Game on: Mass Effect

Today's game is 2007's Mass Effect, made by Bioware, available on Xbox 360 and PC.

In a Nutshell

In 2183, war was beginning. As Commander Shepard, it is up to you to explore the galaxy, right wrongs, meet interesting people and shoot down a ton of bellicose robots for the good of the galaxy.

Story

the story of Mass effect is nothing particularly special. The plot has its twists here and there, but is rather simple and a bit flat. The plot is reminiscent of pulpy sci-fi, which, if you enjoy, you'll probably enjoy a lot here. It's not that the plot is bad, but it's not terribly interesting or innovative. The way the story is told hinges greatly on characters, which gives you plenty of occasions to stamp your choices and direct parts of the plot where you want it to go. The storytelling lacks a bit of depth, though, rarely hinting, always telling or telling you to read about it later. There isn't a lot left to guess or interpret, it's all very clear-cut which I found a bit shallow.

The large amount of in-game documentation helps understand the world immensely and certainly hints at a complex world, but it doesn't do it that competently, learning about the religion of a species through a document isn't the same as learning of it through dialog or, even better, through exploration of a well designed area. This is a definite flaw, not much of the world is really hinted through the areas or demeanor, most of what you'll learn about the world of Mass Effect, you'll read about it in the Codex rather than infer. it's not, in itself, a bad practice, but learning about a world as you explore it is always more fulfilling than learning by reading about an aspect of it.

If the story has it's high point, however, it's the characters. The main characters all have their arcs, their worries, they are well-rounded and interesting. Each of the party members have occasions where they'll tell you more about themselves, their culture, their background, their own stories are usually quite interesting. The crew is sympathetic, flawed, they're all very human, which makes some choices quite dramatic throughout the story. All in all, this redeems some of the flaws of the story and certainly makes this aspect more than merely adequate.

Gameplay

Mass Effect mixes RPG elements with Shooter mechanics rather well. The controls are tight, the shooting feels right and the removal of an ammo system is something I personally applaud. During fights, the ability to pause the action to survey the area and use abilities is a good addition which adds a certain tactical edge that would be missing otherwise. It's simple to survey the situation and use the special ability you need to, or tell a teammate to target a specific enemy or seek cover elsewhere. The AI is decent enough, enemies seek cover, try to shoot from it whenever they can, snipers are often parts of fights and are well-positioned, some enemies will try to charge you, mostly zombie-like enemies but also some that are very resistant to damage. Your teammates are competent, keeping a good eye out, reacting to enemies getting close, using their abilities when they feel they need to. Sadly, while behind cover, it is sometimes a bit hard to pop out and aim or shoot at enemies that went around the cover or come at you from behind.

Outside of combat, you get to manage your squad's abilities and equipment, using RPG style point-buy, letting you buy upgrades to your abilities as you level up. One of the biggest flaws in the game is the inventory system, which has a 150 item limit, but no way to properly sort the equipment. It's much harder than it needs to be to find a specific mod for a gun or body armor due to the absence of any sorting. On top of that, you end up with a very large amount of guns and armors that are often completely useless. Each manufacturer has different statistical priorities, but only a handful of models are of any use, they're often much better in every regard than the other models.

While exploring, you will be on foot or on a vehicle, the Mako. The Mako is much maligned, described often as hard to control, but I found that you get used to it rather quickly, and it is quite an agile vehicle, capable of driving on almost vertical walls and even jumping, which makes it actually quite handy for dodging large, slow-moving anti-vehicle shots. You can also explore the galaxy, hopping from star system to star system, finding planets to survey, hoping to find minerals or artifacts and planets to actually explore, where you'll find quests, enemies, artifacts or minerals. There is a lot to explore in this game, which certainly lengthens the game's life.

Speaking of quests and sidequests, you get a lot of options in terms of how to tackle quests. Tracking how "by-the-book" or not you are, you gain Paragon or Renegade points for most of your choices. It's not a very deep system, and it really only means there's two storylines, one in which Shepard is a heroic righteous soldier and one in which he is an underhanded one who gets things done, collateral damage be damned. Still, that does give you a lot of occasions to feel like you are changing the story.

