The Siege of Spinner Cay Review

This review was originally written for Associated Content on February 20, 2010. I can finally post this here as the rights have reverted back to me.

The game continues right where the last one left off, continuing the cliffhanger as Guybrush begins his search for the voodoo object that will remove the pox of LeChuck from the infected pirates of the Caribbean.

As this game is part of an episodic series, it uses the same interface as the last. For those who have chosen not to play the previous game, or who are reading this review without knowledge of the first, the game gives you three options of control. There is a direct control method using just a keyboard or a mouse, a combination of keyboard for movement and mouse to select options, and another option dubbed point and drag, where you click Guybrush and drag the mouse to move him around the screen. The click and drag method is a little cumbersome, as you have to release Guybrush to select objects, and then grab him again to move. The keyboard and mouse combination is the most intuitive, although it takes some time to get used to.

Michael Land's synthesized soundtrack is once again very fitting to the spirit of the series. The music sounds like it could fit right in with the music of any of the previous Monkey Island games. Dominic Armato and Alexandra Boyd once again provide stellar voices as Guybrush and Elaine. I'm happy to see Elaine here in her gubernatorial demeanor, being the stable third party in a dispute between a pirate and the ruler of the merpeople. Elaine has always been a strong character, so it's good to hear Alexandra Boyd give the character a voice for that dimension of her character, something she wasn't able to do in Curse of Monkey Island, where Elaine was relegated to a damsel in distress role. Unfortunately, the new pirate characters introduced in this episode are not memorable at all, and because half of the game has Guybrush dealing with them, the game's pace seems a little bogged down at times. Luckily, the rest of the new characters are much more memorable. There are two new standout characters in this episode: the pirate bounty hunter Morgan LeFlay, and an androgynous merperson named Anemone. Nikki Rapp, who is a new voice actress to the series, but who previously played Lili in Psychonauts, gives a great performance as Morgan. She has a youthful, almost innocent quality to her voice, yet at the same time the way she delivers the lines is powerful and at times even intimidating. Sirenetta Leoni gives a great performance as Anemone. In this game, merpeople are androgynous creatures where there is no division of gender in their language. Anemone's voice itself has an androgynous quality to it, and really adds to the likability of the character in my opinion. The human form of LeChuck is especially entertaining, as he is portrayed as trying to be good although he has no idea how to do it. He is voiced wonderfully by Kevin Blankton, who gives the character almost the prestigious voice Earl Boen gave the mock-human form of Charles L. Charles, but with a bit more naivité in is voice.

In order to cut down on file size so the game could be released within the WiiWare limits, the developers used two main models for the characters with different features to distinguish them from other characters. This is especially noticeable with the new pirate characters, whose similarity seems to add to their easily forgotten nature. In contrast to the new main characters, the incidental characters are lacking in variety. When they aren't used often, it's not noticeable, but when they are used as much as they are in this game, it detracts from the experience somewhat.

The second episode of Tales of Monkey Island is not quite as memorable as the last episode, marred a bit by the new forgettable pirate characters. The new characters of Morgan LeFlay and Anemone make up for this somewhat, as do the on-character portrayals of Elaine and Guybrush, and the hilarious new form of human LeChuck. It doesn't quite reach the highs of the first episode, but it's still a worthy addition to the Monkey Island series.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 1 review

Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 3 review

Launch of the Screaming Narwhal Review

This review was originally written for Associated Content on February 19, 2010. I can finally post this here as the rights have reverted back to me.

Monkey Island is the most popular adventure game series by LucasArts, but the latest chapter in the saga sees some changes. It's the first Monkey Island game not developed by LucasArts. This time, LucasArts licensed the property to Telltale Games. Like all of Telltale's other adventure games, it was released in monthly episodes over a period of five months. However, to keep the spirit of Monkey Island, each episode is a chapter with a cliffhanger, with the next episode taking place immediately after the last. The episodes are chapters, which coincide with the chapter breaks between each of the four original Monkey Island games. The developers are a mixture of old and new. Ron Gilbert, the originator of the Monkey Island idea, although not actively participating in the development of Tales, was brought in to collaborate with the designers during the early brainstorming sessions. Dave Grossman, one of the three original developers, is the director for the entire series. Also, Mike Stemmle, the project co-leader on Escape from Monkey Island, is a writer on Tales. LeChuck is the primary protaganist at the beginning of the Launch of Screaming Narwhal, but from there things get interesting. Guybrush, in typical bumbling fashion, breaks the final ingredient of the sword that is supposed to kill LeChuck once and for all. He improvises the final ingredient, and ends up turning LeChuck human and cursing his own hand as well as the rest of the surrounding Caribbean islands with the evil energy of LeChuck.

