they come back and repeat the whole process.
It's something else entirely to try and shout down anybody who disagrees with you.
How about you give everybody on the board a chance to say his piece?
Edited: Before anybody gets all up in arms: remember that I no longer work for or represent Telltale, even though my forum name indicates otherwise.
I'm probably going to spend some time pondering over whether or not this post is entirely fair, but I'm going to react with the way I see it(if that's okay).
You know, it's one thing to act like complaints about puzzle difficulty or game length (or number of locations) are anything new in regards to Telltale games. Considering that every single series TTG has ever released has seen these complaints, and people who should know better insist on acting like they have no idea what types of games TTG makes. And they're shocked and disappointed and swear they're never going to play another one until the next series, when they come back and repeat the whole process.
See, right there, I think is already a softer-spoken but no less actual example of what you just railed against. Passive-aggressive rather than aggressive. Both somehow denigrating the viewpoint with which there's a disagreement. You can't say that the above paragraph wasn't meant to take the opposite viewpoint and invalidate it. The segments "should know better", "have no idea, and of course "come back and repeat the whole process", insinuating that the whole thing is an endless cycle of parenial COMPLAINING that amounts to little more than whines and bluster. The only difference, then, between your post and mine(and don't take this as a direct insult, more an appeal on my behalf) is that mine is more honest about its approach.
It's something else entirely to try and shout down anybody who disagrees with you.
How about you give everybody on the board a chance to say his piece?
I don't believe that I, personally, have the ability to shut anyone down.
Perhaps the sheer biting edge of my comments is somewhat too harsh and should be curbed, but I feel that for the ideals of honest debate and engaging conversation that people with separate opinions should be allowed to produce rebuttals. I think that a conversation isn't a list of opinions and viewpoints, each one equally valid and free from being subject to criticism when the logic doesn't work. And when someone says that the gameplay part of a game is only a distraction or only a chore that you have to slog through to get to the video part, then maybe they should not be playing games, because the resulting product becomes something less than a game or a movie. When games are boiled down so that everyone can go through thoughtlessly and without effort or skill, you end up with a movie that simply has a big, annoying UI that just wastes hours of your time. Rather than engage the player with having them do something, the end product of this approach leaves the player looking back at the hours of time they spent in the world wondering "What exactly did I just do?" And of course the answer is unsatisfactory: They pushed buttons mindlessly for hours, accomplishing nothing and having any narrative flow being ruined by gameplay bits that have no depth or truly engaging interactive value. Games are meant to be played, not watched. I think you mentioned something like this on your blog(excellent write-up, by the way).
I really like it! In my opinion it perfectly catches the feeling of the movies. It was just wonderful and heartwarming of sorts to see two of my favourite characters at it again. ANd then the time period they act in. 1931 is a perfect place.
However there IS some stuff I'd like to pint out:
The translator for the german version should be seriously in trouble. When the goon behind the soup kitchen's bar talks about the spice rack he mentions in the german subtitles, that they weren't updated since WWII...
...
1931 and WWII...
...
I leave that to you guys do think over it.
And then, I don't know if this is a general problem, but the lip sync is waaaaaaay off sometimes. I thought that maybe it does that, because I installed it on a german system, and the game instantly uses the lip sync for the german audio. Which leads to my final complaint: I had hoped to experience the game in it's entirety in english. I love the movies' german dubbing, but I prefer english. But there is no option to change the Text-language to english. I am certain, that the english text is in the file I downloaded, but why can't I access it. If there's a way please tell me about it.
SInce 1990, I've been waiting for a sequel to BTTF. But after Michael J. Fox's disease, my hopes were vanished... till now.
The most amazing thing about the game can be summarized in a Biff's quote: "There's something very familiar about this". I always loved how the movies used to repeat the same jokes over and over again, in different places and moments. That's what the game does: it recreates a lot of special moments from the movies, and integrates them once again, in a marvellous way.
It's an easy game. I barely had to look at the official walkthough - and it's such a good thing, because adventure games can be a pain in the ass, sometimes full of repetition... But not this one. It can be easily played in 4 hours or less, making it a joyful experience.