Presentation

The game looks rather good, considering it came out in late 2007. It still holds up today, though some textures on models looked blurry during close-ups. Still, most models look quite good and there are a lot of nice little details on them. The creature designs are pretty good, succeeding at making aliens look alien, especially races like the pressure-suit wearing Volus or the luminescent hovering Hanar. Most planets were rather barren, but offered  impressive vistas thanks to great skyboxes, with the main plot mission planets being absolutely great, covered with lush details. An interesting detail is the film grain effect that manages to tie everything in and make the game look very cinematic.

The music is nicely composed, enhancing dramatic scenes, intensifying action scenes, doing everything good music needs to, and there's not much more to say about the score. It's good, it's fittingly grandiose, it's an all-around nice score.

Verdict

Mass Effect manages to bridge the gap between two very different genres and manages to do it very well. With solid gameplay, great characters, and a very nice presentation to tie it all into a nice package. It has its flaws, but it an all-around great game. If by now, you still haven't played it, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy for your platform of choice and do yourself a favor, you deserve it.

Game On: Wizorb

Today's game is Wizorb by the folks at Tribute. it is available on Steam and Xbox 360.

In a Nutshell

You are Master Cyrus the wizard in this retro breakout-style game. Using magic powers and your wand, you must break through 5 worlds of bricks, blocks and beasts to save the kingdom.

Story

The story is exceedingly simple and harkens to a simpler era. Simply put, the kingdom has been destroyed by an evil spell and it is up to you to save it. That's pretty much it. of course, this being a retro game that mixes breakout gameplay with light RPG themes, the lack of a grandiose story is not a particularly large flaw. What little there is is charming enough to hold your attention and remind you of simpler days.

Gameplay

This is a rather basic breakout clone with a twist. on top of having a paddle and ball, you also have five magic spells at your disposal: a block-breaking fireball, a trajectory-altering gust of wind, a powerful all-breaking magma ball, a useful ball control spell and a teleportation spell when all else fails. your use of the spells is rationed by your magic meter. You need to use the magic wisely as your meter runs out rather quickly and refills can be hard to come by. One of the major flaws of this game is that a large number of levels have just a few bricks that are very hard to hit properly and you'll often find yourself almost fruitlessly batting the ball as the frustration grows and the ball misses the targets narrowly. Another aspect of the game is the RPG trappings it has. A good portion of the blocks you break will release coins or gems, which you can collect with the paddle and spend in shops or donate to villagers to allow them to repair their houses and businesses. it's simple but it adds a lot of charm and variety, even though most buildings are completely useless. The power-ups you can buy can help out in the game, but i must confess i did not use them very much. All in all, solid gameplay if a bit annoying at times.

Presentation

This game uses a very nice, very charming retro art style. Bright palettes and crisp pixel art is what you'll find here and, if that's something you like, you will surely enjoy the way the game is presented. The music is also reminiscent of the 8 to 16-bit era of video games and has fitting tracks for the various worlds you explore. This is a game that attempts to emulate an era of video games and it succeeds very well, perhaps better than other retro titles. It just looks right to me.

Verdict

Wizorb is a fun retro game that, while not revolutionary, puts a charming spin on an old classic. If you like breakout-style games, you will want to buy Wizorb. I give this game a score of Charmingly Fun with a caveat that it certainly made me a bit frustrated a time. Then again, I am not a fan of breakout games. The art style certainly kept me charmed long enough to enjoy this game to the end.

Game On: Journey

Today's (belated) game review is of Journey, exclusively on the PSN.

In a Nutshell

You are in a desert. There is a mountain with a light shining on top. You must cross the desert to reach it, and learn the history of your kind as you do.

Story

The story is told entirely without words, entirely through landscape, murals and voiceless visions at the end of the various legs of your journey. As the title suggests, the real story is your own, and it cannot be described in words, it's a very personal story, in a way. How much or how little you learn about the history of the people who lived in the desert is up to you, as there are many murals to be found in the vestiges of the civilization. I'll keep it vague, but the story is beautifully told without a single spoken word.

Gameplay

The gameplay is very simple. You move around, you can jump and the length of time you can stay aloft depends on the length of your scarf. if you explore, you will find orbs that lengthen your scarf and, as such, allow you to jumpt farther and explore more. You can also shout, which can activate some mechanism and is your sole means of communication with any companion you find throughout your journey. The core of the game is exploration of the locales to find murals or glyphs, or simply to solve the puzzle of the area you're in to advance to the next. Various objects in the game can be interacted with in some ways, so as to help you explore. The gameplay here takes a backseat to the experience, strangely enough, and it works very well.

