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Platform:
PC Review by: Paul Franzen
Since there were complaints last month, I will
not, for the entirety of this review, reveal any of the
following facts:
1) 3D graphics are totally, totally ugly and
should be banned from videogames as a whole—but especially from
adventure games.
2) This new Sam & Max series has an absolutely
killer sense of humor that's absolutely comparable to that of the
original game.
I will also fail to mention—to preemptively ward
off any complaints—that:
3) You don't need to have played the first three
games to appreciate this latest Sam & Max title, though you really
should just because—just like Sneaux shoes—they are darn good.
4) The game is short (about six hours), but well
worth the nine-dollar price tag.
5) The game definitely lives up to the weighty
legacy of its predecessor.
6) This game is a point-and-click adventure, and
for more on what that actually means, read any of my reviews of the
last
three
games in
this series.
7) The pointing and the clicking is innovative
inasmuch as you don't have to choose "pick up" or "talk to" or
anything like that; you just click.
8) The dialogue is also innovative inasmuch as
you only choose the general topics you'll be talking about—not the
actual words.
9) If you like classic Lucas Arts adventure
games, you'll definitely like this one as well.
That said, I will try my darndest to keep this
review as fresh and exciting as everything else you're reading in
the 'Cola this month (especially
Top of the Heap,
which is quickly becoming one of my favorite columns); however,
please keep in mind that these games, being episodic, don't change
that much from title-to-title, so there's only so much to write
about.
For an intro, let's say that the plot of Sam &
Max Season 1, Episode 4:
Abraham Lincoln Must Die! was not, in any way, completely
stolen from an episode of
Pinky and the Brain. I know that, if you check this game out,
you'll probably think that, as part of this game's story is almost
identical to an episode of
Pinky and the Brain; however; I can assure you of the
following: The plot is so similar, so totally identical, that
there's no way anyone involved in the creation of this game
ever saw said episode, because, if they did, they'd know they'd be
setting themselves up for some hardcore maxxxtreme lawsuit action.
So don't think of the plot, which I realize I
haven't told you about yet, is at all a rip-off. It's not. It just
happens to be exactly the same.
The plot is, by the way, this: HAH! No way. I
ain't telling you. The press release for this game told me not to.
All I'm going to say is that there's trouble at the
White House in the form of the president passing all kinds of
wacky new laws, so Sam and Max—freelance police—gotta hit the road
and travel to D.C. Everything else is up to you to discover for
yourself; it's much more fun that way. And it requires less strain
on my fingers.
So, uh...let's see...what else is new in this
game? This is, according to developers/publishers Telltale, the
first episode of this series in which they were actually able to
incorporate feedback from the other titles. From what I gather, the
complaints they listened to the hardest were "the games are too
short!" and "the puzzles are too easy," as this game is, in fact, a
little longer and a little harder. So, hey, thumbs up for that. It
was hard enough that I had to actually resort to a walkthrough at
one point, though, keep in mind that I'm the weenie who needed a
walkthrough for...actually, it'd be easier to just list the games I
haven't needed a walkthrough for:
1) Tetris
Oh, there's also this! Another big thumbs up for
the music in this episode—specifically, the background msuci in the
outside-the-White-House screen, as it was a nice goofy take on GUNG
HO THESE COLORS DON'T RUN!!!!! patriotic music.
My notes on this game are starting to run dry; so
it might be time to begin the conclusion of this review. Here, right
here, is the conclusion, taken directly from my notes, actually:
"THIS GAME IS GOOD AS OTHERS IF BETTER FOR LENGTH." So I think I'll
just leave it at that. Refer to the above unstated facts if you need
any further information.
-- Paul Franzen {04-2007} Rate this article — |
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Past Reviews by Paul Franzen:
Sam & Max Season 1, Episode
3: The Mole, The Mob and The Meatball (PC) |