January is gonna be a loooooooong month, till February brings to us the second episode! See you all in the future!
Hey guys,
I was pleasantly surprised after being really nervous about the game for a long time now - if this is any indication of the quality of whats to come I think we are all in for a really fun and complete adventure.
I really liked your review, I agree on most of it.
The only mistake that you made is when you stated that all the episodes are ready... well... they're not.
Telltale makes the episodes month by month and in this way they can check the feedback on the forum and in the reviews in order to improve them.
In previous Telltale titles they made changes to the games due to feedbacks, advices and reviews.
And I know that you don't like episodic gaming, but if the game would come out all in once this BTTF experience would last 15 hours, in this way it lasts 5 months. It's like watching a tv series, you can't watch the episodes all in once if they haven't come out yet
I'm probably going to spend some time pondering over whether or not this post is entirely fair, but I'm going to react with the way I see it(if that's okay).
See, right there, I think is already a softer-spoken but no less actual example of what you just railed against. Passive-aggressive rather than aggressive. Both somehow denigrating the viewpoint with which there's a disagreement. You can't say that the above paragraph wasn't meant to take the opposite viewpoint and invalidate it. The segments "should know better", "have no idea, and of course "come back and repeat the whole process", insinuating that the whole thing is an endless cycle of parenial COMPLAINING that amounts to little more than whines and bluster. The only difference, then, between your post and mine(and don't take this as a direct insult, more an appeal on my behalf) is that mine is more honest about its approach.
I don't believe that I, personally, have the ability to shut anyone down.
Perhaps the sheer biting edge of my comments is somewhat too harsh and should be curbed, but I feel that for the ideals of honest debate and engaging conversation that people with separate opinions should be allowed to produce rebuttals. I think that a conversation isn't a list of opinions and viewpoints, each one equally valid and free from being subject to criticism when the logic doesn't work. And when someone says that the gameplay part of a game is only a distraction or only a chore that you have to slog through to get to the video part, then maybe they should not be playing games, because the resulting product becomes something less than a game or a movie. When games are boiled down so that everyone can go through thoughtlessly and without effort or skill, you end up with a movie that simply has a big, annoying UI that just wastes hours of your time. Rather than engage the player with having them do something, the end product of this approach leaves the player looking back at the hours of time they spent in the world wondering "What exactly did I just do?" And of course the answer is unsatisfactory: They pushed buttons mindlessly for hours, accomplishing nothing and having any narrative flow being ruined by gameplay bits that have no depth or truly engaging interactive value. Games are meant to be played, not watched. I think you mentioned something like this on your blog(excellent write-up, by the way).
Just because the game wasn't particularly challenging, doesn't mean its interactivity was an entirely empty experience. It is fun to talk to people and to exhaust all possible dialogue options. It is fun to explore the environments, to look at every piece of scenery, and to catch every little joke and reference. It is fun to try out all the red herrings and false solutions before finally giving in and doing the obvious real solution. And even though all the puzzles were extremely easy, I never felt like the game was just telling me what to do. The game doesn't just simply tell you
to knock the gun out of Kid Tannen's hand with the hub cab
or
to record his voice in order to coax Artie down from his apartment
or
that propping the door open would prevent the barrels from rolling away
. The solutions to all these puzzles were all pretty obvious, but they also felt like clever things to do, and they weren't simply a matter of mindlessly clicking on something in order to make the game proceed. I really enjoyed the game. The dialogue and story were all really cleverly written, and the gameplay felt fun despite how easy it was. Maybe it would have been better if it was a more difficult old school adventure game or if it was just a short animated film, but I like it enough for what it is. I understand your frustration with the game, but I just wasn't as bothered by its faults as you. I don't think anyone really disagrees with you that the game was really easy and that it should have been harder, but most of us simply weren't as bothered by this fact as you were.
From the amount of posts asking what to do, you can see TellTale were right in making this game more accessible for adventure game newbs. They should have put in two or more difficulty settings so more experienced gamers can still enjoy the game without feeling their hand's being held throughout.
