The International House of Mojo

I've had my problems with what Telltale have put out in this Back to the Future series so far. While plenty of care and attention has gone into re-creating and Telltale-ifying the spirit of the films that many of us remember and love, the same care and attention seemed to be lacking when it came to ironing out bugs and generally giving the game a minimum layer of polish that ought to be expected. Now it's time for the third episode, and this is generally the fulcrum upon which a Telltale series swings. Here all the elements introduced so far start to coalesce and we get a glimpse of where the series is headed, so no wonder this was a tough review to wrap my head around.

Let me make clear at least one thing: this is the best Back to the Future episode so far, in almost every way. The puzzles, while still much easier than most Telltale games, are more engaging. The alternate-1986 plot is more interesting. The bugs and glitches which seemed to plague the last episode are largely absent aside from one or two animation problems.

Aside from that, there's really not much else I can say about it that wouldn't be a spoiler or a repetition of what's been said in past reviews. The change of environment from the first two episodes help in no small part to give this episode a fresh feeling as compared to the last, and a sense that the over-arching plot is finally starting to get off the ground.

Sounds like I should be jumping for joy; that we can wrap this review up and go home early! So why aren't I? That's the question I had to contend with when I finished this third episode. In previous episodes I could put my finger on why it wasn't quite what I'd hoped for but this time the feeling was much more intangible. Then I realised that the problem with Citizen Brown isn't Citizen Brown. The problem with Citizen Brown is Back to the Future: Part 2.

Last time the series presented us with a nightmarish vision of the present was the alternate millionaire-Biff Hill Valley. The films are never short on ways to make the situation as dramatic as possible. My memory of that segment is typified by long shots of Hill Valley, as a confused Marty staggers about accompanied by sinister orchestral sweeps.

By comparison the alternate Hill Valley of Citizen Brown seems rather trivial and comical. Bad things happen in this version of reality, but they're always done with a wink and a smile, and I'm never quite drawn into the dire circumstances in the same way as the films. Whenever the timeline was altered for the worse in the Back to the Future series it was a big moment and the characters, despite having a time machine, would always be in a heightened emotional state as they rushed to fix things. In Citizen Brown, once Marty gets into Hill Valley, he makes some nonchalant remark about having yet another nightmare-version of reality to fix. It's more time-tourism than time-heroism and that's what I think has been missing from the series so far.

That said, the drama does ramp up significantly in the final part of the episode, and there's evidence of a greater sense of urgency and peril to come from events. That, I think, will be what ultimately makes or breaks Back To The Future: The Game. In the mean time, we have this episode to enjoy -- and enjoy it I surely did -- despite that nagging feeling that I ought to be more invested in the story than I am.

Peter "SurplusGamer" Silk spent a weekend in the trunk of a DeLorean to write this review