Point-and-Click Adventure Review: The Curse of Monkey Island

The Curse of Monkey Island was the first game in the Monkey Island series that wasn't designed by the trio of Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, and Dave Grossman.  Like Day of the Tentacle before it, it also differed significantly in art style, and the game's tone took on a slightly more lighthearted tone.  However, it managed to carry on the legacy quite well, and became the standard that future games in the series would follow.

The game takes place after the events of the twist ending of Monkey Island 2, with Guybrush mysteriously floating in a carnival bumper car in the middle of the ocean.  Guybrush soon finds himself having to escape LeChuck's clutches, in an attempt to free himself and his on-again, off-again girlfriend Elaine from his ship.  Guybrush bungles the rescue however, and accidentally turns Elaine into a gold statue.  Now he must find a way to turn her back to her old self.  The game doesn't explain the ending of the second game until the end, as the storyline presented here comes first.  However, that ended up being a good thing, as it treaded new territory for the series, and managed to do so quite well.

The game's art style was vastly different from previous games, giving the characters an elongated, rubber armed, cartoon feel, with the backgrounds having a curvy, cartoony feel to match.  The game's tone differed slightly as well, with a slightly more lighthearded, silly feel, which matched the new game's art style.  The music, however, was quite familiar, featuring the same kind of Caribbean themed music by Michael Land that gamers have come to expect of the series.

Some other areas that the game treads are not new as well. The game sees itself returning to the sword fighting of the first game, with the new caveat that the insults have to rhyme.  This is done in the same way as the original, in which you have to fight pirates to learn more rhymes until you can win your ultimate fight and accomplish your goal.  This is the only part that feels like it's somewhat uncomfortably treading worn ground, but it's thankfully a short part of the game, and it livens things up a bit by adding the ship fighting duels that were cut from the first Monkey Island back into the mix.  The ship fighting has two options, an easy mode for people who don't like action, which only takes one hit to defeat a ship (as long as you upgrade to a powerful enough cannon), and a harder mode which requires you to fire cannons and avoid enemy cannon fire in order to win. 

Like the second game, the game also has two modes of difficulty for its puzzles, a normal mode, and a Mega Monkey mode, with the harder puzzles falling into the latter category.  The puzzles here are all quite good, and stay true to the logic of the game's world (which, in this case, is more cartoony than previous games, so some puzzles take that into consideration, but work well nonetheless). Of special note is an excellent interactive song puzzle at the middle of the game, which uses the iMuse interactive music system quite well, and is especially memorable.

Guybrush runs into several familiar faces in this game, and meets some new people as well.  Before the special editions were released, this was the first game in the series to feature voice acting.  Both the returning characters, and the new ones, are voiced excellently.  Guybrush, in particular, has a voice well suited to his personality, as performed admirably by Dominic Armato.  The new characters are all quite memorable, with great vocal performances and memorable eccentric personalities.  One in particular, Murray the demonic talking skull, as voiced by Denny Delk, has received a well earned cult following, and has appeared in both Monkey Island sequels that followed this game.

The Curse of Monkey Island is a departure from the tone and style of previous entries, and lacks the designers who made the originals.  However, it manages to carry the legacy quite well, with an engaging, funny storyline, memorable characters, excellent voice acting and music, and great puzzles.  The tone and style of The Curse of Monkey Island was used as a standard for the games in the series that followed it, and with good reason.  It has stood the test of time quite well as a true classic of the adventure genre.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Day of the Tentacle Mega Review

Note that in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I was a beta tester for the Linux version of Day of the Tentacle Remastered.

Day of The Tentacle was the sequel to the first point and click adventure game by LucasArts, Maniac Mansion.  It differed significantly in tone and style from its predecessor, only sharing a few main characters between the games.  This is not a fault for this game, however, as its excellent game design has made it a classic in its own right.