I thought it was excellent - I'm a frankly scarily huge fan of the films, and I'm also just as scarily huge a fan of old-school adventure games - but the BTTF game trailer really had me worried about whether they were going to get it right. I've just played through Episode 1 and it was much, much better than I could have hoped. The style, the writing, and the acting were all fantastic - to the point where it really made you feel for the most part like you were playing an unwritten chapter of the film series - married to some great classic adventure gaming. To be honest, my only major gripe with it was the
soup kitchen puzzle,
which was just badly designed, and frustrating to the point where I felt that it let the rest of the game down quite badly.
The way that there were so many little elements that just had to 'happen' for the circumstances of the puzzle to work was a poor decision. I spent ages waiting around, going over and over the same information until I finally managed to trigger the cut scene of the guy banging the pipes... But by that point the puzzle had ruined the atmosphere that the game had worked so hard to build up.
The only other things that jarred a bit for me was the explanation of the new delorian was eye-rollingly bad, and that the rocket-powered bicycle was just a bit too much of a cartoony idea to really fit in with the BTTF universe comfortably, which is often fantastical, but still has it's own level of realism.
Apart from that, great work Telltale, looking forward to you building on it for the forthcoming chapters!
I loved it. 8.5 out of 10. If all the bugs are fixed, it's a 9.
(The whole series gets a 10 if Judge Brown turns out to be bald, thereby making 1955 Doc's line in the first movie about still having hair in 1985 even funnier.)
Also, is there any way to tell Doc about
your dream
this episode? I didn't encounter it and didn't know if I missed it.
Great game, scenes, voices, cinematics. My only suggestion is to up the difficulty of the puzzles. A Sam and Max season 1 and 2 level would be great. I like my puzzles to be more challenging.
I haven't been able to play it yet, but I watched a YouTube walkthrough video and the game looks freakin' amazing! The animations are so well done it's amazing. I love how far Telltale has come.
My only complaint though is the following: During the chase with Kid, instead of making that a cutscene, make it an interactive cutscene! Just like in Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy, maybe even imitating that "memo" system. That would be awesome.
Oh, and a special congratulation to Jared for the music! I love not only the fact that he stayed so true to Silvestri, but also how he mixed some real recordings into the rest of the soundtrack. That was brilliant.
Heh, that IGN review said that the music was pulled from the movies.....sigh.
There are two moments when the film score is used -- the first time Marty time travels is a very heavy edit of the main theme, and the logo title card of course uses it as well, so they're a little bit right -- but otherwise it's all new stuff by Jared. Obviously heavily referential to the sounds of Silvestri's film scores, but it's all original composition, performance, arrangements by Jared.
That's a minus to their research part (or 'watch the credits' part), but agree that when one thinks the music is from the movies it IS a compliment?
Given that not only did the game music have to be timed differently and reflect some different moods tan were available in the film score, but also had to be built in loops which could blend between each other and meet other technical requirements and limitations, seeing someone come out of the game thinking we somehow magically and transparently did that with the actual films' score is definitely a compliment, i think.
I am consistently wowed by Jared's ability to do shit like this. Wallace and Gromit's score was also like that, where it felt ripped right from the shorts, and his original work on the Sam and Max games is highly creative, dynamic, and always-fitting. Of all the people who work with Telltale, his contribution to the entire catalog is probably the most consistently awe-inspiring.
I am consistently wowed by Jared's ability to do shit like this. Wallace and Gromit's score was also like that, where it felt ripped right from the shorts, and his original work on the Sam and Max games is highly creative, dynamic, and always-fitting. Of all the people who work with Telltale, his contribution to the entire catalog is probably the most consistently awe-inspiring.
I'm probably biased due to being friends with him since we were 13, but yeah his ability to write music like the crazy Sam & Max stuff, then to walk over and fully blend into a musically strong license always blows me away. One of the first things he did was co-write some of the soundtrack to Indiana Jones and the Emperors Tomb with Clint Bajakian and I've always liked this cue.
...
Anyway! Back to your regularly scheduled BTTF impressions and reviews thread!
