"Get Tannen!" REVIEW thread [Archive]

fawker

02/16/2011, 10:21 pm

I am up to this point at the moment.. but couldn't help but vent here..

That dialog trap outside the speakeasy.. really.. it that what its down too now? Horrible excuse for gameplay.. almost a guaranteed timewaster to boost the overall time it takes to beat the game..

not a shred of logic involved.. you basically just have to randomly guess the answer.. i'll forgive the fact that you keep going up to to the same door with the same guard keeper with the wrong answers.. but.. lame is lame..

EDIT: yes i spelled it wrong.. cant correct

HeroicJay

02/16/2011, 10:22 pm

It's not random. Don't blame the designers if you couldn't solve it yourself.

You have to pick the answer that BEGINS with the same word or partial word as the doorkeeper's line ENDS.

mhchan

02/16/2011, 10:23 pm

Just finished episode 2... Loved the storyline in this episode just like the first... There was a couple situations where I was stuck for a bit but was able to figure it out!

I don't really want to say more as i don't want to spoil anything.

Otherwise, I found it shocking that I actually finished the episode in 3 hours... A little too quick.... I'll probably replay it again to see what the other choices lead me to...

All in all another great episode

mhchan

02/16/2011, 10:25 pm

The note that you get left on the bar before the speakeasy opening pretty much shows what you need to say to get in without guessing...

Michael J Fox is Canadian

02/16/2011, 10:29 pm

I wont spoil anything you couldn't get from the trailer;

the flying delorean was cool. Similar game play to the first episode. Overall I am enjoying these episodes.

Michael J Fox is Canadian

02/16/2011, 10:32 pm

Nothing too shocking i guess, if you read the predictions thread, most of the things that happen in the episode were predicted by fans but the flying delorean was a pleasant surprise. It does kind of suck that we will inevitably have to be back in 1931 in episode 3 or 4 but at least we are getting different looks at 1986.

Emily

02/16/2011, 10:35 pm

That dialog trap outside the speakeasy..

This was actually my favorite puzzle in the whole game. :p

(And I didn't see the note. Still managed to figure it out, and appreciated that I had to use my brain a little!)

Icedhope

02/16/2011, 10:35 pm

I thought, it was alright, not the best not the worst just..alright.

jjohnston8888

02/16/2011, 10:43 pm

I liked the story for this one better than episode 1, though I felt episode 1 had more to do. But so far the game has been pretty fun.

thesporkman

02/16/2011, 10:53 pm

Yeah, it was pretty easy to figure out what was going on even without the note.

thesporkman

02/16/2011, 11:00 pm

I don't think it quite captured the BttF feel as well as the first episode, but the story, characters, and dialogue were still fun. The puzzles were a little bit more interesting and complicated than in the first episode, but still not that difficult. Overall, it was really entertaining, and I'm looking forward to episode three.

Garrett42

02/16/2011, 11:12 pm

I happened to like the puzzle, it reminded me of the gamblers club door puzzle in Monkey Island 2. (good times)

HeroicJay

02/16/2011, 11:15 pm

Things I noted throughout the game:

- Emmett is an all-around good guy, science freak though he is, at this age (which, as the movies show, does carry over into his old age, First Citizen notwithstanding). Notice that, when Einstein gets stuck on the roof and his flying car has crashed, his FIRST priority is getting the dog down; not for a moment does he consider doing anything else until he's sure the dog is safe (now, once the dog's safe, the car does, of course, become priority 2...)

- I actually had trouble finding the path to the speakeasy/soup kitchen.

- Did we really, really, REALLY have to hear all of Edna's song? Ugh. I'm a (non-professional) music writer and singer. It was torture. I seriously had to plug my ears.

- Both Emmett's flying car and the DeLorean wind up crashed into billboards the exact same way.

- If you talk to Doc and ask him to explain the plot, even he seems a little confused as to how Einstein wound up in the DeLorean at just the right time. I'm suspecting this is no coincidence, but we probably won't find out until episode 5.

- You keep the chloroform bottle after emptying it but never use it. I don't think this is a red herring item, but a chloroform bottle? Is that going to be a recurring-between-episode item when the tape recorder isn't???

Bugs I noted:

- Cue ball came down while Matches was fumbling for the switch, which messed up the scene a little; the "ice cream" decorations did not disappear before Matches went back to interrogating. Nothing major, gameplay-wise, though.

- Early in the episode, people kept calling me different names! Edna was the worst case of this; she called me Sonny Crockett several times, and I'm pretty sure I was Michael Corleone at once point too. Eventually, they settled on Harry Callahan (the last time Episode 1 was played on my computer, Harry Callahan was the choice made, although that game was not completed.)

And this was just weird:

- When Emmett was on the speakeasy roof, how did he manage to teleport down every time I looked at his flying car controls, and then teleport back?

GuruGuru214

02/16/2011, 11:19 pm

Okay story, but both easier and shorter than the first episode. I only got stuck a few times, all of which were either because I managed to miss something totally obvious or because of something that was just poor design. The penultimate puzzle was an egregious example of the latter (to be specific, the part with getting Edna out). For the most part, the game told me exactly what I needed to do and I just followed along on rails. I can think of exactly one puzzle that struck me as having a decent solution, both because it wasn't immediately obvious and because it required an inventory item that had been mostly forgotten, and even then it wasn't exactly great, it just stood out above the rest.

tl;dr: Telltale's done it again, and I don't mean that in a good way.

Hituro

02/16/2011, 11:24 pm

My only gripe was the bugs with people calling me by different names all the time. I mean, I love this game so far, but stuff like that just brings you out of the game. It just seems like a flaw that could have been easily fixed but was looked over. If Harry Callahan is the correct choice for the name, then don't make the other options even available =/ Just think this could have been an avoided bug.

And yes, I agree with the bug about Emmet's teleporations. Maybe he invented something we don't know about :O

Aside from that, I'm pretty happy with the story so far. As far as constantly going back to 1931, I kinda of assumed this would happen, as it seems to be the focal point of the story. So it only makes sense. Would I like to see more time periods? Of course! But I would rather them focus on one good story at a time. And maybe, they will make more back to the future games down the line ;)

All in all, I enjoyed this episode, I love the characters, and I can't wait for the next episode :)

taumel

02/16/2011, 11:30 pm

Btw who is according to the credits responsible for the episode (direction, game design)?

Secret Fawful

02/16/2011, 11:39 pm

I thought it was better story-wise than Episode One but the puzzles played themselves again. Still, I enjoyed the story enough that it didn't irritate me as badly as it did in Episode One.

Soup

02/16/2011, 11:39 pm

I love the fact that Kid Tannen's caricature-drawing goon is named Zane, an obvious reference to Billy Zane, who portrayed one of Biff's posse in BttF I&II.

The puzzles were fun, though not terribly hard. I thought there was going to be a puzzle involving the roulette table in the Speak Easy, so I was slightly disappointed when nothing materialized.

Emmett's rocket car crashing into the billboard moon was a great Jules Verne reference.

And the cliffhanger, oh man, the cliffhanger...!
but does this mean that the "Lord of Time" design from the concept art wallpaper has been eschewed in favor of this bald version? that would make me very sad :(

GuruGuru214

02/16/2011, 11:46 pm

I thought there was going to be a puzzle involving the roulette table in the Speak Easy, so I was slightly disappointed when nothing materialized.

Yeah, that bothered me too, especially after Kid Tannen made use of it toward the end. The way the game basically spent half the time going "HEY, LOOK AT THIS, USE THIS, THIS IS THE ANSWER", I thought there would be a puzzle involving that for certain.

Also, Einstein sniffing puzzles: they're the new hook hand lock pick puzzle!

zounds!

02/16/2011, 11:50 pm

SPOILERS
Pretty good episode. I think our predictions thread was pretty close to the mark, with a few exceptions. I'm already hooked so I'll start on the gripes first.

2 more Einstein sniff puzzles? Would have been more fun to search for that button or finding some other way to seek out Arthur at the theatre. Also what was the point of the roulette table in the speakeasy? I thought for sure this was a puzzle, did I miss something there or what? Also I agree that Edna's song went on just a little to long. I got what I was supposed to do within the first couple lines of the song, and the rest was a little hard to take.

It seems a little weird to me that Doc and Marty would just leave 1931 AGAIN without finding it strange that Arthur and Trixie were together, are we supposed to assume that Trixie is actually Marty's grandma? Seems like there were more things you'd think they'd want to make sure of. (Why doesn't Marty go back to when Doc originally arrives in 1931 and talk him out of investigating the speakeasy fire in the first place, which would make the most sense, but whatever....)

Saw a few bugs such as lips moving but no words when talking, also anyone else see the glass in the speakeasy being "drunk" by an invisible person? It happened right when Parker was clearing out the speakeasy.
.
LOL moment: "Make like a tree and die."

EDIT: OK this was originally in a "spoilers" thread but it got moved, and Im not adding all the tags :P

Weeeeee

02/17/2011, 12:27 am

-Danny Parker might be the worst cop, ever. Yeah, don't bother having your gun drawn when you see someone (you know) tied up and the #1 gangster right next to her. No need for that.

-Trixie Trotter is a real good character. Whoever voiced over for her really did well.

-Called Edna burning down the speakeasy (as many others probably did, as well).

-Einstein sniffing and Emmett just showing up eighty feet away was kinda stupid, but whatever.

It'll be interesting/different to see what elitist/dictator Doc is like.

Oh and I give it an 8.5

First episode an 8.

zounds!

02/17/2011, 12:31 am

Non Spoiler Review...
Good story and dialogue as usual. Same nostalgic goodness....
Episode 2 is shorter than the first for sure. Seems like they cut out some puzzle ideas, because your basically lead along a very very obvious path (seriously we don't need the hint button) and then you are confronted with basically an unintentional red herring. There is no solution though, and this made a couple of parts confusing.

The "action" sequences this time around felt flimsier, because of the total lack of depth to the puzzle. I mean, I say puzzle but this is like one of those jigsaw puzzles with 4 pieces. It so easy its almost offensive. These sequences (of which there are a few) all share the same "no wrong answer" philosophy. You just do something and Marty basically says out loud what the answer is. A couple of these were actually fun and worked well, the final one was just a flop.

It's a good thing this game has charm in spades, becuase I'm sure not playing it for the puzzle depth.

Guinea

02/17/2011, 12:59 am

The story seems to be getting interesting, now that Marty and Doc screwed with the same timeline I think 5 times in a row.

Puzzles aren't as big of a disappointment this time, but only because I don't expect anything good in that department from TT anymore.

Kale

02/17/2011, 01:08 am

Got through it last night, I got a hold of the game probably "too soon", (around 00:00-01:00AM, it's 12:00PM here now). Looked at the game launcher and there it was though the website was down. I probably had already cleared the game before it was officially launched here.