Presentation

This game is nothing short of beautiful. It looks extremely nice, the omnipresent sand looks incredibly real, the use of lighting to change the mood of a scene is spectacular, the ambient sounds and music are well crafted and fitting. This game certainly is well presented, allowing you to really take in the experience and get into the journey. You will genuinely feel a sense of wonder as you explore the exquisitely crafted ruins. There is not much to say, this is simply beautiful and it must be seen and experienced to be believed.

Verdict

This is an amazing game.Though short, the fact that a journey can be completed in a single sitting only helps make the experience better. The sheer breadth you can explore, the sense of wonder you feel as you find hidden nooks hiding a mural, the feeling you get when you see another person in the desert and interact with them, solving puzzles... It's all a marvelous experience that should charm and inspire awe to anyone. Still, it may be wonderfully crafted, at $15 it is a bit costly. I give this game a Marvelous and amazing rating, it's a must get, though you may want to wait for a sale to get it if the price point turns you off. This is  a short game, after all.

Game On: Rock of Ages

Today's offering is Rock of Ages, by Ace Team, available on Steam, the PlayStation Network and XBox Live Arcade.

In a Nutshell
Sisyphus is tired to pushing his boulder up his mountain and decides to escape Hades with and and squash historical characters with it.Build defenses against your opponent's assaults and evade their attempts to defend themselves as you control the boulder's descent to their fortress.

Story
The story is quite simple, Sisyphus, the greek character cursed to push a boulder up a steep hill only for it to fall down the other side decides to escape Hades using his boulder and then starts attacking various historical figures and characters in several eras. That's the extent of the plot, but each level starts with a charming vignette in a style reminiscent of Monty Python where we are introduced to the various characters which range from Leonidas to Plague to Napoleon, including the zombified corpses of Aristotle and Plato. it's very tongue in cheek, very entertaining and very charmingly told.

Gameplay
The game is evenly separated in two phases. First, the building phase, where you place defenses ranging from static towers to barrels of TNT, flying spotters to mammoths that stop and push away the enemy boulder. Secondly, once your boulder has been carved, you can enter the rolling phase in which you roll down the hill towards the enemy castle, dodging or destroying their defenses and picking up as much speed as possible to do as much damage to the doors between your boulder and your enemy. Now, this balance of tower defense and racing genres works out very well, allowing you to succeed through a combination of strategy and reflexes. You get a nice variety of possible strategies for every map, and the map themselves are all rather interesting to hurtle through, with each map hiding 3 golden keys for you to find and collect. Additionally, certain areas end with a Boss, changing the dynamic entirely in order to challenge your reflexes and platforming prowess rather than your strategic thinking. The bosses are all rather charming and interesting, offering something new to the game.Lastly, the game does also contain a few multiplayer modes, but I did not try them at length.

Presentation
The game is rather gorgeous. Separated in eras, the game gives a distinct feel and art style to show the passage of time. Starting form antiquity with artwork reminiscent of ancient Greek vases to a more realistic art style from the Napoleonic era, it really succeeds at giving a nice variety of themes. The music is also very fitting,and helps you to immerse yourself in the era and in the action. A lot of the world looks like paper cutouts, which is reminiscent of Monty Python animated shorts and it works very well. All in all, this game has top notch presentation. in fact, the presentation may be the high point of this game, above and beyond the gameplay.

Verdict
Rock of Ages is a very original game melding two genres that seemed as far as possible from one another. It succeeds at merging racing and tower defense wonderfully and ties it all up with a great flourish of charm, wit and art history. This game manages to obtain a score of gorgeously funny and while it might not offer the deepest of experiences, it offers a thoroughly fresh one.

Game On: Cthulhu Saves the World

Today's reviewed game is Cthulhu Saves the World by the folks at Zeboyd Games, for Steam and the Xbox 360.

In a Nutshell

Cthulhu woke up from his sleep and finds his powers sealed. He has to become a true hero to gain them back and does so in typical RPG fashion.

