My Review/Rant of the first episode
I know there is a review thread but i wanted to post my own.
This post WILL contain spoilers so just a heads up for those who haven't play/finished it yet.
Now aside from the problem of downloading and running the game which i dont hold against TTG seeing as every one makes mistakes and sh!t happens, they have really captured parts of the BTTF universe quite well! The voice acting as well as animation has been done quite well to make a very Visually appeasing game but the game did fall short in other places.
Storyline:
At one point during play I did feel like it was quite a rip off of back the future three with the whole going back to save doc from getting shot but other then that it was a decently done new story line drawing up on some common characters such as Eisenstein,Biff, and Martie's Father although you didn't get to hear the trade mark "slacker" line from the vice principle Strickland you did get to meet a relative of his Edna a sad lonely women who sits at her window with a mega phone repeatedly calling people "hooligans" and reminding people of the morals they had in the 30's in a rather snappy tone. once you travel to the thirties you are greeted in the typical BTTF fashion with the walking across the street and nearly getting hit by the car and reading all the signs. When you finally find the Doc he has been imprisoned for blowing up a Illegal Liquor store which seems out of character for him as well as there's no explanation as to why he's in 1931 either. You continue onto the Soup kitchen which Martie finds him self in, in every movie with the typical "Mcfly i thought i told you not to come in here" vibe as you meet tannin for the first time too. The storyline continues onto helping the Young Doc (who is forced into Law by his father) build a rocket powered drill so you can break the Doc out of prison.
All up the story line has been done quite well But did Raise some questions
1. Why cant Biff jump a fence?
2. Why did Martie say great Scott instead of "this is heavy" or something more to his character
3. I know this seems quite silly but have you guys watched the movie??? Martie BOTH TIMES he is walking towards the park when he nearly gets hit by a car not away from it AND in both movies he says "but your forgetting one thing" before he screams "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT"
4. Finally Personally i dont think the character Aurthur Mcfly was Wimpy/jittery enough
It has been well done but still some parts let it down
Storyline Overall 7/10
Gameplay:
I dont know what i excepted seeing as the only other TTG i have played is Agent Tethers Puzzle Agent, Personally I dont think they nailed this on the head at the very least i was expecting a adventure more then a interactive movie. Yes the animation as nice but you do move past that and start to focus more on how you as a player interact with the world and So if you love being able to say more then one preset thing to a person this game is defiantly for you but the MAJOR downfall in this game (and please dont take this out of context i am talking JUST about the chat interaction)
unlike other games like fallout where the interaction you have with the person alters the story line or how that person perceives you where as in this game the story line is extremely linear which gives it very little replay value, onto my next point. There is no penalty system in this game this was a HUGE let down seeing as your only messing round with THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM I mean come on i want to be able to show the young Doc to the old Doc and blow the universe up is that to much to ask? i mean you cant even say the wrong answer and then have to stop and load again i didn't have to save the game once. even After playing Agent Tethers Puzzle agent i feel disappointed because that was much more of a challenge. also I must have pestered Aurthur Mcfly in his apartment at-least 10 times before i figured out i had to go round to the soup kitchen and pester the guy to put salt into soup at-least 30 times before i figured out to wait for him to put the lift down.
The Questions raised in this part are:
1. Where was the challenge? I know you make kids games but the Fan base for this game are a lot older
2. It almost seemed like you Rushed this together please take your time so you can get it right next time? Especially the game play aspect
3. More Consequences? be it in chat or in doing something the wrong way?
4. Less linear with more little fun bits on the side?
All up the game play was a let down i do understand the TTG isn't the biggest game company out there but please try to make the rest of the series more of a challenge then just a interactive movie
Gamplay Overall 4/10
Graphics
Not much to say here Hats off to the animators they nailed the characters quite well
Graphics Overall 9/10
Finally in summery i have to Say i was waiting 19 years for a company to nail this game on the head but if this keeps up i am sorry to say that TTG wont be the one to do it
Overall rating 5/10
I Slightly recommend buying this game only because it is cheap and if you like the movies this will be a small giggle but were it 50$ plus i would not pay for it at all but if you like interactive movies its perfect for ya
This post WILL contain spoilers so just a heads up for those who haven't play/finished it yet.
Now aside from the problem of downloading and running the game which i dont hold against TTG seeing as every one makes mistakes and sh!t happens, they have really captured parts of the BTTF universe quite well! The voice acting as well as animation has been done quite well to make a very Visually appeasing game but the game did fall short in other places.
Storyline:
At one point during play I did feel like it was quite a rip off of back the future three with the whole going back to save doc from getting shot but other then that it was a decently done new story line drawing up on some common characters such as Eisenstein,Biff, and Martie's Father although you didn't get to hear the trade mark "slacker" line from the vice principle Strickland you did get to meet a relative of his Edna a sad lonely women who sits at her window with a mega phone repeatedly calling people "hooligans" and reminding people of the morals they had in the 30's in a rather snappy tone. once you travel to the thirties you are greeted in the typical BTTF fashion with the walking across the street and nearly getting hit by the car and reading all the signs. When you finally find the Doc he has been imprisoned for blowing up a Illegal Liquor store which seems out of character for him as well as there's no explanation as to why he's in 1931 either. You continue onto the Soup kitchen which Martie finds him self in, in every movie with the typical "Mcfly i thought i told you not to come in here" vibe as you meet tannin for the first time too. The storyline continues onto helping the Young Doc (who is forced into Law by his father) build a rocket powered drill so you can break the Doc out of prison.