Get Tannen was quite an easy game. You didn't have so many places to go and the inventory items were obvious to pick up / to use. I didn't need to use the hint system at all, like in "It's about time" I had to.

With easy I mean like when you are in the speakeasy and didn't seem to have anything to do there, you go to the streets and blam new things happen that then do new things in the speakeasy.

I also noticed this little bug with young Emmett. Him suddenly appearing in the gazebo when you try to fiddle with the controls even though he is at the speakeasy roof trying to remove the rocket car from the billboard.

Rather Dashing

02/17/2011, 03:17 am

I don't know why people are saying the story was good this time around. The scenes with Edna and Emmett together, entirely undone two months later. The whole episode spent time saying that everything you did in the first episode didn't matter in the slightest. The sad scene with young Emmett feeling betrayed by you, entirely undone by the second episode. This one is particularly unforgivable, because Marty's betrayal of young Emmett and the scene where they parted ways was easily the most effective dramatic sequence of the first episode, and they simply tore out its importance and value. The main message of Episode 2 is that nothing matters, and if it does we're just going to pretend it doesn't for a bit until we put it back together at the end so you don't have to actually deal with silly plot advancement and consequences.

I've made a spoiler-filled thread about my assessment of the gameplay (http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22759)(DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU'VE PLAYED GET TANNEN), but the spoiler-free version is that the puzzles are(on the whole) simply terrible. They're intended to be easy to the point that the game plays itself.

Animation is also still weird in places. Trixie's performance and Marty's walking animations are the worst offenders in this, where I feel taken out by the awkward movements.

Music and sound effects continue to be brilliant, voice casting and acting continues to be top-notch.

Overall, the puzzles are slightly improved, but the story has lost my respect, which means the game has one point less in its favor than it did before.

taumel

02/17/2011, 05:00 am

I meanwhile watched a playthrough video from a friend of mine and it was fun as i tried to get through the gluey parts (in a more advanced form you would call it puzzles) faster than him, luckily with videos you can fast forward.

Anyway i don't see a lot of reason in discussing the gameplay because that's not what this interactive content is about, at least for adventure gamers. I would be more interested in why it turns out this way.

Is this the new level TT generally targets for all their future content? In this respect i remember Mr. Grossman's mass market hallucinations.

Or is it more the lowest possible level of a series where TT wants to offer story driven interactive content to a broad audience ranging from zebras to astronauts? This could be interesting as this would enable them to finally offer real adventure games for adventure gamers without watering the gaming experience.

Another option: Are the games done this way because Universal wants them to be this way? Maybe TT knows better but they just have to make it this way.

Do things turn out this way due to a lack of talent/resources/interest? It's not done by one of the designer legends. The animations are horrible already, maybe there is even less time for the riddles/gameplay. It might just sell good enough so that every additional creative more polished bit would be wasted.

Without a plan like that it's the easiest possible installment of future interactive content, which btw then would be communicated very badly, this also shows some disrespect for the audience whom supported them so far.

EvilRabbit2

02/17/2011, 05:39 am

ChrisLaughlin

02/17/2011, 05:40 am

I agree completely with the two posts from Taumel and Ratherdashing. As a faithful Telltale customer since the very, very beginning, I simply don't understand what Telltale is trying to accomplish with these games. It just feels like they're taking several huge steps backward in terms of pretty much everything - story, puzzles, graphics, animation, even music (yes, it's nice to have the original BTTF score, but compared to the epic music of The Devil's Playhouse or Tales of Monkey Island this is really forgettable). Really, I just don't get it. This new license is an opportunity to really shine before a much broader audience and instead they're stumbling. In an effort to please everyone they've pleased nobody. Why?

The Highway

02/17/2011, 05:44 am

Here's my review:
http://www.culturalzest.com/2011/02/17/back-to-the-future-get-tannen-review/

Michael J Fox is Canadian

02/17/2011, 06:05 am

Took me 2-3 hours including the puzzles and some of which i did spend quite a long time on.

I guess there were new types of puzzles in the sense that you needed to click in a certain sequence and failing to do so makes you start over; such as the 1986 scene with biffs brothers and the end shootout with Kid. Also the speakeasy password was different.

Carlos85G

02/17/2011, 06:42 am

I liked the episode, although it was awkward that the DeLorean's seen by too many people.

Yeah, that bothered me too, especially after Kid Tannen made use of (the roulette) toward the end.

You can use the roulette too: When you have to rescue Artie, there's a sequence of numbers behind the counter in which you're hiding from Kid's goons. When you're in the finished speakeasy, bet on those numbers and it'll open the secret passage Kid used: A shortcut to CourtHouse Square, exiting through the barber shop :eek:

thesporkman

02/17/2011, 06:53 am

also, einstein sniffing puzzles: They're the new hook hand lock pick puzzle!

qft

Origami

02/17/2011, 07:40 am

Great episode!
It had a good flow and good portion of action. The characters were really engaging and I really liked Trixie. I was much more glued to this one than episode 1. I finished it in one sitting. =)
I felt the difficulty of the puzzles went up a notch and we probably can expect that trend to continue with following eps.

My only gripes were:
-They should've shown the model for Lorraine in this ep
-Maybe 2 more new locations. It didn't feel like a rehash of ep 1 but I really wanted to see the interior of the cinema. We'll probably see the inside of the clock tower by ep 3.
-Einstein puzzle used too many times.

I really feel I am getting my money's worth though...In the span of 2 episode a lot of crazy things happened and I like it. Surprisingly the added story to the BttF universe feel like how the creators of the franchise would've done it. Little(or nothing) feels out of place. Anxious to see what's going to happen further.

doggans

02/17/2011, 07:48 am

The scenes with Edna and Emmett together, entirely undone two months later.

Not entirely true. Before Episode I, Edna and Emmett never interacted at all. Now they have a relationship, even if it seems like one of mutual disdain. But I *did* find it odd that Young Emmett took care of Einstein no questions asked for a few months, and only gave Marty a casual "Hey!" when he returned.

Anyway. I had fewer complaints about the puzzles this time around, but more complaints about the story. I'll play through it again to give a fair assessment.

HeroicJay

02/17/2011, 08:38 am

It seems a little weird to me that Doc and Marty would just leave 1931 AGAIN without finding it strange that Arthur and Trixie were together, are we supposed to assume that Trixie is actually Marty's grandma?

They addressed this in-game; they assumed it was fine because Marty was not disappearing. And if she's not Marty's grandmother, that simply means that they broke up or that Trixie died before Artie met Sylvia. You don't marry the first woman you kiss (well, most people don't.)

-Called Edna burning down the speakeasy (as many others probably did, as well).

I think the fact that Kid Tannen assumed Edna was the arsonist is the best piece of evidence against Edna being the arsonist imaginable. She still denied it. I suspect we still have an episode or three to go before the truth is revealed.

Emily

02/17/2011, 08:46 am

If Harry Callahan is the correct choice for the name, then don't make the other options even available

There is no "correct" choice. In episode 1, you could pick a name, and the characters called you that no matter which one you picked.

In ep2 Edna called me Mr. Crockett once, but otherwise I was Mike Corleone, which I guess was what I picked in the last game (I actually don't remember). If the game is actually remembering what you picked and playing specific lines to reflect that, then good on Telltale for doing it (even if it's occasionally glitchy). That's a neat detail that was probably a pain to implement.

jweir

02/17/2011, 09:09 am

A little off topic, but hey Emily, nice to see you again!

Back to the topic at hand though, I thought it was a great episode and I actually found the pass phrase part enjoyable even though it was a gripe to others. I thought the implementation of the "scene search" (for lack of a better term) was very neat and a new ability of the Telltale Tool. I also liked the nod to Sam and Max although quite obscure. Overall a great episode with great pacing. To those complaining about the lack of difficulty, I really think you'd alienate most of the Back to the Future fanbase if you made it much harder. There were still a few times when I had to scratch my head, and especially considering that most were after a sandbox game, you don't want to discount them completely as it's still income.

doggans

02/17/2011, 09:22 am

Now that I've read over the other posts in this thread, I'm surprised how many people thought this was shorter than Episode One. Episode One was the fastest I've ever beaten a Telltale chapter. This one felt a little closer to the average, length-wise.

Rather Dashing

02/17/2011, 10:30 am

A little off topic, but hey Emily, nice to see you again!
Yeah, it's nice seeing her posts here and there. She always makes posts that I can respect, and I missed seeing her around. =P

jweir

02/17/2011, 11:14 am

Yeah, it's nice seeing her posts here and there. She always makes posts that I can respect, and I missed seeing her around. =P

Yep, she really brought customer service to new levels, and has great communication skills, but I really don't want to steer this thread too off topic.

Gman5852

02/17/2011, 12:04 pm

My personal review.

The puzzles were BETTER than episode 1, but still a little too easy. I did have to use hints, but only when something went wrong(such as I couldnt see the reporter escaping during Biff's shootout)

The lipsyncing to me was defenently off.

Good story as always telltale, bravo there.

Not telltale's best at foreshadowing. In the Devils playhouse, the game forshadowed Max's fate from the very begining, here it was flat-out obvious what would screw everything up in the end.

Overall, a good game, but I wish telltale would bump up the difficulty.

Origami

02/17/2011, 12:48 pm

Not telltale's best at foreshadowing. In the Devils playhouse, the game forshadowed Max's fate from the very begining, here it was flat-out obvious what would screw everything up in the end.

That's because in the case of BttF there is no forshadowing needed. People familiar with the movies know that time travel always lead to problems. It was excepted things wouldn't go as smoothly as planned.

Falanca

02/17/2011, 01:36 pm

Lengthwise; it FELT longer to me even if it wasn't. More scenery, more places to go, more characters, but I guess the same amount & difficulty level of puzzles.

Storywise; brilliant! And I have to disagree with Rather Dashing here completely. The previous interactions DID have an effect. Edna respects Marty more, so much so that she says she doesn't want to make an article about Marty even when she knows he has a deal to do with Doc's jail break. It makes complete sense that Emmeth doesn't give a damn about the affair about the rocket drill, since during the construction of it Emmeth was able to go against his father to continue his own science experiments later on. It was only possible thanks to Marty. Again, Emmeth respects Marty too and now it's not because he thinks he's from the patent office.

Another little anectode I'd like to blabber about; Biff's brothers! Hell yes! That was some clever writing there. The way Marty defeats them is still weak in terms of a puzzle, but it's pretty enjoyable to watch. Well, it would be even more entertaining with better animations and all. I also find it funny that to restore the timeline and save his existence, Marty had to erase Biff's brothers from existence. Marty actually killed (or prevented the birth of) 2 Tannen family members and probably even more. But it's OKAY since they were TANNENS -and not so well-developed I'd like to add-. Double standarts I'd say.

