The first episode of Telltale's next outing looks to keep up their quality while using the license to its fullest.
But okay, brass tacks. If you don't know Telltale (and maybe you don't - Back to the Future is a more prominent property than Sam & Max or Monkey Island, so they'll probably get some new players here), then let's talk about what that means. Telltale, as usual, has made a game that takes the best parts of classic point-and-click adventuring and does it really well. And, as usual, a lot of that's because the puzzle design is solid, the situations entertaining, and the writing fun. Playing "It's About Time" is like watching a fourth film - or what a fourth film might've been like. Maybe the best thing of all about Back to the Future: The Game is that Telltale has made splendid use of the source material, paying homage and striking just the right feel while still expanding it and moving on without feeling like a rehash of the films.
If you've played any of Telltale's other releases, or, really, almost any adventure game outside of the Myst tradition from the last two decades, the gameplay will be no surprise. Mostly, it's "verb this with that" kind of stuff. It works. Can we complain that they haven't changed anything about that? Well, yes, and I'll admit that I was hoping they'd do something a little different with the gameplay here, maybe a time travel mechanic of some kind or some sort of driving bit with the DeLorean (but not a rehash of the driving bits from their Sam & Max games). But overall the product accounts for itself well enough that you don't notice this lack unless you look for it.
But let's talk about what Telltale is doing that's different: episodic distribution. I mean, this is old news if you keep track of the game industry, but it's still horribly underutilized, I think. Telltale does it right, though, and the first chapter of Doc and Marty's new adventure left me eager to play the next installment. Meting out the game in two or three hour chunks might seem like a bit of a ripoff at first (I don't think it is, really), but it has advantages, both narratively and ludologically. This is one reason I wish Telltale would branch out a bit from the gameplay they've used before, because I'd really like to see episodic play used for something not an adventure game, but again, I really can't complain about Back to the Future: The Game. It's just really fun.
If you're new to adventure gaming, or scared away by puzzles, not to fret: "It's About Time" isn't very hard at all. I suppose this could be a downside for some players - I like being able to solve things with a little thought, and some puzzles forced me to sit back and consider for a moment, but I never had to beat my head against a wall or resort to online walkthroughs. That's a good balance, in my opinion. It helps that the game doesn't have the nutty logic of the worlds Telltale is usually dealing in, of course. Now, don't get me wrong, some puzzles are really quite cool: one in particular, a climactic puzzle where Doc has to surreptitiously instruct Marty how to finish an experiment while arguing with another character, is fun and different.
I can't give Back to the Future: The Game my final stamp of approval until all five episodes are out, but if Telltale keeps this up (and from past experience I have little doubt they will), this'll be one for the history books.