Story

The story is, obviously, typical retro RPG fare, and it certainly is typical on purpose. As Cthulhu, you go through the world, recruit allies, fight monsters and save the world a few time in order to become a true hero. The story is actually well told, with cut-scenes and humorous dialogue, it's even got a few plot twists, but the story here is really underdeveloped. It's not such a bad thing, however, because the narrative isn't really the main point of this game.

The writing itself is humorous and surprisingly good, mixing Lovecraftian characters and old-school JRPG cliches rather well. Characters aren't particularly well developed, but they're certainly more developed than those from Breath of Death VII. The humor is also better than in Breath of Death, being closer to actual humor rather than simply referencing cliches and games in scenes. It's still not my cup of tea, but this game is, all-around, an improvement from Breath of Death VII, and Story is no exception.

Gameplay

This is obviously using old school 8-bit RPGs such as Dragon Warrior as a starting point, but it adds a few twists to make it modern. The main differences between this and, say, Final Fantasy is that you regain all your HP and some MP after each battle, monsters get stronger as battles go on and there is a limited number of encounters per area. Sadly, aside from the insanity mechanic which didn't seem to add a whole lot, the game plays pretty much exactly like Breath of Death VII.

An interesting new thing is that in this one, there are more than 4 characters meaning you do get to change your party around, which is a welcome change.The level design is very labyrinthine, with side paths leading to dead ends of treasure pretty much everywhere. This game still lacks a true inventory, but manages to give interesting objects to find that translate into permanent stat-ups for every member. The level design is very reminiscent of older games, and it's a welcome change of pace from more recent releases which have dungeons that consist of, well, corridors that are skinned to look like caves or bases.

The game also has more replayability, adding a few bonus modes allowing you to replay through the game differently such as using only one character per battles or removing several characters from the game, to keep things interesting. it's a welcome change of pace and an interesting idea. Additionally, the balance seems a bit better in this than Breath of Death VII. however, it doesn't add a whole lot to the game, this plays basically exactly like Breath of Death VII with just a few added perks that don't really add that much to the experience. This is where the game least improved upon it's predecessor.

Presentation

Graphically and musically, this game looks straight out of the late 80s and early 90s. Some may find it endearing, I do find that there is a missed opportunity here. The opportunity to make a game that plays like a game from the 90s but looks like a recent game, with hand-drawn visuals and such. Still aside from that detail, everything about the game looks like it would fit right in the time frame they set out to emulate. Environments are varied and look distinct, the art style is very consistent with itself, never presenting you anything that looks particularly off for the game and the cut-scene art fits very well, embracing cliches and poking fun at the melodrama. The music fits just as well as the graphics do, and even is rather catchy at times. All in all, the presentation is top notch and the inclusion of cut-scenes is a welcome addition to the "series", if you can call it one. The graphics and music are both better than in Breath of Death VII, so if you enjoyed the presentation in that first game, you should love it in Cthulhu Saves the World

Verdict

Though it was not my cup of tea and didn't really find the humor right for me, i can honestly say i enjoyed the game a lot. At it's particularly low price of 2.99 when bundled with Breath of Death VII, i'd say you might want to get this quite entertaining game. if you liked old school JRPGs, you'll probably enjoy this game, and if you don't, it's not a big loss for your wallet.

Game On: Nimbus

Today's game is Nimbus, a puzzle/racing game by Noumenon games, available on Steam

In a Nutshell
You're a little ship thing and your girlfriend was kidnapped by a larger ship thing. Using no thrust whatsoever, the power of gravity and physics, you must travel the land through a variety of levels to rescue her.

Story
Again, this is not a story driven game. Save for the very first" level" and the very last "level", there is no real story. Even so, it's told wordlessly, with nothing but rather expressive machines. This is a game you buy for the gameplay, not for the story.

Gameplay
Alright, the main attraction. What sets Nimbus apart is that you control a little ship-thing that has no source of upwards thrust. You merely change the heading, but the only ways to gather speed are through gravity, cannons or pounce pads. You can manage your speed by breaking, but can never accelerate. That certainly adds a lot of challenge to the levels.

The game is broken off in levels accessible through a world map reminiscent of Super Mario World, with hidden exits in several levels and branching paths allowing you to skip some levels if you so desire. Each level starts you off at a certain point. The racing element is simply the fact that you are timed and leaderboards show off the best times. There's a feature that lets you see the ghost of your best time, but that's as far as the racing goes. Still, i do admit it's fun to compare times with other friends who played the game. it's also fun to see where they gave up on this game.