Puzzlewise? Just lacking. I started to see this game as something different rather than an adventure.

TheTrout

02/17/2011, 01:50 pm

Well, I LOVED the story and characters. The actual game, on the other hand...

Honestly, calling it a "game" is really kind of pushing it. It's more like a movie where you have to click something every once in a while. Knocked it out in just under two hours last night after it launched. Even with all the hint and goal systems turned off, this game is just waaaay too easy. Doesn't even feel like I'm doing anything anymore.

Captain_Jack

02/17/2011, 02:18 pm

Just to throw in a thought or two, one of my all time favourite things about the structure of Back to the Future storylines is the continuous progression of minor victory followed by effectively making things MUCH MUCH worse - and then rising above that challenge only to make things even worse again. It happens all through the trilogy and it is happening constantly in the game, particularly episode 2. Grateful that the developers have picked up on this very Back-to-the-future-esque structure. It's a highlight for me.

Other mentionables, calling the goon Zane was a nice touch, I laughed out loud for that one, the Melies reference; wonderful little details. Also, Doc trying to explain timelines A through E was a wonderful scene.

It's obviously a bit weird as an "adventure game" but I figure there are loads of more puzzley-head-whacking-against-wall adventure games out there for thems-that-needs it. I'm hoping that as the episodes progress there is a better marriage of true-difficulty and fun, but as a Back to the Future "experience", top marks. Marty lives...

Nice work guys and girls! Have a drink :)

Codexus

02/17/2011, 02:24 pm

I was hoping this episode would provide a significant improvement over the first one. The first one needed to start a bit slow to allow for people who don't usually play adventure games to get started. Unfortunately this one feels the same way in terms of gameplay, probably even easier, and wasn't as much of a treat for bttf fans. So I guess I'm a bit disappointed with barely over 2 hours of gameplay and no real head-scratcher for me. It wasn't bad, I guess I was just hoping for more.

I hope episode 3 will be where things start to really rock. It certainly looks like it could be a lot of fun.

Quig

02/17/2011, 03:55 pm

I seem to be the only person who was called by the name I selected (Corleone) the whole way though both episodes. :s

Gman5852

02/17/2011, 04:07 pm

That's because in the case of BttF there is no forshadowing needed. People familiar with the movies know that time travel always lead to problems. It was excepted things wouldn't go as smoothly as planned.

Yeah I knew things would go wrong, but I mean telltale has good foreshadowing of WHAT will go wrong, not if.
In The Devils Playhouse, the game foreshadowed that Max would meat a hideous end in one of the best and clever ways possible. You could go through the game, and not even get one bit of the foreshadowing telltale showed, because of how cleverly hidden it was, here it was obvious Emmet and the reporter(dont know her name) would cause issues

stevec32

02/17/2011, 04:12 pm

WAY too easy this time around, but brilliant story, great voice work, great graphics style and the puzzles were smart and fun despite their simplicity. Loved it, but hope it gets harder, or at least takes a little longer next time. I didn't get stuck once this time, which isn't bragging because I got stuck A LOT on the first.

Cath

02/17/2011, 04:15 pm

I seem to be the only person who was called by the name I selected (Corleone) the whole way though both episodes. :s

I was Sonny Crockett the whole time, and that's the name I picked on this PC.

ploot

02/17/2011, 04:40 pm

I was called every possible name option randomly throughout the game. I actually thought it was a joke that Telltale did considering the mess-up in episode one. Guess not!

Aside from that and a few other glitches I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I liked the "password" puzzle. It was silly, but fun. I'm excited for episode three.

Falanca

02/17/2011, 04:41 pm

I was Sonny Crockett the whole time, and that's the name I picked on this PC.

Same here also.

Rather Dashing

02/17/2011, 04:57 pm

I was called Corleone consistently throughout the second episode, even though I picked Callahan in the last one. I guess the game got tired of me trying to entertain myself by saying Dirty Harry lines wherever I could make them somewhat fit.

RAnthonyMahan

02/17/2011, 04:59 pm

Just beat it.

Much better than Episode 1. Still a bit too easy, but there was some level of challenge and it stayed there consistently throughout the episode, so I can't complain.

I wish you'd use your inventory more often, though. The Devil's Playhouse didn't have many inventory-dependent puzzles either, but there it made sense because you had The Toys of Power, which amounted to a second inventory full of things much more fun to mess around with. It seems Marty's carrying around all this stuff just for Einstein to smell it.

I'm looking forward to Episode 3. That teaser...

Gman5852

02/17/2011, 05:13 pm

Yeah basically its a good game, but telltale REALLY needs to bump up the difficulty please.
The way the third episode will play out looks good, but I want to see some improvements on puzzles.

Crom The Beast

02/17/2011, 07:05 pm

Besides the few things people like to cry about, because an imaginary universe needs to be perfect, but I honestly thought the story exceeded my expectations. TellTale Games made me remember why I was a huge PC gamer back in the 90's growing up as a teen. Makes me want to get back into adventure games and see what else is out there. Honestly thoroughly enjoyed this episode though and for the price and the nostalgia you can't ever put a price on that. Great job!

MarkP

02/17/2011, 07:08 pm

Finally the very anticpated episode 2 is here, yet im having some issues with the game =[ This is heavy!

Spykes

02/17/2011, 07:55 pm

Just beat it myself, definitely an improvement over the first episode.

I liked the overall length of the game much better. The storytelling and pacing was really nice. A lot better action too.

fawker

02/17/2011, 08:00 pm

Yeah the puzzles are kinda weak sauce, easy.. but man it's quite a ride..

EnigmaWave

02/17/2011, 08:28 pm

I was extremely disappointed when the DeLorean was returning to 1931 that old Kid Tannen didn't say "A flying DeLorean? What the hell is going on here‽" :(

Seether

02/17/2011, 08:42 pm

Honestly anyone who complains about this game and cannot appreciate or enjoy the sheer amount of work that had to go into creating this, are in my opinion, folks that are not true BTTF fans and also lack any sense of nostalgia.

Consideringing that by today's standards BTTF is a quickly aging franchise that has not had anything to reignite its fire in sometime, everyone should be happy that Telltate and Universal decided to even give (what I would imagine in their eyes a pretty big gamble) a green light to produce and fund this adventure series in the first place.

The stars must have definitely aligned and I for one am extremely thankful to be able to visit the BTTF universe once again and enjoy the sights and sounds and new stories presented.

Thank you to everyone involved in the project at Telltate and Universal, and as I have just finished "Get Tannen!" cannot wait to enjoy the rest of the episodes. To me, the writing is superb and in the spirit of BTTF. I enjoyed this episode just as much as the first one.

Tromeritus

02/17/2011, 08:45 pm

I liked the 1st person puzzles, Trixie, and the Tannen Gang+Old Kid a lot! I found the speakeasy songs to be very well-done as well.

I had hoped to see more good development from Officer Parker, though, I felt like his character wasn't living up to his potential (but I guess that'll be taken care of later on since we seem be headed back to 1931 eventually--hope it doesn't get stale)

Some of the "action" sequences felt a bit dry, too. The final one, in particular, I expected much more from after the "boss" encounters in S&M and Monkey Island.

jbarrett311

02/17/2011, 09:19 pm

church1138

02/17/2011, 09:21 pm

The episode was pretty good. I'm loving the story. The puzzles aren't Sideways-Batman-Maniac-Mansion difficult, which is nice. Marty doesn't seem like the kind of guy that we would want to play that would be smart enough to solve complex puzzles, that seems more like Doc's area. Seeing as we don't play as him, it makes sense in my eyes that the puzzles are simplistic enough.

Also.....
The DeLorean both rear-ended a car in Biffhorrific 1986 and crashed into a giant billboard in FCB1986 in the space of hypothetically 2 hours...how is it that the time circuits or the flux bands or the entire rear deck is unharmed?

All in all though, awesome episode! Can't wait for PART 3 of BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE GAME. =D

lombre

02/17/2011, 09:22 pm

One thing i don't get is that if Kid goes to jail in 1931 how is Biff born. Doing the math he would have to be born somewhere between 1936-1938. They showed if Kid does not go to jail that Biff would have two brother. Any ideas

I was explained in the first episode by Doc that Kid escaped prison for about three hours. As Marty said, "Sounds like a busy three hours."

Vainamoinen

02/17/2011, 11:54 pm

Honestly anyone who complains about this game and cannot appreciate or enjoy the sheer amount of work that had to go into creating this, are in my opinion, folks that are not true BTTF fans and also lack any sense of nostalgia.

Honestly anyone who praises this game but fails to take into account that lots of other people might have wanted a game instead of a fourth movie, and is subsequently actually doubting that these people still love the original movie triology, has left the path of wisdom.

Okay, REVIEW TIME.

The opening of the second episode left me breathless with disappointment. For the first 40 minutes of of the game, Marty can't actually move. Furthermore, everything he needs to progress keeps being dropped in front of his nose, and I mean that literally. As much as I love a well-placed action sequence in TTG's endeavours, "Get Tannen" not only has too many of them, but they also seriously lack creativity. "Move twice around the DeLorean" or "click twice on the box" are actual puzzle solutions. The icons in the upper right actually blocked Marty's face in the opening sequence (resolution 1280x1024). I hate these things, honestly. And a third scene in this entire game where you were supposed to SEE Lorraine had no Lorraine in it, again.

After said 40 minutes I was pretty enraged, but then there was actual gameplay when we were finally back in 1931. I was really disappointed that an emotional moment of episode 1, when Marty tells Emmett that he is in fact there to steal his invention, is reduced to nothing because Emmett just doesn't seem to care anymore. The speakeasy puzzles weren't actually complex, but at least I got a small hint as to why I liked TTG's games in the first place. Facial animation was good, I liked Parker and Trixie as characters, I liked Artie's little secret, music-based puzzles are my favourites, so this was actually a rather happy half-hour I had with the game.

Sadly, the finale dissolves into not much thought-out action sequences again (where it's not only the dumb repetition of the same action that gets you forward, but things Marty needs also keep falling in front of his nose).

Was there actually NEW music in this one? I kept hearing repetitions of the first episode's music. I hope I misheard. :(

"Get Tannen" is rather different than the first episode, but sadly, scores an equal 3/10 points on my personal scale.

Joop

02/18/2011, 12:32 am

I was pretty excited when playing. I enjoyed the locations, the voice acting and the visuals.

There is however a pretty big point of criticism for both episodes so far.
I've got the feeling that the game is trying to be something it's not, a movie.
The game kinda plays itself and we are watching a story unfold. However, the animations and facial features are too bland and hokey to really get into the story.
This wouldn't be too bad if the gameplay was any good, but as a game it's too easy and linear.

