Episode 2 was released last week, and episode 1 back in December. I don't own the game, but I've seen playthroughs online. The story is very decent and more or less consistent with the trilogy. It introduces a good number of new characters and gives some back story on the original cast.
For those of you who haven't seen it, the games take place in 1986, a few months after the end of Part 3. Doc hasn't returned to Marty's timeline, and the bank is claiming his remaining properties. Marty goes to the garage (and memory lane) and retrieves Doc's notebook containing information about making a Time Machine. As he does, the 2015 DeLorean appears outside with Einstein in the passenger seat, as well as a tape recorder from Doc explaining that he's stuck somewhere in time, and that the Time Machine was programmed to go to the present in case of an emergency.
Through a series of events, Marty figures out when in time Doc is stranded, as the coordinates in the car were corrupted. Marty goes to 1931 during the height of the Great Depression and Prohibition, where Doc (alias Carl Sagan) is being held in jail as the suspect for burning down a Speakeasy run by Kid Tannen. According to the new history, he is to be acquitted the next day, but subsequently gunned down by Kid Tannen, who believes he is the arsonist.
Marty goes to break him out early to avoid the murder, and enlists the help of 17 year old Emmett Brown, who is working at the courthouse as his father Judge Brown's assistant, and is a repressed scientist. Marty helps him jump start his introduction to the science world by pretending to be a representative from the patent office to see his rocket powered drill, which runs off alcohol. Emmett has Marty help him with finishing his work at the courthouse first by delivering a subpoena to Aurthur McFly, Marty's grandfather, who works for Tannen as his accountant and is about as much of a pussy as the original George McFly.
With the help of Edna Strickland (Mr. Strickland's sister who is about as obsessed with rules and discipline as he is) and a mix-up of soup and alcohol from Kid Tannen's soup kitchen front, they get the fuel for the drill. Marty finally confesses to Emmett about lying about the patent, but he allows Marty to leave with the drill, anyways. Marty tries to break Doc out of jail, but he was abducted by Kid Tannen in an armored police car. He straps the rockets from the drill to a bike and chases them and finally rescues Doc, only to find himself starting to disappear.
--Start of Episode 2--
Marty discovers that Aurthur McFly was killed as he anticipated since Marty delivered the subpoena to him. The subpoena forces him to testify against Kid Tannen, who has him killed that night instead of Doc. Marty returns to earlier that day and rescues Aurthur from Tannen's thugs. He skips town for a few months and Marty and Doc return to 1986. While everything looked normal at first, it turns out that the new 1986 Hill Valley is ruled by Kid Tannen and Biff Tannen (and his two subsequently born brothers), who rose to be one of the largest mafias in California. Aurthur McFly was supposed to get Tannen arrested with the help of a rookie officer, David Parker (Jennifer Parker's grandfather), but since he skipped town for two months, the plan fell through, and Kid Tannen was never put into prison. Doc and Marty go to 1986 and set things right by reigniting the plan between Authur and a woman working for Tannen named Trixie (who ends up being Marty's grandmother instead of Sylvia...maybe). Aurthur and Trixie release information to the Feds that Tannen has been evading taxes (similar to another mafia boss).
At the same time, young Emmett is planning to go see Frankenstein, which in the original timeline gives him a huge revelation and drives him to quit the law firm and become a full fledged scientist. In the new timeline, he chewed out his father at the end of episode 1 and quit the law firm to pursue a career in science, but all that progress again gets reset by watching Frankenstein. Due to the events of Tannen's arrest, Edna becomes infatuated with Emmett, and the two go to see Frankenstein together (In the original timeline, they were never supposed to meet). Doc and Marty don't realize this until just before they hit 88 MPH. Marty tries to stop the Time Machine, but it's too late. Doc vanishes, Marty is sent back to 1986 and crashes into a billboard depicting an authoritarian Doc, who rules 1986 in an Orwellian futurepast.
--End of Episode 2--
I have to admit that the story is very well written. There are a few bits of strange explanations thrown in (like the 2015 DeLorean's existence even though it was destroyed at the end of Part 3) and some of the voices don't fit the characters (All fingers point to Biff). All in all, this is a game you buy for the nostalgia and the story. Gameplay is similar to the Sam and Max series, but that's not exactly a bad thing, at least to people who love the Sam and Max series.
I'm eager to see what the next 3 episodes entail and what insane twists and alternate timelines come out of it. However, I think I speak for a lot of the fanbase when I say it'd be really cool if we can see other timelines, like a distant future in the year 2200 or something. It's clear Episode 3 will take place to some extent in 1931, but I don't want to see just that timeline for the next 3 episodes.
I don't know what else to say here. I'll post another journal about this once episode 3 comes out in March. Take care, everyone.