See, the game starts off very nice, a bit slow, rather easy, but the difficulty ramps up quite dramatically as the game goes on, sometimes hitting nigh "i wanna be the guy" levels of absurdity with tunnels of spikes you must navigate through without slowing down too much the reach the exit. At some points, it becomes downright frustrating.  Part of it is the fact that the controls become inverted when you're falling, part of it is how the bounce pads, used the most often as means of gaining momentum, work a bit too well, becoming a death sentence if not hit with the right angle in cramped spaces. Lastly, well, the overuse of spike blocks and spike tunnels really makes levels a lot harder than they need to be, especially since there are already a lot of ways to die if you simply hit a wall or have insufficient speed to make a maneuver.

Presentation
As you can see from the pictures, the game looks pretty nice. it has a very rounded art style that looks even better in motion. The different objects all look very distinctive, there is never a moment where you're really unsure of where to go. it's all a very consistent style. It is a bit reminiscent of some 16-bit era games, such as Sonic the Hedgehog or Super Mario world, presentation-wise. You can also customize the way your ship looks and the way the trail you leave behind looks, each world has a different time of day and season for the background, which adds some variety. The music is, well, it's not particularly great, but it's atmospheric and it doesn't get in the way. As a whole, the presentation quite nice and certainly adds a lot of charm to this game. Then again it also hides the fact that this is a very difficult game overall.

Verdict
This is an interesting game that offers a challenging approach to 2d "spaceship" navigation/puzzle games (is that a genre? The only game i played that's similar to this is Bob is in Pieces), but is marred by the often frustrating difficulty. One of the things that would make it a bit better would have been the inclusion of a level editor, since it looks like they used rather simple tools to craft each level. All in all, this is a game that was hard, but somehow addictive, to t he point where the fun overcame the frustration for me. I give this game an interestingly fun rating with a frustratingly hard at times mention.

Game On: Dungeons of Dredmor

The latest game for me to review is a more recent release, Dungeons of Dredmor, for PC and Mac.

In a Nutshell
This is meant to be an accessible, humorous roguelike game. The evil Lord Dredmor has awakened again and it is up to you to delve in his dungeons and kill him or die trying. You will die. So many times.

Story
This is a rgouelike, and as such, there isn't much of a story. What little there is is told during the opening and ending sequences. Basically, you're a hero, Dredmor is a bad guy. You have to kill Dredmor because of reasons. Of course, it's not a bad thing that there's no real story, the real point of roguelikes is the gameplay, unlike most RPGs.

Gameplay
If you don't know what a roguelike is, let me explain. A Roguelike is a type of RPG featuring minimalistic graphics, deep mechanics, randomly generated dungeons and permadeath. Permadeath is the defining quality as far as roguelikes go, that and difficulty. Dungeons of Dredmor attempts to be a "Beginner" Roguelike, you can change the difficulty, you can turn permadeath off, but it still is about going through a randomly-generated dungeon filled with monsters, treasure and traps.

As such, you begin by selecting which skill trees your character will start with, ranging from weapon skills, fighting styles, magic schools, crafting abilities and some miscellanea, and then you're thrown in the fray. Everything is randomized and games can be short, so it's always fresh, you never tread familiar territory, perfect for a coffee break. As you kill monsters, pick locks, destroy statues of Dredmor and disarm traps, you level up, each time letting you learn one more skill from the trees you selected at the beginning and you hope you don't build yourself into a corner, more or less. This is very much a trial and error part of the game, not every character build is viable and some are simply better than others.

What i can say about the gameplay is that it very much succeeds at what it attempts, this is a very beginner-friendly roguelike. Then again, i am more used to Dungeon Crawl, so I definitely notice the lack of depth compared to other games of the genre. it's easier, friendlier but also shallower and that's what makes it a great entry point, in my opinion. It's a roguelike with training wheels, but it's a fun one, that's for sure.

Presentation
The presentation is pretty great. The graphics are all very friendly, very comical, the music is usually fitting, the humor is a big part and, well, I really found it funny. Each item has a description and those are usually quite humorous. There is not much to say, everything about the presentation is top-notch for this game.

