Back to the Future Episodes 1-5 Review
Played on:
Windows
For those of us who were in grade school during the Reagan years, Back to the Future was a welcome escape that went on to become arguably the best movie series of our neon-clothes-and-big-hair generation. When the trilogy ended, we were crushed and were left wishing there was some way the series could go on. Now, eleven long years after the last Back to the Future installment, developer Telltale Games has reinvented the blockbuster film franchise as a point-and-click adventure and the result is nothing less than magic.
The wild, cross-temporal ride starts with It's About Time and the episode starts just like the movies; when you hear that familiar musical theme, I dare you not to get the chills. Marty's just settling into 1986 again after his trip to the 19th century and is trying to prevent Doc's neighbors (who are convinced Doc's gone for good) from selling all his stuff. When the once-destroyed Delorean and Doc's dog Einy unexpectedly appear in the driveway, Marty realizes something's gone wrong and heads back to the year 1931. In the Hill Valley of Doc's youth, Marty finds Doc still a teenage science geek being shanghaied into the legal profession by his overbearing father. He also finds himself caught in a full-on conflict between hooch-selling gangsters and militant tea-totalers.
In the middle of all this, the old Doc’s been put in jail for arson and in true Back to the Future style, Marty must assume a new identity (and a cheesy mustache) to get him out. So much of the fun of the Back to the Future films was seeing vintage equivalents of modern day people and things and it's a lot of fun here seeing both the adolescent Doc and the Hill Valley of 1931. It’s also fun crossing paths with the Depression-era ancestors of Marty, Doc, Biff and Marty's girlfriend Jennifer, and fun getting acquainted with some new characters as well. Chief among these is Edna Strickland, a self-righteous, meddlesome do-gooder who's the catalyst behind some hilariously complicated situations, Marty's lily-livered grandfather Artie McFly (who looks and sounds like a 1930's version of Crispin Glover) and buxom blond songstress, Trixie Trotter.
Throughout the series, your goal is to get the young Doc (Emmett) Brown on track to becoming a scientist. Spineless and easily intimidated, Emmett's unable to stand up for himself and his cowardliness jeopardizes the future of everyone in Hill Valley. Calling themselves Carl Sagan and Harry Callahan, Doc and Marty work together to lead the misguided boy toward his destiny while beating an arson rap, overthrowing organized crime and scrambling to prevent Hill Valley from becoming a police state and/or vanishing completely. On paper it all sounds like a lot of convoluted madness but in practice, it's pure genius.
For anyone who doesn't know, (and if you don't, what time stream do you come from?) this kind of adventure isn't about competition or scores or even solving what we think of traditionally as puzzles. It's about following the story, assuming the role of a character, finding that character in some difficult scrapes and then using your wits to get him or her out of them. Most of your time is spent talking to people and thanks to some great writing (and with Bob Gale, Back to the Future’s original writer acting as script consultant, how couldn’t it be?), this part’s a total hoot. Whether using your wiles to convince a reluctant gangster moll to squeal on her boss or to talk your way out of a jail cell, it's all highly entertaining. And what makes things even better is that the interactivity's equally well designed.
On top of being well-written and expertly designed, the series is also incredibly good-looking. Although environments are somewhat blocky and basic, the characters are amazing (and amusing) caricatures of the whole Back to the Future cast. Even more unbelievable is the voice acting, which stars Christopher Lloyd (the original Doc) and newcomer AJ Locascio, whose hyperactive, cracked-voiced Michael J. Fox impression is scarily spot on. Even where the original actors couldn't be had, the performances are so great it’s like you’ve jumped right back into the center of the thrilling Back to the Future universe.
Overall, episodes 1-5 are very polished, with very few technical issues. Come episode 5, Outta Time however, the technical aspects take a bit of a turn for the worse. In addition to minor dialog and graphical glitches found throughout the episode, there are two major issues that if you encounter them, can really attenuate the fun. Firstly, take great care you're using the newest Telltale Games launcher. When you install a new episode, you'll get a new desktop shortcut—use it. If you don't, you're likely not to have any kind of save function in the game and this, as you can imagine, can be bad. Secondly, the episode contains a show-stopping bug that can be a major bummer if you run into it because it prevents you from progressing past a certain point and forces you to start all over again. Telltale is as yet, still working on a fix for that issue but for now, are providing save games to help players get around it.
Last year, upon hearing that Telltale Games was making the Back to the Future film series into an episodic game, we were both excited and apprehensive. Considering the studio's adventure expertise and stellar track record, we were foolish to worry—the series couldn't have been in better hands. Despite the couple of serious issues in the final chapter, this five episode adventure is one of the funniest and most well-crafted you'll play this year and more than that, totally recaptures the Back to the Future magic.