Day of the Tentacle takes place several years after the teenagers broke into the Edison mansion in the first game.  One of the characters from the previous game, Bernard, is now living with his room mates, a roadie named Hoagie, and a medical student named Laverne.  Bernard soon finds himself having to go back to the mansion with his new friends in order to stop a mutated purple tentacle from taking over the world.  To do so, Dr. Edison sends them through time to stop the tentacle's plan before he starts it, however things don't go as planned, and the trio find themselves stuck in different time periods.

That's where the brilliance of the game design comes in.  Like the first game, objects can be shared between the three characters.  Here, this is facilitated by sending them through the time machine (or via the character's icon in the verb menu, to save time and ease the process).  Additionally, because the game takes place hundreds of years apart in the same mansion, it is sometimes necessary to manipulate an object in the past to have it change in the future.  This leads to some very clever, and humorous, puzzles.

The humor here is vastly different from the original Maniac Mansion, opting for a Saturday Morning cartoon style instead of the pastiche of B-movies, but it works well.  The art style has been changed to reflect this, going for a Chuck Jones style in the art and animation, and, as in a Chuck Jones cartoon, much of the humor comes from the animation of the characters.  The music style also differs to fit the change in styles, going for a zany circus style instrumentation.  The game's characters are also as wacky as their environments, with voice overs suitable to their personalities.   The game's sound effects are also memorable, also going for a cartoon sound, and fitting in perfectly.

Day of the Tentacle was a radical change from its predecessor, going from a rock-fueled pastiche of B-movie horror films to a Chuck Jones inspired send up of Saturday morning cartoons with a circus inspired soundtrack.  The radical shift in atmosphere between the first and second game in the Maniac Mansion series actually works, however, as the mad professor's machinations are well suited for either style.  This game doesn't have the multiple characters to choose from or the multiple endings of the original, but the characters and story presented here works quite well.  Additionally, it also benefits from the lack of dead ends and deaths that were present in its predecessor.  This game is considered a classic today, and it is well deserving of its title.  It has a whimsical art style, and has music and sound effects that help set the mood perfectly.  The CD version is the version to get, as the voice over work is excellent.  Day of the Tentacle also has a funny, memorable story, and some of the best puzzles of the classic era.  If you haven't played this game, you really owe it to yourself to track down a copy and give it a go.

Update: 6/25/18: There is one more option available since I first wrote this review. There is now a Remastered edition by Double Fine. I'd recommend this version, as the high definition art is respectful to the original art, it has speech with less compression than the original, it has options to switch between enabling the verb menu, having the classic or new music, and having the classic or new sound effects. The original version is also available to be enabled at any time, so even purists will find value in the Remastered edition.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Maniac Mansion Review

Book of Unwritten Tales 2 Chapter 2 Now On Steam

The Steam version of Book of Unwritten Tales 2 has been updated with Chapter 2 of King Art's adventure game.  It's currently in early access, and the chapters are being released as they're made.   Chapter 3 is scheduled for release in November, chapter 4 is scheduled for release in December, and chapter 5 (the full game) is scheduled for release in early 2015.

You can pick it up now for $29.99 if you want to support King Art before the full release while the game is released episodically.

The Perils of Man Chapter I Review

The Perils of Man Chapter 1 is the free introduction to the seven chapter adventure game, The Perils of Man.  It missed its original release window set last year, but it has proven to be well worth the wait.

Sixteen year old Ana Eberling is the latest in a line of scientific geniuses to bear the Eberling name.  All of her male ancestors have either died or disappeared, in mysterious circumstances, including her father, who she hasn't seen for ten years.  On her birthday, she mysteriously receives a gift from her long lost father, and is determined to discover its hidden meaning.

The first chapter tells just a small part of Ana's journey, and ends just as she starts making startling discoveries.  However, this small taste of the tale, is certainly sweet.  The puzzles have been designed by Bill Tiller and Gene Mocsy, the creators of A Vampyre Story and Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island, and are their best puzzle designs to date.  The puzzles here are among the best I have played in an adventure game since the 1990's classics.  The puzzle difficulty increases as the game goes on, but even the most challenging puzzles remain logical, and true to the game's world.