Verdict
If you find ordinary roguelikes too hard for your liking or never played one, Dungeons of Dredmor is a great entry point in the genre. If you want a game you can play during a coffee break that has a hefty dose of challenge and customization without being too complicated, look no further. You have an infinite number of dungeons to explore and you'll need to explore a lot before you can reach the end. I give this game a very fun rating and add that it's great for beginners and A Great Coffee Break Game.

Game On: Half-Life 2

Yes, I know, I am very late to the party, but here's a review of the classic Cinematic FPS, Half-Life 2, for PC, Mac, Xbox, Xbox 360 and PS3!

In a Nutshell
Gordon Freeman, Theoretical Physicist, is brought to a dystopian future under alien occupation and must use his scientific genius to build a superweapon shoot a bunch of people and zombies to strike against the alien overlords.

Story
The story is pretty damn great in this, which is pretty surprising seeing how First-Person Shooters are not usually known for their great storytelling. It's interesting how, aside from the beginning and ending, there are no cutscenes and every single event is from a first-person view. It really helps hammer in the immersion. It was one of those things that made the original Half-Life special and it works marvelously well. You never feel as if control is taken away from you.

As for the plot of the  story, it's not groundbreaking. Gordon is literally flung into the dystopian world without being told much of anything, and he's expected to somehow save humanity from the aliens who took over the planet. It involves science fiction elements, but it's a bit anemic as far as narrative goes. Then again, this is an FPS and they don't usually need much of a plot to keep you going, the promise of more action is usually enough to get you moving forward.

Where it really shines is how the characters and areas all feel alive. The details peppered throughout the game help tell the story of the world. it's one of those games where a lot of the details of the world can be successfully understood by going through it, not by getting lengthy exposition thrown at you. From City 17, which tells of a dictatorial police state controlling the human populace with drugs and fear to the streets of Ravenholm showing what happens to those who try to escape, using it's characters, level design and little touches, it really tells a compelling story without a particularly compelling plot.

Gameplay
I am not a fan of First-Person Shooters. i never really got into them and I find the first person perspective a bit claustrophobic, being used to literally watch my own back. That said, by the end of it, I was really enjoying this game.

The game has an okay selection of guns, with pistols, submachine guns, a shotgun and a "sniper crossbow". What it brings to the table is the objects-manipulating zero-point energy manipulator, or gravity gun. Allowing you to weaponize any loose object around you and the robust physics engine, it can be used in a pinch or whenever you don't feel like using guns. It also shines during the various physics puzzles peppered through the game. All in all, the game's weapon selection is good enough, but the gravity gun never felt right as a weapon to me. Maybe it's because i underestimate the punch flinging objects pack, but I pretty much stuck with the submachine gun all game, switching to the shotgun sometimes, in closer quarters.

The enemies also offer a decent challenge. There's a few varieties of zombies and headcrabs, a few different types of gun-using enemies and a few special alien creatures or boss monsters here and there. Honestly, the combat felt a bit samey Zombies are slow and easy to kill, combine soldiers shoot back but all more or less use the same strategies and the bosses are, well, strong and hard to kill. It's really at the very end that i started really having a lot of fun in combat.

Lastly, the level design is, well, a bit schizophrenic. It's very good overall, but sometimes, i just found myself stuck, unable to find the right path to continue. I feel like sometimes, some visual emphasis should have been put on things, but overall, the level design was actually pretty great.

Really, overall, this is a game that works very well, but hits a few snags along the way. The gun selection and enemy variety are okay without being particularly outstanding, but a special mention has to be made of the Gravity gun, which is a very interesting weapon.

Presentation
What can i say, this game came out in 2004 and it still manages to look very good today. The graphics are nice, the engine is very sturdy, the models are very good. This is just a game that looks and sounds very damn good. The areas all look distinct, the overall style is interesting and fitting, the game just looks right. The style really helps the story and gameplay, never hindering it.

There's not much to say here that hasn't been said, this is a gorgeous game that still holds up 8 years after release.

Verdict
I'm not a fan of First Person Shooters, but I really enjoyed the game. it took some time, but it really grew on me. if I may digress, i think i might have liked it more if it were like Portal with the gravity gun only, but still, I very much enjoyed myself and, by the end, I was really liking the game a lot. It looks good, it works well, it tells its story in a very immersive, quiet way. It's just a great game, even 8 years after its release! i give this game a great score and suggest that, if like me, you never play FPS games, you try it out, you just might start to like that genre a bit more!