After the failed battle with LeChuck, Guybrush lands on Flotsam Island, where the winds are constantly blowing inward, preventing anyone from escaping. Guybrush must find out a way to escape, and finds an odd boat called The Screaming Narwhal, which was constructed with debris that were brought to the island by the hazardous winds. He meets several new characters, of which three really stand out. Davey Nipperkin is the first person Guybrush meets, and is a reporter for the local newspaper. He is starving for real pirate news, and begs Guybrush to do some destructive deeds so he can have some sensational news to report, and outscoop his competition. Reginald Van Winslow is the captain of the Screaming Narwhal, and will do anything to prevent another pirate from overtaking his helm. Finally, there's the Marquis de Singe. He is a doctor who is known to experiment on the pirates of Flotsam Island. He takes a keen interest in Guybrush's cursed hand, and wants to amputate it in order to study it in the name of science.

The game uses a similar interface to Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, which abandoned the traditional point and click method for either a direct control method with a controller or keyboard, or a combination of a keyboard to move and a mouse to select objects. Here, the former two options are available, but a third option has been added. This method has been coined click and drag, and consists of clicking Guybrush with your mouse, and dragging him to where you wish to take him. I found this option quite cumbersome, as you had to release Guybrush before clicking on an object with which to interact. I found the keyboard and mouse option the most suitable. It takes a while to get used to, but after a while it becomes mostly second nature. It's definitely a lot more intuitive than the direct control method LucasArts employed in Grim Fandango and Escape from Monkey Island. Monkey Island games are known for combining inventory objects, and the Telltale Tool engine Telltale uses for their games has formerly lacked this option. They added it to the engine in Tales of Monkey Island, and it is a quite different than the method used in the other games in the series. The inventory is selected by clicking on the tab on the right side of the screen. An inventory object is selected, and then put into the upper slot on the left side of the inventory screen. At this point, another inventory object is selected and put into the lower slot on the left side of the inventory screen. Then, the plus sign is clicked to combine the objects. It's a bit cumbersome, but it works. Inventory combining was one thing fans have been asking for since Telltale's earliest games, so I'm glad to see it finally available in the engine.

The soundtrack is composed once again by the man who composed all of the previous Monkey Island game soundtracks, Michael Land. Rather than using live instruments as he did in Curse of Monkey Island, he once again uses synthesized instrumentals. There are versions of classic scores, such as the famous Monkey Island theme, but there are also new tunes. The music works in the game world really well, and holds up to the high standards of the music in the previous games. The voices are well done, as is expected by Bay Area Sound, the sound studio that manages the voice work in Telltale's games. Two of the previous characters are voiced by the same people who voiced them in LucasArts' Curse of Monkey Island. The first of the two voice actors who have returned is Dominic Armato, who has voiced Guybrush Threepwood in every Monkey Island game to date (except LeChuck's Revenge, which has not yet had a version released with voiceover work). His delivery is exceptional as always. The other returning voice actor is Alexandra Boyd as Elaine. She was the voice of Elaine in Curse and the special edition of Monkey Island 1. An American voice actress voiced Elaine in Escape from Monkey Island. She inflicts just the right amount of emotion in Elaine's voice, and fits the character perfectly. The new characters are all voiced well, with the standout being Jared Emerson Johnson as the Marquis De Singe. He gives the character a not-quite French voice that is booming with insanity and a little bit of insecurity. The voice makes him the stand out character of the episode, even more-so than the series regulars, in my opinion. Mac users get a bonus. At the time of this writing, the Macintosh version is the only version to feature the original voice actor of LeChuck, Earl Boen, as the Zombie Pirate form in Launch of the Screaming Narwhal. He sounds much better than Adam Harrington, who originally played the Zombie pirate before Telltale could get Mr. Boen in the role. The PC downloadable version has not yet been updated to use the new voice files, but the upcoming DVD release should have those changes.

Like all of the other games by Telltale, the games take place in a complete 3D environment. This is in contrast to Escape from Monkey Island, which used 3D characters with pre-rendered backgrounds due to the restrictions of the technology of the time. The contrast between the sharp backgrounds and the blocky characters was noticeable, and hurt public opinion of the series at the time. Luckily, technology has caught up enough where the 3D environments and characters fit each other, as well as fit the mood of the series. Technology still hasn't caught up to the point where the 3D characters will rival the hand drawn art of Curse of Monkey Island, but the art is appealing its own way. Each of the five Monkey Island games had their own sense of art direction, and the art direction in Tales of Monkey Island fits the mood and humor of the series.

