Back to the Future: The Game - Episode 2: Get Tannen! Review for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

Back to the Future: The Game - Episode 2: Get Tannen! Box Art

System: PS3,PC
Dev: Telltale Games
Pub: Telltale Games
Release: March 29, 2011
Players: 1
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p	-

The puzzles themselves aren't as clever as some might expect from Telltale. There's nothing, for example, like the scene from the first episode where Marty has to figure out a science experiment while a young Doc argues with his father. Most of the problems you'll encounter here are straightfoward, and the more difficult ones are often badly designed rather than cleverly counterintuitive. I'll confess I resorted to the hint system a couple of times, but in my defense, my response to the solutions I found was usually, "How would you come up with that on your own?" rather than "Man, I feel stupid for looking now." And in the end, the entire idea behind the genre is that you walk around clicking on stuff, which isn't exactly exciting.

Back to the Future: The Game - Episode 2: Get Tannen! Screenshot

But back to the real draw here: the story. I won't spoil the ending, but I will say that you're headed back to 1986 in the final cutscene. No doubt, it will turn out in future episodes that even more repair of the past is needed. I'm still hoping to see some other time periods, though.

There are two kinds of people who might be interested in this game. Fans of Telltale won't be completely disappointed, though they will wish the puzzles were more challenging and more interesting. Fans of the movie series, however, absolutely must check this out, even if they're not big gamers. The cinematic elements of Back to the Future: The Game—from the carefully presented graphics, to the superb voice acting, to the well-crafted storyline—make it essentially the fourth installment in the overall Back to the Future timeline. Even if you just look up all the puzzle solutions in the hint system so you can watch the cutscenes, this is worth it.

Several decades after Marty and Doc left the pop-culture scene, who doesn't want to hop back into the DeLorean, floor the gas pedal, accelerate to 88 mph, and leave nothing but fiery skid marks in their wake?

By Robert VerBruggen
CCC Contributing Writer

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

3.1

Graphics
This episode has the same style as the previous one, but it's frustrating to return to a lot of the same locales.

3.5

Control
They still feel clunky, especially when the camera changes.

4.7

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The voiceover work is outstanding, and the music isn't bad, either.

3.0

Play Value
The gameplay took a hit since the last installment, but the storytelling is still superb.

3.3

Overall Rating - Fair
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 - 1.9 = Avoid	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	3.5 - 3.9 = Good	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair	4.0 - 4.4 = Great	5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

Play as Marty in a cinematic adventure true to the films.

A collaboration with Bob Gale, co-creator and co-writer of the film series.

A new Back to the Future story in five monthly episodes.