Here we are left with a mixed bag which doesn't work as any of the things it tries to be.
The animation and action is just to hokey for a good movie, and the gameplay is too bland and linear to be a good game.

The story, however, is pretty good. The voice acting and design are really good as well.
I just think that Telltale needs to choose on what they want to be.
A company that makes excellent games, or a company that makes good animated movies. The mix just doesn't really do it for me.

Strayth

02/18/2011, 03:29 am

It would be one of the worst animated movie ever, though. So really, they should pick one and get 100% on it, while making both a bad game and a bad movie.

Strayth

02/18/2011, 05:56 am

I had the 3 names switching during the whole episode.

Edna : Crockett

Young doc : Micheal

Others : Harry

Very consistent so far.

edit : Crap, sorry for the double post.

Dragon King

02/18/2011, 06:59 am

I loved this episode. So far it's really good and captures the true essence of the films. I too was expecting Old Kid Tannen to use the line "A flying Delorean, what the hell is going on here". But I'm kind of glad he didn't. They use so many jokes and references to the films, it was actually nice to not get what was expected. Although, I was surprised by the "When this baby hits 23 mph" line.

Only ONE disappointment. You can't fail. At a critical moment, I think it would be cool when choosing the wrong response or action causes you to fail and create a universe destroying paradox (or keep it localized to our galaxy) or just erase someone from existence :)

jar-guy

02/18/2011, 07:19 am

I don't know how Kid Tannen saying "A Flying Delorean" would make sense. How would he even know what a Delorean is?

The game was very good, but I hope to see more time periods in the future. The only puzzle that got me stumped was for awhile was convincing Trixie, otherwise I solved them pretty quickly and easily.

There is another glitch I noticed, when Marty offers Edna the gun lighter, the scenes become framed weird with both of their faces cut off by half the screen.

The next episode looks good. I wonder if Doc still invented the time machine in this timeline? If not, it's odd that Doc would disappear and the time machine wouldn't.

DoubleG

02/18/2011, 07:38 am

When I started with the free episode I was really impressed how much it felt like a true BTTF-Story. I liked the hidden details in the conversations and I liked to play a story with having some questions in my mind and waiting for them to get answered, like "Why 1930's?". The free episode was my first TTG-Game. Close to the end of the free episode I decided to buy the entire season. And after finishing the first episode und starting with the second, I really had a lot of fun. I was curious about the story and couldn't wait to find out where Marty and Doc will end up after the second episode. I really liked how the story developed. The end of the 2nd episode was a nice twist in the plot. Marty and Doc thought everything would be fine in 1986 but the little detail at the end of their mission in the past changed everything.. again!
Now I can't wait for the 3rd episode and Im really excited to see the changed timeline.
But I wish there will be just a final trip back to the 1930's. Its not like I didnt like the 30's but I would like to travel back to some timelimes from the movies (2015 maybe, because we still dont know how there is a flying delorean from that timeline and how Doc get the flying delorean) and also find Clara and Doc's Kids (in the past or in the future).
I really really love this game and I am really grateful for TTG making this game. But I'm missing the link between the end of the 3rd movie and the game itself. Yes we know how the life of Marty was without Doc, but we don't know where Doc and his Family was and why Doc travelled back to the 1930's and where (or should I say 'when' xD) he left his wife and his Kids. And of course the link to the delorean, which shouldn't exist after the 3rd movie and whether Doc used the time travelling train to get back to the 1930's or not.
The end of the 2nd episode was also kind of confusing. Has Doc invented the time machine or not? Did he had all the adventures (in the movies) with Marty?

I hope TTG will give us some clear answeres within the next episodes.
Uh and btw: I thing the game itself feels like getting 3 more Movies or so. I think the first two episodes would make a 4th movie and we will start with a 5th movie with the next episode. Thats how the game feels for me and Im really happy with that.
Ok, thats all right now. Now I need to know WHEN the 3rd Episode will launch :-D

Oh, and Im sorry if something I wrote is unclear or sounds weird. My english is not perfect ;-)

Clord

02/18/2011, 07:50 am

doggans

02/18/2011, 08:01 am

I don't know how Kid Tannen saying "A Flying Delorean" would make sense. How would he even know what a Delorean is?

They're talking about Old Kid Tannen in 1986, who would be well aware of the existence of DeLoreans.

corruptbiggins

02/18/2011, 08:08 am

Just want to say that I liked it. Sure, it's easier than previous games but I think that suits the source material. Frankly, there won't be a better Back to the Future game than these episodes.

Vainamoinen

02/18/2011, 08:53 am

Sadly, there won't be a better Back to the Future game than these episodes.

Fixed!

corruptbiggins

02/18/2011, 09:21 am

I stand by what I said.

EPhibian

02/18/2011, 09:24 am

According to Steam, I finished this episode in 1 hour and 33 minutes. There are basically 2 locations, the square and the speak-easy (any segments which only involve crawling around stuff don't count I think). Very disappointing.

Krohn

02/18/2011, 09:42 am

After such a lot of people mentioned all the negatives, I think it is time for a more positive view.

And episode 2 is a huge improvement over the first.

50% more entertaining value (3 hours instead of 2)
100% more puzzles (which was practically given as episode 1 was seriously lacking)

And Hill Valley is no longer a ghost town.
Now you can see people in the background and cars passing through.
And the speakeasy is also filled with people, who have nothing to do with the plot.(Well okay so 3 random citizens isn't really that much..but at least there were some)

And considering the low expectations I had after the 1st episode, this was a positive surprise.

If telltale can keep this rate of improvements up, episode 4 will promise to be a great game.

(Yes that means my expectations for episode 3 are still low...but hey, I might get surprised again ;) )

Gluehead

02/18/2011, 10:51 am

It was definitely an enjoyable experience but now that the wonderful nostalgic feeling I felt playing the first episode is beginning to dissipate, I really think the episodes have to start being more than merely enjoyable and need to further their ambitions and just go completely for broke. I don't want them to play it safe with the Back to the Future license and that's kinda what this episode felt to me, safe. I want more emotional moments, I want more character development, I want it to feel like an actual furthering of the Back to the Future universe and not just a side story. And there can also never, ever be another two month waiting period between episodes again.

That being said, there's no denying that I had a lot of fun playing this episode. It was good, but that's also the problem, it should be great.

Origami

02/18/2011, 11:12 am

And Hill Valley is no longer a ghost town.
Now you can see people in the background and cars passing through.

Huh? Episode 1 had people walking around in the background too. Same amount like in ep 2.
But I have this theory, I think the amount is decided by what level of graphic quality you choose.

Kyronea

02/18/2011, 01:20 pm

Maybe I'm just not as good at puzzle games as some people here, but I needed actual hints in the sequence near the end with rescuing Edna, and I really liked the door puzzle once I figured out what was going on with it.

As for story wise, I'm not sure I understand why some people are saying emotional moments are being ignored. On the contrary I think Young Emmett is acting exactly like I would expect him to after all of that. After all, it's been two months. Had Marty shown up, say, a week after the incident, Emmett might have been more upset, but two months is enough time for Emmett to calm down. I DID, however, think it weird they left Einstein there, but then again given they were in such a rush to fix things with Marty it just slipped their minds.

Still, the puzzles could use a little more complexity, and there should be some fixing of animations as noted, particularly Marty walking around. Other than that I'm enjoying this stuff, and given the age of the franchise and the sheer, sudden unexpectedness of Telltale getting the license in the first place, I'm satisfied. I mean, Back to the Future matters to me prolly a lot more than a lot of people here, given how key it's been to a number of things in my life(no I'm not going into details) and just in general been a favorite of mine since I was two, but I'm not seeing a reason to get super upset if things aren't perfect. They're not going to be. And we're always going to have differing opinions of what perfect IS.

Overall, I'm waiting till the whole thing is complete before finally deciding on the quality of the story. I'm not deciding part way in. There's enough good and only a little bit bad so far, enough that I can't decide either way.

One last thing I'd like to mention: I really like Edna as a character. She's really quite interesting. Trixie was also great.

Clyssandre

02/18/2011, 02:24 pm

Hi,

Just finished the second episode. I really liked the first episode and I'm very sorry about this : I am deeply desappointed with ep 2.

As many others, the whole episode lasted a bit less than 3 hours for me. I actually started the game only twice. But well, 3 incredible hours of play would have been ok.

The think is : I got terribly bored. To my opinion :
- BTTF ep 2 is closer to an interactive movie than to a game. You never play !
- Almost no puzzle, no challenge. (I played with no tips and didn't use help)
- a bit desappointed about going back to the same place
- I find the story getting a bit messy... making more timeline makes it harder to follow, but not more fun.
- there was serious bugs or strange things : like Emmet who goes back down the roof in a click if you touch the machine in the park.
I hope the third episode will be better...

Silverwolfpet

02/18/2011, 02:40 pm

And episode 2 is a huge improvement over the first.

:confused:

50% more entertaining value (3 hours instead of 2)

I've heard people playing episodes of Tales of Monkey Island over a few days. My average time on a ToMI episode was 5-6 hours.

100% more puzzles (which was practically given as episode 1 was seriously lacking)

While I respect your opinion (and I'm glad you think it's an improvement), I disagree. Vainamoinen pretty much summed up the whole "puzzle"-thing. Placing objects in front of you can be seen as slightly insulting.

If it were me, I'd choose to make these games as hard as possible, since I'd still have a hint system. I mean, look at Secret of monkey Island and MI2: LeChuck's Revenge. They're very hard, especially for newcomers... but they have a hint system. Did anyone comlain about the difficulty? I don't think so.

I don't get it why they're making these BTTF episodes so simple... the first one, ok, to gather fanbase... the second one too?! ...grrr, fine, let's gather MORE fanbase.

But if the third one is as simple as the first two... I'd rather watch an animated movie. Same thing. Only you'd have to press some buttons to unpause it.

To keep on subject. Story, awesome. Cutscenes, brilliant. Puzzles... what puzzles?!

Weeblerjake

02/18/2011, 02:48 pm

See, the nice part about not being experienced in adventure games in that you find these puzzles harder than other people do. This doesn't mean certain things are just stupid, like that whole Einstein sniffing stuff... but some things actually require me to thing, use a hint or two. However, I would like more of a challenge in later episodes.

guitarsareboring

02/18/2011, 02:48 pm

My impressions are;

It was far too easy, probably the easiest TT game I've played so far.
There were more glitches than ever, particularly when leaving a conversation.

The story is still good.
The cliffhanger was ace.

