I wrote this review for another forum, so I just copied/pasted here. It's a bit language heavy, so if the mods don't approve, I'll edit. (Still new to the forum here, so I guess I'm kinda testing the water, so to speak)
Upon starting the game, my initial reaction was "YESYESFUCKYES." I soaked in all the references, the meticulously crafted environments, and the fact that it's a fucking Back to the Future game.
It is a point and click adventure, so it's story-driven, not action-driven. That's fine. It's an RPG, of course, and it feels like such as there are dialog options akin to Mass Effect or Fallout. It has its weak points, since you have to fish around for the correct choice, often exiting a conversation and re-entering to select the choice that progresses the story. Sometimes you can select the correct option, but it might not unlock the necessary progression until you complete a specific task. This leads to random clicking throughout the environment, much like an "Escape the Room" game, as the tasks can be somewhat obscure. For the purpose of the game, it works, but can leave a little to be desired. Repeating the same conversation over and over tends to draw from the immersion that's created by the living, breathing, Hill Valley, which looks fantastic.
The world has been recreated, as I mentioned before, meticulously. Most of the game is set in the DeLorean's destination time, but the essence of the town is still there. The town center, City Hall, the soup kitchen, which is the saloon's, diner's, and Cafe 80's counterpart, are all there. The city looks good, but moving throughout it might take some getting used to. While it's essentially free-roam, it's also a fixed camera, much like the older Resident Evils, but slightly less effective. Different parts of the city are stitched together, so once you exit one side of the screen, you appear on the corresponding side of a new perspective. It's not a hindrance, but the movement can be, since the controls are relative to the camera angle, not the player. I might exit one screen where "D" is right and appear on a new one where "D" sends me diagonally. It can be a bit of a hassle at the start, but is fairly easy to get the hang of. Controlling with the mouse is also an option and resolves the keyboard issue, but is a little tricky as well, since you have to keep your mouse fixed over your avatar. It's not a problem if you're exploring one "camera angle," but as soon as you move to the next screen, the cursor's placement will most likely be nowhere near your character. It sounds like nitpicking, especially since it isn't detrimental to the gameplay, but it needs to be mentioned. All in all, the controls work fine for the most part, and these are very minor issues. The real meat of the game is in its story and your missions to progress it.
The story is very intriguing and very well written. It's good to see all the familiar characters and how they play their part. The voice acting, for the most part, is good. Marty is dead-on most of the time, George sounds like George, Doc sounds like Doc (hard not to, as he's voiced by Christopher Lloyd), and Biff sounds like, well... not Biff. They all play their roles, so it's good to see that they're not just thrown in for the sake of familiarity. They're all there to move the story along, which, to be honest, moves very slowly. It's what you'd expect for this type of game, where the gameplay consists solely of clicking. The problem with a game being designed as a non-action RPG is that the only way to progress is through fetch quests and dialog. Dialog not getting you anywhere? Do a fetch quest to unlock that needed option. Need some information? Run an errand for a character and bring him something he wants or needs. Fetch, fetch, and more fetch. Sometimes you don't even know what to fetch, so you have to click the "hint button" for an idea. It's so tempting to click for more hints that, at times, it feels like you're just watching a 3D enactment of a walkthrough. It gets very repetitive and is the reason I can only play this game for short bouts.
The graphics are cartoony, but I don't find that to be a problem at all. At first, I was worried that the game might be a little too kid-friendly, so imagine my happiness when I heard the famous "...you're gonna see some serious shit" line. Despite the primitiveness of the graphics, they really do look great. It's obvious that great care was taken in recreating structures, characters, environments, etc. Every once in a while, though, I see a little wireframe box around Marty, but I'm not sure if that's a game issue or an ATI issue. It only shows up in certain environments and isn't really that annoying.
Overall, the game is a good effort. The characters, their histories, the city, and the story were all obviously painstakingly researched. It really does feel like a sequel to the trilogy, especially with the strength of Christopher Lloyd's voice. As a continuation of the series, it's evident that this game's development was a labor of love, which is why it pains me to say that it's not a great game. The presentation is everything I was hoping for in what was one of my most anticipated games this year. Unfortunately, the truly awesome presentation is somewhat bogged down by the repetitive gameplay. No, it's not great, but it's not bad, either. If anything, it's worth a play-through just for the story and the fact that it's a goddamn Back to the Future game. It's a good game, but needs to be played in fairly short sittings so you can enjoy what it has to offer without getting bored. If you're a fan of the series, like me, you might be able to get past the repetition just because you want to partake in the fucking awesome story.
