Ladies and gentlemen, get ready to fire up your time circuits. After two months of waiting, the second installment of Telltale Games’ five-part Back to the Future series, “Get Tannen!”, finally hit the web last week.
A point-and-click adventure game in the same vein as Tales of Monkey Island or Sam & Max, the first episode of the series, “It’s About Time”, proved that a decent Back to the Future game was in fact possible to make. Thankfully, “Get Tannen!” proves it wasn’t just a fluke, offering an interesting experience that builds on what Telltale established with the first installment of the series.
As the series can essentially be considered one long game broken up into five smaller parts, not much has changed in terms of gameplay or graphics. So, if you haven’t checked out our review of Episode One, why are you even reading this? In fact, Telltale is still offering the Mac/PC version of the first episode for free on their website, so check that out first and then come see what we have to say about Episode Two, “Get Tannen!”.
Still here? Good. Now let’s move onto what has changed since Episode One.
Story
Picking up where “It’s About Time” left off, Marty’s attempt to save Doc from a grizzly death at the hands of mob boss Kid Tannen has put his very existence in jeopardy. However, his attempt to set right what went wrong the first time around inevitably ends up altering the timeline quite significantly, leading Doc and Marty to once again jump into 1931 in an attempt to solve the mystery surrounding Kid Tannen and his girlfriend, lounge singer Trixie Trotter, as well as finally bring the mob boss to justice once and for all.
As before, the charm of Telltale’s storytelling style is once again present, and the writers have taken the opportunity to expand on a few characters and relationships that were introduced and alluded to in “It’s About Time”. In particular, it was a real treat to see the character of young Emmett Brown built upon even more, showing just how much the events of the first game and his interaction with Marty affected his personality and confidence. In addition, newcomers Trixie Trotter and Danny Parker inject a bit of their own charm to the game’s narrative. Despite being minor characters, both are quite well-developed thanks to a great script from Telltale.
As is standard of Telltale, and quite necessary when it comes to Back to the Future, a good dash of humor is once again thrown into the mix. A few jokes and funny situations occur throughout the course of the game, including a rather humorous conversation between Doc and Marty that pokes fun at just how unnecessarily complex the entire situation is. However, some of the funny moments are a part of optional dialog, so do yourself a favor and be sure to talk to the characters about more then just key plot points.
In terms of the overall plot, the series continues to feel like a legitimate extension of the original, both through it’s characters and the feel of storyline and fans should find themselves right at home among the plot of “Get Tannen!”.
Gameplay
While the WASD controls still feel a bit clunky, just as in the first game, there is a noticeable improvement overall, with the character movement feeling a bit more refined this time around. In addition, the click-and-drag method of movement is back as well and, once again, feels much more suited, if a bit inconvenient, for this style of gameplay.
Also, while not a major issue with the first episode, the puzzles and, by extension, the overall gameplay of “It’s About Time” leaned heavily towards the easy side of the difficulty spectrum. While “Get Tannen!” steps things up a bit with a few slightly more challenging puzzles, the overall experience still feels rather light when it comes to a challenge. Still, that much can be excused given just how much of a complete package the series has been thus far.
Visuals
As before, don’t go into “Get Tannen!” expecting Pixar-level visuals or else you’ll be sorely disappointed. The visual style, as I mentioned in my review of “It’s About Time”, fits both the adventure game genre and the Back to the Future series quite well. This time around, while you shouldn’t expect a major graphical overhaul, the overall look of the game feels much more polished. The character models and environments feel crisper, making it obvious that Telltale’s been at work improving more than just the gameplay.
In addition to better looking models, the lipsync has also undergone a bit of improvement as well, matching the dialog much better in this installment. However, it seems a few things were overlooked with the games subtitles, given a few instances where what is said doesn’t match the captions.
Overall, the visuals have been kicked up a notch, if only slightly, giving the game a slightly improved presentation.
Audio
The voice acting continues getting better with each successive installment. A.J. LoCascio and Christopher Lloyd once again deliver impressive performances as Marty and Doc, with LoCascio’s rendition of Marty, already well done in the first installment, continues to improve as the series goes on. Again, special mention must go to James Arnold Taylor as Young Emmett Brown, continuing an impressive performance that sounds so much like a young Christopher Lloyd that you wouldn’t know it wasn’t really him.
As for the soundtrack, composer Jared Emerson-Johnson continues to evoke the feel of the original film score through use of recurring musical cues and leitmotifs while still giving the game it’s own distinct musical sound. In addition, Trixie Trotter gets to sing a few 1930s style songs, which are a real treat to listen to thanks in part to Trixie’s voice actress, Melissa Hutchinson, who delivers a fantastic musical performance.
Overall
“Get Tannen!” continues riding the momentum Telltale established with “It’s About Time”. Standing at about 3-5 hours, a bit longer than the first installment, the game is a treat for any Back to the Future fan. Point-and-click adventure fans, however, might find themselves a little underwhelmed once again.
While still a bit early to tell, it’s quickly becoming apparent that Back to the Future: The Game is a game meant more for fans of the original films than fans of point-and-click adventure games and that’s fine. At the very least, Telltale Games knows what it wants to do and does it wonderfully. The series continues to prove that it is a worthy successor and continuation to the trilogy of films that preceded it. The next installment, “Citizen Brown”, is slated for release next month and, from the look of it, things are really starting to get interesting.
As before, the PS3 and iPad versions of “Get Tannen!” are still in the works, though the PC and Mac versions are now available for download.
Back to the Future: The Game is available as a digital download on Steam and TelltaleGames.com. Review code courtesy of Telltale Games.