Datadog

02/18/2011, 04:51 pm

Much better than the first episode. I'm not a big fan of mafia stories, but this one seemed to fit in with the usual brand of second episodes in TT Games. It was still incredibly easy, but the improvement this time was that there were more puzzles, and at least 3-4 where I actually got to stop and think about the solution instead of just stumble onto obvious answers by accident. It's definitely still one of the easier TT games, but it's still a fun 2.5 hours of gameplay.

I'm also surprised by the twist at the end. Judging by the episode descriptions, I assumed Chapter 3 might involve teen Doc getting his hands on his own notebook in the past and turning 1985 Hill Valley into "1984." So having Edna be the one responsible was a twist in itself. Although now I wonder how the notebook will ever come into play...

GoodGuyA

02/18/2011, 05:20 pm

I really liked the way they tried to mix up the flow of exactly how the game was played. A few of the puzzles needed a bit more sorting out (those that result to old adventure style logic, rubbing everything on everything else), but overall I thought the clearer goals really made for a much more easy to follow experience. I personally smiled when I solved some of the puzzles that require you to backtrack within the same area. I definitely liked the smoothness of it, and am expecting some more changes in style as things go on.

Kyronea

02/18/2011, 06:24 pm

Dragon King

02/18/2011, 07:56 pm

Rather Dashing

02/18/2011, 08:02 pm

The space-time continuum has proven somewhat more resilient than Doc originally estimated.

darkknightdetec

02/18/2011, 08:50 pm

Awesome stuff! It blows my mind every single time how much Telltale can develop these characters within the context of a game, and how well all of the dialogue trees flow. It's a complex type of game because you really have to anticipate people talking to people that they're not necessarily supposed to talk to at each point, so its interesting to see how they handle it. The story was great as usual, and the ending! Wow! Can't wait for episode 3! I'm just glad that it's less of a wait than between episodes 1 and 2!

ObiWanThreepwood

02/18/2011, 09:08 pm

Wonderful plot, acting, writing, all that jargon Telltale does well.

Puzzles were a little light, which I would be fine with if, well- can we stop giving the dog things to sniff out? That's getting a bit old. Other than that I feel quite satisfied!

jmm

02/18/2011, 10:06 pm

Quoting "The Cheat": "Meh!"

I completely lost interest in the story. Puzzles and gameplay are almost non-existent and for the first time, I couldn't finish the game "as intended" due to severe graphical problems* and random sound bugs (I even missed out the ending, all I saw was lots of blobs moving and skipping dialogs)

I'll play the next episodes, but I think this will be my last Telltale "adventure" game unless things radically improve.

* I didn't have any graphical or sound issues with previous games, even episode 1 ran flawlessly.

alptkz

02/19/2011, 01:10 am

I have to say I'm really disappointed. I don't care so much about the lack of difficulty or story elements which I think are fine, but this game is far from being a finished product. These bugs and lack of finish are completely unacceptable in a modern game. Which developers in their right mind would look at Marty's walking animation and decide it's acceptable ?! There are so many bugs like some scenes with no sound effects that make it impossible to be fully immersed in the game.

Really the only thing that keeps me going here is the franchise. That and because I paid for the whole season.

After playing Tales of Monkey Island, I thought Telltale Games is a reliable game company which is why I bought Back to the Future without hesitation. I will definitely not buy a game from them again without playing a demo first.

GoodGuyA

02/19/2011, 06:15 am

Major Paradox arriving:

Since Doc is now in control, he never invented the time machine meaning Marty couldn't go back in time to save Doc and transform the future into what it is which will cause a chain reaction which will unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and DESTROY the entire universe :)

You see, I always assumed that the DeLorean and its components exist outside of time itself. While the individual components may stop working or disappear (including the people within it), the flux capacitor will always remain functional.

crfh

02/19/2011, 12:42 pm

I loved everything, and I think I liked this episode even better than the first one. It was a huge improvement.

However, maybe I'm naive in expecting more in the challenging puzzles department. :P

But guys, if this is the style of things you want, you're doing a great job!

Nintomster

02/19/2011, 12:57 pm

Meant to post this earlier, but this was a improvement story-wise. The puzzles (if you can call them that) were ever so slightly trickier, and the lengh was a bit longer, by about 30 mins for me. I look forward to the next episode, if only for the story. It getting a bit harder now is doubtful, so let's hope the story stays good.

ALV910

02/19/2011, 04:09 pm

Anybody notice that when you ask Edna about breaking stories, she mentions that Mayor Thomas slinked out of the speakeasy and Frankie Needles crashed into a fire hydrant?

paulmccain

02/19/2011, 10:53 pm

:confused:

I've heard people playing episodes of Tales of Monkey Island over a few days. My average time on a ToMI episode was 5-6 hours.

While I respect your opinion (and I'm glad you think it's an improvement), I disagree. Vainamoinen pretty much summed up the whole "puzzle"-thing. Placing objects in front of you can be seen as slightly insulting.

If it were me, I'd choose to make these games as hard as possible, since I'd still have a hint system. I mean, look at Secret of monkey Island and MI2: LeChuck's Revenge. They're very hard, especially for newcomers... but they have a hint system. Did anyone comlain about the difficulty? I don't think so.

I don't get it why they're making these BTTF episodes so simple... the first one, ok, to gather fanbase... the second one too?! ...grrr, fine, let's gather MORE fanbase.

But if the third one is as simple as the first two... I'd rather watch an animated movie. Same thing. Only you'd have to press some buttons to unpause it.

To keep on subject. Story, awesome. Cutscenes, brilliant. Puzzles... what puzzles?!

What puzzles would you do instead for Episodes 1 and 2 to make it more difficult?

StarEye

02/20/2011, 02:10 am

t_lyth

02/20/2011, 08:00 am

I really enjoyed the game and loved how they used the deloren flying this time including Younger Emmetts version with the radio car as well as a little nod.

WinterSnowblind

02/20/2011, 01:13 pm

Story is fun and interesting enough to keep me going. I feel more like I'm playing through an interactive story though, since there challenge just isn't there in the slightest. I guess the problem with having so many games and especially doing an episodic series like this is that something has to suffer, and in this case it's the gameplay. They seem to spend much more time making "cool" camera angles to make a cinematic experience. I mean, the puzzles are getting extremely lazy. I mean, I get it, Einstein's nose is excellent at tracking down people. How many times are you gonna take that shortcut instead of making a proper puzzle out of it?

Remember EMI, where there was a joke about being able to use an item more than once - there's a reason for it. Because it provides little to no challenge, unless used in a unique and different ways (BTTF doesn't).

Verdict? Fun for the nostalgia facter, it's still Back To The Future. But if this wasn't BTTF, this game gives you very little. The controls are working, but I still don't like them. It shouldn't feel like work to play. Sacrificing intuivity and good controls for a cinematic experience is exactly what's wrong with adventure today - or at least used to be, since most of them doesn't seem to be stuck in the early 2000's anymore. Telltale seems to lag behind that adventure game developers mostly learnt from this mistake. You need to get on with the times.

I don't think it has anything to do with them currently working on so many other projects, I think it was a deliberate decision to make the game more accessible. I think they knew a BttF game would appeal to a much wider audience (and sales have proved that it has) and I do believe they mentioned in interviews before it was released that they were aiming for more of an interactive story approach.

Personally, this doesn't bother me at all, I've loved every second of it. Especially realising in this episode, why certain things happened in the first. Definitely time to move on from the 30's time period though and I do think the later episodes will pick up in difficulty, at least a little bit. The next episode looks really interesting. :)

It'll be a lot of fun at the end when we can finally piece everything together.

ragdoll556

02/20/2011, 04:26 pm

I found this episode very enjoyable and a considerable improvment over the first( which I also liked). I know a lot of people are complaining about how linear the game is, but I don't mind it that much. Besides, the episode gets much more diverse once marty returns to 1931 from 1986.

BritishChap007

02/20/2011, 06:07 pm

I just want to say that I've loved every minute of this game.

I'm a big gamer (360), but gave this a go because I'm a huge BTTF fan. The last adventure game I played was Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

So far, I've found the difficulty of this game to be just right if shading on a little to easy every once and a while. I'm very busy with school work and all and don't have a ton of time to play games lately, unfortunately. That being said, I feel like this game has enough length and challenge to get me immersed but not to much to make it inaccessible. I'm primarily here for the story.

I've found the story to be really great so far. It's great to be back in the BTTF universe. I have experienced some sound glitching issues, especially in episode 2, but my computer also isn't the greatest. Man I wish this was on the 360.
The only complaint I have, really, in terms of anything else is this face Doc ALWAYS makes that doesn't resemble any face Christopher Lloyd has ever made:

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/2527/docface.jpg

Other than that, keep up the amazing work guys. I hate the waits though! haha. But it gives me something to look forward to!

PS>>>What is the precedent with the DVD copy ie. what is usually included in it? Do they just slap the five episodes on a DVD? any bonus features? Do they make it a full length game? Do they edit the game together as a movie (that would be really cool in relation to this game)?

Vainamoinen

02/20/2011, 11:16 pm

What is the precedent with the DVD copy ie. what is usually included in it?

You can expect some "making of"-commentary and concept art, the episode trailers in video format, possibly animated "outtakes". Not much more.

Do they make it a full length game? Do they edit the game together as a movie (that would be really cool in relation to this game)?

No, never. The suggestion has been made many times for many TTG games, but...

Rather Dashing

02/20/2011, 11:46 pm

No, never. The suggestion has been made many times for many TTG games, but...
Never on the "one big game" thing, but the Sam and Max DVDs for seasons 1 and 2 did edit the cutscenes together as a "movie" that could be watched, with commentary, and I thought it was an AWESOME FEATURE but apparently they decided that having the game audio as a track rather than just the one commentary track was a bad idea for some arbitrary reason.

TryWhistlingThis

02/21/2011, 03:16 am

Just finished it then without any help of the hint system :) I only had to use it once during Episode 1 and that was for when Marty is on the roof in the park to get a recording of Tanen's voice.

Absolutely love the cliffhanger of this one, I never saw something so drastic like that coming! As for the length, honestly, it felt just right. Keep them short, that way we get the most logical and essential puzzles that are the most relevant to the story without the filler of some of the longer adventure games. Plus, we're only about 2 or 3 weeks away from the next episode, so it's great.

There hasn't been one dull moment so far. For those of you who have played Episode 1 either as buying it stand alone or downloading the free trial and wondering if it's worth to go onto the next episode, do it! More action, more fluidity in the story and even more twists!

PaulT

02/21/2011, 03:23 am

Vwey good episode, I loved the part when Marty arrives back and the whole timeline changed :)

Characters are great, and loved that Tannen got his share of manure again. (though I missed the actual manure on him after he got recovered... he was actually spotless...)

Keep up the good work!