All up the story line has been done quite well But did Raise some questions
1. Why cant Biff jump a fence?
2. Why did Martie say great Scott instead of "this is heavy" or something more to his character
3. I know this seems quite silly but have you guys watched the movie??? Martie BOTH TIMES he is walking towards the park when he nearly gets hit by a car not away from it AND in both movies he says "but your forgetting one thing" before he screams "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT"
4. Finally Personally i dont think the character Aurthur Mcfly was Wimpy/jittery enough
It has been well done but still some parts let it down
Storyline Overall 7/10
Gameplay:
I dont know what i excepted seeing as the only other TTG i have played is Agent Tethers Puzzle Agent, Personally I dont think they nailed this on the head at the very least i was expecting a adventure more then a interactive movie. Yes the animation as nice but you do move past that and start to focus more on how you as a player interact with the world and So if you love being able to say more then one preset thing to a person this game is defiantly for you but the MAJOR downfall in this game (and please dont take this out of context i am talking JUST about the chat interaction)
unlike other games like fallout where the interaction you have with the person alters the story line or how that person perceives you where as in this game the story line is extremely linear which gives it very little replay value, onto my next point. There is no penalty system in this game this was a HUGE let down seeing as your only messing round with THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM I mean come on i want to be able to show the young Doc to the old Doc and blow the universe up is that to much to ask? i mean you cant even say the wrong answer and then have to stop and load again i didn't have to save the game once. even After playing Agent Tethers Puzzle agent i feel disappointed because that was much more of a challenge. also I must have pestered Aurthur Mcfly in his apartment at-least 10 times before i figured out i had to go round to the soup kitchen and pester the guy to put salt into soup at-least 30 times before i figured out to wait for him to put the lift down.
The Questions raised in this part are:
1. Where was the challenge? I know you make kids games but the Fan base for this game are a lot older
2. It almost seemed like you Rushed this together please take your time so you can get it right next time? Especially the game play aspect
3. More Consequences? be it in chat or in doing something the wrong way?
4. Less linear with more little fun bits on the side?
All up the game play was a let down i do understand the TTG isn't the biggest game company out there but please try to make the rest of the series more of a challenge then just a interactive movie
Gamplay Overall 4/10
Graphics
Not much to say here Hats off to the animators they nailed the characters quite well
Graphics Overall 9/10
Finally in summery i have to Say i was waiting 19 years for a company to nail this game on the head but if this keeps up i am sorry to say that TTG wont be the one to do it
Overall rating 5/10
I Slightly recommend buying this game only because it is cheap and if you like the movies this will be a small giggle but were it 50$ plus i would not pay for it at all but if you like interactive movies its perfect for ya
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Comments
"2. Why did Martie say great Scott instead of "this is heavy" or something more to his character"
well in part 3 at one point he said "great scott" while the doc said "i know, this is heavy", by this point it could be interpreted than the phrase catched on him.
"When you finally find the Doc he has been imprisoned for blowing up a Illegal Liquor store which seems out of character for him as well as there's no explanation as to why he is in 1931 either."
i think you didn't talked to the doc ennough, it WAS explained, the doc said he went to this time to find out about that fire wich was one of hill valley's greatest misteries (considering he was living there as a teen, it could have stuck on his mind and his curiosity got the best of him). Later he explains than he didn't started the fire, just got close to see it and was mistaken for the one who started it.
I bet this will be explained better in episode 2 tough, i think the story is pretty solid so far. The other things are your own opinion... i personally tough than arthur was REALLY a whimp, his voice almost sounded girly, so i really dont know how much pathetic you wanted him to be.
Well i will admit i was abit impatient when it came to talking to people seeing as that is all the game was lol
The story line was some what enjoyable but thats all the game seemed to have going for it
:spoil-o:
you know i almost had my hopes up that you could drive the rocket bike but no
It's an ADVENTURE game, what did you expect? Seriously. :rolleyes:
I think the gameplay is solid enough, and I have great fun with it seeing that it captures the essence of the movies perfectly IMO.
i think il stick with my analysis of interactive movie
you have to see some of my points though how can a adventure feel adventurous with out taking a risk or having something to lose in this game you have nothing to lose which brings me back to the "interactive movie" statement
it is a major problem i applaud TTG for taking on this challenge and understand they wont be able to please every one but this just doesnt seem like decent game material if you have played you will understand there isnt a challenge at all =/
i loved it. i felt like i was experiencing a new back to the future movie, which is what i wanted.
the story line was well done but i didnt feel like i was experiencing just watching really ..
oh please have you played puzzle agent??? i was playing games like that when i was 8 =/
Have you ever heard of Grickle? Also, I'm sure Telltale was marketing a game to children where gnomes drag a man screaming into the forest or it is implied that a man froze to death.
no i havn't
and yes maybe one or two adult themes but nothing that would make kids start crying and atleast in puzzle agent you get less stars for getting some thing wrong..