I'm probably biased due to being friends with him since we were 13, but yeah his ability to write music like the crazy Sam & Max stuff, then to walk over and fully blend into a musically strong license always blows me away. One of the first things he did was co-write some of the soundtrack to Indiana Jones and the Emperors Tomb with Clint Bajakian and I've always liked this cue.
...
Anyway! Back to your regularly scheduled BTTF impressions and reviews thread!
You're not making the absence of a TTG Indiana Jones series easier for me to digest when you're posting awesome Indiana Jared-music, man. Out of all the possible licenses Telltale could have, Indiana Jones would still make me the happiest.
Anyway, BttF was pretty great. I agree with all the guys complaining about the lack of difficulty (normally not much of an issue with me, but it's been happening just a bit too much with TTG episodes lately), but enough has been said about that already. Talking with Doc made me way happier than I thought it would. Young Doc is pretty much my favorite character, and I hope (and assume) we get to see a bit more of him in future episodes.
Favorite scenes: The last scene between Young Doc and Marty, Young Doc playing games with Einstein and that intro. That was a really clever way to introduce Doc (and why he's so important to Marty) to the game series, especially if you consider that the first time you meet the actual guy in the game he's behind bars and in his weird 30s clothes. Good stuff, good stuff. Can't wait for the second episode.
While I did find that the game was easy, I didn't really feel it was as much of a flaw as other people did, mainly because it's barely the first episode and I expect the difficulty to steadily rise as the series goes on. Plus, it's good to be accessible towards BttF fans who might have never played an adventure game instead of scaring them away with challenging puzzles right from the start.
That said, I do hope Get Tannen is at least a bit more challenging.
1. Great Game... I don't play adventure games much - at all actually - and I found the game to be quite pleasant. I know a lot of you guys are experts at adventure genre games hence why I am reading alot of complaints on how easy it was. Let me just say, it wasn't soo easy for the newbie and did its part to keep my thoroughly engaged.
2. Wanted to tell you someone already posted the whole game sequence up on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihKoPA1l3H8 . its just under an hour. Not bad considering we will be getting 4 more installments so overall I feel quite happy with this purchase.
3. The main reason for this post. Quick question.. i dunno if it is me or when Emmet is saying "H to 'A' multiplied by the inverse of 'A'" "H to 'A' multiplied by the inverse of 'A'" -- Jayz's song came up in my head - H to the Izzo - you guys think it was an intended reference or just coincidence?
Loved the story, voice-acting, soundtrack, dialog and humor, but also found it to be way too easy and a bit too short compared to other telltale-adventure-game-episodes.
- Loved it. I paced myself (didn't speed through it in one sitting) so it kinda made it feel longer than it really is. Even then, everything about it was a complete delight.
- I actually grew to like Marty a little. As blasphemous as this sounds, I never really liked Marty all that much (no slight to Michael J Fox, mind you) but he was pretty neat in the game.
- Awwh, Emmet. =(
- The ending made me "=O" February can't get here soon enough!
Back to the Future has been part of me since I first saw it when I was two. It helped form the basis of my childhood and has been a key element in numerous experiences in my life.
So I have to say I was really looking forward to this. And I was not disappointed.
The opening was amusing, a nice way to throw us off. It kept going from there, with nice references to the movies while simultaneously throwing its own spin on things. A few issues though.
1. First, as noted, the explanation for the duplicate DeLorean is just awful. I was laughing and immediately thinking of the term Voodoo Shark from TVTropes. What perhaps should have been done is simply had Doc say he built a new DeLorean time machine--since no other model of car met his specific requirements--in order to travel around a little more discreetly since the Train--which I noticed was not mentioned at all, which surprises me--would probably stand out in a lot of places. (Unless TellTale decides he goes the route of holographic disguises that so many fanfiction writers go with, particularly Mary Jean Holmes.)
2. A few of the puzzles had me completely stumped as to what to do, primarily the barrels and getting the keys in the truck. Mind, it wasn't not knowing what to do--I knew what I had to do--I just couldn't figure out how to do it. And a couple scenes seemed a little awkward to fit in like Kid Tannen shooting at Marty, but that's standard adventure game parlance and I'm willing to suspend my minor disbelief at such things.