Mysticales

02/21/2011, 11:27 am

Hey Just giving my praise on Eppy 2! The Story is VERY gripping, ENJOYABLE. I ENJOYED the fact this time that some puzzles REQUIRED you to goto a diff area to solve. HOWEVER Wasnt as hard yet.. I still say need more problems and going around areas to solve 1 puzzle vs staying in the same room. Need more items to use.

The audio.. This Eppy.. is worse then Eppy 1.. I got the hiss sound now. And I could notice the quality was sub-standard. =(

But Gdi.. now I want Eppy 3! The Trailer at the end makes doc look like the RL Actors current look now. Very nice touch! =D

derex

02/21/2011, 12:17 pm

I loved it, especially the story and camera angles. Although it lacked in puzzles and more interactive gameplay. My biggest wish would be to actually control the delorean in some sort of race in time, or to drive away from bad guys, that would be so cool!

Ribs

02/21/2011, 02:24 pm

Dear lord, I've heard of Shorthand but this is ridiculous!

TicTocDragon

02/21/2011, 05:20 pm

Right now at this point I have tried to download the second episode and install it on my PC, and it still does not load or work. Really disappointed at this point.:confused::(

pantlesspenguin

02/21/2011, 08:36 pm

Hey y'all, I just wanted to add a little perspective from a non-gamer, but hardcore bttf lover. I'm GLAD that the puzzles are relatively easy. There have been some points in both episodes I've actually had to consult the WALKTHROUGHS because I couldn't understand the hints. If the puzzles were more difficult, I'd just get frustrated that I couldn't continue the game. I really like that it's more like an interactive movie, being that I'm not that familiar with puzzle games. I'm probably the type of person that these games are meant to be marketed to. For those of you that are heavy gamers, I completely understand your frustration in that you want more of a challenge, but just because these games don't offer much of that doesn't mean they suck. Know what I mean? I'm sure they're deliberately "dumbed down" to reach more of an audience.

Weeeeee

02/21/2011, 11:30 pm

They should have just made a 'easy' or 'hard' version.

Probably wouldn't have been that hard.

I think it could be a little more difficult, but I just like that Back to the Future is back (in a way)!

martymcfly

02/22/2011, 05:27 pm

Hey guys,

My review of Back To The Future: The Game - Episode 2: Get Tannen! is now live!

Back To The Future: The Game - Episode 2: Get Tannen! Review - Alternative Magazine Online (http://alternativemagazineonline.co.uk/2011/02/23/game-review-back-to-the-future-the-game-episode-2-get-tannen/)

"Ultimately, what lets Get Tannen! down is its easy difficulty combined with its short completion time and my final score must reflect this: Episode 1: It’s About Time undoubtedly offered a more well-rounded experience. The overall experience that Get Tannen! offers is still fantastic… there just needed to be more of it. I can only hope that next episode the puzzle design matches the high quality shown in every other area. Otherwise, Back To The Future: The Game could be in danger of becoming an interactive movie instead. Regardless, this is an enjoyable second episode that should hopefully pave the way for true greatness further down the line."

I would love to hear other player's thoughts, especially regarding the bugs I mentioned in the review.

I also recently interviewed Marty McFly voice actor AJ LoCascio about Episode 1 here:

Mini Interview – Back To The Future: The Game – Episode 1: It’s About Time (What Does AJ LoCascio Think?) (http://alternativemagazineonline.co.uk/2011/02/02/mini-interview-back-to-the-future-the-game-episode-1-its-about-time-what-does-aj-locascio-think/)

Episode 2 mini-interview coming soon! :D

Rather Dashing

02/23/2011, 11:02 am

PC Gameplay Benelux: David Cage from Quantic Dream (Indigo Prophecy) has stated that storytelling, characterisations and innovation will be the defining elements to broaden the market. In that respect, do you think this will herald the return of adventures, IF they embrace innovation?

Dave Grossman: Those things are all important to adventure games and they certainly will improve the medium, but at the same time they don't address what I see as the fundamental problem with the average adventure: weak gameplay. Too often players are asked to do things that are too hard, too easy, too arbitrary, completely nonsensical, boring, or frustrating, and no amount of storytelling will turn that into an enjoyable experience. Adventures won't be viable unless their working parts are as well designed as those of other kinds of games.
How times change.

-Source (http://www.telltalegames.com/community/blogs/id-143)

henkdijkstraal

02/23/2011, 12:22 pm

I just downloaded and played the 1st episode. I always want to play a demo of some sort to see if I want to buy the whole package. Glad they provided the 1st for free and I didn't mind to wait. It seems that they released the 2nd episode at the same time with the FREE version of the 1st. Marketingwise I guess, fine with me.

I am a HUGE fan of Monkey Island (both old and new), Sam and Max (idem dito), Broken Sword (1 and 2), sierra classics (in 1987 I played LSL1 and later SQ1 and I was hooked), LucasArts, etc. There are some classics that will never return due to production-costs I guess, like Day of the Tentacle, and all those other hand-drawn adventures. I just love them. For newcomers: please find yourself copies of adventures made in the beginning of the nineties, you'll love them.

As for BTTF... IMO, I think I wait until the whole serie is in discount. I am in no rush to 'absolutely want it here and now', its just not that good I guess. I think its too 'flat'.

Fullmetal X

02/23/2011, 12:34 pm

Well, it's a bit on the late side, but here's my review of the game.

http://pixelatedgeek.com/2011/02/review-back-to-the-future-the-game-episode-two-get-tannen/

turtlebot

02/23/2011, 01:36 pm

I love the idea of the game, but episode 2 definitely seemed pretty short in comparison to the first. Maybe I just paced myself differently while playing, but I wouldn't have minded about an extra hour of gameplay.

Other than that, I LOVED the ending - I'm so excited to see episode 3 because the twist is so juicy this time around.

Moonwalker1982

02/23/2011, 04:21 pm

Recently i received an email from Telltale about my free BTTF episode, which is ep1. I started playing it today and i enjoyed it so much that i decided to buy the whole season for 18 euros. I mean..what is 18 euros?

I love how they 'cartoonized' the well known characters and they really have done a great job. The animations are brilliant too and those emotions are spot on. Story so far is very enjoyable and it's really a big 'feel good' game. We don't have enough of those and i want to support that.

Plus now that i get to game a bit on my laptop too, it's been years since i've really gamed on anything other than consoles. Anyway, anyone looking for a great adventure game , BTTF is the way to go!!!

When i have finished ep 1 and 2, i'm gonna see what other Telltale adventures are worth it for me. :)

Woodsyblue

02/23/2011, 04:56 pm

Glad you are enjoying it :)

If you are looking at other Telltale games I'd personally recommend Tales of Monkey Island and Sam & Max season 2 (though you kind of have to play through the much weaker Sam & Max season 1 to understand the stories and characters in the later seasons, but it's totally worth it).

I also quite enjoyed Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, if you are a fan of the animated shorts or the film I'd quite recommend it.

Macfly77

02/23/2011, 05:15 pm

I second Woodsyblue's suggestions of TOMI, Sam & Max Season Two and Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, though I think Woodsyblue is a little harsh on Sam & Max Season One.
While it's not up to the level of the second season, especially the first few episodes, it definitely picks up steam in the second half and in my view, the last three episodes are every bit as good as anything from season two, especially Reality 2.0, which is definitely in my top 3 Sam & Max episodes.
Also, once you're done with the first two seasons, you've definitely got to give The Devil's Playhouse (my personal favorite game of Telltale's) a spin.
As for Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, I wasn't exactly looking forward to it (probably because before it was announced, I was hoping for a Monkey Island game that had yet to come), but it ended up being one of my favorite Telltale gaming experiences. The game feels just like the shorts (but then again, which Telltale game doesn't feel like the property it's based on?).
Welcome to Telltale's world! ;)

Gman5852

02/23/2011, 05:51 pm

Just remember that the other games are harder than this game, which is actually more of a reason to buy it.
I believe sam and max season 2 is the funiest/hardest game they have.
Oh, and Abe Lincoln Must Die is also a free game so try your hand at that.:D

Woodsyblue

02/23/2011, 07:11 pm

I second Woodsyblue's suggestions of TOMI, Sam & Max Season Two and Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, though I think Woodsyblue is a little harsh on Sam & Max Season One.
While it's not up to the level of the second season, especially the first few episodes, it definitely picks up steam in the second half and in my view, the last three episodes are every bit as good as anything from season two, especially Reality 2.0, which is definitely in my top 3 Sam & Max episodes.
Also, once you're done with the first two seasons, you've definitely got to give The Devil's Playhouse (my personal favorite game of Telltale's) a spin.

It is absolutely true that season one picks up about half way through and I probably should have mentioned that. The first episode is my least liked of all the Telltale episodes I've played. Brady Culture and The Soda Poppers, good lord no. And Max's voice is just wrong in 101. I'm so glad they changed voice actors; William Kasten is perfect as Max! Point is don't judge Sam & Max based on the first episode or two. Persevere, it gets better, a lot better!

The Devil's Playhouse (Sam & Max season 3) is also fantastic but I still have to say that season 2 is my favroite.

GTALostHeaven

02/24/2011, 04:37 am

I always turn off the hints and popups , PNC games are becoming too baby friendly. Everything was Too easy, when there was a problem there was an instant comment on how to fix it.

The Flying Rocket Car was just pushing things too far!
Lets not get Too Cartoony Please.

Apart from that I still enjoyed it. 4 out of 5 Im looking forward to the next ep, but im expecting some silly paradoxes

Silverwolfpet

02/24/2011, 10:35 am

What puzzles would you do instead for Episodes 1 and 2 to make it more difficult?

Ah, sorry, just saw your comment.

I DID actually start to re-write the episodes, wanting to post a sort of walkthrough with more difficult puzzles... I soon gave up, figured "who would care, really?".

If it does help you picture the difficulty level... think of it this way. The old games took a few months to complete. As one classic said
"Banging your head on the table until you found the answer" - Dominic Armato, "Words of Wisdom" Vol. II

Clever puzzles that actually took some thinking. Kind of like the door puzzle, but not only dialogue based. REally really hard stuff to figure out, but logical in the end! (not random). :)

Best way to show you guys this is to make a game.

RMJ1984

02/24/2011, 06:08 pm

Yeah the story is starting to get crazy again just like the movies, i dare even say more crazy xD

Tbh i would not even dare time travel in real life even if i could, seriously if this is how time travel works,its amazing just how little it takes to litterly f*ck up youre life xD

Nintendo Boy1

02/24/2011, 06:25 pm

Dear lord, I've heard of Shorthand but this is ridiculous!