The game is by IF Games, which is a joint venture of the animation studio boutiq, so the art is bound to be good.  The game's atmosphere is quite interesting, as it aims for an old world feel, with a steampunk undercurrent.  As this is just the first chapter, we just get a tease of the steam powered machinations of Ana's great, great, great grandfather, but what is here is certainly interesting.  The game's voice cast and music also fit the world well, although the voice of Ana's mother, who goes for a stereotypical aristocratic style of speaking, can get a bit grating.

The Perils of Man Chapter One is just a small taste of the great adventure, but it serves as an excellent introduction to the game.  The music fits the game's world, and the voice of Ana is done well.  Ana's mother can come off as a bit grating, but this doesn't detract from the game's charm.  The puzzles presented here are already excellent, and the game's art design and atmosphere is fantastic.  The story is intriguing, although it ends just as it starts to get exciting.  Chapter one certainly makes you want to learn more about the Eberling family's secrets, so in the end, it serves its role as an introduction to the game's world quite well.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Episode I review

Ben Jordan: Horror at Number 50 Review

The Ben Jordan cases continue to evolve as Horror at Number 50 sees Ben Jordan come into his own  when hired to work with other paranormal investigators for the first time.  While this case is Ben's most important yet, it still retains all of the positive qualities that made his previous adventures so entertaining.

Ben is beginning to get into his element, and he is invited to England to help on a case involving a century old ghost.  When he gets there, he finds that he's not the only paranormal investigator who was welcomed by the building's owner.  Now, for the first time, he has to work together with people whose methods differ from his own, yet are still among the best of their field.  This puts Ben decidedly out of his element for the first time in his short career, and the game is made all the better for it.

The new characters are really interesting, and it's really great to be able to interact with people from different paranormal backgrounds, from psychics to those with technological paranormal detectors.  No person here is two dimensional, as each are given interesting backstories and differing personalities to go with them.  The story really benefits from the interaction between Ben and the other characters, and it gives the game a different, yet welcome, feel when compared to the previous cases.  The puzzles are also well done, and they too benefit from the addition of other paranormal investigators, as Ben will often find himself having to work together in order to progress in their mutual investigation.

Note, however, that like the case before it, Horror at Number 50 did not receive a deluxe edition.  So, if you're playing these from the beginning while playing the deluxe editions of the first two games, the change in art direction and lack of voice over work will be a bit jarring.  However, the rest of the game's elements more than make up for it. The new characters are interesting, the puzzles are fun, and the music fits the game well.  Best of all, the storyline is entertaining, and the final battle is satisfying.  It's great to see Ben teaming up with other experts in the paranormal, and learning to hold his own with the best of his field.  If you like the classic 1990's adventure games from Sierra and LucasArts, you owe it to yourself to try this game out.  Ben Jordan's fourth case is definitely his best so far.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

The Perils of Man Episode 1 Is Out Now For iOS

The Perils of Man: Episode 1, the first part of the two part adventure with a game design by Bill Tiller and Gene Mocsy of Autumn Moon (and co-written by Mocsy as well), is now out for iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch for $4.99. Your five bucks will get you all seven chapters of The Perils of Man, as you'll get the first three chapters now in episode one, and the remaining four chapters at no additional cost once episode two is released in December.

The game is excellent, but if you'd prefer to try before you buy, chapter one (the first third of episode 1) is available on iTunes for free.

If you don't have an iOS device, you'll have to wait a bit longer. According to The Perils of Man Frequently Asked Questions page, they are currently developing the game for Android devices as well as PC, Mac, and Linux.

Gabriel Knight Anniversary Edition Out October 15

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 25th Anniversary Edition, the high definition remake of the original Gabriel Knight by Jane Jensen's Pinkerton Road studio and her regular collaborators, Phoenix Online, will be released on October 15th.  You can pre-order it now from GOG.com or Steam for the pre-order price of $16.99.