3. Rocket bike is no, and I felt the manure truck was a bit too convenient. Don't get me wrong, I like the references, but there's references and then there's overdoing a joke. (Even running gags need fresh twists. Just a bit of food for thought.)
All in all though, it was quite interesting, and I'm eager to see how things proceed. Seems we'll be sticking to 1931 a little longer than I might have thought, and I have a few predictions--particularly when I saw Edna start hitting on Teen Doc, I was starting to freak out about how that might screw up the timeline...I mean, what if Doc got married to Edna?
Overall, thumbs up, Telltales. Iron out a few kinks, twist some of the running gags, and keep your creative juices flowing, and this lifetime BTTF fan will be very happy indeed.
The game was waaaaay to short!! I didn't like the way the character walked around! I wish it were more like Grand theft auto, the way the player moves around. It was annoying moving this player(Marty) around!
And Most of all, how can I drive the Delorean?????????????????? I read some where somebody asking about driving the Delorean, and someone else replied that it is driveable! HOW??????? A BTTF game, you would expect to drive the Delorean!! Same would be with a Knight Rider game, Dukes of Hazzard game!!
So please someone tell me how to drive the Delorean around!!!!!??? OR this game is pointless!!!!
The game was waaaaay to short!! I didn't like the way the character walked around! I wish it were more like Grand theft auto, the way the player moves around. It was annoying moving this player(Marty) around!
And Most of all, how can I drive the Delorean?????????????????? I read some where somebody asking about driving the Delorean, and someone else replied that it is driveable! HOW??????? A BTTF game, you would expect to drive the Delorean!! Same would be with a Knight Rider game, Dukes of Hazzard game!!
So please someone tell me how to drive the Delorean around!!!!!??? OR this game is pointless!!!!
Is this sarcasm? I think you've just given me an aneurysm.
The only game I know of where you can drive a DeLorean is that mod for Vice City, that integrates time travel and everything. So if you want to drive a DeLorean a la Vice City, go play that?
The game was waaaaay to short!! I didn't like the way the character walked around! I wish it were more like Grand theft auto, the way the player moves around. It was annoying moving this player(Marty) around!
And Most of all, how can I drive the Delorean?????????????????? I read some where somebody asking about driving the Delorean, and someone else replied that it is driveable! HOW??????? A BTTF game, you would expect to drive the Delorean!! Same would be with a Knight Rider game, Dukes of Hazzard game!!
So please someone tell me how to drive the Delorean around!!!!!??? OR this game is pointless!!!!
Thanks for this Angry Joe review link. Not that i do agree with him but reality writes the best stories, who would have thought of Freddie Mercury doing video game reviews?!
French's biggest videogame website gave it a 13/20.
Saying that it looked great, the spirit of the movies was there, the story was interesting, but it was lacking actual puzzles, and that there was almost no interaction that weren't needed for the progression of the story...
It also noted that, just like the first episode of ToMI, a lot of places are not available, and it's irritating, especially since that's obvious you will revisit them in future episodes. And it's probably the case since we're still going back in 1931 in the next episode (which is a little disappointing for them).
Though they say that this episode doesn't mean anything, and Telltale can still make a great game out of it. Let's hope episode 2 IS indeed challenging and with a lot of stuffs.
Yep, isn't that interesting? Imagine you would have a time machine and the only times you can come up with are in the same time period, just a few years forth and back, over and over again. It must hurt if your imagination and curiosity are this limited. Well, at least the stage-props/CGIs are cheaper this way.
Comments
Can't wait to for episode two to come out.
- minor lines where the characters mutely said something that was supposed to be dialogue.
- birds chirping amid the closing credits was weird.
Those were minor though and didn't interfere with completion of the chapter. One caveat, the old Sam and Max click-navigation works much better than the Monkey Island drag-navigation; a little disappointed to see the latter here.
Ouch. I hope that telltale comes out with some more difficult adventure games sometime in the future. Monkey island 2 seemed like a difficult one to me which is where I want my level of game. Maybe it only seemed that difficult because I was 9 when I played it...