The first episode of Tales of Monkey Island is a fitting continuation of the long running series. Michael Land's soundtrack is wonderful. The return of Dominic Armato and Alexandra Boyd as Guybrush and Elaine is most welcome. The inclusion of Earl Boen in the Mac version of the game and the upcoming DVD PC version is much more fitting than the previous voice of LeChuck, and makes the series feel more connected to the previous games. The new characters are fun, and the voice of the Marquis de Singe is wonderfully twisted, and a stand out among the rest of the talented cast. Fans of the series will not be disappointed. It's been a long nine years, but it has been worth the wait.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Escape from Monkey Island review

Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 2 review

Stacking Review

Double Fine established a reputation for making games with creative designs, quirky characters, and humorous writing.  Stacking definitely continues that tradition, with a game that transforms the adventure genre in a gratifying way, making the characters themselves the inventory.

Stacking stars a family of Matryoshka dolls, or Russian nesting dolls, who are all blacksmiths.  Being nesting dolls, they all vary in size, and fit inside of each other.  The youngest, Charlie Blackmore, is the smallest child in the world, and is the only doll who is in one piece, as he is the smallest of any stack.  This gives him a unique ability, being able to stack himself inside of other dolls, as long as he always makes stacks of a doll just one size bigger than the last.  There are benefits to stacking inside of other dolls, as each doll has their own ability.  Some dolls are one of many, but there are unique dolls who Charlie must find in order to use their ability to solve his goals.  Throughout the game, Charlie must solve puzzles in order to progress.  There are multiple ways to do so, but Charlie only has to find one way in order to proceed.  He can solve the puzzles in the additional ways, which will increase the percentage of completion tally, and often give you an opportunity to jump inside a doll that Charlie was unable to stack inside previously.  The puzzles are all well done, and although some of the puzzle logic gets a little crazy at time, each puzzle solution fits the world of Stacking well.  If you get stuck, you can access the menu for hints, which are presented in a helpful three part form, similar to the old Universal Hint System files, or Sierra's hint books that came with red decoders that would only reveal part of the solution.  The first hint given is vague, the second hint gives you a little bit more information, and the third clue tells you directly what to do to solve the puzzle.  This is a nice way to present hints, and the diversity of the amount of hints given should satisfy both adventure game newcomers and veterans alike.

The game is set in the early 20th century, before child labor laws went into effect.  The art style fits the era, presenting the story in a silent film style, and presenting the world as if it was created on a set, complete with ropes used for set changes, as well as curtain calls.  Like most of Double Fine's lower budget downloadable titles, there are no voice overs, so the silent film presentation works as a nice, fitting substitute.  The entire game has an old camera filter, which makes it look like dated film.  Since the characters are dolls, the world is populated with doll sized objects, such as bottle caps and crayons, which are used for things such as furniture and hats.  The music also fits the style of the game, made in a silent film era style, with happy piano music on the scenes with Charlie, and villainous music when the game's bad guy, the fittingly over-the-top villain, the Baron, appears.  The storyline is delightfully silly, poking fun at the class struggles of the era (which still ring true today), and there are plenty of visual jokes centered around the fact that all of the characters are nesting dolls.  The game's finale is great fun, with a final boss puzzle that is clever, yet deceptively simple, and works great for the game.  I always enjoy well done final boss puzzles in adventure games, and this one ranks right up there with the best.

Stacking is not a traditional adventure game, but it definitely has adventure elements at its core.  The art style fits the 1920's setting, opting for a silent film era film, complete with excellent music which fits the mood of the game well.  It also has a charming story, with a lot of puzzles to solve.  There are multiple solutions to puzzles, with a tally kept of which ways a puzzle has been solved, as well as a tally of all unique dolls into which Charlie has stacked.  So, if you want to find everything this game has to offer, you'll find that the game does offer quite a bit of replay value.  If you don't mind playing adventure games that try something new, then Stacking is definitely worth picking up.  It's one of the best non-traditional adventure games I've played.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Wadjet Eye Will Publish A Golden Wake This Fall

Wadjet Eye Games has issued a press release that it will publish the first commercial adventure game by Grundislav Games (the creator of the popular free adventure game series Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator) this Fall.

A Golden Wake is a nostalgic adventure that spans two dramatic decades in American history. Set in the era of Gatsby with a plot that includes real people, locations, and events, A Golden Wake has story- and puzzle-driven gameplay, retro-styled pixel art, and a point-and-click interface reminiscent of classics like King’s Quest and Monkey Island. Alfie’s power of persuasion will play a unique role as he analyzes other characters’ attitudes and weaknesses to figure out the best way to approach them.