And women with chainsaws! Don't forget the chainsaws!
Most of Telltale's other games have numerous instances of violence and swearing even up to the f'ing f word. A man falls into a machine that grinds him to pieces in Tales of Monkey Island. Just a couple of examples.
@divisionten: THE LODGE. SWEET SWEET MARY THE LODGE.
This game, BTTF, at least the first episode, is sooo focused on the story, that I agree the gameplay suffers a bit. You shouldn't expect any action sequences (that's not what fans of this actual genre want), but you should expect to at least be challenged somewhat by the puzzles. They skewed a bit too easy with the first episode, but you can probably expect future episodes to add a bit more challenge. Remember, this is the first part of basically a 5 part game.
But to review it, you should review it within the confines of its genre. Obviously you are more of an action gamer, which is fine, but this isn't one. You wouldn't review a madden game and complain that it didn't have a good enough story, would you? In the same way it's unfair to complain that you played an adventure game and there was no way to die. (Long ago, it was common to die in adventure games, but once they introduced games that wouldn't let you, that became very popular in the genre - you are more able to try all the options without fear of dying or making the game unwinable).
But even still, the criticism that this game lacks gameplay has merit. Just wait for the rest of the season to play out to see if that's true of the game, or just the first part.
It i do see your point but my main problem is this game is lacking challenge which is a fundamental to adventure
i know i only paid 5$ for this episode but it was still a let down =/
But you also said that you tried one puzzle 10 times before you could solve it, and another 30 times.
So...it's easy, except for when it's hard?
He's right about this. I wish there was more danger as well, like older adventure games. Anything to fail and have to try again. It gives the player something to avoid. I'm tired of being spoon-fed everything and getting a pat on the back saying "Nope that wasn't quite it, but don't worry you have infinite more tries to go! You're doing a great job!" I can't stand it.
Telltale Games are about stories and they are the perfect company to continue the story of Back to the Future.
this will be really hard to say with out making me sound like a idiot but thats not really a challenge its just waiting to figure something out a puzzle is something you have to figure out and try different way to work like i said this is linear
and no i dont want to run round shooting people but here my take on it
one of the definitions of the word
Adventure:
a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.
wheres the hazard in this game i know losing sucks but it forces you to try harder or try a different way
An "interactive movie" is all the worst aspects of both worlds when it comes to a new installment being a movie or a game. It becomes a movie but with:
1. Visual elements hampered by the technical limitations of 3D models, your graphics card, and the budget of the game.
2. "Interaction" that isn't actually interaction, but instead "Go here and push a button. See that button? Push one here". It's like if a version of Back to the Future the film came out and you had to press a button every time Marty said something, or hold down a button every time he had to walk somewhere. It's an unwieldy UI for a film and just an annoyance if there is no value to the interaction. In this way, it's a bad film. But....
3. It's also a bad game, because you spend most of your time watching rather than doing, and when you do get to do something, it's generally a very minor action that is dictated to you. The player has no dialog with the game or its developers, they are simply TOLD and then DO.
thank you =]
This, this, this!
Adventure games were always different to other genres because instead of mindless action, they required you to think. But this game doesn't require you to do anything other than clicking stuff in random order until it works. There are a few good puzzles in this episode, but would I play a platformer with one or two good levels and the rest just straight corridors and random warp zones that warp you forward? Not sure... Sadly, it seems to work for adventure games though
Hmm, have you ever read a good book for adults? Maybe this helps getting an idea of the ocean which lies between a typical TTG story (or those of many other video games) and some of the stories you can find in great books. But i can only comment on games beside of BTTF. :O)
Tender Loving Care was a good interactive movie but yes normally they aren't what you want.
Also, I was playing GTA III when I was 13. That doesn't mean I was their target audience though... So examples like that are worthless...
I think a large part of the reason you believe this is because you've been trained to. In most games, "losing" means "doing something wrong, and reverting to a previous state." In pure adventure games, "losing" means "not doing something right, and not being allowed to proceed." The end result is exactly the same.
Honestly, in most games, losing makes the game EASIER, not harder, because it tells the player "Okay, I fall into a pit of spikes when I push that button. I shouldn't push that button anymore." In a game where the only wrong moves are the ones that don't progress the game, any move can still be the right move in a different order or context. The soup kitchen puzzle, I think, is a good example of this.
And, actually, by your definition of "losing", there *are* those moments in the game. In the Simon-like puzzle in Young Emmett's lab, if you don't do it right, you have to start over.
Just a few more words, and then I'm done: this is the first of five chapters. The first chapter of these games is always the easiest, and is always trumped by later episodes. NO ONE'S favorite episode of any Telltale series is the first episode. (Now watch someone come in here and prove me wrong.)
*cough* Ice Station Santa