Game On: Back to the Future: The Game

Today's game in my continuing quest to review all the games i beat is Back to the Future: The Game, by the folks at Telltale games, available for PC, PS3, Wii and iOS.

In a Nutshell

It's 1986, Doc has been missing for a few months when the Delorean shows up with a message for Marty. It's up to him to find Doc and possibly rescue him by giving random items to people or by rubbing everything with whatever he can fit down his pants.

Story

This is an episodic adventure game by Telltale, set after the events of the Back to the Future Trilogy, and as such, it's pretty nice. The characters are written just as I remember them from the movies, the main overarching plot hits a lot of the same notes as the first two movies, which, depending on your stance, is either a good thing or a lazy thing. Without spoiling anything, it starts as being a rescue mission, as you attempt to find Doc and bring him back to 86, but it quickly becomes more about manipulating the timeline to ensure Marty's Timeline stays as he remembers. 

As a whole, it's very consistent with the movies, but it does tread on very familiar ground. The new characters introduced to the story are interesting and there are a few very compelling moments, but it certainly doesn't take the franchise on a new direction. Since it's an adventure game, i'd say story is pretty important and it's not as good as it could have been, choosing safety over originality. Of course, it's not bad either, just not as good as it could have been had the writers decided to take it in a different direction than the films.

Gameplay

This is a Telltale point and click adventure game, and it really shows. It only very rarely deviates from the tried and true structure of "Opening puzzle or two, solve 3 objectives, closing puzzle or two" and it's kind of a shame. They really shine when they go off that beaten path, as in the 3rd season of Sam and Max.

As for the challenge factor, I found the puzzles a lot easier than in previous telltale games I've played. it seemed like the puzzles were a lot more straightforward, the hints given by the characters were a lot more straightforward or maybe the amount of item interaction wasn't as high, but it seemed like the puzzles were a lot simpler and more trivial that in other games. Of course, this might be deliberate, seeing how they're taking a famous movie franchise, they might want to attract a new audience and decided to adapt the difficulty to them.

The hint system is also quite good, giving you varying degrees of help for the puzzle at hand. it's handy when you're not on the same wavelength as the game regarding your objective, but it could have added some incentive to not use it constantly, like points for puzzles solved or something. As it is, however, I'd say it's pretty good to introduce people to the genre.

This might be a good introductory point and click adventure game, but it lacks some of the challenge of other Telltale titles which might turn veterans off.

Presentation

Graphically, the game does a good job or recreating the overall style of the movies. Hill Valley's main landmark, the courthouse, is feature prominently, the character design is very well-done and each era's style is distinctive and well-established. Of course, the graphics themselves are a little drab at times, but this is a game meant to be enjoyed on lower-end machines, so some sacrifices had to be made. This does not look bad, by any stretch, it certainly takes style over raw graphical power which is nice.

Sadly, there is a downside and that's the numerous graphical bugs I encountered. Fiarly often, you'll notice things passing through other things or, even worse, characters getting things stuck to them and still performing with objects stuck to their hands, with objects passing through them

The music includes familiar themes from the movie, including "Back in Time" by Huey Lewis and the News, the main theme and some musical cues. The rest of the music is well composed and feels like an extension of the movie soundtrack. The voicework is pretty good, too. Christopher Lloyd returns to portray Emmett "Doc" Brown and, though he sounds older these days, he manages to give a very good performance. Newcomer A.J. LoCascio manages to do a very convincing Marty McFly without feeling like an impersonation. A special mention has to be made of Michael J. Fox voicing a few McFly's in the last episode and doing a very good job of it. If anything, it certainly makes a good case as to why he couldn't perform as Marty anymore.

As a whole, the presentation is very good, owing to a faithful representation of the movies both visually and musically.

Verdict

This is not the best Telltale adventure game, but it's an interesting game due to it's status as sequel to a great movie franchise around. Still, I would suggest this game mostly to fans of the movies and people new to point and click adventure games, but not really to hardcore gamers or those who played older, better adventure games. I give it an "Entertaining" score and a "Good for newbies" mention. It's not bad, but it's not great either. It certainly could have been better.