It's something else entirely to try and shout down anybody who disagrees with you.
How about you give everybody on the board a chance to say his piece?
Edited: Before anybody gets all up in arms: remember that I no longer work for or represent Telltale, even though my forum name indicates otherwise.
See, right there, I think is already a softer-spoken but no less actual example of what you just railed against. Passive-aggressive rather than aggressive. Both somehow denigrating the viewpoint with which there's a disagreement. You can't say that the above paragraph wasn't meant to take the opposite viewpoint and invalidate it. The segments "should know better", "have no idea, and of course "come back and repeat the whole process", insinuating that the whole thing is an endless cycle of parenial COMPLAINING that amounts to little more than whines and bluster. The only difference, then, between your post and mine(and don't take this as a direct insult, more an appeal on my behalf) is that mine is more honest about its approach.
I don't believe that I, personally, have the ability to shut anyone down.
Perhaps the sheer biting edge of my comments is somewhat too harsh and should be curbed, but I feel that for the ideals of honest debate and engaging conversation that people with separate opinions should be allowed to produce rebuttals. I think that a conversation isn't a list of opinions and viewpoints, each one equally valid and free from being subject to criticism when the logic doesn't work. And when someone says that the gameplay part of a game is only a distraction or only a chore that you have to slog through to get to the video part, then maybe they should not be playing games, because the resulting product becomes something less than a game or a movie. When games are boiled down so that everyone can go through thoughtlessly and without effort or skill, you end up with a movie that simply has a big, annoying UI that just wastes hours of your time. Rather than engage the player with having them do something, the end product of this approach leaves the player looking back at the hours of time they spent in the world wondering "What exactly did I just do?" And of course the answer is unsatisfactory: They pushed buttons mindlessly for hours, accomplishing nothing and having any narrative flow being ruined by gameplay bits that have no depth or truly engaging interactive value. Games are meant to be played, not watched. I think you mentioned something like this on your blog(excellent write-up, by the way).
I thought it was dog crap the 1st time around.
However there IS some stuff I'd like to pint out:
The translator for the german version should be seriously in trouble. When the goon behind the soup kitchen's bar talks about the spice rack he mentions in the german subtitles, that they weren't updated since WWII...
...
1931 and WWII...
...
I leave that to you guys do think over it.
And then, I don't know if this is a general problem, but the lip sync is waaaaaaay off sometimes. I thought that maybe it does that, because I installed it on a german system, and the game instantly uses the lip sync for the german audio. Which leads to my final complaint: I had hoped to experience the game in it's entirety in english. I love the movies' german dubbing, but I prefer english. But there is no option to change the Text-language to english. I am certain, that the english text is in the file I downloaded, but why can't I access it. If there's a way please tell me about it.
Apart from that, great scott good game!
SInce 1990, I've been waiting for a sequel to BTTF. But after Michael J. Fox's disease, my hopes were vanished... till now.
The most amazing thing about the game can be summarized in a Biff's quote: "There's something very familiar about this". I always loved how the movies used to repeat the same jokes over and over again, in different places and moments. That's what the game does: it recreates a lot of special moments from the movies, and integrates them once again, in a marvellous way.
It's an easy game. I barely had to look at the official walkthough - and it's such a good thing, because adventure games can be a pain in the ass, sometimes full of repetition... But not this one. It can be easily played in 4 hours or less, making it a joyful experience.
January is gonna be a loooooooong month, till February brings to us the second episode! See you all in the future!
Big fan of yours and tgwtg here
I really liked your review, I agree on most of it.
The only mistake that you made is when you stated that all the episodes are ready... well... they're not.
Telltale makes the episodes month by month and in this way they can check the feedback on the forum and in the reviews in order to improve them.
In previous Telltale titles they made changes to the games due to feedbacks, advices and reviews.