Your being Typist!

roqueeee

02/25/2011, 05:34 am

I just don't understand why there is no combining of inventory items in BTTF. I think it would make the puzzles a lot more entertaining. Especially since the overall difficulty level is really low. BTTF episode 1 and 2 just don't seem to match the quality of Tales Of Monkey Island. Nevertheless, I still had A LOT of fun playing the game. Back To The Future has always been one of my favourite movies and the game is a worthy successor to the series. I just can't wait for episode 3 to be released!

Steveeeie

02/25/2011, 12:37 pm

The episode was short and very bland.

Lots of issues with the artwork, bad shaders, missing / generally poor textures and lots smoothing group issues.

Nikolis

02/26/2011, 12:27 pm

I like this short stories this episode based games....it's nice not to get stuck anywhere !!! And the integrated hint system ... it's cool.... Just when you need it.... Well the 2nd part was better than the 1st... And the ending I could say could be foretold but that's the beauty of it.... To live the history, like it, and predict the future, or past, or present, or whatever....these world mechanics got me confused !!! Nice going Telltale staff.... But I really HATE Marty's voice.... It's a sorry excuse for a M.J. Fox imitation.. But I guess it was the best you could find...
Keep up the good work ..
Till the next episode...

bmo1616

02/26/2011, 12:45 pm

Rather Dashing

02/26/2011, 12:59 pm

I have a question, do you think the game is more annoying to the people that are complaning? Or are the people complaining more annoying to the people that respect what Telltale is trying (and accomplishing) to do? The latter in a landslide.
"Accomplishing to do" isn't grammatically accurate.

And personally, I find people who have legitimate concerns based on a critical analysis of the product are far less bothersome than people who complain about "complainers" without any thought behind it other than "I don't like it when people say things that don't remind me of rainbows and sunshine". Now, I'm not sure where the actual product lies in this spectrum, but I certainly think that this is somewhat moot when what you have to say is a direct attack against expressions of a valid viewpoint and against a specific section of the community. Attacking people, rather than approaching them with respect and refuting or otherwise engaging their arguments with counterarguments of your own, is far more rude than any expression of dissatisfaction.

ragdoll556

02/26/2011, 01:21 pm

Most "complainers" who didn't like the game are actually being pretty nice about it. They are able to explain that they disliked/were dissapointed by the game and give reasons for why they feel that way. I'm just sort of annoyed with some people who choose to review the game in a Simon Cowell-ish sort of way, being unneccessarily rude in order to get their point across. But, like I said, most of the people who gave negative reviews were able to avoid doing this.

FIGULS

02/26/2011, 01:34 pm

It was good, but what i like the best is the feeling that there is a bigger story behind this, and the part of doc as a president or dictator sounds appealing. Hope theres a story behind, an im sure that einstein came to 1986 from another time, not 1931, and doc thinks that he accidently got in the car and came to 1986.

Everything ok, hope to see more than hill valleys park, and 1931, please give me more locations, and more times...it seems like the idea behind the game is great, but the development is kinda mediocre... this second part had like two new locations...common...u can do better than that...over that love the game and dont need harder puzzles actually...love the story just would like to see more of 1986, martys house, high school, band, the soda, differente locations...i just saw doc garage, a bar, kinda mrs strickland house, and thats about it... damnn

bmo1616

02/26/2011, 03:33 pm

Well judging by that post, seems you're being a bit hypocritical. You don't want people to be disrespectful and attack others, yet the first thing you write attacks my grammar. So people have the right to complain about the game, but I don't have the right to complain about the complainers? And let's face it, some of the complainers are not being respectful to the game creators. That's what I was accomplishing to do.

"Accomplishing to do" isn't grammatically accurate.

And personally, I find people who have legitimate concerns based on a critical analysis of the product are far less bothersome than people who complain about "complainers" without any thought behind it other than "I don't like it when people say things that don't remind me of rainbows and sunshine". Now, I'm not sure where the actual product lies in this spectrum, but I certainly think that this is somewhat moot when what you have to say is a direct attack against expressions of a valid viewpoint and against a specific section of the community. Attacking people, rather than approaching them with respect and refuting or otherwise engaging their arguments with counterarguments of your own, is far more rude than any expression of dissatisfaction.

Rather Dashing

02/26/2011, 03:47 pm

An attack and a correction are entirely different things. Your grammar was inaccurate and I pointed it out, this is a fact. If I said your grammar was inaccurate, and thus you are an insipid fool whose very presence is a cancer to the community, then that would be an attack. It would behoove you to acknowledge the difference between these things.

And yes, people have the right to express a dissatisfaction with the game they have purchased, especially since they bought it as a package deal and may be wishing they didn't have to play through episodes 2-5. On the other hand, other users don't have the right to say other user's points are invalid. I should not be allowed to say nobody is allowed to praise the game. If I said that, then I would indeed be a hypocrite, because I would be denying others the right to express themselves that I myself expected from others. Everything I have said fits into a concise, polite ideology of forum behavior that is enforced by common forum etiquette and the past actions and statements of forum moderators: All opinions are okay, as long as they are not a direct attack on other people. You are free to find and post examples if you like, but I think it would be a daunting task to find a comment that is actually an attack against any person, including the game's developers. You may find people passionate about their content, which is entirely allowed, but not an attack against them as people. Feel free to prove me wrong on that count, though.

bmo1616

02/26/2011, 05:25 pm

Well I apologize, I didn't realize I'd be arguing with someone who has the vocabulary of a Harvard English professor. However one wonders why someone as intelligent as you leaves over 500 comments on a computer gaming site. Have a wonderful evening.

Rather Dashing

02/26/2011, 05:49 pm

Harvard English professors have a larger lexicon to draw from, I'm sure. Besides, vocabulary just affects the list of words you can draw from, not the arguments you can make. Those are based on logic and critical thinking. It's an entirely different skillset from what is used by memorizing words.

And what, intelligent people aren't allowed to like video games? Even if they aren't, I've never seen myself as particularly intelligent, anyway.

Origami

02/26/2011, 06:04 pm

Besides, vocabulary just affects the list of words you can draw from, not the arguments you can make

But keep in mind that a lack of vocabulary can lead to easy misinterpretation of ones presented arguments or rather a mispresentation of what the person truly wanted to say. The larger your vocabulary the more specific you can translate thoughts and feelings to texts.
This is what I have most trouble with being a non-native english speaker, I am just short of being on that level where I can truly express what I think. =(

taumel

02/26/2011, 08:01 pm

Personally i was surprised that someone, somewhere, sometime dared to hit the release button for something like this but it was partly fun for the kids again. They mainly aren't interested in the puzzles, they just want to watch the story.

Rather Dashing

02/26/2011, 08:11 pm

But keep in mind that a lack of vocabulary can lead to easy misinterpretation of ones presented arguments or rather a mispresentation of what the person truly wanted to say. The larger your vocabulary the more specific you can translate thoughts and feelings to texts.
This is what I have most trouble with being a non-native english speaker, I am just short of being on that level where I can truly express what I think. =(
Ah, I suppose it is different when you're a non-native speaker, but I think any native speaker that has reached fluency has all the tools needed to express themselves. I'm sorry, I never meant to make a slant against non-native English speakers. I have nothing but respect for anyone that learns even one non-native language, I know from experience that it's not an easy thing to do.

sumdumguy1977

02/27/2011, 02:22 am

I'm playing Tales of Monkey Island for the first time while playing Back to The Future and i have to say BTTF is much easier, I'm fairly disappointed in the difficulty level and the length of each episode so far. Having said that, I love the movies, so really enjoy playing as Marty McFly, just wish the episodes were longer and the puzzles were a bit more difficult.

Origami

02/27/2011, 02:30 pm

"RatherDashing

No, I wasn't offended at all. Although mostly correct, my own experience didn't agree with you on one point which is that a person doesn't need a respectable vocabulary to deliver arguments. =)

GeorgeC

02/27/2011, 02:47 pm

I loved the drunk officer in the speakeasy, I hope he turns up in episode 3!

Origami

02/27/2011, 03:29 pm

^
'drunk officer'? You do know who he was right?

Welshy

02/28/2011, 10:43 am

Just got round to completing episode two. Now I am a huge fan of Telltale, but this episode had a lot of issues for me. I have ran into so many aspects of the game that are very very unpolished, askew camera angles that clearly wern't mean to be, animations doubling over, audio lines being repeated, and a lot of very jerky animations. You would think with such a massive title, quality would be a top priority. This ruined the experience for me. Overall it just felt very...rushed.

I would much prefer having to wait 2-3 months between episodes if the end experience was a lot more polished than this (Anyone agree? Maybe we could start a poll here). Telltale are fantastic for meeting schedules and I know there will be budgets in place and targets to meet but it seems like the one month gap is not enough time for them.

I hope I havent come off too harsh, I do like the game and I have enjoyed all of Telltales previous games, but BTTF has to be one of my favourite film franchises and I really did expect more.

Udvarnoky

02/28/2011, 05:48 pm

How times change.

-Source (http://www.telltalegames.com/community/blogs/id-143)

So in December 2006 Telltale had released the two Bones games, Culture Shock, and Situation: Comedy. What you seem to be implying here is that what we're seeing with Back to the Future represents a big shift in Telltale's fundamental philosophy, for the worse. Contrasting what you've played of Back to the Future with the games Telltale had released at the time of the Grossman quote you chose to use, can you point to where they've betrayed themselves?

I ask this because, as much as Telltale has gradually refined themselves over the years, their vision for the particular type of games they make has always been pretty, even remarkably consistent at a broad level. Even when I play Out from Boneville, it's not that far removed from this year's stuff in the type of experience they're going for... it's so clearly "Telltale," for better or worse, in the same way their latest release is. My question is, did Back to the Future really sneak up on you? Has their approach really changed that much?

Clyssandre

03/03/2011, 07:10 am

Petite intervention en français.
J'ai été un peu déçue par le second épisode : trop court, trop facile, peu de nouveautés (décors, endroits à découvrir) et surtout... pratiquement pas de puzzles. C'était un peu frustrant d'être tout le temps confiné dans un tout petit espace (sous le bar, par exemple) avec trois points d'interactions...
Quand même impatiente de voir le suivant.

//----------

I was a bit desappointed with this second episode : it was too short, too easy, there was too few new stuff (places to go, things to discover) and on top of that... almost no puzzle. It was also a bit frustrating to be often stuck into small places (like under the speak-easy countertop) with only two or three interaction points...
I still look forward next episode, though :)

Martin McFly

03/03/2011, 09:34 am

My main concern with the episode was, as so many people mentioned, the lack of difficulty. Often there's no thinking when it comes to puzzles and due to the limited interaction points in some areas, the decisions you're expected to make are obvious.