I would say the game is average, but hell, it's Back to the Future. That bumps it up one more notch.
6/10
Upon starting the game, my initial reaction was "YESYESFUCKYES." I soaked in all the references, the meticulously crafted environments, and the fact that it's a fucking Back to the Future game.
It is a point and click adventure, so it's story-driven, not action-driven. That's fine. It's an RPG, of course, and it feels like such as there are dialog options akin to Mass Effect or Fallout. It has its weak points, since you have to fish around for the correct choice, often exiting a conversation and re-entering to select the choice that progresses the story. Sometimes you can select the correct option, but it might not unlock the necessary progression until you complete a specific task. This leads to random clicking throughout the environment, much like an "Escape the Room" game, as the tasks can be somewhat obscure. For the purpose of the game, it works, but can leave a little to be desired. Repeating the same conversation over and over tends to draw from the immersion that's created by the living, breathing, Hill Valley, which looks fantastic.
The world has been recreated, as I mentioned before, meticulously. Most of the game is set in the DeLorean's destination time, but the essence of the town is still there. The town center, City Hall, the soup kitchen, which is the saloon's, diner's, and Cafe 80's counterpart, are all there. The city looks good, but moving throughout it might take some getting used to. While it's essentially free-roam, it's also a fixed camera, much like the older Resident Evils, but slightly less effective. Different parts of the city are stitched together, so once you exit one side of the screen, you appear on the corresponding side of a new perspective. It's not a hindrance, but the movement can be, since the controls are relative to the camera angle, not the player. I might exit one screen where "D" is right and appear on a new one where "D" sends me diagonally. It can be a bit of a hassle at the start, but is fairly easy to get the hang of. Controlling with the mouse is also an option and resolves the keyboard issue, but is a little tricky as well, since you have to keep your mouse fixed over your avatar. It's not a problem if you're exploring one "camera angle," but as soon as you move to the next screen, the cursor's placement will most likely be nowhere near your character. It sounds like nitpicking, especially since it isn't detrimental to the gameplay, but it needs to be mentioned. All in all, the controls work fine for the most part, and these are very minor issues. The real meat of the game is in its story and your missions to progress it.
The story is very intriguing and very well written. It's good to see all the familiar characters and how they play their part. The voice acting, for the most part, is good. Marty is dead-on most of the time, George sounds like George, Doc sounds like Doc (hard not to, as he's voiced by Christopher Lloyd), and Biff sounds like, well... not Biff. They all play their roles, so it's good to see that they're not just thrown in for the sake of familiarity. They're all there to move the story along, which, to be honest, moves very slowly. It's what you'd expect for this type of game, where the gameplay consists solely of clicking. The problem with a game being designed as a non-action RPG is that the only way to progress is through fetch quests and dialog. Dialog not getting you anywhere? Do a fetch quest to unlock that needed option. Need some information? Run an errand for a character and bring him something he wants or needs. Fetch, fetch, and more fetch. Sometimes you don't even know what to fetch, so you have to click the "hint button" for an idea. It's so tempting to click for more hints that, at times, it feels like you're just watching a 3D enactment of a walkthrough. It gets very repetitive and is the reason I can only play this game for short bouts.
The graphics are cartoony, but I don't find that to be a problem at all. At first, I was worried that the game might be a little too kid-friendly, so imagine my happiness when I heard the famous "...you're gonna see some serious shit" line. Despite the primitiveness of the graphics, they really do look great. It's obvious that great care was taken in recreating structures, characters, environments, etc. Every once in a while, though, I see a little wireframe box around Marty, but I'm not sure if that's a game issue or an ATI issue. It only shows up in certain environments and isn't really that annoying.
Overall, the game is a good effort. The characters, their histories, the city, and the story were all obviously painstakingly researched. It really does feel like a sequel to the trilogy, especially with the strength of Christopher Lloyd's voice. As a continuation of the series, it's evident that this game's development was a labor of love, which is why it pains me to say that it's not a great game. The presentation is everything I was hoping for in what was one of my most anticipated games this year. Unfortunately, the truly awesome presentation is somewhat bogged down by the repetitive gameplay. No, it's not great, but it's not bad, either. If anything, it's worth a play-through just for the story and the fact that it's a goddamn Back to the Future game. It's a good game, but needs to be played in fairly short sittings so you can enjoy what it has to offer without getting bored. If you're a fan of the series, like me, you might be able to get past the repetition just because you want to partake in the fucking awesome story.
I would say the game is average, but hell, it's Back to the Future. That bumps it up one more notch.
6/10