And I know that you don't like episodic gaming, but if the game would come out all in once this BTTF experience would last 15 hours, in this way it lasts 5 months. It's like watching a tv series, you can't watch the episodes all in once if they haven't come out yet
P.S. Joe for president
(sorry for english mistakes)
Just because the game wasn't particularly challenging, doesn't mean its interactivity was an entirely empty experience. It is fun to talk to people and to exhaust all possible dialogue options. It is fun to explore the environments, to look at every piece of scenery, and to catch every little joke and reference. It is fun to try out all the red herrings and false solutions before finally giving in and doing the obvious real solution. And even though all the puzzles were extremely easy, I never felt like the game was just telling me what to do. The game doesn't just simply tell you
The only other things that jarred a bit for me was the explanation of the new delorian was eye-rollingly bad, and that the rocket-powered bicycle was just a bit too much of a cartoony idea to really fit in with the BTTF universe comfortably, which is often fantastical, but still has it's own level of realism.
Apart from that, great work Telltale, looking forward to you building on it for the forthcoming chapters!
Your friend in time.... (etc etc)
(The whole series gets a 10 if Judge Brown turns out to be bald, thereby making 1955 Doc's line in the first movie about still having hair in 1985 even funnier.)
Also, is there any way to tell Doc about
My only complaint though is the following: During the chase with Kid, instead of making that a cutscene, make it an interactive cutscene! Just like in Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy, maybe even imitating that "memo" system. That would be awesome.
Oh, and a special congratulation to Jared for the music! I love not only the fact that he stayed so true to Silvestri, but also how he mixed some real recordings into the rest of the soundtrack. That was brilliant.
From what I've seen: 9/10.
That's a minus to their research part (or 'watch the credits' part), but agree that when one thinks the music is from the movies it IS a compliment?
There are two moments when the film score is used -- the first time Marty time travels is a very heavy edit of the main theme, and the logo title card of course uses it as well, so they're a little bit right -- but otherwise it's all new stuff by Jared. Obviously heavily referential to the sounds of Silvestri's film scores, but it's all original composition, performance, arrangements by Jared.
Given that not only did the game music have to be timed differently and reflect some different moods tan were available in the film score, but also had to be built in loops which could blend between each other and meet other technical requirements and limitations, seeing someone come out of the game thinking we somehow magically and transparently did that with the actual films' score is definitely a compliment, i think.
I'm probably biased due to being friends with him since we were 13, but yeah his ability to write music like the crazy Sam & Max stuff, then to walk over and fully blend into a musically strong license always blows me away. One of the first things he did was co-write some of the soundtrack to Indiana Jones and the Emperors Tomb with Clint Bajakian and I've always liked this cue.
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Anyway! Back to your regularly scheduled BTTF impressions and reviews thread!
You're not making the absence of a TTG Indiana Jones series easier for me to digest when you're posting awesome Indiana Jared-music, man. Out of all the possible licenses Telltale could have, Indiana Jones would still make me the happiest.
Anyway, BttF was pretty great. I agree with all the guys complaining about the lack of difficulty (normally not much of an issue with me, but it's been happening just a bit too much with TTG episodes lately), but enough has been said about that already. Talking with Doc made me way happier than I thought it would. Young Doc is pretty much my favorite character, and I hope (and assume) we get to see a bit more of him in future episodes.
Favorite scenes: The last scene between Young Doc and Marty, Young Doc playing games with Einstein and that intro. That was a really clever way to introduce Doc (and why he's so important to Marty) to the game series, especially if you consider that the first time you meet the actual guy in the game he's behind bars and in his weird 30s clothes. Good stuff, good stuff. Can't wait for the second episode.
http://pixelatedgeek.com/2010/12/review-back-to-the-future-the-game-episode-one-its-about-time-macpc/
While I did find that the game was easy, I didn't really feel it was as much of a flaw as other people did, mainly because it's barely the first episode and I expect the difficulty to steadily rise as the series goes on. Plus, it's good to be accessible towards BttF fans who might have never played an adventure game instead of scaring them away with challenging puzzles right from the start.
That said, I do hope Get Tannen is at least a bit more challenging.
2. Wanted to tell you someone already posted the whole game sequence up on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihKoPA1l3H8 . its just under an hour. Not bad considering we will be getting 4 more installments so overall I feel quite happy with this purchase.