A Golden Wake will be released this Fall via digital download for PC.

Voyeur Review

Voyeur was an early full-motion video game by Philips, which was originally released for their CD-i platform in 1993 and then was later was ported to DOS and Mac.

In Voyeur, an unseen main character is a private investigator who has been hired to stalk the house of a wealthy businessman who is about to run for the office of president of the United States, looking for evidence of wrong doing by pointing a video camera at his mansion and taping everything possible.  Like most of the early FMV games, the movie segments are tied together through the small amount of interactive segments that the games offer.  In this case, the interaction comes in the case of scanning the mansion that the unseen main character is stalking, looking for icons that appear to signal that the room can be observed.  The icons consist of a video icon, which means that the room is in full view and that a video will be recorded, an ear icon, which means that the blinds in that room are down and only audio can be recorded, and a magnifying glass icon, which leads to the most troublesome form of spying.  The idea here is sound, in that evidence is gathered from looking through files or reading e-mails on computers.  However, all the action is supposed to take place through a video camera, so these actions don't make much sense.  I appreciate the addition of these elements, as they do add a bit more actual gameplay to the game, but the idea isn't executed very well.

The plot is pretty basic.  The businessman's family has skeletons in their closet, and in the end a crime is committed.  Each person in the house can be linked to the crime, so it's important to tape as much as possible in order to find the evidence to link the perpetrator to the crime.  As the name of the game suggests, some of the scenes you record are sexual in nature, but it's all pretty timid (although it was certainly not in 1993), mostly to show the promiscuity of the businessman's neice Chloe.

The game juxtoposes the video on top of digitized environments, which look quite dated by today's standards.  It's certainly still playable, but like all early full motion video games, it hasn't aged very well.  The acting is actually pretty good here, minus a few characters who offer cheesy deliveries, such as the police detective.  The wealthy businessman is played by veteran actor Robert Culp, and he and the rest of his family deliver their lines in a manner akin to a soap opera, which when juxtaposed with the music, which also brings across the feeling of a soap opera, actually fits the game quite well.

Playing through the game is actually quite quick, as you do your taping over the course of a few days, and each scene begins at a set time.  You only have a short amount of time to scan the mansion to find as much activity as you can before the camera's batteries run out.  There is a gauge at the side of the screen that indicates how much power is left.  After the batteries run out, the opportunities to record at that time end and the scene skips forward in time.  It's important to record as much as possible, because some scenes won't be seen unless you see a particular scene before it.

At the end of the game, when the crime is committed, your evidence is sent to the police and the outcome depends on how much of the crime you taped.  In addition, it's also possible to send the evidence to the victim in order to stop the crime from ever happening.  There are also multiple versions of the crime, as the story changes randomly on each playing.  The game is very short, so the addition of multiple endings with different story outcomes is a definite plus.

Voyeur is an interesting early experiment in full motion video games.  The acting is quite good for the most part, as is the music which goes well with the acting style.  The gameplay mostly consists of finding rooms in the mansion that can be recorded, with a few scenes with actual investigation.  Actually being able to investigate beyond recording is nice, but the execution leaves to be desired.  It's short, but there are multiple ways to solve the crime, and the story is randomized with each play, leading to different endings with different stories.  Voyeur is not a great game, but it's not really a bad one either.  It's good for what it is, an early full motion video experiment that delivers on it's plot premise.  If you want to give this one a try, grab the DOS version, which can be found relatively cheap on eBay, and can be played through on modern computers through ScummVM.

Final Verdict:

3 out of 5

Sorcery! 2: Kharé: Cityport of Traps Is On Android

The second game in the Sorcery! series, Kharé: Cityport of Traps, is now available for Android platforms from Google Play, as well as Amazon UK and Amazon US. It is also available for iOS on iTunes.

The original Sorcery! is also available for iOS and Android (and is also on Amazon US and Amazon UK).  Sorcery! 3: The Seven Serpents is scheduled to be released for iOS and Android before the end of the year.

Double Fine Is Making Grim Fandango Remastered

The unbelievable has happened. Disney has actually licensed Grim Fandango to Double Fine so that Tim Schafer can develop and release Grim Fandango Remastered! It will be published by Sony, and will be released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. More platforms will be announced shortly, so hopefully Windows, Mac, and Linux are among those. Hopefully this sets a precedent and Disney licenses more LucasArts adventure game properties soon. :)