I found both Trixie and Parker to be likeable characters and I enjoyed interacting with them. They seem like very promising characters and I hope they have roles in future episodes. As mentioned before on another thread, often times I found myself visiting Doc in order to listen to Christopher Lloyd's voice acting.

Generally, a decent episode but I have higher hopes for Citizen Brown.

Scnew

03/03/2011, 03:36 pm

Well, disappointed with the first two episodes, due to the same reasons everyone else is saying. Short and easy as can be. Citizen Brown looks like it might be pretty interesting, here's hoping you don't spend the whole game back in 1931 trying to break up Emmett and Edna.

Kalmageddon

03/05/2011, 03:08 am

Finally finished Episode 2! Well...what can I say? I really love this game , but it was too easy. I finished the 2nd episode in 2 hours. :O TellTale please make the next episodes harder. :)

VeryTori

03/05/2011, 07:36 pm

I enjoyed this episode a whole lot more than episode 1 (one of the main reasons being I watched episode 1 on youtube then played it.) There is a whole lot more drama and making it feel like your on the edge and feeling like your so close to getting caught. This was so exciting. Maybe have that many (or 1 less) times having to hide behind stuff to protect you from getting caught or protecting yourself. I found myself hiding behind items for several reasons at least 3 times. Maybe they should tone the drama down a bit (by bit tone it down by 1 - 10%.) I overall give this game an 8 - 9.5.

TellTale Games should definetly make more than 5 episodes!!!! I love this game!!!!! These types of games (science fiction) really make a person think. I found myself trying to figure a couple scenarios out.

SPOILER BELOW! SPOILER BELOW! SPOILER BELOW! SPOILER BELOW! SPOILER BELOW! SPOILER BELOW! SPOILER BELOW! SPOILER BELOW! SPOILER BELOW! SPOILER BELOW! SPOILER BELOW! SPOILER BELOW! SPOILER BELOW! SPOILER BELOW!

Like if Doc really did give up science back in 1932 (which he apparently did) then he would have never time traveled to the past and never save Marty, catch Kid Tannen, or have had Einstein there and Marty's life would return to where his Dad was a nerd. And Biff would have been the way he was in the first Back To The Future movie. But then again in the preview somehow its different and Biff is even more kind. Strange universe Marty lives in.

BTTF ROCKS!!!!!!!!

yoman45135

03/06/2011, 01:44 am

Everyone is aloud there opinion but if im gonna be truthfull everyone seems to be exgaratting a bit of how good it is my reason:

I know that games are meant to be fun and all and not entirely realistic but I couldn't help feel it didn't fit with Back To The Future all that well, even with some help from Bob Gale. A lot of walking a round whilst combining things for a silly outcome doesn't fit all that well for BTTF. McFly's voice actor did a better job than Christopher Lloyd who now sounds like he's dying from dehydration. It could have been better.
It seems too be lacking a certain 'Bttf' Charm, even thought they were easy I feel it concentrates a lot more on puzzles than back to the future which after all the game is about!!!

(I hope i didnt write anything to harsh but i want to be truthfull, it is ok but need a big improvment if telltale wants to serouisly impress fans.

(i copied a few lines from someone elses review :D)

Bridge

03/06/2011, 01:24 pm

McFly's voice actor did a better job than Christopher Lloyd who now sounds like he's dying from dehydration.

(I hope i didnt write anything to harsh but i want to be truthfull, it is ok but need a big improvment if telltale wants to serouisly impress fans.

(i copied a few lines from someone elses review :D)

I'm a completely new guy around here - but I do hope the voice acting critique was one of the lines you copied from another source, because...well...but actually I thought the SAME thing until a friend of mine corrected me, heheh.

I'm actually enjoying this game immensely - maybe just because it takes me back to the 80s & all its glory (or the parts I consider glory, that is.) Sure, it's got its lil' problems here & there - & a few things have me scratching my head, but I'm staying positive & keeping the faith that everything will make complete sense in the end (well, sense for BTTF anyway.) Thanks for a great & fun game that my whole family is enjoying - can't wait for Citizen Brown!

meretchen

03/07/2011, 02:52 am

It's not random. Don't blame the designers if you couldn't solve it yourself.

You have to pick the answer that BEGINS with the same word or partial word as the doorkeeper's line ENDS.

*AHEM* Spoiler tags, please!
Actually, I thought this was the easiest puzzle I've met in a Telltale game so far. You got a pretty big hint in the piece of paper on the bar desk. :)

meretchen

03/07/2011, 03:06 am

There is no "correct" choice. In episode 1, you could pick a name, and the characters called you that no matter which one you picked.

In ep2 Edna called me Mr. Crockett once, but otherwise I was Mike Corleone, which I guess was what I picked in the last game (I actually don't remember). If the game is actually remembering what you picked and playing specific lines to reflect that, then good on Telltale for doing it (even if it's occasionally glitchy). That's a neat detail that was probably a pain to implement.

And yes, it is actually doing that, and it works here. I picked Sonny Crockett and have never been called anything else. And I thought that was pretty nifty. :)

VeryTori

03/07/2011, 09:16 am

I lliked it. It was kind of harder. I like this episode more. It could be the setting (I liked the setting when Marty wore a mustache the most.) It was better. And at the end, I was like oh my goodness! When the whole thing with Doc happened. That was unusual. Normally Marty's life is at jeapordy, not Doc.

VeryTori

03/07/2011, 09:30 am

And yes, it is actually doing that, and it works here. I picked Sonny Crockett and have never been called anything else. And I thought that was pretty nifty. :)

I chose Mike Corleone and I am pretty sure they called me that and only that. Its a cool little feature TellTale Games has added.

yoman45135

03/07/2011, 10:25 am

I'm a completely new guy around here - but I do hope the voice acting critique was one of the lines you copied from another source, because...well...but actually I thought the SAME thing until a friend of mine corrected me, heheh.

I'm actually enjoying this game immensely - maybe just because it takes me back to the 80s & all its glory (or the parts I consider glory, that is.) Sure, it's got its lil' problems here & there - & a few things have me scratching my head, but I'm staying positive & keeping the faith that everything will make complete sense in the end (well, sense for BTTF anyway.) Thanks for a great & fun game that my whole family is enjoying - can't wait for Citizen Brown!

No it wasnt anything you said, the review i got it from the guy completley hated the game lol

Men10doh

03/12/2011, 03:57 pm

FOR SOME Reason i cant get episode 2 for the PS3.
SO iritating!!!! :(

Men10doh

03/12/2011, 03:58 pm

opps i ment mad face

Martin McFly

03/12/2011, 04:08 pm

FOR SOME Reason i cant get episode 2 for the PS3.

Just be patient. Good things come to those who wait.

Lucien21

03/13/2011, 07:53 am

The entire episode virtually take place in one room, piss easy puzzles = Rip off

(It took me 2 hours to finish it)

So the atmosphere and voices are reminicent of the movie, but this isn't much of a game and more of a animated short.

Important-Looking Pirate

03/15/2011, 04:26 pm

Pros: Excellent story, fun puzzles, I really enjoyed this episode and look forward to the 3rd.

Cons: TERRIBLE CONTROLS!! Really bad I would go as far to say possibly the worst controlling adventure game I've ever played. Awkward from the outset where you are sneaking around the Delorean but at its worst running around the town square. To get to the inn where doc is for example you cannot just run down the road like in a normal 3D game you have to go through the park and around bumping into invisble walls all the time. With every camera angle change the directional keys change so you can never run straight. Bad with the keyboard, even worse with the mouse. Can we have either A: a proper 3D game where camera angles in open areas are a bit more flexible and where the controls work properly or B: a proper point and click control scheme where you click to walk and double click to run.

crashboy765

03/15/2011, 08:11 pm

The control sucked. Marty's too slow and you can only really move him in four directions. Aside from that, I liked it better than Episode 1. But I think it's the shortest game from TellTale yet.

Scrawffler

03/16/2011, 01:21 pm

Finally managed to play this! I tried downloading it 5 or 6 times before actually managing to a non-corrupted download. Nothing to do with you guys though, it's a problem we've had with our internet connection for a while now. So I was pleased when I managed to successfully run the installation file.

And just finished playing it. I was pleased when I got stuck in one or two places (well that's something you don't hear everyday) and it took me longer to finish than the first episode. I'm hoping the next episode will still be more challenging than this one, but that said I thought there were some fun and clever puzzles in there. So that was cool.

Once again, excellent presentation. The animation, the soundtrack and the voice overs were great. I had to play the game with the graphics set quite low (my PC is nearing the end of it's life and is pretty outdated anyway) and they still looked good!

I found the controls okay mostly, the only problem I came across was that it took me a long time to actually find out how to get to the speakeasy (as in, the alleyway the speakeasy is down) because there seemed to be some collision on the road that takes you to it, and you had to be walking in a certain area of the road to actually reach that scene. At first, when I crashed into an "invisible wall" on the road I presumed there was nothing down there. I think I actually found the scene by accidentally running into it!

I must admit, I had forgotten we chose Marty's "fake name" in the first chapter. All the characters called me Sonny Crockett, but I'd forgotten that this was actually my choice. So I didn't appreciate this while playing the game, only until now when I've read the other comments. That's a really cool little feature though!

Something else I'm really thankful is that the direct downloads can all be accessed through one desktop icon. It's only a very minor thing but it is something I was happy to see. :)

Most of all, I'm loving the storyline! For those of us who are used to adventure games, the puzzles are mostly quite straightforward. But I found I was okay with that because throughout both episodes so far I have just been completely fascinated with where the story is going. I kind of had an idea of how this episode would end (by that, I mean I was fairly sure it'd have something to do with Doc and his inspiration from Frankenstein) but that still doesn't mean I know what to expect in the next part.

Looking forward to Citizen Brown! :D

splash1

03/19/2011, 11:01 am

It was as short as Episode 1, but it was better and cooler. Great story too!

8.5/10

IceAxe18

03/19/2011, 06:29 pm

I thought this Episode was good, except I didn't like the Door puzzle though, so far both Episodes were great.

Lawton

03/23/2011, 02:54 pm

Overall, I liked it. It was too easy though. The timing based puzzle at the end was slightly annoying. The one part I was stuck on was the "Saving Einstein" puzzle, as the dialogue required to complete it wasn't available until I completed a completely unrelated exposition based dialogue tree was exhausted. (The fact that you were trying so hard to show me the ticket made the ending completely obvious, by the way.)

I actually liked the door puzzle. Again, it was easy, but I liked the old school style of it.

Something else I liked, that also freaked me out a little bit, was the game's ability to remember what name I gave. I chose Harry Callahan, and was called that on the second episode. What was really impressive was that it was on another computer. My brother played as Michael Corleone and it switched the name to it in the second game. It must be linked to the account. This feature really adds to the flavour of the game.