3. The main reason for this post. Quick question.. i dunno if it is me or when Emmet is saying "H to 'A' multiplied by the inverse of 'A'" "H to 'A' multiplied by the inverse of 'A'" -- Jayz's song came up in my head - H to the Izzo - you guys think it was an intended reference or just coincidence?
Loved the story, voice-acting, soundtrack, dialog and humor, but also found it to be way too easy and a bit too short compared to other telltale-adventure-game-episodes.
Looking forward to episode 2!
Thanks telltale for bring back this fantastic game !!!!!!!:)
- Loved it. I paced myself (didn't speed through it in one sitting) so it kinda made it feel longer than it really is. Even then, everything about it was a complete delight.
- I actually grew to like Marty a little. As blasphemous as this sounds, I never really liked Marty all that much (no slight to Michael J Fox, mind you) but he was pretty neat in the game.
- Awwh, Emmet. =(
- The ending made me "=O" February can't get here soon enough!
Actually, it's a bit more than an hour. That video you link is just Part 1.
So I have to say I was really looking forward to this. And I was not disappointed.
The opening was amusing, a nice way to throw us off. It kept going from there, with nice references to the movies while simultaneously throwing its own spin on things. A few issues though.
1. First, as noted, the explanation for the duplicate DeLorean is just awful. I was laughing and immediately thinking of the term Voodoo Shark from TVTropes. What perhaps should have been done is simply had Doc say he built a new DeLorean time machine--since no other model of car met his specific requirements--in order to travel around a little more discreetly since the Train--which I noticed was not mentioned at all, which surprises me--would probably stand out in a lot of places. (Unless TellTale decides he goes the route of holographic disguises that so many fanfiction writers go with, particularly Mary Jean Holmes.)
2. A few of the puzzles had me completely stumped as to what to do, primarily the barrels and getting the keys in the truck. Mind, it wasn't not knowing what to do--I knew what I had to do--I just couldn't figure out how to do it. And a couple scenes seemed a little awkward to fit in like Kid Tannen shooting at Marty, but that's standard adventure game parlance and I'm willing to suspend my minor disbelief at such things.
3. Rocket bike is no, and I felt the manure truck was a bit too convenient. Don't get me wrong, I like the references, but there's references and then there's overdoing a joke. (Even running gags need fresh twists. Just a bit of food for thought.)
All in all though, it was quite interesting, and I'm eager to see how things proceed. Seems we'll be sticking to 1931 a little longer than I might have thought, and I have a few predictions--particularly when I saw Edna start hitting on Teen Doc, I was starting to freak out about how that might screw up the timeline...I mean, what if Doc got married to Edna?
Overall, thumbs up, Telltales. Iron out a few kinks, twist some of the running gags, and keep your creative juices flowing, and this lifetime BTTF fan will be very happy indeed.
The game was waaaaay to short!! I didn't like the way the character walked around! I wish it were more like Grand theft auto, the way the player moves around. It was annoying moving this player(Marty) around!
And Most of all, how can I drive the Delorean?????????????????? I read some where somebody asking about driving the Delorean, and someone else replied that it is driveable! HOW??????? A BTTF game, you would expect to drive the Delorean!! Same would be with a Knight Rider game, Dukes of Hazzard game!!
So please someone tell me how to drive the Delorean around!!!!!??? OR this game is pointless!!!!
Is this sarcasm? I think you've just given me an aneurysm.
Yeah, right ... In a point & click game.
Saying that it looked great, the spirit of the movies was there, the story was interesting, but it was lacking actual puzzles, and that there was almost no interaction that weren't needed for the progression of the story...
It also noted that, just like the first episode of ToMI, a lot of places are not available, and it's irritating, especially since that's obvious you will revisit them in future episodes. And it's probably the case since we're still going back in 1931 in the next episode (which is a little disappointing for them).
Though they say that this episode doesn't mean anything, and Telltale can still make a great game out of it. Let's hope episode 2 IS indeed challenging and with a lot of stuffs.
There is a german review available.
If you are interested in it please visit Review BACK TO THE FUTURE - German