Sam the dog and Max, a rabbit-like creature, continues their rapid-fire barrage of new episodes. If you’re not familiar with the bizarre “freelance police” duo, check out episode 3: The Mole, The Mob and The Meatball for a more complete back-story. What you need to know is this: Sam & Max are sociopathic but very, very funny. They live in a crazy city occupied by even crazier inhabitants. As freelance police, they get assignments; each of these assignments are standalone episodes released a month or two apart.
The game itself is an old school type of adventure game where you click to move Max around to interact or just comment on the various objects scattered about the handful of rooms available. The interface is simplicity itself and the puzzles are even simpler; you play these games for the laughs, not for the mental challenge. Got it? Ok, let’s move on.
Lincoln Lives?
In this episode, the plot centers on a nefarious plot where evil forces threaten to take over the US presidency. Taking the kind of decisive action you’d expect from Sam & Max, it doesn’t take long before the president is accidentally decapitated. Thus we get an immediate re-election taking place on the white house lawn. You guessed it: the re-animated statue of Lincoln vs. Max the gun-wielding rabbit.
To win an election against the most popular president in history, you have to fight dirty enough to make Karl Rove blush. Fortunately, the regular cast of sidekicks is geared up to help in their own ways. Career-jumping Sybil Pandemik has left the professional court witness path from the last episode and is now heading a matchmaking service. Can that be used against Mr. Family Values, perhaps? Hmm…
Bosco, the burly owner of the local inconvenience store, has assumed a Russian identity. His latest plan to protect his Styrofoam bread and green-tinged coffee from Uncle Sam’s forces is a grandiose missile defense system. How to raise the money? Easy – sell a super-potent truth serum at a bargain price of $100 million per dose.
Whizzer, now governor of West Dakota, makes an appearance, as does a certain underboss from the Toy Mafia in the last episode. Card-cheat Steakcharmer was tied up and gagged in the end of episode 3; he’s still stuffed away in the storage closet at Sam & Max’s office.
These kind of reappearances are but one of the reasons each installment only gets better. The game is packed with subtle references to previous episodes, meaning faithful fans will get bonus chuckles as they wander around exploring the latest adventure.
Of course, the real stars in all this continues to be the excellent writers. You’ll find yourself clicking each object in every room just to hear the one-liners and downright unreal conversations. Unlike most TV shows, where you get ten so-so jokes for every laugh-out-loud one, Sam & Max nails closer to two out of three.
The voice acting is superb, especially on Sam & Max’s part. Having the wrong people try to rattle off this kind of dialogue would be disastrous, but these guys know what they’re doing.
As for graphics, it’s the same engine as the previous episodes; colorful, cartoon settings with just the right amount of detail to make out the subtle background jokes. I still miss some measure of camera control, however, as I’d really like to have a closer look at the shelves at Bosco’s or the walls at Sybil’s office.
The downside
My main complaint is that there’s just not more of the good stuff to go around. I want more than an hour’s worth of Sam & Max, rather than have credits roll just when you’re getting good and warmed up. As mentioned earlier, there’s not much challenge to the puzzles.
I imagine TellTale weighed the options of challenge vs. keeping the most amount of players continuously entertained. Can’t blame them for deciding to err on the side of caution, but a little more oomph wouldn’t hurt.
Unfortunately there was a bug in the pre-release game I played so I never saw the inside of the War Room, but I’m told the final version out today should be fixed.
At $8.95 per episode (or $9.95 for a monthly subscription to GameTap), I think it’s worth it. Heck, a movie ticket costs more and I guarantee you’ll get more entertainment from one episode than you’ll find in ten of the usual Hollywood snorefests.
Then again, if you’re a “serious” gamer playing for the mental stimulation of a challenge, run the other direction as fast as you can. Safecracker or Myst it is not. If you can’t relax and embrace absurd humor, this isn’t the game for you. But the rest of us will have a blast.
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